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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 IPS-English IRAN: Last Chance for Diplomacy?
2 IRNA: India will support diplomatic efforts on Iran vote - Indian PM
3 IRNA: Iran and Lebanon say Israel's nuclear arsenal threat for Midea
4 IRNA: Merkel "very optimistic" on diplomatic solution of Iran's nucl
5 Guardian Unlimited: Russia: Iran Nuke Talks Shaky
6 BBC: Europe increases pressure on Iran
7 AFP: India says worried by escalating rhetoric on Iran nuclear progr
8 AFP: Russian uranium proposal 'useful': senior Iran legislator -
9 AFP: Annan welcomes upcoming Iran-Russia nuclear talks
10 AFP: Moscow nuclear talks give Iran chance to step back from brink -
11 MH: U.S. pressing ElBaradei to agree to safeguard both new SWU
12 IRNA: German economic minister rejects sanction threats against Iran
13 IRNA: Jannati: Nuclear power, Iran's red line -
14 Guardian Unlimited: Rice: N.Korean Claims Get 'Litle Traction'
15 US: Las Vegas SUN: Supreme Court to Rehear Whistleblower Case 
16 US: Las Vegas SUN: Judge Orders Spying Documents Released 
17 RIA Novosti: Russian, Norwegian foreign ministers to meet in Moscow
18 BBC: Japan races to hit Kyoto targets
19 Indian Express: N-submarine project finally moves ahead
20 Deccan Herald: No need for India, US rush on N-plan, says expert - 
21 AFP: Bush defends US-India nuclear deal 
22 IRNA: India, France to sign Peaceful Nuke Cooperation Declaration -
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
23 IPS-English BALKANS: Nuclear Energy Needed, But Not Welcome
24 US: Platts: Exelon to review tritium-handling systems at all 10 nucl
25 US: APP.COM: Radioactive leaks in Ill. spur Lacey water tests
26 US: Rutland Herald: Vt. may move first on air pact
27 PTI: Rediff: 'Civil nuclear deal, economic ties with India most impo
28 US: Vermont Guardian: NRC delays VY uprate decision
29 US: NRC: Notice of Environmental Assessment Related to the Approval 
30 US: NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collecti
31 US: NRC: Notice of Environmental Assessment Related to the Issuance 
32 US: Boston.com: Mass. wants nuke license extensions reviewed separat
33 IPS: BALKANS: Nuclear Energy Needed, But Not Welcome
34 Japan Times: Town approves MOX reactor plan; OK expected from Saga g
35 AFP: US seeks international safe nuclear coalition 
 
                          NUCLEAR SECURITY
 
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
36 London Times: Blunder left trail of lethal radiation
37 US: DMN: Report details nuclear workers' concerns on compensation pr
38 Telegraph: Lorry leaked radioactive beam for three hours
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
39 London Times: Sellafield rapped over 'lost' plutonium
40 US: Duluth News Tribune: Nuclear waste storage in Monticello under d
41 US: Chicago Sun-Times: State EPA calls for tougher reporting standar
42 Las Vegas SUN: DOE: Suspect Yucca Mountain work is sound, but
43 US: San Bernardino County Sun: Perchlorate bill now in Congress 
44 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Responsive to money
45 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Remember their votes
46 Irish Examiner: Nuke experts join move on Sellafield 
47 US: Mountain Mail Newspaper: Spilled uranium clean-up to continue to
48 MH: Blend-down of USEC HEU near end, others gearing up, DOE official
49 RTE News: Further Govt moves planned on Sellafield
50 KLASTV.com: DOE Releases Yucca Report
51 KLASTV.com: Yucca Mt. Dump: Two Perspectives
52 US: Pahrump Valley Times: TRANSURANIC WASTE SHIPMENTS HEADED OUT OF 
 
                           PEACE
 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
53 Rocky Mountain News: Flats Deadline Set
54 ContraCostaTimes.com: Group opposes 'hotlab' proposal
55 DOE: Secretary Bodman Meets with Senators, Commits to Further 
56 DOE: Generation IV International Forum Signs Agreement to Collaborat
57 DOE: Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative Wins DOE Wind 
58 Platts: Sen. Clinton questions DOE's GNEP program
59 DOE: Office of Science; DOE/Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory 
60 DOE: Office of Science; Notice of Establishment of the Climate Chang
61 DOE: Extension of Scoping Period and Rescheduled Scoping Meetings fo
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
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 1 IPS-English IRAN: Last Chance for Diplomacy?
 
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 14:11:03 -0800

<x-flowed>
ROMAIPS AP MM DV IP ML=20
IRAN: Last Chance for Diplomacy?
Analysis by Praful Bidwai=20

NEW DELHI , Feb 17  (IPS) - A meeting between the Iranian and Russian gov=
ernments in Moscow on Monday may be the last chance for diplomacy before =
international sanctions and other punitive measures against Tehran become=
  inevitable, according to most observers.

After a toughening of postures by the Western powers, reflected in a vote=
  against Iran a fortnight ago at the International Atomic Energy Agency (=
IAEA), the Moscow meeting can still work to avoid taking Iran's nuclear d=
ossier to the  United Nations Security Council.=20

The present window of opportunity might slam shut with the next meeting o=
f the IAEA board of governors on Mar. 6, at which, the IAEA's director-ge=
neral is expected to submit a report on Iran.

If diplomacy fails, the United States might be tempted to try a military =
option with or without Israel's collaboration -- ith potentially serious =
consequences.=20

''The likely effects of a military operation against Iran will be nothing=
  short of catastrophic for the whole of the Middle East,'' says Achin Van=
aik, professor of international studies and global politics at Delhi Univ=
ersity. ''There will be a virtual conflagration in the Muslim world. Besi=
des, Iran's nuclear pursuits are unlikely to permanently ended.'' =20

As the Moscow meeting approaches, Tehran has sent out positive signals of=
  a conciliatory approach.  On Thursday, it announced that it has not acti=
vely started uranium enrichment at Natanz. It has only injected a small q=
uantity of uranium hexafluoride gas into centrifuges but it has not begun=
  operating or even testing them.=20

Besides, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Agency, Gholamreza Aghazadeh un=
derscored that the cameras installed by IAEA inspectors, under the 'addit=
ional protocol' still remain in place. Following the Feb. 4 vote in Vienn=
a, Iran declared that it would suspend implementation of the protocol sig=
ned in 2003, allowing intrusive inspections.  The retention of IAEA camer=
as is meant to signal that the decision is not irreversible. =20

Equally important, Iran has said it sees the coming talks with Russia as =
'constructive' despite reservations over a Russian proposal to set up a j=
oint venture under which Iran's uranium would be enriched on Russian soil=
  for use in power reactors.=20

Iran's position is that ''the proposal has the potential of resolving the=
  issue if its shortcomings and disadvantages are removed=E0'' The key to =
overcoming these 'shortcomings' is to allow Iran to carry out the enrichm=
ent process on its own soil, within a joint venture framework with anothe=
r state.=20

Iran has repeatedly said it would study the Russian proposal in a positiv=
e spirit, and would like to broaden the joint venture to include other co=
untries. Earlier this week, the parliament speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel=
  hinted that Venezuela could be one such country.=20

Apparently, Iran has set three conditions for accepting Russia's proposal=
. According to Radjab Safarov, head of Russia's  Contemporary Iran Studie=
s Centre, Tehran wants that its specialists be given access to the enrich=
ment process, that part of it must take place in Iran, and that a third p=
arty should join the venture.=20

''It is not clear how far the Russians will go in trying to persuade the =
U.S. to discuss such an arrangement,'' says Vanaik. ''They, like the Chin=
ese, adopted a weak and pusillanimously pro-U.S. stance at the IAEA. Unli=
ke in September, when they abstained on a motion holding Iran 'non-compli=
ant' with its obligations to the IAEA and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation T=
reaty, on Feb. 4, they voted for a Western-sponsored anti-Iran resolution=
.''=20

Both Russia and China repeatedly emphasise that they want a peaceful nego=
tiated diplomatic resolution to the Iran crisis. But whether they will ve=
to a tough U.S. resolution against Iran in the UNSC or dissuade Washingto=
n from targeting and punishing Iran is an open question.=20

Should the Iran-Russia talks fail, the U.S. might embark on a military at=
tack on Iranian nuclear facilities. 'The Sunday Telegraph' (London) repor=
ted that extensive preparations are underway for a devastating bombing of=
  several targets in Iran. It quoted a senior Pentagon adviser as saying t=
he planning went beyond just contingency assessment. ''This is more than =
just the standard military contingency assessment=E0 This has taken on mu=
ch greater urgency in recent months.''=20

Within the U.S. scheme of things, there is no way a 'rogue' state like Ir=
an can be even remotely permitted to have access to a technology which mi=
ght in the long run help Tehran develop a nuclear weapons capability. Top=
  U.S. officials, including secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, have said=
  as much.=20

India, which has close ties with Iran, has frowned at nuclear proliferati=
on in its immediate neighbourhood. India voted against Iran at the IAEA a=
t the last two sessions and is likely to maintain that stance on Mar. 6. =
=20

On Monday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told parliament at a special ses=
sion to discuss India's vote at the IAEA that there were  =94unresolved=94=
  questions on key issues relating to Iran's nuclear programme. Areas of c=
oncern included ''use of centrifuges imported from third countries and de=
signs relating to fabrication of metallic hemispheres.''=20

''Members (of parliament) are aware that the source of such clandestine p=
roliferation of sensitive technologies lies in our neighbourhood, details=
  of which have emerged from successive IAEA reports,=94 Singh said making=
  an oblique reference to Pakistan's involvement.=20

India has favoured a solution, based on acceptable mutual compromises, in=
  which Iran's interests and the concerns of the international community w=
ould be addressed, Singh said. =94We have consistently worked to promote =
a consensus in the IAEA towards this end. This has been the logic of our =
stand at the IAEA Board of Governors meetings both in Sep. 2005 and earli=
er this month.'' =20

Singh said he was hopeful of a positive outcome to the discussions betwee=
n Iran and Russia and that India fully supported Moscow's initiative.

Prof. Paul Rogers of the University of Bradford, author of a just-publish=
ed report by the independent Oxford Research Group, believes that ''there=
  is at least a 50:50 risk of some sort of real crisis, probably with mili=
tary action, before the end of next year.'' The report says a military at=
tack on Iran would probably spur Tehran to work as rapidly as possible to=
wards developing a nuclear military option. It would have a =94powerful u=
nifying effect within Iran.=94=20

Iran could retaliate with deadly effect in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and=
  Syria. Rogers describes scenarios such as ''moving Iran's Revolutionary =
Guard elements into parts of Iraq'' where Iran enjoys tremendous influenc=
e in its new Shia-majority government. =20

Diplomacy, Singh was emphatic, should be given a chance. What remains to =
be seen is whether the Western powers and Russia allow it a chance. (END/=
IPS/AP/MM/IP/DV/ML/PB/RDR/06)=20

=20
=3D 02171738 ORP012
NNNN

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 2 IRNA: India will support diplomatic efforts on Iran vote - Indian PM -
                              
New Delhi, Feb. 17, IRNA                                                                                                                 

India-Iran-Vote 

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said India will
support diplomatic efforts in the run up to the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting in March to reach an
amicable solution.

 Taking the first opportunity to clarify the government's
position on the vote on Iran's nuclear program in the IAEA,
Singh said in a statement in both houses (Lok Sabha &Rajya
Sabha) of Parliament, such a "sensitive issue" involving the
rights and international obligations of a sovereign nation could
only be addressed through "calm, reasoned diplomacy and the
willingness on all sides to eschew confrontation and seek
acceptable compromise solutions".

 In his three-page statement, the Prime Minister said India was
"deeply concerned" over the "escalating rhetoric and growing
tensions" and the possibility of a "confrontation" on this issue.

 "This is a matter of cencern for us as tensions in this region
-- where our vital political, economic and security interests
are involved - effects us directly. The region hosts 3.5 million
Indian citizens whose welfare is a major concern of my
government", he said.

 "We therefore, call upon all concerned to exercise restraint,
demonstrate flexibility and continue with dialogue, to reach an
amicable solution", Singh said.

 Noting that at the March meeting of the IAEA Board a full and
regular report would be presented by the Director General, he
said "in the days to come, we will support diplomatic efforts in
this regard, drawing upon our friendly relations with all the
key countries involved."
 He said Iran has the "legal right" to develop peaceful uses of
nuclear energy consistent with its international commitments and
obligations.

 The Prime Minister, however, made it clear that "it is
incumbent upon Iran to exercise these rights in the context of
safeguards that it has voluntarily accepted upon its nuclear
program under the IAEA".

 Singh said "India's vote on the IAEA resolution does not, in
any way, detract from the traditionally close and friendly
relations we are privileged to enjoy with Iran."
 The Prime Minister said 'successive reports of IAEA have noted
that while Iran's cooperation has resulted in clarifying a
number of questions, there remain many unresolved questions on
key issues.

 These include the use of centrifuges imported from third
countries, and designs relating to fabrication of metallic
hemispheres.

 He contended that the "source of such clandestine proliferation
of sensitive technologies lies in our own neighbourhood, details
of which have emerged from successive IAEA reports."

 India, he asserted, "cannot afford to turn a blind eye to
security implications of such proliferation activities."

*****************************************************************
 3 IRNA: Iran and Lebanon say Israel's nuclear arsenal threat for Mideast
      
, Feb 17, IRNA                                                                                                           

Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs Manouchehr Mottaki and his
Lebanese counterpart Fawzi Salloukh here on Friday called
Israel's nuclear arsenal "A big threat for Middle East." During
the meeting in which the two countries' top diplomats surveyed
the ways to strengthen bilateral ties, regional and
international developments, Mottaki and Salloukh asked for
declaring the Middle East as a WMD-Free Region.

 The Lebanese Foreign Minister at a press conference after the
meeting referred to the present threats against the Middle East
and the Persian Gulf security, posed particularly by Israel.

 He also stressed that the Lebanese resistance movement had
played a very positive role in liberation of the occupied parts
of southern Lebanon.

 Salloukh also expressed hope that the historic ties between
Iran and Lebanon would be resorted properly, considering the
strengthening of the two countries' ties in line with the
interests of the two nations.

 He added, "In my meeting with Mottaki we talked about ways to
expand bilateral political and cultural relations, activate our
bilateral economic committee, and encourage the Iranian private
sector to make greater investments in Lebanon."
 The Lebanese Foreign Minister referring to the Lebanese
nation's will to hold frank and tension-free dialogues,
reiterated, "Iran has adopted a positive stand in dealing with
all Lebanese political and religious tendencies."
 Focussing on Iran's peaceful nuclear program, Salloukh
reiterated, "The best way to tackle the problem is to survey the
matter free from double standards, particularly since Iran has
repeatedly stressed that its nuclear program is entirely aimed
at peaceful purposes." The Iranian FM, too, said, "The Iranian
nation and government, based on their religious beliefs,
consider manufacturing of any type of weapons of mass
destruction (WMD) as a move against the entire mankind."
 He labeled the US officials' accusations regarding Iran's
nuclear dossier as "a big lie" aimed at deviation of the world
public opinion from realities.

 He further reiterated, "Unfortunately, under the US pressure,
the European countries, too, that consider being benefitted from
nuclear energy Iran's right, are not willing to cooperate with
Tehran now."
 Mottaki emphasized, "The Iranian nation and government are
determined to finalize Iran's nuclear dossier neither in Europe,
nor in the United States, but in Tehran."
 He considered the engagement of British armed forces with Iraqi
civilian youth in Basra as "broad violation of human rights",
adding, "The presence of those forces in Basra is not only a
threat against that city's residents now, but also a security
threat for Iran due to their probable interference in southern
Iranian regions, and they must therefore immediately leave that
region."
 Mottaki said, "Experience tells us that Israel is a usurper
regime that has always sponsored terrorism and constantly
pursues the policy of destablizing the region and fomenting
tension in the Middle East." He added, "Victory of Hamas Islamic
resistance movement in Palestinian parliamentary elections was
in fact the victory of the resistance movement in entire region."
 Referring to the worries of the families of the four kidnapped
Iranian diplomats in Lebanon in 1982, Mottaki asked for clearing
their fate, stressing, "Those kidnapped diplomats' families are
still waiting for their return."
 It is said that the pro-Israeli forces in Lebanon transferred
the kidnapped Iranian diplomats to occupied Palestine through
the sea shortly after detaining them in 1983.

 The Iranian Foreign Minister once again condemned the
assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
and emphasized on importance of clarifying the details and
punishing the criminals involved in that plot.

 Hariri, along with twenty one other Lebanese citizens, got
killed in a horrendous explosion in west of Beirut in 2005.

 Mottaki considered the anti-Islamic caricatures published in
Danish and certain other European press as "a move aimed at
humiliating the Islamic World" and considered as "very natural"
the emotional rallies launched throughout the Islamic world, and
a move that could bring to an end repetition of such insulting
moves in the future.

 The profane cartoons, published in not so famous dailies in
such non-political states as Denmark and Japan over recent
weeks, are a plot jointly hatched by the US and Britain to
challenge the beliefs and sanctities of Muslims. The drawings,
deemed as a psychological attempt, have sparked strong protests
and demonstrations in the Muslim states.		 				 		 			

*****************************************************************
 4 IRNA: Merkel "very optimistic" on diplomatic solution of Iran's nuclear row - 

Berlin, Feb 17, IRNA                                                                                                             

Germany-Iran-Merkel 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was "very optimistic"
on a diplomatic solution of the Iranian nuclear dispute.

 "I am really optimistic, I would even say very optimistic, that
we can do everything to solve this conflict by diplomatic
means," Merkel said Thursday evening in an interview with the
German ZDF television network.

 "I see my task, Germany's task, and Germany has taken on a
clear responsibility here along with Great Britain and France -
not just for Europe but also with Russia and the United States -
in taking this diplomatic path which has every chance of
success," she added.

 Berlin has repeatedly stressed that diplomacy was the only
alternative to resolving the Iranian nuclear crisis.



*****************************************************************
 5 Guardian Unlimited: Russia: Iran Nuke Talks Shaky
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Friday February 17, 2006 1:46 PM

AP Photo MOSB111

MOSCOW (AP) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Friday
that talks with an Iranian delegation next week on a Russian
uranium enrichment offer will be difficult and their outcome
impossible to predict, news reports said. 

``I don't know how the talks will end, but they won't be easy,''
Ivanov said, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. ``The
situation around the Iranian nuclear program is quite
difficult.'' 

Russia's proposal to host the Iranian uranium enrichment program
has become the focus of international efforts to defuse tensions
over Tehran's nuclear bid. 

An Iranian delegation had been expected to visit Moscow on
Thursday to discuss the Russian proposal, but Tehran put off the
talks until Monday. 

The Russian offer has been backed by the United States and the
European Union as a way to provide international oversight of
Iran's nuclear activities and ease international suspicions that
Tehran aims to use its nuclear program to produce weapons.
Iran's lukewarm attitude has drawn suspicions that it was merely
using the proposal to stall for time. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Tehran this week
that Russia's enrichment offer was contingent on Iran
re-imposing a freeze on enrichment at home. 

A senior Russian diplomat said Friday that Moscow would
``persistently urge'' Iran to return to the enrichment
moratorium it broke last month, the ITAR-Tass news agency
reported. The diplomat said there was firm agreement that the
Iranian delegation would arrive Monday, but he did not agree to
be identified - apparently reflecting concerns that the Iranians
again might call off the trip, denting Russia's prestige. 

Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Gholamreza Ansari said Thursday
that the delegation would ``definitely'' come Monday. 
		 	 	   
      Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 6 BBC: Europe increases pressure on Iran
 
Last Updated: Friday, 17 February 2006
 
[German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair 
in Berlin]                                  

The two leaders said their were united on the Iran issue                                                           

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Angela Merkel 
have vowed to keep up strong diplomatic pressure on Iran over its 
nuclear programme. 

After talks in Berlin, Mr Blair said the issue should be tackled 
"strongly but through the diplomatic means". 

Ms Merkel again said Iran had "crossed the red line" by resuming 
its controversial programme this month. 

Mr Blair also rejected Iran's call to withdraw UK troops from 
southern Iraq, saying the troops had "a UN mandate". 

Tehran's demand for the British pullout from the city of Basra 
was voiced earlier on Friday by Iranian Foreign Minister 
Manouchehr Mottaki. 

Time 'window' 

The talks in Berlin came a day after France accused Iran of 
having a secret programme for developing nuclear weapons - 
prompting Mrs Merkel to warn Tehran that it was isolating itself 
internationally. 

Iran had resumed small-scale uranium enrichment after it was 
reported to the UN Security Council earlier this year. 

Tehran had also banned snap inspections of it sites by 
international nuclear experts. 

Western nations suspect Iran is attempting to build nuclear 
weapons. Iran insists its nuclear programme is solely for 
peaceful purposes. 

The UN Security Council is due to meet in March to discuss the 
next steps, which could lead to sanctions against Iran. 

Mrs Merkel said in Berlin that the time "window" before that 
meeting should be used to try to resolve the situation.                                         
	 	 
*****************************************************************
 7 AFP: India says worried by escalating rhetoric on Iran nuclear program - 

 Fri Feb 17, 8:02 AM ET 		 	 

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that India
is worried by "escalating rhetoric" over Iran" /> Iran's nuclear
program and chances of a confrontation. 

 "We are deeply concerned by escalating rhetoric and growing
tensions and the possibility of a confrontation over this
issue," Singh told parliament on Friday, appealing for dialogue
and restraint to reach an "amicable solution". 

Singh was defending India's decision to vote with 26 other
nations to refer Iran to the UN Security Council over its
nuclear program, which the United States asserts is a cover for
trying to develop atomic weapons. 

The ruling Congress-led coalition's communist allies on whose
support the government relies for its survival in parliament
have denounced India's vote, saying New Delhi's foreign policy
is being dictated by Washington. 

Singh said India's vote did not affect its "strong and valuable
relationship with Iran which we would like to take forward in a
manner that is mutually beneficial," and wanted to ensure no
"shadow is cast on these bonds". 

Energy-hungry India has repeatedly reiterated its commitment to
a seven-billion-dollar pipeline to bring natural gas from Iran
through Pakistan. 

Singh said Iran had the "legal right" to develop peaceful uses
for nuclear energy consistent with its international commitments
and obligations. 

"It is incumbent upon Iran to exercise these rights in the
context of safeguards that it has voluntarily accepted upon its
nuclear program" under the International Atomic Energy Agency"
/> International Atomic Energy Agency, he said. 

New Delhi could not turn a "blind eye" to the possibility of
nuclear proliferation in its neighbourhood, he said. 

Iran has denied it is seeking to develop atomic weapons. 

The UN's nuclear watchdog on February 4 referred Iran to the UN
Security Council over the Islamic republic's nuclear program.
Tehran responded by resuming small-scale uranium enrichment work
last week, defying the West with a program that could make
nuclear reactor fuel or atom bomb material. 

Singh said the dispute over Iran was "a matter of concern for us
as tensions in this region -- where our vital political,
economic and security interests are involved -- affects us
directly". 

Tehran confirmed Friday that it has injected gas into
centrifuges, a crucial step in the process of uranium
enrichment, a high ranking Islamic republic official told
Iranian state television. 

Iran had said it would hold off on industrial-scale enrichment
at a facility with tens of thousands of centrifuges if allowed
to do research, under UN supervision, at a pilot enrichment
facility in Natanz with 164 centrifuges. 

But since its referral to the Security Council, Iran has moved
ahead on enrichment work by testing centrifuges at Natanz. 

London's Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported on February 12 that
US military strategists were drawing up plans for an attack on
Iran as a last resort to stop the Islamic republic from
developing nuclear weapons. 

The United States, which has been strongly pursuing closer
military and commercial ties with India, has been pushing New
Delhi to help isolate Iran. 

Copyright � 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 8 AFP: Russian uranium proposal 'useful': senior Iran legislator -
     
 Fri Feb 17, 2:53 PM ET 		 	 

HAVANA (AFP) - A senior Iranian legislator called Russia's
proposal to enrich uranium for Iran" /> Iran"useful" and said
Tehran was open to talks with Europe and China. 

 "We consider the Russian proposal useful and are prepared to
establish conversations with other European countries and
China," said Iran's parliament president Gholam Ali Hadad-Adel
while on a two-day visit to Cuba. 

"What is important about the Russian proposal and some others is
that they do not prevent Iran from making use of nuclear
energy." 

"If the Russian proposal does not violate any of the rules of
the International Atomic Energy Agency" /> International Atomic
Energy Agency(IAEA), we can study it," he said. 

Tehran has pulled closer to Moscow at the moment that the United
States and some European countries have urged the UN Security
Council to take up the controversy over Iran's nuclear program,
which Washington alleges aims at developing nuclear weapons. 

The IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, will release a crucial report
on Iran at the end of February, a week ahead of a meeting that
could urge UN action against Iran. 

Speaking in a press conference, Hadad-Adel said US pressure on
Iran's nuclear program was "merely a pretext: if we were not
independent, if we depended on the United States and then made
atomic bombs, the United States would not protest." 

Asked about Moscow's position if the Iran question goes to the
Security COuncil, Hadad-Adel said, "We hope Russia does not
follow the politics of the United States." 

The Iranian parliamentarian also expressed strong support for
the victory of the militant Hamas organization in the
Palestinian elections recently, which has dismayed Israel" />
Israeland the United States. 

"We offer our welcome to Hamas' victory because it came by
poplar vote," he said. "Our solution to the Palestinian problem
is to resort to the vote of the people, including Muslims,
Christians and Jews." 

Copyright � 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 9 AFP: Annan welcomes upcoming Iran-Russia nuclear talks

 Fri Feb 17, 6:59 PM ET 		 	 

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN chief Kofi Annan" /> welcomed upcoming
talks between Iran" /> and Russia on a Russian proposal on
uranium enrichment, and urged Tehran to respond positively to
resolve the crisis over its nuclear program. 

 As a permanent, veto-wielding member of the UN Security
Council, "Russia's contribution to bringing all sides back to
the negotiating table is vital," said Annan's spokesman Stephane
Dujarric. 

Under Moscow's plan, Iran's civilian uranium enrichment
requirements would be met entirely at Russian facilities,
allowing Iran to run a nuclear power program without the ability
to divert fuel to an alleged secret weapons project. 

However, there are growing doubts Iran will accept the
compromise, following its decision to restart its own,
small-scale uranium enrichment program, something the United
States and European Union" /> say is unacceptable. 

Annan "trusts that Iran will use the talks in Moscow (Monday)
and the period between now and early March to take the necessary
steps to rebuild confidence that Iran's nuclear program is
exclusively for peaceful purposes," he added in a statement. 

Dujarric said the UN chief hoped that Tehran would respond
positively to the resolutions adopted by the board of governors
of the Vienna-based UN nuclear agency on implementing relevant
provisions of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). 

The statement noted that the current crisis, "if not resolved in
a timely manner, will have negative consequences for regional
and international security and for the future of the nuclear
nonproliferation regime itself." 

"It is time for all those governments who support and rely on
this regime for their own and our collective security to help
resolve this crisis in a way that maintains the regime's
integrity and effectiveness," it added. 

Iran insists its nuclear program is solely designed to generate
electricity. However, Western powers suspect the Islamic
republic is seeking atomic weapons to challenge Israel" /> 's
nuclear supremacy in the volatile Middle East. 

Copyright � 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 10 AFP: Moscow nuclear talks give Iran chance to step back from brink -
     
 Fri Feb 17, 6:08 AM ET 		 	 

MOSCOW (AFP) - Iranian nuclear experts will arrive in Moscow on
Monday to negotiate a Russian proposal on enriching uranium that
is seen as a last chance for Tehran to resolve the deepening
international crisis over its nuclear programme. 

 Under Moscow's plan, Iran" /> 's civilian uranium enrichment
requirements would be met entirely at Russian facilities,
thereby allowing Iran to run a nuclear power programme, without
being able to divert fuel to a secret weapons project. 

However, there were growing doubts Iran would accept the
compromise, following its decision to restart its own
small-scale uranium enrichment, something the United States and
European Union" /> say is inacceptable. 

Opinion has been hardening in the West, with US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice" /> this week branding Iran's government
"a strategic challenge to the United States, to the world, and a
destabilising influence in the Middle East." 

Iran insists its nuclear ambitions are all about scientific
pride and a need for electricity. However, Western powers
suspect the Islamic republic wants atomic weapons to challenge
Israel" /> 's nuclear supremacy in the volatile Middle East. 

France's foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, on Thursday
accused Iran of harbouring "a clandestine, military" project. 

If Iran rejects the Russian plan, tension will rise rapidly
ahead of the March meeting of the UN Security Council, possibly
opening the way to a debate on sanctions -- an escalation that
analysts say could have unpredictable, dangerous consequences. 

Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia's atomic energy agency Rosatom,
said Moscow's offer was very much still on the table. 

"Our offer allows Iran to develop peaceful atomic energy and to
guarantee to the whole world that this will not lead to the
spread of weapons of mass destruction," he told Kommersant
newspaper this week. 

But a Western diplomat underlined that Russia's plan was far
from a done deal, given the end to Iran's enrichment moratorium. 

"We've been broadly supportive of the Russian joint venture
idea," the diplomat said, asking not to be identified. But "it's
hard not to be sceptical about what happens on Monday." 

Russia is doubly interested in resolving the row, analysts say.
Moscow has no desire to see Iran become nuclear armed and is
also Iran's closest nuclear partner, with Russian engineers in
the latter stages of building the country's first atomic power
station at Bushehr. 

Three days after the Iranian delegation visits Moscow, Kiriyenko
is due to travel to Iran, partly to inspect the Bushehr
construction site. 

A high-ranking Russian diplomat quoted by state-run ITAR-TASS
news agency said he was expecting "fruitful talks with Iran" and
underlined that "the Russian side intends to firmly urge the
Iranian colleagues to resume the moratorium.... This would help
reduce tension." 

But Moscow's hard-won status as "virtually the sole mediator"
has been undermined by Iran's defiant stand, the independent
newspaper Gazeta said. 

"Judging by that, Russia's peacemaking efforts have no value in
the eyes of the West," Gazeta wrote. 

Western military analysts and politicians have raised the
possibility of US military attacks -- probably a massive bombing
campaign -- to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities in the absence
of any diplomatic deal. 

Tehran warns that it is ready to retaliate. 

"We have worked on all defensive and offensive scenarios for any
possible attacks," Revolutionary Guards chief General Yahya
Rahim Safavi told state television. 

There was no official confirmation of which Iranian officials
were expected in Moscow. However, Interfax news agency quoted a
counsellor in Russia's Tehran embassy as saying that Supreme
National Security Council member Javad Vaidi will likely lead
the delegation and stay one or two days. 	 		 			
					 						Recommend It: 						Not at All 						Somewhat
Copyright � 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 11 MH: U.S. pressing ElBaradei to agree to safeguard both new SWU
plants - Mark Hibbs
 
Copyright 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
 http://www.mcgrawhill.com All Rights Reserved Nuclear Fuels 
January 30, 2006 

SECTION: Pg. 1 Vol. 31 No. 3

 Bonn 

At an IAEA meeting in Vienna Jan. 15, representatives from the
U.S. government urged the IAEA to quickly agree to apply
safeguards to two planned U.S. SWU plants, the LES and USEC Inc.
centrifuge enrichment plants, said Vienna officials. 

The request follows from a 1981-83 safeguards agreement, the
Hexapartite Safeguards Project, whereby six countries?the U.K.,
Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and U.S., in
conjunction with Euratom and the IAEA as observers?agreed that
all civil centrifuge enrichment plants must be subjected to
permanent IAEA inspections. The IAEA, said one official, "is now
between a rock and a hard place" because it has a policy of not
applying any more safeguards in nuclear weapons states for
reasons of high cost/benefit ratio. 

Sources said the U.S. pointed out that, since construction of
the USEC plant is slated to begin in 2008, it is imperative that
IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei make a decision soon to
ensure USEC begins safeguards preparations early such that
requirements do not jeopardize the project's timetable. 

There is said to be less concern about safeguards preparations
for the LES plant, in part because formal agreements between the
U.S. and Urenco states from the early 1990s provide the basis
for safeguards. In addition, all Urenco plants in Europe are
covered by a virtually uniform safeguards regime that would
serve as the model for safeguarding LES. 

U.S. officials have underscored to the IAEA that the U.S.
supports having IAEA safeguards on new SWU plants in the U.S.
because the U.S. has been urging more safeguards be applied on
centrifuge enrichment programs elsewhere and has supported the
Vienna agency during difficult negotiations with Brazil and
Iran. U.S. officials said that underlying the Hexapartite
agreement is an IAEA commitment to apply safeguards to
centrifuge plants in the U.K. and the U.S. They also pointed out
that the IAEA applied safeguards during the brief operation of
DOE's gas centrifuge plant in Portsmouth, Ohio, from 1983 to
1985. 

The IAEA had established a policy during the 1990s of not adding
to its task load any additional safeguarding responsibilities in
nuclear weapons state parties of the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty (NPT). 

Hexapartite members discussed ambiguous language in a paragraph
of the agreement concerning the IAEA's safeguards
responsibilities on "planned future facilities," but in the end
all six parties agreed that the agreement gave the IAEA a
mandate to safeguard the new plants in the U.S. 

During the late 1990s, the IAEA agreed to safeguard one of two
enrichment facilities built in China equipped with Russian gas
centrifuges. In this case, however, the Japanese government
agreed to pay for the cost of safeguarding the Chinese SWU
plants as a regional confidence building measure. Since then,
diplomatic sources said, the future commitment of IAEA states to
pay for safeguards on processing plants in weapons states has
become very uncertain. Some sources suggested it is doubtful
whether Japan will agree to indefinitely pay for the cost of
IAEA safeguards on the Chinese installation. 

At the Hexapartite discussion in Vienna this month, it was
pointed out that, if the IAEA would not agree to pay for
safeguards at the U.S. enrichment plants, the U.S. itself could
fund the program by making an extra-budgetary contribution to
the IAEA. That, however, one Vienna official said, "would make
things awkward for France," since in parallel with the LES and
USEC facilities, the three Urenco countries in the Hexapartite
group have "insisted" that IAEA safeguards be applied to a
French enrichment plant to be equipped with Urenco design gas
centrifuges (see related story, page 3). 

Anticipating objections from the IAEA on budget grounds,
Hexapartite agreement members this month discussed some
possibilities for reducing the "visit load" pertaining to IAEA
surveillance of the U.S. SWU plants, including developing
continuous encrypted data relaying, for example on the status of
seals, from the plants to Vienna headquarters. 
The Hexapartite members "agreed to kick this issue down the
road" and to an eventual final decision by ElBaradei, one Vienna
official said. "But the bottom line is that it will be up to
(IAEA Deputy General for Safeguards Olli) Heinonen to find the
money to do this," the official said. 
*****************************************************************
 12 IRNA: German economic minister rejects sanction threats against Iran -
      
, Feb 17, IRNA                                                                                                           

German Economic Minister Michael Glos rejected sanction calls
against Iran, branding it senseless, the press reported Friday.

 "I think nothing of discussions about economic sanctions," Glos
said during a meeting of the German Near and Middle East
Association (NUMOV).

 The official urged other means to insert influence on Tehran to
ensure Iran's nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.

 German exports to Iran rose sharply in 2005, reaching 4.1
billion euros during the first 11 months of the past year.

 Iran is Germany's main trading partner in the Middle East,
surpassing the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.





*****************************************************************
 13 IRNA: Jannati: Nuclear power, Iran's red line -

Feb 17, IRNA                                                                                                           

Provisional Friday Prayers Leader of Tehran Ayatollah Ahmad
Jannati emphasized here Friday that nuclear power is Iran's red
line presently, adding, "We cannot step back over that line."

 Addressing hundreds of worshipers at Tehran University, the
Friday preacher addressed the Westerners in his second sermon,
saying, "No matter how much you would threaten us, show us teeth
and nails, and sneer at us angrily, our people would keep on
resistance over that line."

 The Guardians Council Secretary reiterated, "You keep on
threatening, never stopping for a moment to think which one of
the moves you have made so far benefitted you. Could you have
taken any move worse than that military attack? You launched
missile attacks and showered our people with bombs for eight
years. What benefit did you get out of it? Were we the losers
(in that war), or were you?" He emphasized, "That war had lots
of benefits for us. The war was so blessed for us that it led to
the emergence of a brisk military power that is fully ready of
defending the barriers of Islam and this country. As a result,
no greedy enemy would dare approaching our borders once again.

We were the ones that gained the benefits of that war, and you
were not only the losers, but also the defamed ones in it till
the Dooms Day."

 Jannati added, "They have erected a scare crow there (at the
United Nations), and whoever they wish to scare they threaten
with the Security Council. Is this security, or crisis?"

 He said, "I believe we made mistakes in nuclear field from the
beginning. From the beginning we assumed that since they had
threatened to take us to the Security Council, it would be
better for us to take one step toward them, fearing the Security
Council. But again in the second step they threatened us with
the Security Council, and in the third step there was still the
Security Council threat."

 The Friday preacher added, "They kept on doing that till they
showed us the Security Council scare crow to halt permanently
even our nuclear research works."

 The provisional prayer leader said, "What an ill-fame world we
are living in. Is it logical to say you are not entitled to run
scientific works, or to do research work? We had voluntarily
suspended our certain activities, but did they ever abandon
their illogical demands? They got back to step one in the long
run instead."

 Addressing the people, Jannati said, "You revolutionary people
have resisted in confrontation with all hardships, and today,
too, we are continuing on the same path."

 He said, "There are only two possibilities. Either they would
come to their senses and refrain form taking any move that would
harm themselves, us, and the world, in which case there would be
no problem, and we would pass through (this crisis) intact. But
if they would make a silly move, I assure you they would suffer
graver losses than us, as the case was in the past."

 Addressing the US administration and the West, Jannati said,
"The world would last longer than a single day. So think about
your tomorrow, too."

*****************************************************************
 14 Guardian Unlimited: Rice: N.Korean Claims Get 'Litle Traction'
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Friday February 17, 2006 9:31 AM

By FOSTER KLUG 

Associated Press Writer 

WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says North
Korea is getting ``little traction'' with its claim that U.S.
financial sanctions are the reason the North won't return to
international nuclear talks. 

``It's simply the responsibility of the United States government
to pursue these measures if someone is trying to counterfeit our
currency,'' Rice told the House International Relations
Committee on Thursday. 

Washington repeatedly has said that financial restrictions meant
to halt alleged weapons proliferation and counterfeit currency
distribution by North Korea are unconnected to efforts by South
Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States to persuade
the North to abandon its nuclear programs. 

``The North Koreans are getting very little traction with other
states with the argument that that's the reason they won't go
back to six-party talks,'' Rice said. 

America, she said, is prepared to restart the negotiations
immediately. ``It is our hope that the North Koreans will come
back and come back seriously,'' she said. ``We're ready.'' 

At a separate hearing Thursday, a Treasury Department official
said U.S. sanctions are disrupting the ability of North Korean
and Iranian companies to help their countries develop nuclear
weapons. 

Robert Werner, director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets
Control, said U.S. actions have helped unravel support networks
that allow the development of nuclear weapons. 

``We target not only the missile or bomb maker, but the
procurement fronts, the brokers and middlemen, the logistical
apparatus used to move dangerous weapons to market and the
financiers,'' he told a House Financial Services subcommittee
hearing. 

He acknowledged, however, that ``we're still learning; it's a
very, very complicated area.'' 

In October, Treasury designated eight North Korean companies it
said had engaged in financial transactions related to weapons
proliferation. In January, the department targeted two
Tehran-based companies with alleged ties to Iran's nuclear
program. 

Werner was asked how North Korea's alleged program to
counterfeit U.S. currency had helped the nation develop weapons.
He said the North's sophisticated counterfeiting program
provides the country crucial financial resources, but he said he
lacked further details. 

Rice testified that the United States also is working to push
other countries to speak out against human rights violations in
North Korea. 

Rice met recently with Jay Lefkowitz, President Bush's special
envoy on North Korea's human rights record, and she told
lawmakers that ``we are going to get him out more.'' 

She added that, ``We need the rest of the international
community to also pay attention to this issue.'' 

The European Union's human rights dialogue with North Korea,
Rice said, ``is largely moribund.'' 

She said America also has been pursuing the issue with South
Korea, which, she added, ``is not always an easy conversation.'' 

South Korea has balked at raising the North's human rights
record in public, fearing its criticism might anger the
communist regime and complicate efforts to resolve the nuclear
standoff. 
		 	 	   
      Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 15 Las Vegas SUN: Supreme Court to Rehear Whistleblower Case 

Today: February 17, 2006 at 12:46:30 PST 

ASSOCIATED PRESS 

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court said Friday that it will
again hear arguments in the free-speech case of a whistleblower,
apparently so that the new justice can break a tie. 

The appeal was among about 20 that were heard, but not resolved,
before Justice Sandra Day O'Connor retired late last month and
was replaced by Samuel Alito. 

The Bush administration wants the court to use the case to make
it harder for government whistleblowers to win lawsuits claiming
retaliation. Justices had seemed conflicted last October when
they took up the appeal involving Los Angeles County prosecutor
Richard Ceballos, who asserted he was demoted for trying to
expose a lie by a sheriff's deputy. 

It was not clear from Friday's announcement if the case was the
only one that will require a new argument session because of a
4-4 split. Justices also did not set a date for the case to be
reargued. 

The case is Garcetti v. Ceballos, 04-473. 

All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 16 Las Vegas SUN: Judge Orders Spying Documents Released 

Today: February 17, 2006 at 10:47:5 PST 

By KATHERINE SHRADER ASSOCIATED PRESS 

WASHINGTON (AP) - 

A federal judge ordered the Bush administration on Thursday to
release documents about its warrantless surveillance program or
spell out what it is withholding, a setback to efforts to keep
the program under wraps. 

At the same time, the Republican chairman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee said he had worked out an agreement with
the White House to consider legislation and provide more
information to Congress on the eavesdropping program. The
panel's top Democrat, who has requested a full-scale
investigation, immediately objected to what he called an
abdication of the committee's responsibilities. 

U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy ruled that a private group,
the Electronic Privacy Information Center, will suffer
irreparable harm if the documents it has been seeking since
December are not processed promptly under the Freedom of
Information Act. He gave the Justice Department 20 days to
respond to the group's request. 

"President Bush has invited meaningful debate about the wireless
surveillance program," Kennedy said. "That can only occur if DOJ
processes its FOIA requests in a timely fashion and releases the
information sought." 

Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said the
department has been "extremely forthcoming" with information and
"will continue to meet its obligations under FOIA." 

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers also have been seeking more
information about Bush's program that allowed the National
Security Agency to eavesdrop - without court warrants - on
Americans whose international calls and e-mails it believed
might be linked to al-Qaida. 

After a two-hour closed-door session, Senate Intelligence
Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said the committee adjourned
without voting on whether to open an investigation. Instead, he
and the White House confirmed that they had an agreement to give
lawmakers more information on the nature of the program. The
White House also has committed to make changes to the current
law, according to Roberts and White House deputy press secretary
Dana Perino. 

"I believe that such an investigation at this point ... would be
detrimental to this highly classified program and efforts to
reach some accommodation with the administration," Roberts said. 

Still, he promised to consider the Democratic request for a vote
in a March 7 meeting. 

Earlier, Bush spokesman Scott McClellan reiterated that Bush
does not need Congress' approval to authorize the warrantless
eavesdropping and that the president would resist any
legislation that might compromise the program. 

Later Thursday, Bush adviser Karl Rove told at the University of
Central Arkansas: "The purpose of the terrorist-surveillance
program is to protect lives. The president's actions were legal
and fully consistent with the 4th Amendment and the protection
of our civil liberties under the constitution." 

West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the Intelligence Committee's
top Democrat, said the White House had applied heavy pressure to
Republicans to prevent them from conducting thorough oversight.
He complained that Roberts didn't even allow a vote on a
proposal for a 13-point investigation that would include the
program's origin and operation, technical aspects and questions
raised by federal judges. 

Rockefeller said the Senate cannot consider legislation because
lawmakers don't have enough information. "No member of the
Senate can cast an informed vote on legislation authorizing or
conversely restricting the NSA's warrantless surveillance
program, when they fundamentally do not know what they are
authorizing or restricting," he said. 

It remains unclear what changes in law may look like. Roberts
indicated it may be possible "to fix" the 1978 Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act to authorize the president's
program. Perino said the White House considers suggestions put
forward by Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, the starting point,
particularly his proposal to create a special subcommittee on
Capitol Hill that would regularly review the program. 

DeWine's proposal would exempt Bush's program from FISA. That
law set up a special court to approve warrants for monitoring
inside the United States for national security investigations. 

Yet Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va.,
left the closed hearing saying he has been working on a
different legislative change to FISA. "It seems that's a logical
place to start, to upgrade FISA given the extraordinary expanse
of technology in the 30 years that have lapsed," he said. 

Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., told a forum at
Georgetown University Law School Thursday night, "You cannot
have domestic search and seizure without a warrant." He is
drafting legislation to require the foreign surveillance court
to review Bush's program and determine if it is constitutional. 

California Rep. Jane Harman, ranking Democrat on the House
Intelligence Committee, told the Georgetown audience the
surveillance "can and must comply" with the law requiring
warrants from the special court. However, she supported the need
to conduct electronic eavesdropping to combat terrorism. 

Specter's committee will continue to probe the program's
legality at a Feb. 28 hearing. The Justice Department strongly
discouraged him from calling former Attorney General John
Ashcroft and his deputy, James Comey, to testify about the
surveillance program. 

Just as Attorney General Alberto Gonzales could not talk about
the administration's internal deliberations when he appeared
before the committee earlier this month, neither can Ashcroft
nor Comey, Assistant Attorney General William Moschella said in
a letter to Specter. 

--- 

Associated Press writers Jennifer Loven, Mark Sherman and Larry
Margasak contributed to this report. 

         All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 17 RIA Novosti: Russian, Norwegian foreign ministers to meet in Moscow

17/ 02/ 2006                                  

MOSCOW, February 17 (RIA Novosti) - The foreign ministers of
Russia and Norway will meet in Moscow Friday to discuss problems
connected with the fishing industry and delineating maritime
borders, as well as energy projects and other important issues,
a spokesman said.

 "A number of topical bilateral issues will be discussed in the
traditionally open spirit of Russian and Norwegian contacts,"
Mikhail Kamynin said. "In particular, the talks will focus on
the demarcation of borders in the Barents Sea and fishing issues
in the Spitsbergen region."

 Russian trawlers were involved in a spate of incidents with
Norwegian border guards toward the end of last year. Two
vessels, the Kapitan Gorbachev and the Dmitry Pokramovich, were
detained by the Norwegian Coast Guard on October 24, 2005 and
released four days after posting bail. The Norwegian authorities
had detained the trawlers near Medvezhy Island in the Barents
Sea after the boats entered a 12-mile exclusion zone without
permission. 

The Norwegian authorities accused the ships' crews of
unauthorized fish reloading in Norway's territorial waters. 

These arrests came in the wake of a more serious drama in the
middle of October, when the Norwegian authorities pursued
another trawler, the Elektron, for five days across the Barents
Sea. The captain had been accused of violating fishing
regulations and held two Norwegian border guards on board the
ship until it reached Russian territorial waters. 

Touching upon other matters, Kamynin said that Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov would also discuss bilateral trade and
investment cooperation with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr
Stoere.

 "The focus will be on prospects for the joint exploration of
the oil and gas shelf in northern seas," Kamynin said.

 Stoere said Thursday that Oslo and Moscow had talked about the
possible role Norwegian companies could play in the Shtokman gas
condensate field project.

 Norwegian energy groups Statoil and Norsk Hydro are on a
shortlist of five Western companies - alongside the U.S. giants
Chevron and ConocoPhillips and France's Total - to join Russian
natural gas monopoly Gazprom in developing the vast Shtokman gas
field off the Arctic coast.

 According to the spokesman, the two ministers also plan to
discuss the Iranian nuclear issue and Moscow's invitation to
Russia of a Hamas delegation.

 The Norwegian foreign minister started his official visit to
Russia on February 14. He has already met with the governor of
the Murmansk Region in northern Russia, the governor of St.
Petersburg and First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
 
� 2005 "RIA Novosti"   
*****************************************************************
 18 BBC: Japan races to hit Kyoto targets
 
Last Updated: Thursday, 16 February 2006
 
By Jonathan Head BBC News, Tokyo   

[Geisha in Kyoto (Getty Images)]                                

The international climate treaty was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan, 
in 1997                                                            

As the country which hosted the 1997 Kyoto conference on climate 
change, Japan has always been one of its strongest advocates, 
ratifying the treaty in June 2002. 

Like other industrialized countries, Japan has committed itself 
to reducing its carbon emissions substantially by the year 2010 - 
in Japan's case to 6% less than 1990 levels. 

But despite its good intentions, Japan's performance has been 
embarrassingly weak - carbon emissions have actually increased by 
nearly 8%. 

At this rate it has little chance of meeting the obligations it 
signed up to, sending a dispiriting signal to other Asian 
countries which are likely to become some of the biggest 
greenhouse gas producers over the next decade. 

One of Japan's difficulties is that it was already very 
energy-efficient at the time of the Kyoto treaty. The country has 
few natural energy sources of its own, making its vital 
manufacturing industries highly dependent on imported fuel. 

Nuclear investment 

So when the two oil shocks of the 1970s pushed up prices, Japan 
set about using its technological ingenuity to cut down on its 
fuel consumption. 

There was a huge investment in nuclear power stations; Japan 
relies on nuclear power for one third of its electricity 
production. 

[Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizum (AFP/Getty)] Prime 
Minister Junichiro Koizum ordered air-conditioning in government 
offices to be set at a sweltering 28 degrees           
	   	
Household appliances have continued to become more and more 
efficient, and the government has drawn up a law that would 
require manufacturers of air-conditioners, the heaviest drain on 
household electricity, to design units that consume 20% less 
power by 2010. 

Solar panels are more widely used in Japan than anywhere else; 
households equipped with them can sell back their surplus 
electricity to the national grid. 

And Japanese manufacturers, from steel, to cars, to electronics, 
are some of the most energy-efficient in the world. 

Which means making further cuts in emissions will cost Japan a 
lot more money per tonne of carbon than it will cost the USA or 
EU. 

No surprise then that Japan has shown great interest in the Clean 
Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto protocol, which allows 
businesses in industrialized countries either to buy carbon 
credits from countries which will exceed their Kyoto targets or 
are not bound by them, or to earn credits by investing in 
carbon-reducing projects in countries where it is easier and 
cheaper to achieve new efficiencies. 

'Carbon exchange' 

For example, the Tokyo-based power company Tepco is investing in 
a cassava-processing plant in Thailand, installing furnaces to 
burn the methane, a greenhouse gas, produced by the plant for 
power generation. 

More than forty such CDM projects by Japanese companies have been 
approved by the Japanese government since 2002. 

It is now drawing up legislation to ensure this carbon trading is 
properly accounted, and a Dutch company is planning to establish 
the country's first "carbon exchange", where carbon credits can 
be traded. 

The culture of energy-efficiency is impressively deep-rooted 
here. Last summer Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi initiated a 
fashion known as "cool-biz", when he ordered air-conditioning in 
government offices to be set at a sweltering 28 degrees, and told 
officials and members of parliament to abandon their jackets and 
ties. 

The reverse has happened this winter; some town councils have 
adopted a "warm-biz" theme, turning off the heat and working at 
their desks in blankets and overcoats. 

Japan already makes some of the world's most energy-efficient 
cars, and is adept at persuading American drivers, the world's 
greatest gas-guzzlers, to buy them. 

Its manufacturers are ahead of everyone else in developing 
revolutionary fuel-cell engines, which produce no emissions, 
although they are still far too expensive for mass-production. 

Even with all this, and the system of carbon credits, there is 
every likelihood Japan will fail to meet its Kyoto commitments. 

But it will not be for want of trying. 		 	 		 	 	 



*****************************************************************
 19 Indian Express: N-submarine project finally moves ahead

Saturday, February 18, 2006          

SHIV AROOR                                
  	 
VIZAG/NEW DELHI, FEB 17: With some progress finally made on the 
compact reactors that will ultimately power the country�s 
indigenous nuclear submarines, the advanced technology vessel 
(ATV) project facility at Visakhapatnam is being expanded for 
crucial tests scheduled for later this year.

Speaking off the record, a government source in Visakhapatnam 
told The Indian Express, ��Efforts to miniaturise the pressurised 
heavy water reactors that will power the submarines have made 
some progress, though lot of work is left. The nuclear 
establishment has conveyed to us that some preliminary tests 
could be carried out shortly.�� He only indicated specific 
movement on the ATV�s dynamometer and drive turbine this year.

Unlike the highly concealed nature of the project itself, it is
no secret that Russia is a key partner. However, after
functioning under a somewhat unofficial advisory role, sources
said Moscow has proposed the possibility of signing an advanced
systems pact.

The Navy is keen to lease two Russian Akula-class nuclear
submarines in the interim both as an operational platform and as
a testing ground for certain indigenous technologies developed
under the ATV project. South Block sources said the effort had
��slowed down, but not died out��. It is coincidence that
President A P J Abdul Kalam at the Fleet Review said it was time
for the country to build long range submarines, but sources
indicated work was expedited in last 10 months .

� 2005: Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd.
All rights reserved throughout the world.               
*****************************************************************
 20 Deccan Herald: No need for India, US rush on N-plan, says expert - 

Saturday, February 18, 2006       
    
  From Shyam Bhatia
 DH News Service Washington, DC: 
  
  A key member of the former Clinton administration says there is 
no reason for India and the US to rush to reach an agreement on 
the nuclear separation plan before ..... 

A key member of the former Clinton administration says there is
no reason for India and the US to rush to reach an agreement on
the nuclear separation plan before President George Bush arrives
in New Delhi. 

As Bushs departure date for India looms, there is speculation in
Washington about whether a credible plan for separating New
Delhis military and civilian nuclear facilities could be
presented for approval to US lawmakers before the President jets
off. 

But Rick Karl Inderfurth, who was Assistant Secretary of State
for South Asia during the Clinton era and is now professor of
the practice of international affairs at George Washington
University, says this is the wrong way of looking at the issue. 

l think that it would be a mistake to rush this agreement or to
make it the lynchpin of the Presidents visit to New Delhi,
Inderfurth told Deccan Herald. 

I think this is an important agreement for both countries and it
has as much to say about Indias own security as it does for
non-proliferation. But its also complicated and controversial. A
lot of questions are being asked in both capitals. And my
feeling is that we have many items on our agenda to be pursuing;
we do not have to have one issue dominate that agenda. 

Bedevilling issues 

So if its not ready to be finalised by the time the president
goes, take the time thats necessary... All of these things that
are being discussed in this agreement are ones that have
bedevilled US-India relations for years. 

Inderfurths comments follow last Wednesdays meeting between two
senior bureaucrats of the current Bush administration and the
chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
Senator Richard Lugar, who was briefed on current state of
negotiations between Delhi and Washington. 

The bureaucrats were Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns,
who has been involved in laying the ground work for the Bush
visit, and Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and
International Security Robert Joseph. 

Nevertheless, Richard Boucher, the Assistant Secretary of
State-designate for South and Central Asia told the same
committee that Burns could return to Delhi next week if there
was any chance of agreeing a credible separation plan before the
presidential visit. According to Inderfurth, the issue of the
nuclear separation plan should not be allowed to cloud what he
describes as the turning point in the bilateral relationship. 

His comments are significant because they represent a bipartisan
perspective of where Washington and Delhi are heading. 

A corner was turned with the visit to India by President
Clinton, Inderfurth explained. Brajesh Mishra described that as
a turning point in the new relationship. I like that expression
because it did represent a turning point from estrangement to
engagement. And President Bush and his administration have taken
that turning point and moved us even further down the road in
our relations, accelerated progress in many areas. 

The visit of Prime Minister Singh in July and now the visit to
India by President Bush in March 2006 is just a further
indication of just how far and how fast this relationship has
come in a relatively short space of time. 

I think its very substantive and I think there is a recognition
of two key countries that will play a key and very important
role in the 21st century. We ought to be working together. 

What I have referred to a number of times is a report by the
National Intelligence Council mapping the global future. These
are smart people and they are looking to the next 20 years. They
said in the report that just as the rise of Germany defined the
19th century, the rise of America defined the 20th century and
now the rise of China and India will define the 21st century. 

I thought to myself, wow, that is quite a statement of a
geopolitical shift. 

Inderfurth said the Bush visit was also important because this
was the first time that successive American Presidents  first
Clinton and now Bush  have visited Delhi. There was a 22-year
gap between the visits of Presidents Carter and Clinton. 

Now, we have a visit by a Democrat President in 2000 and a
Republican President in 2006, Inderfurth said. Henceforward
American Presidents will see India as a required not just a
desired destination when they travel abroad to visit the
capitals of our allies and friends. This has established a
precedent that will be followed up by future presidents, whether
they be Republicans or Democrats and this is laying the
groundwork for a long term and sustainable relationship between
the two countries. 

It is a multifaceted relationship and thats important because if
the relationship has many different dimensions  if there is
disagreement in one sphere, the agreement in other parts will
provide the ballast for the relationship to go forward. 

More details about the Bush visit will be revealed when Indian
ambassador Ronen Sen briefs the media coming Tuesday. The
following day former Foreign Secretary Salman Haidar will
address a seminar on what the presidential visit will mean for
US-India relations. Next Thursday a group of US academics are
due to discuss the same issue at the premises of a leading US
think tank, the Brookings Institution.   

  Copyright 2005, The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd., 75, M.G.
Road, Post Box No 5331, Bangalore - 560001
 Tel: +91 (80) 25880000 Fax No. +91 (80) 25880523   
*****************************************************************
 21 AFP: Bush defends US-India nuclear deal 

 Fri Feb 17, 5:04 PM ET 		 	 

TAMPA, United States (AFP) - US President George W. Bush" />
defended a controversial US-India agreement on civilian nuclear
power as "good policy" and a key issue ahead of his early March
visit to South Asia. 

"I believe that it's good policy for the United States to
encourage these emerging economies to use clean energy, nuclear
power, so as to help reduce demand for kind of non-renewables,"
he said during a visit here. 

"And so I'm going to talk to them about development of a
civilian nuclear power industry," said Bush, who told the crowd
he would be going to India "on March the 1st, around that period
of time." 

Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed on the
basic outline of the civil nuclear cooperation initiative in
Washington in July last year, and the two countries hope to seal
an agreement before the president's visit. 

The landmark bilateral agreement requires India to separate
civilian and military nuclear programs. 

The United States came under fire in January after its envoy in
New Delhi warned that the nuclear deal could be squelched if
India voted against Western wishes to refer Iran" /> 's nuclear
program to the UN Security Council. 

Copyright � 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 22 IRNA: India, France to sign Peaceful Nuke Cooperation Declaration -
      
New Delhi, Feb 17, IRNA                                                                                                                  

India-France-Cooperation 

India and France will sign a `Declaration' on development of 
nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and an agreement on Defence 
cooperation during the upcoming visit of French President Jacques 
Chirac here on February 19-20, taking their strategic partnership 
forward.

 The two countries will also sign several agreements and 
Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) including on Tourism 
cooperation.

 External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said at a
press briefing that ANTRIX (commercial arm of the Indian Space
Research Organization--ISRO) will sign a contract with EADS
Astrium to jointly build a satellite for Eutelsat.

 MOUs on cooperation between IIM Ahmedabad and ESSEC of France
and between Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and AEDEME of
France are also expected to be signed.

 The French President, who will be accompanied by Ministers for
Foreign, Defence and Finance and Industry, and Ministers of
State for Tourism and Foreign Trade, and a 30-member business
delegation, will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
here on February 20 on intensifying bilateral cooperation in
various areas including political, economic, Defence, space and
civilian nuclear energy.

 President Chirac's visit is a "reflection of the commitment by
India and France to vigorously pursue their strategic
partnership," Sarna said.

 Prime Minister Singh had visited France in September last year
while he was on his way to attend the 60th session of the UN
General Assembly.

 President Chirac had visited India as Prime Minister in 1976
and again as President in January 1998. On both occasions, he
was the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade.

 On February 20, President A P J Abdul Kalam will host a banquet
in his honor.

 Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani will call on
President Chirac who will deliver a key-note address at Vigyan
Bhavan on `India-France Economic partnership.' The two countries
initiated a strategic partnership in January 1998 during
President Chirac's visit.

 The two sides have agreed to make efforts to double bilateral
trade in five years from the present 3.5 billion Euros.

 Cooperation between the two countries ranges from
high-technology areas including nuclear energy, space and
Defence to chemicals, infrastructure and food processing.

*****************************************************************
 23 IPS-English BALKANS: Nuclear Energy Needed, But Not Welcome
 
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 14:11:03 -0800

<x-flowed>
ROMAIPS EU IP EN=20
BALKANS: Nuclear Energy Needed, But Not Welcome
By Vesna Peric Zimonjic

BELGRADE, Feb 17 (IPS) - The energy crisis brought on by reduced deliveri=
es of Russian gas have led to a new debate on building nuclear power plan=
ts.

The biggest of the countries of former Yugoslavia, Croatia and Serbia, ha=
ve growing energy demands due to their increasing industrial and househol=
d consumption, but they also have strong anti-nuclear lobbies.=20

Most people also oppose nuclear power, fearing accidents and environmenta=
l damage, whatever the possible benefits and lower electricity prices.=20

But Croatia plans to build at least one nuclear power plant by 2015. =94I=
t is the Kyoto Protocol on reducing damaging transmission into the atmosp=
here that obliges us to close down the old (thermal) plants, but also the=
  strategy of the European Union (EU) that stimulates alternative electric=
ity production,=94 head of the Croatian Energy Institute Goran Granic tol=
d local media. Croatia is expected to join the EU by the end of the decad=
e.

One proposed site is on the banks of the Danube in Erdut in eastern Croat=
ia, where the river marks the natural border with Serbia. Another is a si=
te between Ivanic Grad and Dugo Selo on the river Sava, only 30 km east o=
f capital Zagreb.=20

Both locations were mentioned 20 years ago as possible sites when Yugosla=
via was still a single country. It had then one nuclear power plant at Kr=
sko, at the border of Slovenia and Croatia, and planned to build several =
more. Krsko became operational in the early 1980s, with American equipmen=
t.

But plans to build nuclear plants at these sites were never carried out b=
ecause of problems at Krsko, where reactors were closed from time to time=
  due to technical problems. Fears grew further after the nuclear accident=
  at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine 20 years ago.

Now new opposition has arisen. =94Nuclear power plants destroy eco-system=
s, demand large amounts of water, and cause pollution,=94 Ljiljanka Mitos=
, an activist from Osijek town close to the Erdut site told IPS.=20

=94The Danube river would be in danger, and it is protected by numerous E=
uropean conventions due to its importance,=94 Mitos said. The Danube, one=
  of the longest and most important European rivers, winds through Croatia=
  and Serbia on way to the Black Sea in Romania. =20

=94There is also a sensitive political thing,=94 Mitos said. =94Erdut is =
on the border with Serbia, and the two countries still have a lot to do t=
o smooth their relations.=94=20

The two nations fought a bitter war in the early 1990s. Normalisation of =
relations is under way, but slowly.=20

There seems to be little concern over energy sources in Serbia. A recent =
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) study titled 'Stuck in the Pa=
st' urged quick expansion of energy resources, but little was done to tac=
kle the issue.=20

=94We came to the dramatic conclusion that neither the people nor the pol=
iticians in Serbia are aware how important energy is,=94 sociologist Srec=
ko Mihajlovic, who was the project team leader for the study told IPS. =94=
No one seems to be aware that energy makes the basis for quality of life,=
  not only now, but also for generations to come.=94

Mihajlovic said such views have their origins in the myth that Serbia's n=
umerous hydro and thermal plants produce more than enough energy for its =
needs. Serbia has coal mines, while oil is regarded as something that com=
es naturally from abroad. (END/IPS/EU/IP/EN/VZ/SS/06)=20

=20

=20
=3D 02171854 ORP015
NNNN

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 24 Platts: Exelon to review tritium-handling systems at all 10 nuclear units
 
Washington (Platts)--15Feb2006
 
Exelon Nuclear Wednesday said it will assess the tritium-handling 
systems of each of its 10 nuclear power plants and will take the 
actions needed to minimize the risk of inadvertent discharge of 
tritium to the environment. 

     The assessments will take place in 2006 and will cover 
pipes, pumps, valves, tanks and other pieces of equipment that 
carry tritiated water in and around the plants. 

     The initiative is intended to significantly reduce the 
possibility of a tritium release of the type that occurred at the 
lake "blowdown" line at Exelon's Braidwood Generating Station 
near Braceville, Illinois. While Exelon said the Braidwood leak 
posed no health or safety threat to the environment or the 
public, the company recognizes that "inadvertent releases are 
unacceptable and we are committed to eliminating them." 

     The initiative also will establish new standards for 
inspections, responses to, and remediation of tritium releases 
that have the potential to affect the environment or the public, 
Exelon said. 

     Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is found 
naturally in small concentrations in most surface water. It is 
produced in higher concentrations in water used in nuclear 
reactors and is a byproduct of commercial nuclear power 
production. Tritium is typically discharged into the environment 
under strict federal guidelines, the company said.

Copyright � 2006 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill 
Companies]   
*****************************************************************
 25 APP.COM: Radioactive leaks in Ill. spur Lacey water tests
                   
| Asbury Park Press Online

Friday, February 17, 2006

Exelon will check its 17 reactors

BY NICHOLAS CLUNN STAFF WRITER

LACEY � Exelon, the owner of the Oyster Creek Generating Station, 
will test ground water around the bayside facility this year 
after the company found underground radioactive leaks at three of 
its nuclear power plants in Illinois.

The company plans to assess all 17 of its reactors in three 
states to minimize the risk of inadvertent discharges of tritium, 
a radioactive substance commonly found in ground water and in 
more concentrated amounts in water used in reactors.

Long-term exposure to tritium through drinking or bathing can 
lead to cancer and birth defects, studies have shown.

There have been no reports of residents near Exelon plants 
experiencing any side effects related to being exposed to high 
amounts of tritium.

Tests for 28 property owners near the Braidwood plant, about 60 
miles southwest of Chicago, showed tritium levels in private 
wells within federal drinking water limits.

But the utility said last month it would buy out one property 
owner near Braidwood and negotiate financial settlements with 14 
others.

One well at Braidwood showed levels more than 11 times higher 
than the federal limit for ground water, according to the U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Another test well near the center of the Dresden plant in 
Illinois showed a tritium level 25 times that of the federal 
limit for safe drinking water. Surrounding test wells, however, 
had levels at or lower than the limit, indicating a localized 
concentration.

Similar test wells will be dug at Oyster Creek and at Exelon's
other plants, company officials announced Wednesday.

A tritium leak also was found at the Illinois Byron plant.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has never
taken ground water samples at the Oyster Creek plant, but
regularly monitors drinking water, crops and shellfish around
the site, said DEP spokesman Fred Mumford.

The Lacey Township Municipal Utilities Authority's seven wells
draw water from two aquifers for the 25,000 township residents.

Exelon operates the largest nuclear fleet in the nation. The
company, based in Illinois, became Oyster Creek's sole owner in
December 2003.

 

Staff writer Todd B. Bates and The Associated Press contributed
to this story. Nicholas Clunn: (609) 978-4597 or
nclunn@app.com                          


  Copyright � 2006 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 26 Rutland Herald: Vt. may move first on air pact

Rutland Vermont News & Information
 	 	 	 	 	 
February 17, 2006 

By Louis PorterVermont Press Bureau   

MONTPELIER � Vermont could be the first state to implement a new
regional agreement restricting the pollution that contributes to
global warming.

In December, nine Northeast states agreed to gradually slow the
amount of carbon dioxide pollution from electricity power plants
in the region. That will be done through a system of
transferable credits that power generation companies can buy to
increase carbon dioxide emissions from their plants.

But because the program is put in place through an agreement
between the states, instead of by an act of Congress, each state
has to pass its own legislation to ratify it.

The House Natural Resources and Energy Committee approved
Vermont's version of the legislation Thursday in a unanimous
vote. The bill will have to be approved by the full House and
the Senate and be signed by the governor to become law.

Vermont is among the first states to begin working on such
legislation, lawmakers said.

That bill, supported by the administration of Gov. James Douglas
and utility officials, allocates most or all of the benefits of
the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) to power customers
instead of granting them to power generating utilities.

Perhaps other states will follow that lead, said Rep. Robert
Dostis, D-Waterbury, chairman of the committee. That would mean
the impact of Vermont's legislation could extend into the much
broader energy market beyond its borders.

"If we can invest in renewable energy and in-state generation,
then we will be meeting the goals of RGGI, to reduce overall
greenhouse gas emissions," Dostis said.

Vermont is in a better position than many other states in the
region because it already has very, very low carbon dioxide
emissions, said Jeffrey Wennberg, Vermont's environmental
commissioner and the state's main negotiator on the RGGI
agreement.

Most of the state's power is produced by the Vermont Yankee
nuclear plant or the Hydro-Quebec system. Neither contribute to
carbon dioxide pollution in the region.

Indeed, only one power plant in Vermont, a peaking system in
Berlin owned by Green Mountain Power, is counted as a greenhouse
gas source. That twin-generator system, powered by jet fuel,
only runs a few hundred hours a year when power demands are at
their highest.

Under the RGGI "cap and trade" agreement, each state receives an
allotment of "allowances" that entitle the utilities in the
state to generating a certain amount of carbon dioxide pollution.

A strict formula � based on the amount of carbon dioxide
pollution currently produced in each state � would have given
Vermont very few, if any, credits.

But the final formula worked out in the multistate agreement
also takes into consideration that contracts with Vermont Yankee
and Hydro-Quebec end in about a decade and the state may have to
buy "dirtier" power, so Vermont received more credits than
expected.

The RGGI program is important in part because the states are
filling in where the federal government has not taken charge,
according to the Rev. Paul Bortz of Middlebury, who was in the
Statehouse Thursday for "Citizen Action Day," a gathering of
environmental and advocacy groups.

"To me it is one of the most exciting things that is happening,"
said Bortz, former minister of Unitarian Universalist Church of
Rutland.

"The last 30 years is the hottest in the last 10,000," Bortz
said. "The rapidity of it is just awful. People don't get the
sense of urgency."

Vermont, although it has few emissions now, will get 1.3 million
allowance units, which function something like currency. Each
allowance will likely be worth $1.50 to $7, depending on the
market.

Then, through legislation, each state decides how best to
allocate its allowances. It can give them to polluting
utilities, or allow them to be sold on the market and require
that its utilities buy their own allowances.

Some states are considering giving utilities a share of the
allowances, so they don't raise power rates to cover the cost of
buying them. However, that will not provide as much benefit as
investing the money from the allowances in renewable energy and
efficiency programs, Dostis said.

That is what the Vermont program will do, if the proposed bill
passes. The bill would give the Public Service Board authority
to allocate the money from the sale of allowances.

Lobbyists for Central Vermont Public Service and Green Mountain
Power said the utilities support the bill. Steve Kimbell, a
lobbyist for Green Mountain Power, said the bill gives his
company enough flexibility to ask the Public Service Board for
allowances to cover emissions from the Berlin plant.

Contact Louis Porter at louis.porter@rutlandherald.com.
   
� 2006 Rutland Herald
*****************************************************************
 27 PTI: Rediff: 'Civil nuclear deal, economic ties with India most important' 

Sridhar Krishnaswami

        Washington, Feb 16 (PTI) Observing that US has embarked on a
strategic partnership with "rising global power" India, Richard
Boucher, the Assistant Secretary of State designate for South
Asia today said a civilian nuclear partnership and opening up of
economic cooperation are among the most improtant areas in
Indo-US ties.
 
	"We have embarked upon building a global strategic partnership
with India. President (George W Bush) will be travelling to
India in the coming weeks to continue a strong, forward looking
relationship with this rising global power," Boucher said in
prepared remarks to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at
his confirmation hearing as Assistant Secretary of State for
South and Central Asia.
 
	Boucher, the former State Department Spokesman and a career
foreign service officer, stressed that upon confirmation he will
work closely with other agencies and organisations "to bring to
fruition" the initiatives Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
have undertaken.
 
	"The wide ranging nature of these projects clearly illustrates
the kind of encompassing relationship we hope to develop with
India. Opening new areas to economic cooperation and concluding
a civilian nuclear partnership are two of the most important
areas at this moment," he said.
 
	"Beyond that we need to look at all the areas where our
international interests intersect with those of India and where
we can advance our interests by partnering with India in this
region and beyond. Some areas that spring to mind are
agriculture, democracy building, disaster relief, education and
science and technology," he added. PTI 

  � Copyright PTI 2003-2004
*****************************************************************
 28 Vermont Guardian: NRC delays VY uprate decision
   
February 18, 2006 

BRATTLEBORO  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has delayed for
one week its long-awaited release of a final safety evaluation
on Entergys proposed 20 percent power increase at Vermont
Yankee. 

The executive director for operations is reviewing the safety
evaluation report, according to NRC spokeswoman Diane Screnci.
She said that level of review is not considered routine, and
that it was due to the significance of the action or uprate. She
declined to elaborate. 

Ray Shadis, technical advisor to the New England Coalition,
which is formally opposing the uprate, said the delay would work
to the coalitions advantage. 

Shadis said he plans formally ask the NRC to postpone
implementation of the uprate, if it is approved, until after the
coalition and the state Department of Public Service have a
chance to argue their safety-related contentions before the
Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, a quasi-judicial NRC
panel that addresses safety issues. 

That review is not expected to take place before the summer. 

The NRC has for months been planning to issue its final safety
evaluation on the VY uprate on Feb. 24. As recently as Thursday,
an NRC spokesman said the report could even come before that
date. The evaluation is widely expected to give Entergy a
go-ahead, despite outstanding safety concerns about the move. 

The NRC has never denied an uprate. However, the Vermont Yankee
application has taken more than twice as long as the agency's
average one-year review, in part, it is believed, because of
aggressive public participation and intervention on the part of
grass-roots organizations and the state. 

One issue that remains unresolved is a discrepancy between the
way VY and the state measure radiation emissions from the plant.
State readings in the final quarter of 2004 could have exceeded
Vermonts maximum allowable radiation dose of 20 millirem per
year. That figure is lower than the federal limit of 25
millirem. 

The state is currently in negotiations with VY and a private
contractor on how those measurements are calculated. VY has
asked the NRC for permission to use a formula extrapolated from
measurements taken within the plant, while the state takes its
readings at face value from meters on the fence line. 

NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said last month that federal
officials were seeking information from the private company that
devised the VY formula. Asked Thursday whether that issue had
been revolved, Sheehan declined to comment, saying it would be
included in the final safety report. 

David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer with the Union of Concerned
Scientists, characterized the executive level review of the
final report as "unusual, although not unprecedented." 

Because the issues at Vermont Yankee have garnered considerable
political and media attention, Lochbaum speculated, the
executive director of operations "likely wants to make sure
there's nothing in the SER that will embarrass the NRC."
 
"If the NRC was half as concerned about public health as it was
about its image, the people of Vermont would be much better
off," Lochbaum added. 

Vermont Yankee officials did not return phone calls for this
story. 

  Saturday, Feb. 18, 2006 

Vermont: PO Box 335, Winooski, VT 05404
 Southern Vermont: 139 Main Street, Suite 702, Brattleboro, VT
05301
 Contact: 802.861.4880 (ph) | 802.861.6388 (fax) | 877.231.5382
(toll-free)

 �2005 Vermont Guardian | 

Visit us: www.vermontguardian.com
 This document can be located online:
www.vermontguardian.com/dailies/022006/021806.shtml 
*****************************************************************
 29 NRC: Notice of Environmental Assessment Related to the Approval for 
 
                         FR Doc E6-2327 
[Federal Register: February 17, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 33)] 
[Notices] [Page 8623-8624] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr17fe06-118] [[Page 
8623]]
 
the Department of Veterans Affairs To Issue an Amendment to a 
Materials Permit for the Unrestricted Release of an Illiana 
Health Care System Facility in Danville, IL AGENCY: Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission.
 
ACTION: Issuance of environmental assessment and finding of no 
significant impact for license amendment.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Snell, Senior Health 
Physicist, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region III, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2443 
Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532; telephone: (630) 
829-9871; fax number: (630) 515-1259; or by e-mail at 
wgs@nrc.gov.
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) is considering allowing the Department of Veterans Affairs 
(DVA) to issue an amendment to a materials permit in accordance 
with NRC Byproduct Materials License No. 03-23853-01VA. The NRC 
approval would allow the DVA to authorize the unrestricted 
release of Building 13 of the DVA's Illiana Health Care System 
facility at 1900 East Main Street in Danville, Illinois. The NRC 
has prepared an Environmental Assessment in support of this 
action in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51. 
Based on the Environmental Assessment, the NRC has determined 
that a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate. The 
permit amendment by the DVA will be allowed following the 
publication of this Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact.
 
I. Environmental Assessment Identification of Proposed Action The 
proposed action would approve DVA's request to issue an amendment 
to a materials permit to release Building 13 of the DVA's 
Danville, Illinois facility for unrestricted use in accordance 
with 10 CFR Part 20, Subpart E. The proposed action is in 
accordance with the DVA's request to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) on November 18, 2005 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML053260120), to approve the release of the facility for 
unrestricted use, and is consistent with the current NRC policy 
to review all DVA permittee requests for the release of buildings 
for unrestricted use where radioactive materials with a half-life 
greater than 120 days were used. The DVA identified two isotopes 
of concern with half-lives greater than 120 days that it used in 
Building 13 of the Danville, Illinois facility: hydrogen-3 and 
carbon-14. The DVA has been authorized to use byproduct material 
for medical diagnosis, therapy, and research at Building 13 of 
the Danville, Illinois facility since 1975.
 
The DVA conducted surveys of the facility and provided this 
information to the NRC to demonstrate that the radiological 
conditions at Building 13 of the Danville, Illinois facility are 
consistent with radiological criteria for unrestricted use in 10 
CFR Part 20, Subpart E. No radiological remediation activities 
are required to complete the proposed action.
 
Need for the Proposed Action The DVA is requesting approval of 
this permitting action because it no longer plans to use Building 
13 of the Danville, Illinois facility for NRC-permitted 
activities. The NRC is fulfilling its responsibilities under the 
Atomic Energy Act to make a decision on the proposed action for 
decommissioning that ensures that residual radioactivity is 
reduced to a level that is protective of the public health and 
safety and the environment, and allows the DVA to authorize the 
Danville, Illinois facility to be released for unrestricted use.
 
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action The NRC staff 
reviewed the information provided and surveys performed by the 
DVA to demonstrate that the release of Building 13 of DVA's 
Illiana Health Care System facility at 1900 East Main Street in 
Danville, Illinois, is consistent with the radiological criteria 
for unrestricted use specified in 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its 
review, the staff determined that there were no radiological 
impacts associated with the proposed action because no 
radiological remediation activities were required to complete the 
proposed action, and that the radiological criteria for 
unrestricted use in Sec.  20.1402 have been met.
 
Based on its review, the staff determined that the radiological 
environmental impacts from the proposed action for Building 13 of 
the DVA Illiana Health Care System facility are bounded by the 
``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking 
on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-Licensed 
Nuclear Facilities'' (NUREG-1496). Additionally, no 
non-radiological or cumulative impacts were identified. 
Therefore, the NRC has determined that the proposed action will 
not have a significant effect on the quality of the human 
environment.
 
Alternatives to the Proposed Action The only alternative to the 
proposed action of releasing Building 13 of the DVA's Illiana 
Health Care System facility for unrestricted use is to take no 
action. Under the no-action alternative, Building 13 of the DVA's 
Danville, Illinois facility would remain a location of use on the 
Illiana Permit under the DVA's NRC license and would not be 
released for unrestricted use. Denial of the license amendment 
request would result in no change to current conditions at the 
DVA facility. The no-action alternative is not acceptable because 
it is inconsistent with 10 CFR 30.36, which requires licensees 
who have ceased licensed activities to begin decommissioning 
activities or submit a decommissioning plan, which upon approval, 
will be used to conduct decommissioning activities. This 
alternative also would impose an unnecessary regulatory burden 
and limit potential benefits from the future use of Building 13 
of the DVA's Illiana Health Care System facility.
 
Conclusion The NRC staff concluded that the proposed action is 
consistent with the NRC unrestricted release criteria specified 
in 10 CFR 20.1402. Because the proposed action will not 
significantly impact the quality of the human environment, the 
NRC staff concludes that the proposed action is the preferred 
alternative.
 
Agencies and Persons Consulted The NRC staff has determined that 
the proposed action will not affect listed species or critical 
habitats. Therefore, no further consultation is required under 
Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. Likewise, the NRC staff 
has determined that the proposed action is not a type of activity 
that has potential to cause effect on historic properties. 
Therefore, consultation under Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act is not required.
 
The NRC consulted with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency 
on the action. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Division 
of Nuclear Safety, Radioactive Materials Section, was provided 
the draft EA for comment on February 3, 2006. Mr. Daren Perrero, 
Health Physicist, with the Radioactive Materials Section, 
responded to the NRC by e-mail on
 
[[Page 8624]] February 8, 2006, indicating that the State had no 
comments regarding the NRC Environmental Assessment for the 
release of the DVA's Danville, Illinois facility.
 
II. Finding of No Significant Impact On the basis of the EA in 
support of the proposal to allow the DVA to release the site for 
unrestricted use, the NRC has determined that the proposed action 
will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human 
environment. Thus, the NRC has not prepared an environmental 
impact statement for the proposed action.
 
Further Information Documents related to this action, including 
the application for amendment and supporting documentation, are 
available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can 
access the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System 
(ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public 
documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS, or if there are 
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the 
NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1- 
800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. The 
documents and ADAMS accession numbers related to this notice are: 
1. E. Lynn McGuire, Department of Veterans Affairs, letter to 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, November 18, 2005 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML053260120).
 
2. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ``Environmental Review 
Guidance for Licensing Actions Associated with NMSS Programs,'' 
NUREG- 1748, August 2003.
 
3. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ``Generic Environmental 
Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological 
Criteria for License Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear 
Facilities,'' NUREG-1496, August 1994.
 
4. NRC, NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning 
Guidance,'' Volumes 1-3, September 2003.
 
Documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint 
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR 
reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee.
 
Dated at Lisle, Illinois, this 9th day of February, 2006.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Jamnes L. Cameron, Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of 
Nuclear Materials Safety, Region III.
 
[FR Doc. E6-2327 Filed 2-16-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 30 NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: 
 
                         FR Doc E6-2346 
[Federal Register: February 17, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 33)] 
[Notices] [Page 8621] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr17fe06-116] [[Page 8621]]
 
Comment Request AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). 
ACTION: Notice of pending NRC action to submit an information 
collection request to OMB and solicitation of public comment.
 
SUMMARY: The NRC is preparing a submittal to OMB for approval of 
information collections under the provisions of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). Information 
pertaining to the requirement to be submitted: 1. The title of 
the information collection: NRC Form 770, Application for the NRC 
Graduate Fellowship Program.
 
2. Current OMB approval number: 3150-XXXX. 3. How often the 
collection is required: On occasion. NRC Form 770 must be 
submitted by an applicant to the NRC Graduate Fellowship Program 
so that their qualifications and credentials can be assessed.
 
4. Who is required or asked to report: Any applicant for the NRC 
Graduate Fellowship Program.
 
5. The estimated number of annual respondents: 30 respondents.
 
6. The number of hours needed annually to complete the 
requirement or request: 240 hours (8 hours per response).
 
7. Abstract: Information requested on NRC Form 770 and in the 
application package is used to determine the qualifications of 
applicants for participation in the Graduate Fellowship Program 
which results in employment with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission. The information requested on the form includes social 
security number, education, employment history, and references. 
In addition to the form, the application package also requests 
the candidate's official Graduate Record Examination scores (sent 
by the Educational Testing Service to ORISE), official 
transcripts, and three references. The completed package may be 
used to examine, rate and/or assess the prospective employee's 
qualifications. The information regarding the qualifications of 
applicants for employment is reviewed by professional personnel 
acting under contract to the NRC and/or by NRC staff.
 
Submit, by April 18, 2006, comments that address the following 
questions: 1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary 
for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the 
information have practical utility? 2. Is the burden estimate 
accurate? 3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected? 4. How can the burden 
of the information collection be minimized, including the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology? A copy of the draft supporting statement may be 
viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD 
20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC worldwide 
Web site: .
 
The document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 
days after the signature date of this notice.
 
Comments and questions about the information collection 
requirements may be directed to the NRC Clearance Officer, Brenda 
Jo. Shelton, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, T-5 F53, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, by telephone at 301-415-7233, or by 
Internet electronic mail to .
 
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of February 2006.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Brenda Jo. Shelton, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of Information 
Services.
 
[FR Doc. E6-2346 Filed 2-16-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 31 NRC: Notice of Environmental Assessment Related to the Issuance of a 
 
                         FR Doc 06-1510 
[Federal Register: February 17, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 33)] 
[Notices] [Page 8621-8622] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr17fe06-117]                         
 
License Amendment to Byproduct Material License No. 22-04589-01, 
for Unrestricted Release of a Former Facility for the Minnesota 
Department of Health, Minneapolis, MN AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission.
 
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact for License Amendment.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Snell, Senior Health 
Physicist, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region III, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2443 
Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532; telephone: (630) 
829-9871; fax number: (630) 515-1259; or by e-mail at 
wgs@nrc.gov.
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) is considering the issuance of an amendment to NRC 
Byproduct Materials License No. 22-04589-01, which is held by the 
Minnesota Department of Health (licensee). The amendment would 
authorize the unrestricted release of the licensee's former 
facility, located at 717 Delaware Street, SE., Minneapolis, 
Minnesota. The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment in 
support of this action in accordance with the requirements of 10 
CFR part 51. Based on the Environmental Assessment, the NRC has 
determined that a Finding of No Significant Impact is 
appropriate. The amendment to the Minnesota Department of 
Health's license will be issued following the publication of this 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact.
 
I. Environmental Assessment Identification of Proposed Action The 
proposed action would approve the Minnesota Department of 
Health's request to amend its license and release the licensee's 
former facility for unrestricted use in accordance with 10 CFR 
part 20, subpart E. The proposed action is in accordance with the 
Minnesota Department of Health's request to the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) to amend its NRC Byproduct Material 
License by letters dated December 29, 2005 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML060170707), and February 1, 2006 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML060330301). The Minnesota Department of Health was first 
licensed to use byproduct materials at its 717 Delaware Street, 
SE. facility on November 12, 1971. The licensee is authorized to 
use byproduct materials for activities involving instrument 
calibration and standardization, in-vitro laboratory research, 
and analysis of environmental samples. The licensee is or was 
previously authorized to possess and use microcurie or millicurie 
quantities of numerous byproduct materials, including hydrogen-3, 
carbon-14, nickel-63, strontium-90, cesium-137, europium-154, and 
radium-228, as well as nanocurie quantities of the source 
material thorium-230. In November 2005, the Minnesota Department 
of Public Health moved out of the facilities located at 717 
Delaware Street, SE.
 
The licensee conducted surveys of the facility and provided this 
information to the NRC to demonstrate that the
 
[[Page 8622]] radiological condition of the facility located at 
717 Delaware Street, SE. are consistent with radiological 
criteria for unrestricted use in 10 CFR part 20, subpart E. No 
radiological remediation activities are required to complete the 
proposed action.
 
Need for the Proposed Action The licensee is requesting this 
license amendment because it has moved out of the facility at 717 
Delaware Street, SE., and is conducting licensed activities at 
another location. The NRC is fulfilling its responsibilities 
under the Atomic Energy Act to make a decision on the proposed 
action for decommissioning that ensures that residual 
radioactivity is reduced to a level that is protective of the 
public health and safety and the environment, and allows the 
facility to be released for unrestricted use.
 
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action The NRC staff 
reviewed the information provided and surveys performed by the 
licensee to demonstrate that the release of the facility located 
at 717 Delaware Street, SE. are consistent with the radiological 
criteria for unrestricted use specified in 10 CFR 20.1402. Based 
on its review, the staff determined that there were no 
radiological impacts associated with the proposed action because 
no radiological remediation activities were required to complete 
the proposed action, and that the radiological criteria for 
unrestricted use in Sec.  20.1402 have been met. Based on its 
review, the staff determined that the radiological environmental 
impacts from the proposed action for the facility at 717 Delaware 
Street, SE. are bounded by the ``Generic Environmental Impact 
Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for 
License Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities'' 
(NUREG-1496). Additionally, no non-radiological or cumulative 
impacts were identified. Therefore, the NRC has determined that 
the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment.
 
Alternatives to the Proposed Action The only alternative to the 
proposed action of releasing the licensee's former facility at 
717 Delaware Street, SE. for unrestricted use is to take no 
action. Under the no-action alternative, the licensee's facility 
would remain under an NRC license and would not be released for 
unrestricted use. Denial of the license amendment request would 
result in no change to current conditions at the 717 Delaware 
Street facility. The no-action alternative is not acceptable 
because it is inconsistent with 10 CFR 30.36, which requires 
licensees who have ceased licensed activities to begin 
decommissioning activities or submit a decommissioning plan, 
which upon approval, will be used to conduct decommissioning 
activities. This alternative would impose an unnecessary 
regulatory burden in controlling access to the former facility at 
717 Delaware Street, and limit potential benefits from the future 
use of the facility.
 
Conclusion The NRC staff concluded that the proposed action is 
consistent with the NRC's unrestricted release criteria specified 
in 10 CFR 20.1402. Because the proposed action will not 
significantly impact the quality of the human environment, the 
NRC staff concludes that the proposed action is the preferred 
alternative.
 
Agencies and Persons Consulted The NRC staff has determined that 
the proposed action will not affect listed species or critical 
habitats. Therefore, no further consultation is required under 
section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. Likewise, the NRC staff 
has determined that the proposed action is not a type of activity 
that has potential to cause effect on historic properties. 
Therefore, consultation under section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act is not required.
 
Although the NRC would normally consult with the Minnesota 
Department of Health on this type of byproduct material licensing 
action within their State, because the Minnesota Department of 
Health is the licensee and provided the basis for this action, 
there was no additional consultation with the State.
 
II. Finding of No Significant Impact On the basis of the EA in 
support of the proposed license amendment to release the site for 
unrestricted use, the NRC has determined that the proposed action 
will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human 
environment. Thus, the NRC has not prepared an environmental 
impact statement for the proposed action.
 
III. Further Information Documents related to this action, 
including the application for amendment and supporting 
documentation, are available electronically at the NRC's 
Electronic Reading Room at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can 
access the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System 
(ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public 
documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS, or if there are 
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the 
NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1- 
800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. The 
documents and ADAMS accession numbers related to this notice are: 
1. Norman A. Crouch, Ph.D., Minnesota Department of Health, 
letter to William Snell, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
December 29, 2005 (ADAMS Accession No. ML060170707). 2. Norman A. 
Crouch, Ph.D., Minnesota Department of Health, letter to William 
Snell, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, February 1, 2006 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML060330301). 3. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, ``Environmental Review Guidance for Licensing Actions 
Associated with NMSS Programs,'' NUREG- 1748, August 2003.
 
4. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ``Generic Environmental 
Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological 
Criteria for License Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear 
Facilities,'' NUREG-1496, August 1994.
 
5. NRC, NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning 
Guidance,'' Volumes 1-3, September 2003.
 
Documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint 
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR 
reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee.
 
Dated at Lisle, Illinois, this 8th day of February 2006.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Jamnes L. Cameron, Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of 
Nuclear Materials Safety, Region III.
 
[FR Doc. 06-1510 Filed 2-16-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 32 Boston.com: Mass. wants nuke license extensions reviewed separately -
            
February 17, 2006 

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. --Massachusetts officials want federal
regulators to hold separate proceedings on proposals to extend
the operating licenses of Vermont Yankee and another nuclear
power plant in Plymouth, Mass.

Entergy Nuclear, the owner of the plants, has asked federal
regulators to review the two license renewal applications
together.

But the Massachusetts Attorney General's office and lawmakers
have written to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, requesting
that the two requests be considered individually.

"Having separate proceedings will allow the NRC to fully assess
the specific characteristics of each plant. These matters are
far too important to be merged into one review process," wrote
Alice Moore, head of the public protection division of the
Massachusetts Attorney General's office.

Entergy is seeking a 20-year extension of Vermont Yankee's
license, which is set to expire in 2012. It has also requested
an extension of the Pilgrim nuclear reactor's license. The
Massachusetts plant is similar to the Vermont plant and the two
started operating around the same time.

Three Massachusetts legislators and the Plymouth town manager
also wrote to the NRC.

"As the host community for Pilgrim, we believe that it is
essential for the Plymouth-based NRC safety and environmental
review teams to focus on those characteristics specific and
unique to Pilgrim," Plymouth Town Manager Mark Sylvia wrote.

The NRC hasn't responded to Entergy's request.

------
Information from: Brattleboro Reformer[ /]  � Copyright 2006
*****************************************************************
 33 IPS: BALKANS: Nuclear Energy Needed, But Not Welcome
 
Inter Press Service News Agency     

 Vesna Peric Zimonjic 
							 
BELGRADE, Feb 17 (IPS) - The energy crisis brought on by reduced 
deliveries of Russian gas have led to a new debate on building 
nuclear power plants. 

The biggest of the countries of former Yugoslavia, Croatia and 
Serbia, have growing energy demands due to their increasing 
industrial and household consumption, but they also have strong 
anti-nuclear lobbies. 

Most people also oppose nuclear power, fearing accidents and
environmental damage, whatever the possible benefits and lower
electricity prices. 

But Croatia plans to build at least one nuclear power plant by
2015. "It is the Kyoto Protocol on reducing damaging
transmission into the atmosphere that obliges us to close down
the old (thermal) plants, but also the strategy of the European
Union (EU) that stimulates alternative electricity production,"
head of the Croatian Energy Institute Goran Granic told local
media. Croatia is expected to join the EU by the end of the
decade.

 One proposed site is on the banks of the Danube in Erdut in
eastern Croatia, where the river marks the natural border with
Serbia. Another is a site between Ivanic Grad and Dugo Selo on
the river Sava, only 30 km east of capital Zagreb. 

Both locations were mentioned 20 years ago as possible sites
when Yugoslavia was still a single country. It had then one
nuclear power plant at Krsko, at the border of Slovenia and
Croatia, and planned to build several more. Krsko became
operational in the early 1980s, with American equipment.

 But plans to build nuclear plants at these sites were never
carried out because of problems at Krsko, where reactors were
closed from time to time due to technical problems. Fears grew
further after the nuclear accident at the Chernobyl plant in
Ukraine 20 years ago.

 Now new opposition has arisen. "Nuclear power plants destroy
eco-systems, demand large amounts of water, and cause
pollution," Ljiljanka Mitos, an activist from Osijek town close
to the Erdut site told IPS. 

"The Danube river would be in danger, and it is protected by
numerous European conventions due to its importance," Mitos
said. The Danube, one of the longest and most important European
rivers, winds through Croatia and Serbia on way to the Black Sea
in Romania. 

"There is also a sensitive political thing," Mitos said. "Erdut
is on the border with Serbia, and the two countries still have a
lot to do to smooth their relations." 

The two nations fought a bitter war in the early 1990s.
Normalisation of relations is under way, but slowly. 

There seems to be little concern over energy sources in Serbia.
A recent United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) study
titled 'Stuck in the Past' urged quick expansion of energy
resources, but little was done to tackle the issue. 

"We came to the dramatic conclusion that neither the people nor
the politicians in Serbia are aware how important energy is,"
sociologist Srecko Mihajlovic, who was the project team leader
for the study told IPS. "No one seems to be aware that energy
makes the basis for quality of life, not only now, but also for
generations to come."

 Mihajlovic said such views have their origins in the myth that
Serbia's numerous hydro and thermal plants produce more than
enough energy for its needs. Serbia has coal mines, while oil is
regarded as something that comes naturally from abroad.
(END/2006) 
						 
  Copyright � 2006 IPS-Inter Press Service. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 34 Japan Times: Town approves MOX reactor plan; OK expected from Saga governor 

SAGA (Kyodo) The municipal assembly of Genkai, Saga Prefecture,
adopted a statement Friday calling on the town's government to
accept Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s offer to begin electricity
generation using uranium-and-plutonium mixed oxide fuel (MOX),
at the No. 3 reactor of its Genkai nuclear plant. 

In response, Genkai Mayor Tsukasa Terada is expected to
officially announce the town's acceptance of the so-called
pluthermal plan, designed to work off a growing stockpile of
spent nuclear fuel. 

Saga Gov. Yasushi Furukawa announced Feb. 7 that the plan, to
which the government gave approval in September after safety
assessment procedures, is safe. 

Pluthermal, or plutonium-thermal power generation, burns MOX
made from spent fuel at nuclear reactors. 

The method, approved by the Cabinet in 1997, is now at the
center of Japan's plan to recycle the growing stockpile of spent
fuel from the country's nuclear plants. 

Following the town's move, Gov. Furukawa is expected to give
final approval to the plan based on discussions starting at the
prefectural assembly on Feb. 21. 

Kyushu Electric applied to the central government in May 2004 to
install a pluthermal reactor. It has submitted petitions to the
Saga Prefectural and Genkai Municipal governments to gain their
consent. The Japan Times: Feb. 18, 2006 (C) All rights reserved 

*****************************************************************
 35 AFP: US seeks international safe nuclear coalition 

 Fri Feb 17, 8:19 PM ET 		 	 

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is seeking to build an
international coalition of nuclear powers to provide safe fuel
and stop sensitive technology reaching rogue states, officials
said. 

 Robert Joseph, under secretary of state for arms control and
international security, said the program aims to "prevent future
Iran" /> 's" -- a reference to the increasingly tense standoff
over suspicions that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. 

The United States wants to stop "countries which seek to acquire
sensitive technology associated with enrichment and reprocessing
with real purposes other than nuclear energy," Joseph said late
Thursday. 

The United States will "work with other advanced nuclear nations
to develop a fuel services programme that would provide nuclear
fuel and recycling services to nations in return for their
commitment to refrain from developing enrichment and recycling
technologies." 

US officials have visited a number of world capitals and the
International Atomic Energy Agency" /> (IAEA) in Vienna in
recent weeks to press the case for action against Iran and for
the safe energy coalition. 

They went to London, Paris, Moscow, Beijing and Tokyo. "We found
agreement with potential partners," said Clay Sell, the deputy
energy secretary. 

"We want a large international partnership in terms of
developing and sharing the fruit of this initiative, because in
that way it will become truly a win-win for all of us in terms
of energy security, environmental objectives, and of course in
terms of non-proliferation," said Joseph. 

"We need to establish a partnership in the area of research and
development to share the expertise and experience, and to share
the resources and the investments, for paving the way to this
new comprehensive vision for nuclear energy," he added. 

Joseph also said the United States wanted a greater sharing of
research and expertise into a new generation of nuclear power
stations and fuel reprocessing plants. 

The United States has alloted 250 million dollars in its 2007
budget for work on the coalition. 

	 		 			
Copyright � 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 36 London Times: Blunder left trail of lethal radiation

Times and The Sunday Times - Times

By Andrew Norfolk

Safety cap left off toxic cargo as it travelled 130 miles across 
Britain 

A LETHAL beam of radiation was emitted from a casket containing
highly radioactive waste on a three-and-a-half-hour road journey
across England, it was disclosed yesterday. 

Thousands of people were put at risk by the �cavalier� attitude
of workers for the privatised company in charge of transporting
the hospital waste. 

Anyone standing one yard from the beam and in its direct path
would have felt sick within ten minutes. After two hours they
would have been dead. 

Only by �pure chance� was no one directly exposed to the high
concentration of cobalt-60 gamma rays that streamed from the
container because of the failure to install a lead safety plug. 

Radiation levels up to 1,000 times higher than a high dose rate
were found a day after the trailer and its 2.6-tonne package
reached their destination. 

Details of the trail of radiation emitted on the 130-mile
journey from Cookridge hospital, Leeds, to the Windscale waste
processing at Sellafield, Cumbria, emerged at Leeds Crown Court.
Fortunately, the narrowly focused beam was directed downwards.
Had the rays escaped horizontally, they would have contaminated
anyone within 330 yards of the vehicle. 

Dr Michael Clark, of the Health Protection Agency�s radiation
protection division, said that those in the vicinity of the
trailer, and particularly its driver, were �very fortunate� to
have escaped unharmed. 

�The doses � and the dangers � drop off with distance, but this
was a very large source, potentially lethal,� said Dr Clark. The
court was told that it was impossible to assess the extent of
exposure as the beam may have bounced off the ground during
loading and contaminated employees. 

The company at the centre of the scandal, which was formerly
part of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, admitted six
breaches of the regulations governing the transport of
radioactive material. 

AEA Technology (AEAT) was guilty of a series of failings that
led to the incident, exposing its employees and other people �to
unnecessary and potentially extremely high radiological risks�. 

Two long-serving employees later resigned. The Recorder of
Leeds, Judge Norman Jones QC, specifically criticised their
behaviour. 

The judge said: �The two people who were primarily involved have
been allowed to become, with lack of proper oversight, relaxed
and somewhat cavalier in their approach to what they should be
doing. 

�We have to remember that we are dealing with the movement over
long distances of very, very dangerous material.� 

Mark Harris, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive and
the Department for Transport, said that the company used the
wrong safety packaging, and had not noticed the missing safety
plug. 

It failed to take up an offer of training in the use of the
packaging and important safety documents were signed by a member
of staff who had no formal training in radiation protection, he
said. 

AEAT, which employs 1,670 staff and has an annual turnover of
�238 million, was also blamed for refusing to answer questions
and failing to disclose the findings of an internal inquiry. 

�The risk created . . . was foreseeable and the degree of that
risk was significant. There is no �safe� dose of ionising
radiation. If no one was directly exposed to the beam, that was
a matter of pure chance.� 


The court heard that in November 2001 AEAT quoted a price of 
�245,000 to remove and dispose of various radioactive sources. 
One of these was a quantity of cobalt-60 from a teletherapy 
machine - used to treat cancer patients - at Cookridge Hospital.

Staff from AEAT and its sub-contractor, International 
Radiotherapy Services, arrived at the hospital on a Saturday in 
March 2002. They took the cobalt-60 from the machine before 
loading it into an inner flask and then into an outer container. 
Some monitoring of radiation levels was carried out, but no one 
checked the underside, where the shield plug was missing.

The package was loaded on to a low-axle trailer and at 4pm on 
Sunday, March 10, the journey began. The gamma ray beam was fired 
directly into the ground along the entire route.

The vehicle reached AEAT's radioactive waste management plant at 
Windscale, Cumbria, at 7.30pm and was left in a secure compound 
overnight.

It was only on Monday afternoon that a health physics controller, 
who was using a radioactive contamination monitor on other items 
in the area, noticed a high background reading.

John Hand QC, for the defence, said that AEAT had responded by 
closing down one of its divisions for 12 months at a cost of 
�1million. It was restructured, and sold last year.

Mr Hand apologised and said that the company had an excellent 
safety record before the incident. "The public must have 
confidence in the safe disposal of this material and the 
defendent realises that what happened at Cookridge dents that 
confidence."

Radioactive materials that are used in industry, hospitals and 
research laboratories are transported by road every day.

A study quoted by the Government suggests that more than 500,000 
packages containing "field sources" are being shipped within 
Britain each year. The study concluded that the exposure of most 
transport workers was below 1 millisieverts and that doses to 
members of the public were "very low".

The AEAT case is the first prosecution of a specialist company 
under the Radioactive Materials (Road Transport) Act 1991 for 
some years, because of the breach's scale.

Sentencing was adjourned until Monday. 

*****************************************************************
 37 DMN: Report details nuclear workers' concerns on compensation program 
Dallas Morning News: 

02/17/2006 

By NANCY ZUCKERBROD  / Associated Press 

The government has paid about $1.5 billion in benefits to
thousands of sick nuclear weapons workers under a five-year-old
program, but more could be done for thousands of others, says a
report by a federal official. 

The report, made public Friday, was the first written by Donald
Shalhoub, the ombudsman to the Labor Department program. 

He wrote that workers have reported frustration with a
requirement that they obtain workplace records, some of which
are more than 50 years old. In many cases, the report said,
records "were not maintained at the time of exposure, or if
made, were lost or destroyed." 

In addition, workers thought the government takes too long to
estimate how much radiation workers were exposed to. 

"Otherwise eligible claimants may die while waiting for a
result," the report said. 

Workers also complained that claims examiners failed to return
calls and that their cases were reassigned to new examiners
unfamiliar with their histories. 

The Labor Department is "working hard to avoid" such problems,
Assistant Secretary Victoria Lipnic wrote in response. She said
some cases were reassigned because the agency added staff to
more quickly compensate workers. 

"We are committed to working as quickly as possible to resolve
these cases, and we are keenly aware of the urgency of claimants
who are ill, and in many cases very elderly," Lipnic wrote. 

Workers exposed to cancer-causing radiation or beryllium and
silica  which cause lung diseases  get a lump sum payment of
$150,000 plus medical benefits. Those exposed to other toxic
hazards get compensated for disabilities and lost wages. The
most they can receive is $250,000. 

Most of the workers were at Energy Department facilities in
Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. 

A White House document, obtained by The Associated Press earlier
this week, outlined the administration's concerns about the
growing costs of the compensation program. The document
discussed ways to cut costs, including requiring administration
clearance of benefits decisions. 


On the Net: 

Labor ombudsman's report: 

http://www.dol.gov/eeombd/2005annualreport/2005.pdf 

This text is invisible on the page, but this text is affected by
the invisible item's flow. This text is invisible on the page,
but this text is affected by the invisible item's flow.     

� 2006 The Dallas Morning News Co. 	 	   
*****************************************************************
 38 Telegraph: Lorry leaked radioactive beam for three hours
 
It was "pure good fortune" no one was dangerously 
contaminated when a "plug" was left off a 2.5 ton container
carrying radioactive material on a lorry, Leeds Crown Court was
told. The flask belonging to AEA Technology was being used to
transport a piece of decommissioned cancer treatment equipment
from Cookridge Hospital, Leeds, to the Sellafield complex,
Cumbria on March 11, 2002. 

A judge was told how the container was "found to be emitting a
narrow beam of radiation, of a very high dose rate, vertically
down from that package base". 

He heard how the leak was present at the hospital and Windscale
as well as during the journey between the two. 

Mark Harris, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive,
said: "Through pure good fortune no one involved in the removal,
containment and transfer of the source may have been directly
exposed to the beam. 

"The risk of such exposure was undoubtedly present - at
Cookridge, during the journey and at Windscale. 

"That occurred because a shield plug - an integral part of the
approved packaging in which the source was required to be
carried - had been omitted. We say the incident was serious." 

Mr Harris said the radiation dose rates measured at Windscale
"were in the order of 100 to 1,000 times above what would
normally be considered a very high dose rate and measurement was
beyond the capabilities of normal hand-held monitoring
equipment." 

Mr Harris told the court it was fortunate the beam had gone
vertically down. If an accident had caused it to emit
horizontally the beam would have emitted dangerous radiation for
980ft. 

AEA Technology, a privatised arm of the UK Atomic Energy
Authority, has admitted a series of breaches of Health and
Safety regulations, the Ionising Radiations Regulations and the
Radioactive Material (Road Transport) Regulations. 

The firm was due to be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court yesterday,
but Judge Norman Jones decided that he needed more time to read
papers and postponed setting the level of the fine until Monday.

The HSE has already asked for costs of �151,323. 

John Hand, QC, defending, said that the company lost �1 million
following the incident as it reorganised the subsidiary
involved, which it has now sold off. 

Mr Hand admitted that employees of the firm had been "relaxed
and somewhat cavalier" at the hospital and had even ticked forms
to say they had completed tasks which they had not. Judge Jones
said: "We have to remember we're dealing with the movement in
public areas and long distance movement, with very, very
dangerous materials and therefore the greatest of care is
demanded of those engaged in that movement." 

But Judge Norman Jones decided he needed more time to read
papers and postponed setting the level of the fine until Monday.
          
� Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2006. Terms &Conditions
*****************************************************************
 39 London Times: Sellafield rapped over 'lost' plutonium

2-17-6

The Sunday Times - Times

By Simon Freeman

Operators of the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant were today 
ordered to keep a closer eye on atomic material, to prevent it 
from falling into hostile hands.

The European Commission has issued a formal warning to British
Nuclear Group Sellafield (BNGSL) after it failed to meet
European standards for the second consecutive year. 

The order follows a series of inspections at the plant in
Cumbria which resulted in a report stating that "accounting and
reporting procedures... do not fully meet Euratom (EU)
standards". 

The reprimand has angered environmentalists who oppose proposals
for a new generation of new nuclear power plants to safeguard
Britain's energy supplies and meet commitments on greenhouse
gases. 

Exactly a year ago, annual audits revealed that almost 30kg of
plutonium - enough for seven nuclear bombs - was unaccounted for
at the end of Sellafield's reprocessing cycle. The shortfall was
explained as the result of discrepencies in the auditing
process, an explanation which has been supported in today's
report. 

Nevertheless, the Commission has demanded improvements at the
plant in the procedures for keeping track of materials. The
warning was accompanied by a request to the company "to
implement the appropriate remedies ... and to ensure the
adequate quality of its system of accounting for nuclear
material". 

Irish Fine Gael MEP Avril Doyle told the European Parliament in
Strasbourg: "It will come as no surprise that the Commission has
found, that the accounting and reporting procedures presently in
place at British Nuclear Group Sellafield do not fully meet
Euratom standards. 

"The Commission has the task of ensuring that accounting and
administrative procedures are in place to ensure that nuclear
materials are not diverted from the peaceful uses for which they
have been declared to subversive uses in the wrong hands." 

Jean McSorley of Greenpeace said: "It is obviously extremely
worrying that the British Nuclear Group operator of Sellafield,
one of the world�s largest nuclear facilities, is still failing
to meet European safeguards standards. This is the second time
in as many years that the European Commission has been forced to
formally warn the company over appropriate safeguards measures. 

"It�s appalling that after 50 years the industry is breaching
safeguards standards and it sends a pretty poor message to the
public and the international community. 

"We believe it shows the nuclear industry cannot be trusted to
comply with these standards, and any idea that they should be
allowed to build even more of these hazardous installations must
now be quashed." 

A British Government spokesman said that new safeguards were
being implemented following an internal review. Analysis by The
Times last year suggested that a majority of Cabinet Ministers
were likely to support building new nuclear power plants,
including those in crucial departments. 

The Irish Government plans to assemble a team of international
nuclear experts to assist in its ongoing legal battle to close
the Sellafield reprocessing plant. 

During a lecture at Harvard University in the United States,
Rory Brady, Ireland's Attorney General, described the safety
culture as "lamentable". 

He said: "We will continue to use all political, legal and
diplomatic avenues to secure the safe decommissioning of the
plant."   			 		

*****************************************************************
 40 Duluth News Tribune: Nuclear waste storage in Monticello under discussion

| 02/17/2006 | 

 ASSOCIATED PRESS 

ST. PAUL - State officials on Thursday were to field public
testimony about a $55 million proposal to store radioactive
waste near the Monticello nuclear plant. 

Xcel Energy is seeking state permission for the extra storage
space, saying it's needed for the plant to remain running for
the next few decades. Environmentalists, however, fear it will
lead to further stockpiling of nuclear waste in Minnesota. 

Xcel wants to store the waste in as many as 30 large canisters,
each placed in a modular concrete vault about the size of a
one-car garage. The vaults would sit on a large concrete pad
near the plant, surrounded by security fences. 

The storage is needed for the plant to remain running from 2010,
when its current license expires, to 2030, said Jim Alders,
Xcel's manager of regulatory projects. The plant now keeps its
used nuclear fuel under water inside the plant, but the storage
pool is nearly full. 

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission will decide on the
renewal, but the state has authority to decide whether expanded
storage of spent nuclear fuel is in the public interest. 

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission was sponsoring the
hearings Thursday. 

Alders said without the extra storage Xcel would need to shut
the nuclear plant and replace it. "That would require a coal or
natural gas power plant which would be much more expensive for
our customers, and would result in significant increases of
pollutants."
*****************************************************************
 41 Chicago Sun-Times: State EPA calls for tougher reporting standards 

February 17, 2006

BY ANN SANNER ASSOCIATED PRESS 

The state's environmental chief doesn't want his agency being
left out of the loop about leaks of radioactive material.

 Director Doug Scott of the Illinois Environmental Protection
Agency said Friday he will talk to federal and state officials
to change the reporting process.

 "It has become apparent to me that the reporting mechanism in
place is not adequate to protect the groundwater or the people
that rely on it as a source of drinking water," Scott said in a
statement.

 Right now, companies simply have to inform the federal Nuclear
Regulatory Commission about spills of water containing
radioactive substances. There is no requirement for businesses
to notify the state EPA, which is charged with protecting the
state's groundwater.

 A spokeswoman said the EPA is in the early stages of coming up
with proposed changes.

 The concern stems from a leak at an Exelon nuclear power plant
about 60 miles southwest of Chicago.

 Water containing tritium leaked at the company's Braidwood
Generating Station in 1998 but state officials did not learn
about it until November 2005.

 Exelon announced Wednesday that elevated levels of radioactive
tritium had also been found in water leaked at two other nuclear
power plants: the Dresden Generating Station in Grundy County
and Byron Nuclear Generating Station, about 25 miles southwest
of Rockford.

 None of the leaks pose a health or safety threat, Exelon and
the EPA said.

 Tritium is a radioactive substance commonly found in small
concentrations in most surface water, but is more concentrated
in water used in nuclear reactors. Studies have shown long-term
exposure-- through drinking or bathing-- can lead to cancer and
birth defects.

 The agency met Friday with Exelon officials for an update of
the Braidwood investigation. Exelon must file a report with the
latest results and their plan for leak prevention by March 10.

 The company has 17 nuclear power units at six sites in
Illinois, three in Pennsylvania and one in New Jersey.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
*****************************************************************
 42 Las Vegas SUN: DOE: Suspect Yucca Mountain work is sound, but
will be redone 

Today: February 17, 2006 at 17:12:31 PST 

By ERICA WERNER ASSOCIATED PRESS 

WASHINGTON (AP) - Work on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump,
though performed by federal employees who apparently made up
facts, was scientifically sound, an Energy Department report
said Friday. 

But the work will be redone anyway because it didn't comply with
quality assurance rules. That will take months and could cost as
much as several million dollars, said Paul Golan, acting
director of the department's Office of Civilian Radioactive
Waste Management. 

"We need to move forward based on work that meets our quality
standards. And if that means redeveloping this work, taking the
time and incurring the cost to do that, we just need to do
that," Golan said in a conference call. 

The Energy Department released the 144-page report nearly a year
after disclosing the existence of e-mails written by U.S.
Geological Survey hydrologists indicating they fabricated facts,
deleted inconvenient data and kept one set of documents for
themselves and another for quality assurance officials. 

The e-mails were written from 1998 through 2004 by scientists
using computer models to determine how quickly precipitation
could make its way through the dump site in the desert 90 miles
northwest of Las Vegas. The dump is planned as a national
repository for 77,000 tons of used commercial reactor fuel and
defense waste now stored at sites in 39 states. 

The Geological Survey validated Energy Department conclusions
that water seepage was relatively slow, so radiation would be
less likely to escape. That led Nevada lawmakers and other Yucca
Mountain opponents to contend the scientists were changing data
to reach a predetermined conclusion. 

The Energy Department's report, which was reviewed by three
outside experts, found no problems with water infiltration rates
estimated by the Geological Survey scientists. The conclusions
were corroborated by other data and were comparable to findings
by other scientists studying similar environments around the
country, the report said. It found no problem with the basis for
the Energy Department's 2002 recommendation of Yucca Mountain as
the site for a nuclear waste dump. 

However, Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico will redo
the computer models because quality assurance rules weren't
complied with, Golan said. The lab started the work in September
and is scheduled to finish by summer. 

Nevada officials dismissed the report as a whitewash. 

"The DOE, which failed to prevent the falsification of
scientific data on Yucca Mountain projects in the first place,
now wants to us to believe that the falsifications made no
difference in the quality of the work. That's absurd," said Sen.
Harry Reid, D-Nev. 

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., called the report "laughable" and
"ridiculous." 

The Energy Department is trying to recover from a series of
problems with the project, including a federal court's ruling
that overturned the government's original radiation protection
standards for the dump. 

Project managers no longer offer estimates as to when the dump
might open; as of a year ago, the most optimistic estimate was
2012. Golan said he couldn't say when the Energy Department
might submit an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
for an operating license. 

He also couldn't say whether the Geological Survey controversy
has delayed the project. Separately, a redesign has been
required by the Energy Department's decision to use a different
kind of packaging to hold nuclear waste buried in the dump. 

--- 

On the Net: 

U.S. Geological Survey: http://www.usgs.gov 

Department of Energy: http://www.doe.gov 

Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management:
http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/ 

All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 43 San Bernardino County Sun: Perchlorate bill now in Congress 

Display Date: 02/17/2006 12:00 AM PST  

Amy Frye, Staff Writer  
    
  New legislation introduced Thursday in the House and the
Senate could bring $50 million to California to clean up
rocket-fuel contamination. 

The bill would give priority to contaminated areas in San
Bernardino and Riverside counties because they are heavily
affected by perchlorate contamination.

 Perchlorate is a major ingredient in rocket fuel. Contaminating
soil and water, it is known to impair thyroid function and could
be potentially harmful for children and developing fetuses.

 The California Perchlorate Contamination Remediation Act was
introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. Richard
Pombo, R-Stockton.

 "So far, both the Defense Department and the Environmental
Protection Agency have failed to recognize the gravity of
perchlorate contamination. In the meantime, communities in
California have been forced to suffer the financial burden of
trying to provide safe drinking water for their residents,"
Feinstein said in a news release Thursday.

 In addition to providing cleanup grants, the bill asks for $8
million to develop more efficient and less expensive perchlorate
cleanup technologies. 

Feinstein and Pombo are asking the EPA to set a national
standard for perchlorate in drinking water.

 In Rialto, Fontana and Colton, perchlorate was found in at
least 20 wells and has been seeping into the cities' water
supply since World War II. The contamination is thought to come
from old ammunition bunkers and fireworks companies near the
Mid-Valley Landfill in Rialto.

 Rialto has filed lawsuits against the Department of Defense, 
which manufactured munitions in the area, San Bernardino County 
and 39 companies believed to be responsible.

 The contaminant has also been detected in Norco, where the
state is currently conducting an investigation into and cleanup
of Wyle Laboratories, a munitions and aerospace testing facility
that operated in the city from the 1950s to the 1990s.

 Residents concerned with the impact contamination from Wyle is
having on their health have been pushing the state for a faster
cleanup and more comprehensive investigation.

 Tony Mauro, a biologist who sits on the Citizens Advisory Group
to help residents understand the status of the Wyle cleanup,
praised the proposed bill.

 "The problem is the equipment to clean up perchlorate is
expensive and the operation of the equipment is expensive, so if
they could do something to make that process faster, that's
great," Mauro said.

 He added that so far Riverside County has been very successful
in reducing the levels of perchlorate in drinking water, but
this money would help them even more.   
                  
Los Angeles Newspaper Group 
*****************************************************************
 44 Salt Lake Tribune: Responsive to money

Opinion

  Article Last Updated: 02/16/2006 11:42 PM MST  

  We have operated for 15 years now under a law that requires
both the Legislature and the governor to sign off on the
deposition of hazardous waste in Utah. Suddenly, in 2006, Sen.
Howard Stephenson proposes that it is no longer desirable to
have this double check (SB70). 

   The only apparent change in our circumstances seems to be
that a very aggressive company, Envirocare (now
EnergySolutions), moved to request a doubling of their allotted
dumping territory. Public opinion has long expressed
dissatisfaction with making Utah the target of extensive waste
dumping. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has openly committed himself to
opposing Utah's characterization as a waste dumping ground. 

   So it does seem that Sen. Stephenson is being more responsive
to the money-grubbing of Envirocare than to the health and 
reputation of Utah. Any expansion of nuclear or toxic waste dumps 
in Utah will stick with us long into the future, a detriment to 
our environment, health and reputation for generations. 
    
   Naomi Franklin 
   Salt Lake City 
    
© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 45 Salt Lake Tribune: Remember their votes

Opinion

  Article Last Updated: 02/16/2006 11:42 PM MST  

  The people of Utah do not want any more radioactive waste
dumped in Utah. All polls show this. The governor agrees. Sen.
Howard Stephenson's bill, SB70, would allow enlarged capacity
for continuing and new dumping of such waste in Utah, even
allowing an override of a governor's veto. 

   This bill is being fast-tracked in the Legislature, having
passed through House and Senate committees, thanks to
legislators representing I know not whom. 

   The following legislators, supposedly representing their
constituents, voted in favor of this onerous bill: In the House
Business and Labor Committee: Reps. Stephen Clark, Stuart Adams,
David Clark, Carl Duckworth, Craig Frank, Neil Hansen, Todd
Kiser, Michael Morley, Curtis Oda, Gordon Snow and Scott Wyatt.
In the Senate Natural Resources Committee: Sens. Michael 
Waddoups, Thomas Hatch, and Darin Peterson. 

   Utah voters, if your legislator(s) are on this list, please
remember when you vote this next time. You may also want to
thank the legislators who voted in the interests of the people
of Utah: Sens. Scott McCoy and Fred Fife and Reps. Jackie
Biskupski and Rep. James Dunnigan. 
    
   Carol Withrow 
   Salt Lake City 
    
© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 46 Irish Examiner: Nuke experts join move on Sellafield 

  [nuclear plant]   
  17/02/06 

By Paul O�Brien, Political Reporter

THE Government is assembling a team of international
nuclear-industry experts to assist in its legal battle to have
Sellafield closed. 

Ireland has used various international treaties to take a
complex set of legal actions against the British government,
which owns the controversial nuclear plant. 

It is hoped the piecemeal legal approach, in tandem with
political and diplomatic efforts, will eventually prove
successful, and that the British government will decommission
Sellafield. 

The team of advisers, whose expertise will range from the
scientific aspects of nuclear energy to the economics of the
industry, will assist Attorney General Rory Brady, who is
spearheading the legal battle. Ministers and government
officials continue to pursue the matter through political and
diplomatic channels. 

Mr Brady was in the US yesterday where he outlined the
Government�s case in a lecture delivered at Harvard University
in Massachusetts. 

He said the Government wanted Sellafield closed for four key
reasons: its poor safety record; the risks posed to Ireland in
the event of an accident or terrorist attack at Sellafield; the
radioactive material being discharged into the Irish Sea; and
the large quantity of radioactive waste on the site for which
there is no agreed long-term solution.

Ireland took its latest case against the British government
under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the legal
framework to regulate ocean space.   

� Irish Examiner, 2005, Thomas Crosbie Media, TCH 
*****************************************************************
 47 Mountain Mail Newspaper: Spilled uranium clean-up to continue today

  Friday, February 17, 2006

More delays are possible on U.S. 50 near Swissvale today, as
hazardous materials crews resume clean-up of a uranium ore spill
that occurred Wednesday.

Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Department of Health
officials worked into the early morning hours Thursday to clear
the road of the uranium-laced rock and dirt.

The ore was on its way to the Cotter Corp. uranium mill near
Ca�on City. 

The truck carrying the ore rolled on a hairpin curve turn near
mile marker 231 about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The driver, Thomas Golightly, 26, Grand Junction, was cited with
improper mountain driving and hauling a load heavier than the
legal limit by more than a ton.

Colorado State Patrol hazardous materials specialist Gary Pike
said crews cleared the road of the material by 2 a.m. Thursday
and took the rest of Thursday off. They will return today to
remove material that spilled over the guardrail and down a steep
embankment.

�It flung out probably another 100 feet (off the road),� Pike
said. �It�s not even close to getting into the (Arkansas River)
� a couple hundred yards at least.�

The road was closed on and off Wednesday night and early
Thursday morning and may be narrowed to one lane traffic today
as clean-up is completed, Pike said.

Crews might wait to resume clean-up until snow that fell on the
material Thursday morning has melted, he added.

More than 25 tons of ore spilled. About three-fourths of it
still needs to be cleaned up, Phil Egidi, environmental
protection specialist with the health department, said.

Custom Environmental Services of Colorado Springs was contracted
by the Grand Junction-based trucking company � E Leasing � to do
the clean-up. 

Crews are following guidelines from the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and
the state health department. 

�It�s a game plan how we�re going to do this safely so no one
gets exposed,� Pike said.

The plan calls for crews to continually water down the material
to prevent dust-ups, which were a greater possibility Wednesday
because of high wind in the canyon. 

�The major hazard is respiratory so we did dust control,� Pike
said.

Colorado State Patrol and Cotter Corp. personnel will monitor
air around the crash site and double check the road for
increased radiation levels after cleanup is complete.

 		 		
   All information on these pages is Copyright 2006, Arkansas
                       Valley Publishing. 
      Any reproduction requires permission in writing from 
 Arkansas Valley Publishing, PO Box 189, Salida, Colorado 81201.
                         (719-539-6691)
            Software � 1998-2006 , All Rights Reserved 
                                
			   						 			  [ ]    			 			   				 			   		 	

 
*****************************************************************
 48 MH: Blend-down of USEC HEU near end, others gearing up, DOE official
says - Daniel Horner
 
Copyright 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 

http://www.mcgrawhill.com All Rights Reserved Nuclear Fuels 
January 30, 2006 

Yucca Mountain news; Pg. 6 Vol. 31 No. 3 

Washington 

BWX Technologies Inc. has almost completed the downblending of
more than 40 metric tons (MT) of high-enriched uranium (HEU) for
USEC Inc., DOE's Dean Tousley said last week. 

Tousley, acting deputy director in the office of disposition
projects in DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration
(NNSA), said BWXT should be finished with the job around June.
The company is working through a stockpile of 45.8 MT of surplus
HEU that the government has delivered to USEC, as required by
the USEC Privatization Act. 

Tousley noted that the amount is often cited as 50 MT. However,
he said that figure was based on an assumed enrichment level of
40% U-235. Since the actual enrichment level of the material is
about 43%, the amount was reduced somewhat, he said. 

Speaking at the Nuclear Energy Institute's Nuclear Fuel Supply
Forum Jan. 24 in Washington, D.C., Tousley also said a request
for proposals (RFP) was "expected in the near future" from NNSA
on the 17.4 MT of HEU that is to be blended down and made part
of an international fuel bank (NF, 10 Oct. '05, 1). The RFP will
cover both HEU downblending and storage of the resulting
low-enriched uranium (LEU), he said. 

In response to a question from Melissa Mann of Ux Consulting, he
said foreign entities were eligible for the contract, although
the blend-down would have to take place in the U.S. But he said
it wasn't yet clear if the LEU could be stored overseas. 

Mann later said Tousley's response indicated the uncertainty as
to where the material for the fuel bank would be stored. One
factor in that decision, she said, would have to be
accessibility of the material to its potential recipients. 

NNSA plans to award the contract and begin HEU deliveries in the
current fiscal year, Tousley said. The downblending is projected
to last from 2006 to 2009, he said. 

NNSA's newest blend-down project is on a much more stretched-out
schedule, he said. In November, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman
said an additional 200 MT HEU would be withdrawn from the U.S.
weapons stockpile. Most of the total, 160 MT, is to be used to
fabricate fuel for U.S. naval reactors, while 20 MT is to be
used for fuel for the U.S. space program and for research
reactors that cannot yet convert to LEU. Another 20 MT is to be
downblended to LEU. (NF, 21 Nov., '05, 1) 

Tousley estimated that about 20 or 30 MT of the 160 MT would not
meet the specifications for naval reactor fuel and therefore
would be added to the material to be blended down. When DOE
announced the 200-MT withdrawal, NNSA Administrator Linton
Brooks said some of the 20 MT from the research and space
reactor category might be shifted to another use (NF, 21 Nov.
'05, 1). 

The timing of the downblending is tied to weapons dismantlement,
which will take until about 2030, Tousley said. 
  
*****************************************************************
 49 RTE News: Further Govt moves planned on Sellafield
          
17 February 2006 19:42

The Government plans to assemble a team of international nuclear
experts to assist in its ongoing legal battle to close the
Sellafield reprocessing plant at Cumbria. 

The development comes as the Attorney General, Rory Brady,
described the safety culture at Sellafield as 'lamentable'
during a lecture at Harvard University in the United States. 

Mr Brady said the Government would continue to use all
political, legal and diplomatic avenues to secure the safe
decommissioning of the plant, in part, because of the risks
posed by accidents or terrorist attacks. 

Earlier this week, the European Commission issued a formal
warning against British Nuclear Group - formerly British Nuclear
Fuels - over shortcomings in the way it accounts and reports on
nuclear material held at Sellafield. 

A spokesman said the matter was viewed as 'very serious' in
Brussels, and the company now had four months to rectify the
problems identified by EU inspectors.
  
src="http://www.rte.ie/news/images/realplayer.gif" border="0">  


  Six One News: Bethan Kilfoil reports that the Government is
planning to assemble a team of international nuclear experts to
assist in its campaign to close the Sellafield reprocessing
plant <img src="/news/images/video_sml_but.gif" width="16"
height="10" border="0">  

  One News: Bethan Kilfoil reports as the Attorney General told
a US conference that the Irish Government had no faith in the
safety of the plant <img src="/news/images/video_sml_but.gif"
width="16" height="10" border="0">  

*****************************************************************
 50 KLASTV.com: DOE Releases Yucca Report

The Department of Energy released a report it says confirms the
technical work at Yucca Mountain. 

In the 144-page report, the DOE says the technical basis has a
strong conceptual foundation and is corroborated by
independently derived scientific conclusions. The government
agency also said it is on the right path to opening Yucca
Mountain based only on sound science. 

The U.S. Geological Survey performed infiltration tests after
employees wrote emails indicating scientists falsified data to
get the nuclear waste dump approved.  As soon as the DOE report
was released,  Nevada officials reacted. 

"Support for Yucca Mountain on Capitol Hill and across the
country is waning and the failure of DOE to recognize the
project's deep problems, as reflected in today's ridiculous
report, will only continue that trend,"  Senator John Ensign (R)
Nevada released a statement. 

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D) Nevada echoed Ensign's
respons. "Both before and after the falsified scientific data
was discovered.  They're trying to whitewash the situation with
this report, but Nevadans have no reason to trust them." 

"If safety truly is DOE's number one concern, their best course
of action would be to scrap the entire Yucca Mountain project," 
said Rep. John Porter (R) Nevada. 

  Gary Waddell, Anchor

Yucca Mt. Dump: Two Perspectives
No specifics of the DOE's plan have been made public only that
waste from other countries could be brought there for
reprocessing. Read on for two perspectives.
   
  Brian Allen, Reporter

DOE Wants Yucca to be The World's Nuclear Repository
A Nevada group working against the Yucca Mountain project says
the DOE's plan could also bring waste from other countries to
Southern Nevada. 
   
web link to report

.gif">    All content � Copyright 2000 - 2006 WorldNow and KLAS.
All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 51 KLASTV.com: Yucca Mt. Dump: Two Perspectives

  Gary Waddell, Anchor
 
Department of Energy said this week that Yucca Mountain could be
used to help keep the world's nuclear waste out of the hands of
terrorists or rogue nations. The Yucca Mountain dump is about
90-miles northwest of Las Vegas. 

No specifics of the plan have been made public only that waste
from other countries could be brought there for reprocessing so
it could be controlled and used in power plants to generate
electricity. 

Bob Loux, who heads up the nevada agency for nuclear projects,
says he doesn't think a real plan exists and that being able to
economically reprocess the waste is, at best, many years away.
"The problem is they are not going to have this technology, if
it works, for another 30 to 50 years, yet they want to push
Yucca into licensing as soon as they can. So, none of it matches
up, it's merely a diversionary tactic." 

Bob List, nuclear power industry consultant, said, "I don't
think that could be further from the truth. The reality is, this
whole thing basically is started on the assumption that we need
to do something to protect our nation from non proliferation, to
keep rogue nations and the bad guys tp have the ability to
produce nuclear weapons." 

List says this plan, if it works, would give emerging countries
and others the ability to build non-polluting, non-greenhouse
gas emitting power plants that could economically produce
electrictiy. Another problem, according to Bob Loux, is that
even if reprocessing becomes a reality the plan would require
the shipping of nuclear products around the world.   

  Brian Allen, Reporter

DOE Wants Yucca to be The World's Nuclear Repository
A Nevada group working against the Yucca Mountain project says
the DOE's plan could also bring waste from other countries to
Southern Nevada. 
More>>
   

      All content � Copyright 2000 - 2006 WorldNow and KLAS. All
Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 52 Pahrump Valley Times: TRANSURANIC WASTE SHIPMENTS HEADED OUT OF STATE 

Nye County's Largest Newspaper Circulation

 		 February 17, 2006
 
Heavy metal isn't just music 

By PHILLIP GOMEZ PVT 

PHILLIP GOMEZ / PVT Joni Norton, left, acting project manager 
with the federal Department of Energy, and Frank DiSanza, right, 
acting director for DOE's environmental management office at the 
Nevada Test Site, informed a small Pahrump audience about DOE's 
careful management of objects contaminated by heavy, radioactive 
metals. 

If you were around before 1990, you may remember seeing trucks
hauling heavy canisters through Pahrump, with numbers or the
letters "TRU" printed on the side. You might not have realized
they contained heavy metals - a true waste.

 The cargo was worker clothing, tools and debris contaminated
with spent nuclear energy - radioactive from contact with
decayed heavy metals. 

TRU wastes are those heavy metals, such as bohrium or
californium, listed on the chemistry periodic table with an
atomic number greater than 92 - the number of protons in the
nucleus of an atom of uranium. 

"TRU" stands for "transuranic," meaning "beyond" uranium in its
elemental composition. That's heavy for a tiny thing. And
extremely dangerous to living beings.

 Uranium is naturally radioactive, occurring in nature and
emitting harmful particle rays. But heavier manufactured metals
can be especially hazardous even to the human environment.

 TRU waste requires special handing. Between 1974 and 1990 it
was transported in secured TRUPACT containers through Pahrump to
the Nevada Test Site. Now it's going east, out of Nevada. 

Each truck can transport up to three TRUPACT-II containers at
one time. All waste shipments must meet stringent U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission and Department of Transportation
requirements before transport. 

In a waste disposal effort begun in January 2004, 2 million
cubic feet of highly radioactive transuranic waste was shipped
off the NTS, east to New Mexico for permanent disposal.

 Joni Norton calls the NTS disposal program a success story, but
it's not over yet. Norton is the Department of Energy's
environmental management project manager for TRU waste at the
NTS.

 Waste products containing manmade radioactive elements heavier
than uranium are safely handled by protected workers at special
government facilities. But the waste must be carefully packaged
for shipment and proper disposal. TRU waste is packaged in
government-approved 55-gallon drums and placed inside 85-gallon
"overpacks."

 TRU waste stored at the NTS came from the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory near Oakland, Calif., in the 1970s and '80s.
There the waste was temporarily stored until, in 2004, it was
shipped to Carlsbad, N.M., for disposal 150 feet below the
surface in shafts surrounded by salt formations. 

The repository, called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, is the
world's first underground repository licensed to permanently
dispose of transuranic waste.

 The job at the NTS was all but completed last November, with
1,860 55-gallon drums shipped in all. It took 48 shipments in
the huge TRUPACT-II containers, which can hold up to 14
55-gallon drums, two standard waste boxes, or one 10-drum
overpack.

 Lower-level waste is disposed of at the NTS, Norton said. Some
TRU waste still remains at the site, approximately 200 drums and
58 oversized boxes of contaminated materials. That's because
they did not meet the size or other disposal requirements for
burial at the New Mexico site, she said.

 The remaining waste at the NTS will be subjected to X-ray
assaying to verify the physical properties of the waste. Boxes
of the waste in non-standard sizes will be reduced and
repackaged to meet shipping requirements. 

The project is currently scheduled to end in 2007.

For comment or questions, please e-mail
webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com
Copyright � Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - 2006 
*****************************************************************
 53 Rocky Mountain News: Flats Deadline Set

Karen Abbott, Rocky Mountain News                                               
February 17, 2006                      
                                                                         
Lawyers for thousands of Rocky Flats neighbors who won a $354 
million jury award this week were given until Feb. 24 to respond 
to challenges to the jury�s work mounted by former Rocky Flats 
operators Dow Chemical Co. and Rockwell International Corp. 

Attorneys for Dow and Rockwell have filed a sealed motion
seeking to interview a juror who was excused during
deliberations after she left the jury room in tears and said she
didn�t want to go back. The Dow and Rockwell lawyers have
alleged that other jurors may have bullied the excused woman,
and perhaps others, into changing their votes. 

The Dow and Rockwell attorneys will have until March 3 to reply
to the plaintiffs� response. 

Colorado U.S. District Judge John Kane set the deadlines during
a telephone status conference with a dozen lawyers on both sides
in several states. 

Much of the session was spent discussing legal technicalities
surrounding an expected appeal by Dow and Rockwell to the 10th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. 

2006 � The E.W. Scripps Co.
*****************************************************************
 54 ContraCostaTimes.com: Group opposes 'hotlab' proposal

| 02/17/2006 | 


 By Betsy Mason CONTRA COSTA TIMES 

LIVERMORE - A local watchdog group has asked for an emergency
injunction to stop Lawrence Livermore Laboratory from opening a
new "hotlab" where anthrax, plague and other deadly pathogens
would routinely be tested. 

"Our main concern is the fact that the facility is not built to
withstand foreseeable earthquakes in the Livermore area," said
Loulena Miles of Livermore-based Tri-Valley Communities against
a Radioactive Environment. 

The group wants the Department of Energy to do a full
environmental impact statement for the "Biosafety Level 3"
facility, or hotlab, that takes into account the impact of
potential earthquakes and terrorist attacks. 

The DOE already did an environmental assessment, but Miles
claims it didn't consider possible terrorist attacks or the two
active earthquake faults that lie within two miles of the new
facility. One of those faults, the Greenville Fault, had a 5.9
earthquake in 1980 that injured 44 people and did $10 million
worth of damage to the lab. 

Livermore Lab spokesman Steve Wampler said the new
1,600-square-foot hotlab has been built to the same standards as
are fire stations, hospitals and police stations. "These are
buildings that are needed in the event of an earthquake and will
still be standing." 

The lab currently has a Biosafety Level 2 facility that has
already made important advances with plague and anthrax
research, Wampler said. "This proposed facility would allow our
scientists to conduct more sophisticated experiments on a wider
array of microorganisms. We'll also be able to learn more about
new emerging diseases." 

The lab plans to oppose the motion, Wampler said. "The same
issues that were raised at the trial court level -- and rejected
there -- are being put forward again. We believed then and
continue to believe that this was a sound decision." 

Tri-Valley CAREs doesn't quibble with the value of research that
could be done at a level 3 facility. But Livermore, its members
say, is not the place for that research. "It's already such an
attractive terrorist target without putting advanced biowarfare
agents there," Miles said. 

The current motion is the latest move in a battle over the
hotlab that started more than two years ago. 

Tri-Valley CAREs and other watchdog groups originally sued the
Energy Department in U.S. District Court in August 2003 claiming
the environmental impact of proposed Biosafety Level 3
facilities at Livermore lab and Los Alamos National Laboratory
had not been adequately studied. The following December, a
federal judge barred shipments of biological agents including
botulism, anthrax, plague, valley fever and Q fever until a
final decision on the lawsuit was made. In September 2004, the
judge gave Livermore's biosafety lab the go-ahead. 

The groups appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals in San Francisco in November 2004 and are waiting for a
hearing date to be set. 

In November 2005, the DOE announced it would do a full
environmental impact review for the proposed hotlab at Los
Alamos. Meanwhile, the Livermore facility is scheduled to begin
work in April, prompting the watchdog groups to file this week's
"urgent motion to stay." 

Reach Betsy Mason at or 925-847-2158.
*****************************************************************
 55 DOE: Secretary Bodman Meets with Senators, Commits to Further 
Discussion of BPA Debt Prepayment Proposal
 
  February 16, 2006
 
WASHINGTON, DC  Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman, in a 
meeting today with Pacific Northwest Senators hosted by Senator 
Larry Craig, committed to continue discussions with Pacific 
Northwest interests concerning the Bonneville Power 
Administration (BPA) debt prepayment proposal included in 
President Bush's FY 2007 Budget Request.                 

It was helpful for me to hear the perspectives of this 
bipartisan group of Pacific Northwest Senators, and to hear their 
views about the proposal in the Presidents budget request, 
Secretary Bodman said.  

However, I continue to believe that the Administrations 
proposal makes good sense for the Bonneville Power Administration 
and its customers.    

The current Administration proposal is substantially different 
from previous proposals to move to market-based pricing for BPA 
power.  The Administrations FY 2007 Budget Request provides that 
if BPA earns more than $500 million in annual net secondary 
revenues, the excess amount will be used to make early payments 
on its federal bond debt to the United States Treasury.   

Although this proposal would mean a modest rate increase for 
Bonneville customers in FYs 2008 and 2009, Bonneville customers 
could expect to benefit in the long-term through lower rates and 
improved access to capital to improve and upgrade critical 
infrastructure facilities.    

Secretary Bodman said that a formal BPA rate case to address the 
proposal in the Presidents Budget Request would not be initiated 
until July, and committed to a further dialogue with members of 
the Pacific Northwest Congressional delegation.    

I look forward to continuing to discuss the President's budget 
proposal to address the concerns of Pacific Northwest consumers, 
Secretary Bodman said.    

The meeting today with Secretary Bodman was attended by Senators 
Craig, Cantwell, Smith, Burns and Wyden. 

Media contact(s):
 Craig Stevens, 202/586-4940     [ ]   
  
  U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW |
Washington, DC 20585
 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 | 
  
*****************************************************************
 56 DOE: Generation IV International Forum Signs Agreement to Collaborate 
on Sodium Cooled Fast Reactors

  February 17, 2006
 
FUKUI , JAPAN  The Department of Energy today announced that
the United States signed a sodium-cooled fast reactor systems
arrangement with France and Japan, providing the framework for
collaboration among these countries on the research and
development of these advanced nuclear reactors.  

The signing of the agreement took place on February 16, 2006. 
This arrangement will support the development of technologies 
associated with the U.S.-led Global Nuclear Energy Partnership 
(GNEP), announced earlier this month by Secretary of Energy 
Samuel W. Bodman. GNEP is a comprehensive strategy aimed at 
increasing U.S. and global energy security, encouraging clean 
development around the world, reducing the risk of 
nonproliferation, and improving the environment.   

The signing of this arrangement is a key accomplishment that 
will hopefully garner international collaboration for developing 
innovative nuclear energy concepts, said R. Shane Johnson, 
Acting Director, the U.S. Department of Energys Office of 
Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology and chairman of the 
Generation IV International Forum (GIF) Policy Group.  

Expanding the generation of new nuclear technologies will allow 
the benefits of initiatives like GNEP to span the globe.     

The first-of-its-kind arrangement was signed following a 
three-day meeting this week of the GIF Policy Group in Fukui, 
Japan, with the ten GIF member countries.  The agreement provides 
the framework for GIF countries to participate in collaborative 
research and development on sodium-cooled fast reactor 
technology.    

The GIF Forum is an important component of President Bushs 
comprehensive energy strategy, to investigate innovative nuclear 
energy concepts for meeting future energy challenges.  The ten 
member countries include: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, 
Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, the United 
Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.    

For more information on this and other DOE nuclear energy 
initiatives please visit the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science 
and Technologys website at . 

Media contact(s):
 Craig Stevens, 202/586-4940     [ ]   

  U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW |
Washington, DC 20585
 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 | 
  
*****************************************************************
 57 DOE: Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative Wins DOE Wind 
Cooperative of the Year Award
 
  February 17, 2006
 
WASHINGTON , DC - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today 
announced that Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative (IREC) will 
receive the 2005 Wind Cooperative of the Year Award.  The utility 
was cited for its leadership, demonstrated success, and 
innovation in its wind power program.    

Illinois Rural Electric has been awarded for its innovation and 
commitment to wind power, said Douglas L. Faulkner, Acting 
Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 

They have demonstrated that wind power can contribute to a 
cleaner environment, a stronger local economy and act as a hedge 
against rising fuel costs.   

IREC, a member-owned utility in Winchester, IL, is the first 
co-op in the state to install a wind power projects and serves 
more than 10,000 consumer/owners throughout 10 western-central IL 
counties. The 1.65-megawatt project was partially financed 
through federal and state funds, and was completed in May 2005. 

Highlighting the projects potential, a recent wind resource 
assessment indicates that Pike County, IL could support as many 
as 100 projects of this size, which could add as much as $7 
million to the local tax base. This award, sponsored by DOEs 
Wind Powering America effort in conjunction with the National 
Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and the 
Cooperative Research Network (CRN), was presented at the opening 
session of NRECAs TechAdvantage 2006 Conference and Expo in 
Orlando, Florida. The IL cooperative was one of six rural 
member-owned utilities nominated this year.

  President Bushs Fiscal Year 2007 budget request calls for 
increased funding of 12.8% to diversify wind energy programs and 
research.  Wind Powering America is a DOE activity committed to 
dramatically increasing the use of wind energy in the United 
States. For more information, visit www.windpoweringamerica.gov 
Previous Wind Cooperative of the Year awardees are Western 
Farmers Electric Cooperative (Oklahoma), Holy Cross Energy 
(Colorado), Basin Electric Power Cooperative (North Dakota), and 
Great River Energy (Minnesota). 

Media contact(s):
 Michael Waldron, 202/586-4940
Tom Welch, 202/586-5806     [ ]   

  U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW |
Washington, DC 20585
 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 | 
  
*****************************************************************
 58 Platts: Sen. Clinton questions DOE's GNEP program
 
Washington (Platts)--16Feb2006
 
DOE's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) proposal has 
"serious problems," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said 
today. 

In questioning Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman at a Senate Armed 
Services Committee hearing, Clinton said the recently unveiled 
GNEP, which would involve new types of reprocessing facilities 
and fast reactors, is "well-intentioned" but that DOE's claims 
for the likely results of the initiative "don't hold up." 

Clinton questioned DOE's use of the term 
"proliferation-resistant" to describe GNEP reprocessing. 

In contrast, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) described the 
administration's plan as "visionary."
  

  
  

Copyright � 2006 - Platts, All Rights Reserved
 [The McGraw-Hill Companies]   

*****************************************************************
 59 DOE: Office of Science; DOE/Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory 
 
                         FR Doc E6-2352 
[Federal Register: February 17, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 33)] 
[Notices] [Page 8569-8570] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr17fe06-39]                         
 
Committee AGENCY: Department of Energy.
 
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
 
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Advanced 
Scientific Computing Advisory Committee (ASCAC). Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public 
notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register.
 
 
DATES: Wednesday, March 15, 2006, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 
March 16, 2006, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
 
ADDRESSES: American Geophysical Union, (AGU), 2000 Florida 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20009-1277 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT: Melea Baker, Office of Advanced Scientific Computing 
Research; SC-21/Germantown Building; U. S. Department of Energy; 
1000 Independence Avenue, SW.; Washington, DC 20585-1290; 
Telephone (301)-903-7486, (E-mail:

 
Melea.Baker@science.doe.gov).
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Meeting: The purpose of 
this meeting is to provide advice and guidance on the advanced 
scientific computing research program.
 
Tentative Agenda: Agenda will include discussions of the 
following: Wednesday, March 15, 2006 Introduction Advisory 
Committee Operations Office of Science Overview Advanced 
Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) Overview Scientific 
Discovery Through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) Recompetition ASCR 
High Performance Computing Facilities and Testbeds ASCR High 
Performance Networks and Associated Research View from OMB 
Distributed Network Environment Research Public Comment Thursday, 
March 16, 2006 Computer Science Research Program LLNL-ANL-IBM R 
Collatorations ASCR Performance Measures SciDAC Conference Report 
Applied Mathematics Research Program Status ASCR Partnerships 
with other Offices in SC Education, Computational Science 
Graduate Fellowship (CSGF), Early Career Principal Investigator 
(ECPI)
 
[[Page 8570]] Implementation of Committee of Visitors (COV) 
findings, Congressional actions, Protecting Americas Competitive 
Edge (PACE), Advanced Research Projects Agency--Energy (ARPA-E) 
Advisory Committee Open Discussion of Issues Review Calendar for 
CY 2006 Public Comment Public Participation: The meeting is open 
to the public. If you would like to file a written statement with 
the Committee, you may do so either before or after the meeting. 
If you would like to make oral statements regarding any of the 
items on the agenda, you should contact Melea Baker via FAX at 
301-903-4846 or via e-mail Melea.Baker@science.doe.gov). You must 
make your request for an oral statement at least 5 business days 
prior to the meeting.
 
Reasonable provision will be made to include the scheduled oral 
statements on the agenda. The Chairperson of the Committee will 
conduct the meeting to facilitate the orderly conduct of 
business. Public comment will follow the 10-minute rule.
 
Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public 
review and copying within 30 days at the Freedom of Information 
Public Reading Room; 1E-190, Forrestal Building; 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW.; Washington, DC 20585; between 9 a.m. 
and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays.
 
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 14, 2006.
 
Rachel Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee, Management Officer.
 
[FR Doc. E6-2352 Filed 2-16-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 60 DOE: Office of Science; Notice of Establishment of the Climate Change 
 
                         FR Doc E6-2353 
[Federal Register: February 17, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 33)] 
[Notices] [Page 8568-8569] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr17fe06-37]                         
 
Science Program Product Development Advisory Committee AGENCY: 
Department of Energy.
 
ACTION: Notice of establishment of advisory committee.
 
SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 9(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. 2, section 102-3.65, title 41, Code 
of Federal Regulations and following consultation with the other 
Federal agencies responsible for preparing Climate Change Science 
Program (CCSP) Synthesis and Assessment Products that are 
required to comply with Section 106 of the Global Change Research 
Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101- 606), notice is hereby given that the 
Climate Change Science Program Product Development Advisory 
Committee has been established for a two- year period.
 
The Committee will draft specific CCSP Synthesis and Assessment 
Products at the request of the Department of Energy in accordance 
with the Guidelines for producing the CCSP Synthesis and 
Assessment Products. The Committee will update
 
[[Page 8569]] the Department of Energy on the progress during the 
development of the products and will agree upon the contents of 
the products before advising the Department to adopt the 
language. The Committee will function solely as an advisory body. 
The Secretary of Energy has determined that establishment of the 
Climate Change Science Program Product Development Advisory 
Committee is essential to the conduct of the Department's 
business and in the public interest in connection with the 
performance of duties imposed by law upon the Department of 
Energy. The Committee will operate in accordance with the 
provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. No. 
92-463), the General Services Administration Final Rule on 
Federal Advisory Committee Management, and other directives and 
instructions issued in implementation of those acts.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Rachel Samuel at (202) 
586-3279.
 
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 10, 2006.
 
James N. Solit, Advisory Committee Management Officer.
 
[FR Doc. E6-2353 Filed 2-16-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 61 DOE: Extension of Scoping Period and Rescheduled Scoping Meetings for 
 
                         FR Doc 06-1562 
[Federal Register: February 17, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 33)] 
[Notices] [Page 8569] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr17fe06-38]                         
 
the Notice of Intent To Prepare the Tank Closure and Waste 
Management Environmental Impact Statement for the Hanford Site, 
Richland, WA AGENCY: Department of Energy.
 
ACTION: Notice.
 
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is extending the 
scoping period for the Tank Closure and Waste Management 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Hanford Site, Richland, 
Washington (TC & WM EIS) and rescheduling the public scoping 
meetings.
 
 
DATES: The scoping period for the TC & WM EIS is extended from 
March 6, 2006, through April 10, 2006. The scoping meetings have 
been rescheduled as follows. Registration for the meetings will 
begin at 6 p.m. There will be an opportunity for informal 
discussions with DOE project personnel and staff from the 
Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology), followed by brief 
presentations by DOE and Ecology at 7 p.m. After the 
presentations, meeting participants will be invited to provide 
their comments on the scope of the EIS. The meetings are 
scheduled to end at 10 p.m. Seattle, Washington; March 21, 2006. 
Seattle Center, 305 Harrison Street, Northwest Rooms Building, 
Lopez Room, Seattle, WA 98109.
 
Portland, Oregon; March 22, 2006. Red Lion Portland--Convention 
Center, 1021 NE Grand Avenue, Marquam/Fremont/Broadway Room, 
Portland, OR 97232.
 
Hood River, Oregon; March 23, 2006. Columbia Gorge Hotel, 4000 
Westcliff Drive, Benson Ballroom, Hood River, OR 97031.
 
Tri-Cities (Richland, Kennewick, Pasco) Washington, March 28, 
2006. Trade Recreation and Agricultural Center (TRAC), 6600 
Burden Blvd., Meeting Room 4, Pasco, WA 99302.
 
 
ADDRESSES: To request information on the TC & WM EIS or to submit 
comments on the scope of this EIS contact: Mary Beth Burandt, 
Document Manager, Office of River Protection, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Post Office Box 450, Mail Stop H6-60, Richland, WA 99352, 
Electronic mail: . Fax: 509-376-3661, Telephone and voice mail: 
509- 373-9160.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on DOE's NEPA 
process, contact: Carol Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA 
Policy and Compliance (EH-42), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, Telephone 
202-586-4600, or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.
 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 2, 2006, DOE issued a 
Notice of Intent to prepare the TC & WM EIS for the Hanford Site, 
Richland, Washington (71 FR 5655). The original scoping period 
was to continue through March 6, 2006, and four scoping meetings 
were scheduled for Hood River and Portland, OR and for Seattle 
and Richland WA on February 21, 22, 23 and 28 respectively. In 
response to requests from the public, DOE is extending the 
scoping period through April 10, 2006, and the four scoping 
meetings have been rescheduled as listed in DATES above.
 
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 15, 2006.
 
John Spitaleri Shaw, Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety 
and Health.
 
[FR Doc. 06-1562 Filed 2-15-06; 1:17 pm] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P

 
    
*****************************************************************

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: 
<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml> 
    
*****************************************************************