***************************************************************** 04/01/06 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 14.77 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 US: BBC NEWS: Rice admits multiple Iraq errors 2 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Says It Won't Use Oil As a Weapon 3 Guardian Unlimited: Iran rejects UN deadline for halting nuclear pro 4 IRNA: Rafsanjani: Country's nuclear dossier pursued in wrong path - 5 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: West policy toward Iran harms world 6 AFP: Tehran will not use oil as a lever in nuclear spat - Iranian FM 7 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Envoy Urges on Pyongyang Abuses 8 US: Guardian Unlimited: Plans for Massive Blast in Nev. Draw Fire 9 US: Washington Times: Radioactive road map - 10 US: Las Vegas SUN: Plans for massive blast in Nevada desert draw fir 11 Asia Times: Indian nuclear deal: Bad timing by Bush 12 AFP: India warns of setback to US ties if nuclear deal is scrapped - 13 Guardian Unlimited: Rice Gets the Cold Shoulder in Britain 14 Pakistan News: Pakistan’s nuclear assets in safe hands: Shaikh Rashi 15 AFP: Saudi denies working on nukes with Pakistan NUCLEAR REACTORS 16 US: AP Wire: Nuclear reactor shut down at Turkey Point power plant 17 US: SignOnSanDiego.com: San Onofre shuts down reactors; backup-tank 18 RIA Novosti: Russian-built reactor at NPP in China to come online so 19 US: Herald News: Exelon clean up proposed 20 Platts: Bulgaria organizing to build new nuclear plant 21 Platts: French lower house approves nuclear reform 22 US: Platts: Feinstein's global warming bill to benefit nuclear indus 23 Platts: UK government confirms rise in nuclear clean-up cost to 24 The Local: ABB to upgrade Swedish nuclear facility 25 US: Detroit Free Press: Concrete shield falls in nuclear plant misha 26 CNW Group: CANDU is Ontario's best choice for base load energy suppl 27 Xinhua: Ghana atomic energy commission appeals for govt support 28 US: NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collecti 29 US: NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for th 30 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Find 31 Ananova: Nuclear plant owners lose keys 32 MarketWatch: U.K. to privatize more nuclear operations as cleanup co 33 UPI: Key loss points to nuclear power safety 34 UPI: Russian-built reactor to open in China NUCLEAR SECURITY NUCLEAR SAFETY 35 ITAR-TASS: 2005 saw 235 accidents at Russia’s high-risk industrial NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 36 [NukeNet] Active Tests Begin at Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant 37 DOE: DOE Awards $3 Million Contract to Oak Ridge Associated 38 US: Santa Fe New Mexican: Gallup residents tell of uranium mining's 39 reviewjournal.com: Berkley calls on DOE to fire Yucca Mountain carto 40 reviewjournal.com: Reid sees more cuts for Yucca Mountain 41 Platts: Domenici to cut Yucca Mountain's FY-07 cash, may submit own 42 Xinhua: Japan's nuclear reprocessing plant begins trial run 43 AFP: Japanese nuclear plant starts tests 44 Japan Times: Government drafts plans for reactor to succeed Monju 45 Japan Times: Nuclear reprocessing plant begins trials 46 US: AU ABC: Labor to debate uranium mining 47 Pahrump Valley Times: Yucca advances earth sciences technologies 48 US: Advertiser: Time to be nuclear smart PEACE 49 US: WorkingForChange-Tomgram: Privatizing the apocalypse US DEPT. OF ENERGY 50 [southnews] US to test 700-tonne explosive near Vegas 51 [du-list] Plans for US bunker blast in Nevada desert draw fire 52 Guardian Unlimited: Pentagon plans record-breaking explosion in Neva 53 DOE: DOE Appoints Stephen Eule As Director of the Climate Change 54 Portsmouth Daily Times: Buildings demolished at Piketon plant 55 DOE: RIN 1991-AB64 Acquisition Regulation: Make-or-Buy Plans 56 reviewjournal.com: 'MUSHROOM CLOUD OVER LAS VEGAS'- Comment causes 57 Pahrump Valley Times: Bechtel out at the Nevada Test Site 58 DOE: Public Scoping Meeting on Study of Energy Rights-of-Way on 59 Rocky Mountain News: Allard urges end to Flats fight 60 lamonitor.com: Domenici questions clean-up cuts 61 lamonitor.com: Feds slash LANL environmental management funds 62 PR: Berkley Raises Red Flag Over Plan To Detonate 700 Ton Bomb At 63 Knox News: OR selected for nuke review work 64 Albuquerque Tribune: Los Alamos experts to debate future of energy ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 BBC NEWS: Rice admits multiple Iraq errors Last Updated: Friday, 31 March 2006, 16:29 GMT 17:29 UK [ [US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice] Watch the speech US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has admitted the US has made thousands of tactical errors in Iraq, but said it was right to remove Saddam Hussein. "This could have gone that way, or that could have gone this way," said Ms Rice, adding that the US-led invasion was "the right strategic decision". Ms Rice's comments came after she delivered a major foreign policy speech in Blackburn during her tour of the UK. Her visit has sparked anti-war protests in the north-western town. While democracy may take time, it's always worth it - it's going to take time in Iraq Condoleezza Rice US Secretary of State "I know we've made tactical errors - thousands of them, I'm sure," Ms Rice said in a session of questions after her speech, organised by BBC Radio 4's Today programme and Chatham House international affairs institution. "But when you look back in history, what will be judged is did you make the right strategic decisions," she said. "I believe strongly that it was the right strategic decision, that Saddam (Hussein) had been a threat to the international community long enough," Ms Rice added. During her speech Ms Rice touched on a number of key issues of US foreign policy, saying that: + no-one should doubt America's commitment to justice and the rule of law + the US had no desire "to be the world's jailer", and that Washington wanted "the terrorists that we capture to stand trial" Rice faces protests + the cause of advancing freedom was the greatest hope for peace today + the use of force "is not what is on the agenda now" in the stand-off over Iran's nuclear programme - adding that President Bush "never takes any option off the table" + the US and Britain should continue to have "extremely close" relations and be united in the fight against terrorism The speech was delivered on the first day of Ms Rice's two-day visit to the north-west of England. Some 150 people had gathered in Blackburn to protest against Ms Rice's presence. Many shouted "Condoleezza Rice go home" as she entered a local school. A planned visit to a mosque in the town was scrapped because of fears of protests in the building. Ms Rice is the guest of the British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, who represents Blackburn in the House of Commons. Ms Rice has now gone on to Liverpool. ***************************************************************** 2 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Says It Won't Use Oil As a Weapon From the Associated Press [UP] Friday March 31, 2006 2:16 PM AP Photo VAH103 GENEVA (AP) - Iran's foreign minister said Friday his country would not use oil as an economic weapon against those countries pressing Tehran over its suspect nuclear program. Iran is second to Saudi Arabia as an oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran had medium- and long-term obligations to supply oil to different countries, especially in Asia. ``We are not going to use oil as political leverage in conducting our foreign policy,'' Manouchehr Mottaki said during an appearance at a security think tank in Geneva. ``We will respect our obligations in energy.'' Mottaki, who was in Geneva for a speech to the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament, made similar comments earlier this month, casting doubts on a statement by Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi. In noting that Iran is rich in oil and natural gas supplies, Pourmohammadi had said his country would ``use any means'' to defend itself in the nuclear dispute. Iran maintains its nuclear program is for generating electricity, but the United States and its European allies suspect Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons. The U.N. Security Council has demanded that Tehran halt uranium enrichment, a process that can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or the material for a nuclear warhead. Iran has rejected that demand. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 3 Guardian Unlimited: Iran rejects UN deadline for halting nuclear programme Luke Harding in Berlin Friday March 31, 2006 The Guardian The Iranian government yesterday brushed aside a 30-day deadline imposed by the United Nations security council to halt its nuclear programme. Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Tehran's chief representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, said Iran had no intention of cooperating with the latest diplomatic attempt to get it to abandon its enrichment of uranium, which it says is only intended to lead to civilian nuclear power, saying: "The enrichment matter is not reversible." The UN security council, after weeks of deadlock, finally agreed a statement on Wednesday night calling for suspension of enrichment and setting the deadline. Mr Soltanieh's comments came as ministers from the five permanent members of the security council - the US, Britain, China, France and Russia - along with Germany met in Berlin yesterday to discuss the next steps, and warned Iran that it faced isolation if it did not comply. The six urged Iran to freeze uranium enrichment. Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said: "The international community is united. This is a strong signal to Iran that negotiation, not confrontation, should be their course." But the divisions over what action to take if Iran does not comply were clear in Berlin yesterday. Both Russia and China expressed reluctance to countenance punitive measures. Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said: "Russia doesn't believe that sanctions can achieve a settlement of various issues." Dai Bingguo, China's vice-foreign minister, expressed opposition to any military action against Iran. "We feel there is already enough turmoil in the Middle East," he stated. And Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said: "Sanctions are a bad idea. We are not facing an imminent threat. We need to lower the pitch." He told a forum in the Qatari capital, Doha: "My message to Iran?: the international community is getting impatient and you need to respond by arming me with information." In Berlin, British officials admitted that no consensus had been reached on what measures to take should Iran ignore the latest deadline. Conscious of Russian and Chinese reluctance to move to sanctions, the US, Britain, France and Germany are considering relatively soft penalties, such as restricting access to nuclear technology and exports and limiting trade. Other options include banning the Iranian leadership from travelling abroad - a measure that would prevent the government attending this summer's World Cup in Germany. Yesterday, however, Foreign Office officials were doubtful. "I don't think there is any support for expelling Iran from the World Cup," one said. He added: "I'm not sure Ahmadinejad [Iran's president] goes skiing in Austria. But there are a series of measures we can take." A US official said the security council did not want to impose sanctions that would punish the Iranian people and drive them into the hands of the Iranian leadership. But he hoped that Tehran was vulnerable to a threat of trade sanctions because Iran, unlike North Korea, did not not relish the prospect of international isolation. [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 4 IRNA: Rafsanjani: Country's nuclear dossier pursued in wrong path - Tehran, March 31, IRNA Iran-Prayers-Rafsanjani Substitute Friday Prayers Leader of Tehran Hojjatoleslam Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said here Friday that Iran's nuclear dossier is being pursued through wrong channels currently. Expressing regret over the issue, Rafsanjani said, "It is definitely both unfair, and a sign of the antagonist attitude of the world oppressor powers that the process of pursuing this dossier has been diverted from its natural and logical course." Focusing on the matter in his second Friday prayers sermon, Rafsanjani added, "There is no sign of the international laws, or rationality in the way this dossier is being surveyed currently, since it is going through the phases of a pre-meditated scheme, aimed at fomenting tension at the UN Security Council." The Tehran Friday Prayers Leader emphasized, "If the current process is pursued persistently Iran will not suffer losses alone, but the entire world, including the Western countries and the international organizations." He further stressed, "Pursuing the current ill trend might even lead the international community towards catastrophic conditions." Hashemi Rafsanjani reiterated, "The unjust and oppressive approach adopted in dealing with Iran's nuclear dossier is aimed at depriving Iran of its absolute right, since they know pretty well they are accusing us of trying to manufacture atomic bombs quite baselessly." He further stressed, "That is a grave and unjust accusation which needs to be proved, while Iran has countless authentic reasons to rove the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities." Setting example of Iran's strong opposition to taking advantage of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), he said, "Throughout the years of Iran's eight-year sacred defense against Saddam's Ba'thist army when the civilian Iranians were on countless occasions under ruthless chemical attacks we never resorted to the same inhumane methods for taking revenge, although we were capable of doing so." He added, "Iran only strengthened its defense in confrontation with chemical weapons, instead." The influential Head of the country's Expediency Council added, "We observed exemplary patience and acted notably throughout the eight years of that war and everyone knows that Iran had been oppressed in the course of that unequal war." Rafsanjani also referred to the sad martyrdom anniversary of the Holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH), and the Third Shi'a Imam Hassan ibn-Ali (PBUH) last week, as well as the anniversary of Prophet Muhammad's history-making migration from Mecca to Medina -- Hegira-- that falls on this Friday in his second sermon. He condoled with the "patient, noble, and faithful" people of Iran's Lorestan province on the sad occasion of the overnight killer and devastating quakes and asked the concerned officials to expedite their relief efforts for them. ***************************************************************** 5 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: West policy toward Iran harms world 2006/03/31 Tehran, March 31 - Chairman of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said the West's persistence in pursuing a double standard on Iran's peaceful nuclear agenda will not only harm the whole world but discredit international organizations as well. Tehran's interim Friday prayer leader said as Iran has already warned, if unfair approaches and false claims over Tehran's peaceful nuclear program persist, western countires as well as other nations including those in the region could suffer irreperable harm. He told worshippers on Tehran University campus the animosity of hegemonic powers towards Iran has led to Tehran's nuclear case being diverted from the right direction and the Iranian nation's legitimate right being infringed upon. Rafsanjani underscored they claim Iran could deviate from its peaceful nuclear agenda to produce atomic arms, but Iran never resorted to such weapons during the eight-year Iraqi Imposed War in the 80's despite Baghdad's chemical attacks on Iranians and will never do so in the future. Elsewhere in his remarks, Rafsanjani urged western states to be fair and logical in dealing with Iran's nuclear issue. MK Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. E-Mail: Webmaster@IRIBNEWS.ir ***************************************************************** 6 AFP: Tehran will not use oil as a lever in nuclear spat - Iranian FM - Fri Mar 31, 6:09 AM ET GENEVA (AFP) - Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that Tehran will not use its oil supplies as a lever in the dispute with Western countries over its controversial nuclear programme. "We remain true to our obligations to provide for the energy needs of our partners. We are not going to use energy as a political leverage," Mottaki told reporters, when questioned about whether Tehran would turn its oil supplies into a bargaining chip. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 7 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Envoy Urges on Pyongyang Abuses From the Associated Press [UP] Friday March 31, 2006 1:31 AM By FOSTER KLUG Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. envoy on North Korean human rights rebuked China on Thursday for turning away North Korean refugees and suggested that South Korea could do more to confront Pyongyang on abuses. Jay Lefkowitz, during a speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank, also urged the world to join the United States in pressuring North Korea to respect its citizens' rights. His comments come amid stalled international diplomatic efforts to rid the North of its nuclear weapons programs. ``A key way to empower the North Korean people is to force a ray of light through the veil that Kim Jong Il has drawn over North Korea,'' Lefkowitz said, referring to the North's leader. ``We cannot on our own bring this about. We require an international coalition.'' North Korea has boycotted international nuclear talks since November, refusing to return until the United States lifts financial restrictions on the North for its alleged currency counterfeiting and money laundering. Washington says the issues are not linked. Lefkowitz, whom President Bush appointed last year to raise the human rights issue and to provide help for refugees fleeing the North, said North Korean refugees in China ``are neglected; they are not treated humanely.'' China, he said, is ``violating and ignoring'' its international pledge to protect and recognize those refugees and is ``severely impeding'' U.N. officials from helping. He also criticized nations that may be helping Pyongyang unwittingly by not monitoring whether food aid is being diverted from the hungry to the black market or to feed North Korea's 1 million-strong military. He did not mention specific countries, but South Korean food aid is delivered directly to the North Korean government rather than through international aid groups. The South Korean government insists its donations are delivered to ordinary citizens. When asked if South Korea is doing enough to confront the North's rights abuses, Lefkowitz said he is ``not sure, from a tactical approach, they are doing everything that I would be recommending to them,'' but he said the South had the same long-term goal as the United States - a free Korean Peninsula. Lefkowitz said it was ``important for the South Korean government to listen carefully to the people in South Korea,'' who have ``made it very clear that human rights issues are a significant concern and should be very much front and center on the agenda in that country.'' Lefkowitz said U.S. problems with North Korea - including alleged counterfeiting of U.S. currency, drug smuggling, weapons sales and efforts to build a nuclear arsenal - are ``the predictable conduct of a government that possesses no apparent respect for the rights of its own citizens.'' Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 8 Guardian Unlimited: Plans for Massive Blast in Nev. Draw Fire From the Associated Press [UP] Friday March 31, 2006 11:46 AM By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY Associated Press Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) - Plans for a Pentagon-led experiment that involves detonating 700 tons of explosives in the desert drew criticism from state leaders and a disarmament activist. The explosion scheduled for June 2 at the Nevada Test Site is part of an effort to design a weapon that can penetrate solid rock formations in which a country might store nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction. ``I am concerned that tests of this magnitude have been planned without providing Nevadans with any information about the possible impact on their health or safety,'' said Demcratic Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid in a statement Thursday. Nevada Test Site spokesman Darwin Morgan said the test will be conducted about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, near the center of the former nuclear testing site. The test, named ``Divine Strake,'' will involve nearly 40 times the amount of commercial ammonium nitrate and fuel oil explosive set off in the largest open-air, non-nuclear blast at the site to date. In 2002, 18 tons of explosives were set off at the Nevada Test Site. ``This is nothing that's out of the bounds for us. That's what our expertise is in,'' he said. Morgan said the site obtained the required state approvals and air quality permits in January. Officials from the National Nuclear Security Administration, which operates the site, alerted the state's congressional delegation and state government in December. The Nevada Department of Administration responded with a letter stating: ``Your proposal is not in conflict with state plans, goals or objectives.'' No elected officials responded to the notice until Thursday, Morgan said. The test site is not required to seek public comment, he said. ``Given the level of contamination in areas where nuclear tests were conducted, I have real concerns about the dust and other pollutants that will be released into the air as a result of this explosion,'' said U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley. Disarmament activist Pete Litster said tests at the site violate international law. Litster, executive director of the Shundahai Network, said the site belongs to the Western Shoshone Indian tribe. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 9 Washington Times: Radioactive road map - Commentary - By Terence P. Jeffrey March 31, 2006 "They are really not weapons of mass destruction, they are weapons of mass disruption," Gregory Kutz, managing director of special investigations for the Government Accountability Office told me. "They wouldn't necessarily have enough radiation to kill anyone, but they could require the shutdown of potentially large parts of the city." Mr. Kutz was describing the sort of device terrorists could construct if they got their hands on the same type and volume of radioactive material that two sets of GAO agents working at Mr. Kutz's direction smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders in a covert test conducted Dec. 14. The two groups, Mr. Kutz told a Senate subcommittee in written testimony this week, each smuggled what the National Institutes of Standards and Technology determined was enough radioactive material to construct one "dirty bomb" apiece. To demonstrate how easily terrorists could purchase the material to make these bombs, Mr. Kutz's investigators created a fictitious company based in Washington, D.C. The company ordered a portion -- but not all -- of the radioactive material needed for a bomb from a U.S. supplier over the telephone. They told the supplier they wanted the material to test personal radiation-detection pagers (like those used by the U.S. Border Patrol). The supplier dropped the radioactive material in the mail. "We did it just once to show that we could do it," Mr. Kutz told me. "We could have done it multiple times." I asked Mr. Kutz: Where exactly in our capital city was the radioactive material mailed? "I can't tell you," he said. "I can just tell you that it was an address in Washington, D.C." Mr. Kutz's agents then coordinated with the appropriate authorities to conduct their border-entry tests from Canada and Mexico. Using ordinary rental cars -- with the radioactive material stowed in the trunks -- they simultaneously approached a port of entry on each border. "We came through the portal monitors at one location in the north and one location in the south, at the same time, and with the same name of a company, and the same amount of material," Mr. Kutz told me. "Our objectives were to determine whether the radiation portal monitors worked, first of all, so we had enough materials to actually set them off. Our second objective was to observe the reaction of CBP (Customs and Border Protection) inspectors to our test. Then, our third objective was to see if we could beat the system with a ruse." The monitors worked, and the CBP personnel did their jobs by the book. But then they fell for the ruse: The GAO agents produced counterfeit documents from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission indicating they were authorized to bring the material across the border. The customs agents did not have the means to check the authenticity of the documents. Would tightening procedures for selling radioactive materials via mail or for authenticating NRC documents at our borders necessarily stop terrorists from getting the materials for a dirty bomb into the United States? No. Our border remains wide open in other ways. I asked Mr. Kutz why someone couldn't take a four-wheel-drive vehicle loaded with radioactive material across the desert where there are no monitors. "We never tried that before, but it's possible," he said. Yet, even that might not be necessary for an enterprising terrorist. Not all official ports of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border are equipped with radiation portal monitors. Eugene Aloise, the GAO's director of natural resources and environment, testified in the Senate subcommittee with Mr. Kutz. He tracked the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to deploy radiation portal monitors at U.S. ports of entry. As of December, when he finished his study, he told the subcommittee, DHS had deployed only 22 percent (670 of 3,034) of the radiation portal monitors it intend eventually to deploy at all U.S. entry points. Since October 2000, it has spent only $286 million on the project. As of December, Mr. Aloise testified, CPB could screen 62 percent of containerized shipments into the United States and 77 percent of all private vehicles. On the Mexican border, it could screen 88 percent of commercial trucks and 74 percent of private vehicles. There are 25 vehicular ports of entry along the Mexican border where DHS intends to eventually deploy 360 radiation portal monitors, Mr. Aloise told me. As of December, it had deployed 244. But, as of December, did all 25 Mexican border entries targeted by DHS have some radiation portal monitors, I asked. "No," he said. When DHS was in the process of installing portal radiation monitors at 18 points of entry it had targeted on the Canadian border (where the project is now complete), Mr. Aloise told me, regular truck drivers bypassed ports that had monitors for those that didn't. "DHS had put up some portal monitors at a point of entry, a northern land border," he said. "A couple of miles down the road, there was a land border with no portal monitors. The truck drivers quickly found out which one had them, and which one didn't, and went to the one that didn't, because it was one less thing they had to do." If you were a terrorist trying to bring radiological material across the Mexican border, I asked Mr. Aloise, why wouldn't you just drive through a port of entry where we don't yet have portal radiation monitors? "You're right," he said. Terence P. Jeffrey is a nationally syndicated columnist Copyright 2006 The Washington Times ***************************************************************** 10 Las Vegas SUN: Plans for massive blast in Nevada desert draw fire Today: March 31, 2006 at 16:31:55 PST ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Harry Reid asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Friday for a classified briefing on a large explosive test planned at the Nevada Test Site that one Pentagon official said would create a "mushroom cloud." The explosion scheduled June 2 will involve the detonation of 700 tons of explosives in the desert northwest of Las Vegas. It is part of an effort to design a weapon that can penetrate deep into solid rock formations in which a country might store nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction. James Tegnelia, director of the federal Defense Threat Reduction Agency, told reporters on Thursday the blast "is the first time in Nevada that you'll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons." He later retracted the statement, saying it was inaccurate. Officials from the National Nuclear Security Administration, which operates the site, alerted the state's congressional delegation and state government about the plans in December. But Reid, D-Nev., said in a letter to Rumsfeld Friday that the notification did not accurately describe the nature of the test. "The notice mentions a test, but it bears almost no resemblance to the description that ran in newspapers," Reid said. "The information on the notice did not include several important details about the size and power of the test, and it certainly never mentioned the words 'mushroom cloud,'" he said. "I want some straight answers about this project and that's why I'm asking Secretary Rumsfeld for a full briefing. I want to know more about this plan, and I want Nevadans to have accurate information before any testing goes forward," he said in a statement. There was no immediate response Friday from the Pentagon, Reid's spokeswoman Sharyn Stein said. The test, named "Divine Strake," will involve nearly 40 times the amount of commercial ammonium nitrate and fuel oil explosive set off in the largest open-air, non-nuclear blast at the site to date. In 2002, 18 tons of explosives were set off at the Nevada Test Site. Nevada Test Site spokesman Darwin Morgan said the test will be conducted about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, near the center of the former nuclear testing site. Morgan said the resulting mushroom cloud would not be visible from Las Vegas, but it was possible the blast could be felt in the town of Indian Springs, about 45 miles away. All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 11 Asia Times: Indian nuclear deal: Bad timing by Bush By Kaushik Kapisthalam Now comes the hard part. President George W. Bush and India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh proudly announced a new nuclear cooperation deal on March 2. The announcement capped a successful state visit by the American president and symbolized the growing friendship between the two countries. Now Bush has to sell it to a reluctant Congress, at a time when his political clout, even within his own Republican Party, is considerably diminished. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to hold two successive hearings with key Bush administration officials called to testify. First up, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs R Nicholas Burns and his nonproliferation bureau counterpart Robert Joseph. They will brief the Senate panel in a closed-door hearing. Soon afterwards, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will testify in what promises to be a vigorous open hearing. The House International Relations Committee (HIRC) is also slated to have similar hearings in the same timeframe. To say that most members of Congress are unhappy about this deal would be an understatement. Virtually every member has one issue or another with the deal. Some key lawmakers, such as HIRC chairman Henry Hyde, are unhappy because they feel that the administration did not consult them when the deal was originally broached between Washington and New Delhi last July. Congressmen are still smarting over the Dubai ports debacle, which members feel the Bush administration sprung on them by surprise. Beyond that, the administration is distracted by the worsening situation in Iraq, the newly hot debate over immigration and a host of other issues, many of which suggest that the Bush administration has lost its command over policy. One congressional watcher told Asia Times Online: "This is absolutely the worst time for the [Bush] people to try to pull a stunt like this." Of course, many congressmen have substantive concerns about the far-reaching deal, since it turns on their heads many long-standing and seemingly settled issues concerning nuclear non-proliferation. In brief, India agreed to separate its military and civilian nuclear reactors and allow international inspection of the civilian facilities. The US agreed to sell India civilian nuclear fuel, reactor components and technology even though it is not a party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. To put things into effect Congress has to pass a law exempting India from key segments of the Atomic Energy Act. This includes Section 123 that currently enjoins US nuclear trade with states that do not accept "full scope" safeguards or inspections over the entire nuclear program. Moreover, lawmakers and their staffers are up in arms over the part where the administration seeks to have the law "non-exempted", meaning that once it is passed, Congress has 90 days to convene both chambers and pass a joint resolution in order to overturn the law. Congress would prefer an arrangement by which this deal will have to be renewed periodically. A nonproliferation jihad A group of nonproliferation experts and former bureaucrats, derisively referred to in Indian circles as the "Nuclear Ayatollahs", are likely to throw their considerable weight against the deal. Informed Indian sources feel that these nonproliferation hawks have begun to wage a veritable jihad against the India-US nuclear deal. For instance, David Albright, who was a UN weapons inspector in Iraq, recently issued a study blasting India's nuclear procurement practices and trashing India's export control laws and mechanisms. A key allegation in this paper was that state-owned Indian nuclear entities have procured material from elements of the network led by Pakistani proliferator Abdul Qadeer Khan. Not surprisingly, Indian officials reacted angrily to the report, rejecting its findings as "baseless". India's ambassador to Washington, Ronen Sen, noted that India cannot be expected to answer innuendo. A former Indian nuclear physicist, who wishes to remain unnamed, pointed out that Albright's report offers no substance to back up its claims that India's nuclear procurement entity leaks sensitive information. Acknowledging that Albright does provide examples of Indian advertisements that appear to publish specifications on sensitive uranium enrichment related components, the expert averred, "building a centrifuge from those few blueprints, even assuming they are all accurate, would be like building a car based on drawings of gear-boxes, fuel-injection systems, one piston and dash-board gauges". When contacted by AToL, Albright dismissed this criticism as naive and said, "who knows what specific information a proliferant state needs to complete a set of information on centrifuges. For that reason, classification systems covering centrifuges apply to all components, their drawings, and manufacturing instructions." Another former Indian official, who also declined to be named because of the delicate nature of the diplomacy involved, said that Albright went too far in tying India to the A Q Khan network. The official called it a "dirty tricks game" and claimed that such allegations were aimed at thwarting Indo-US nuclear rapprochement. Albright however replied by noting that the trial documents of accused South African proliferators clearly indicate that nuclear enrichment-related components were procured by India. The Indian official also claimed that India's enrichment technology is almost entirely homegrown. "We have too many local firms lining up to supply our nuclear program, and we really have no need to indulge in skullduggery," he said. For his part, Albright observed that the Indian official does not actually deny that India purchased foreign material or used foreign technology, which is what he said in his report. Regardless of these conflicting claims, it is likely that India's nuclear import and export control processes will be given a thorough look during the upcoming congressional hearings. Meanwhile, former US president Jimmy Carter and retired senator Sam Nunn have also weighed in strongly against the nuclear deal. Carter is still influential in some liberal US circles and on the left-wing of the Democratic Party. Nunn, also a Democrat, on the other hand is known as a moderate and has long been considered a credible voice in favor of nuclear disarmament. Nunn maintains a close relationship with Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Richard Lugar, who wields enormous power in the legislative process. These criticisms indicate a widespread disapproval of the Indo-US nuclear deal, observers point out. All the help he can get So far, deal opponents have been in the forefront. Fortunately for the Bush administration, the powerful business lobby seems to be all for it. Major suppliers of nuclear power components such as General Electric and Westinghouse obviously have a direct stake in the nuclear deal. The big defense contractors, such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, are hoping that a nuclear deal could pave the way for big defense and aerospace contracts with India. Naturally, these firms are all pushing Congress to pass the deal quickly. Notwithstanding Prime Minister Singh's view that it is now up to the US to implement the deal, Indian government officials have quietly begun to reach out to lawmakers. A big congressional delegation is due in New Delhi soon. Deal opponents like Democrat Senator Edward Kennedy are slated to be part of the visiting panel. Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran is currently in Washington to first thank the few openly pro-nuke deal legislators while reaching out to key opponents and fence-sitters. Saran is sure to get feedback from Nicholas Burns and Robert Joseph from the closed-door Senate hearing and listen to the types of conditions that are being suggested by senators. Saran is also likely to let congressional figures know what India's red lines are and make it clear to lawmakers that rejection of this deal could jeopardize Indo-US ties. It is clear now that Congress holds the future of India-US strategic partnership inside its labyrinthine chambers. Kaushik Kapisthalam is a freelance defense and strategic affairs analyst based in the United States. He can be reached at contact@kapisthalam.com (Copyright 2006 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 12 AFP: India warns of setback to US ties if nuclear deal is scrapped - Fri Mar 31, 12:07 AM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran has warned of a setback in US-India ties if Congress refuses to ratify a civilian nuclear deal reached between leaders of the two countries. The US legislature has to give mandatory approval to the landmark nuclear agreement but lawmakers are reportedly sceptical as India has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has developed nuclear weapons on its own. "If this particular agreement does not go through, there is no doubt there will be, in terms of the expectation that has been created, in terms of the enthusiasm that has been created, there will be some falling back," Saran said when fielding questions on the deal at a Washington forum. Saran, the top civil servant in the Indian foreign ministry, said inevitably the public focus of the envisioned strategic partnership between the two nations had been on the nuclear deal even though bilateral relations covered many key areas. "If this does not go through, it does not mean that everythiong else will fall by the wayside but at the same time we should also recognize that for good reason or bad, there is intense focus on this particular agreement," he said. "Therefore whether we like it or not, this has become very symbolic of what we want to do with India-US relations," he said. The nuclear deal was clinched on March 2 by US President George W. Bush" /> President George W. Bushand Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh It gives energy-starved India access to long-denied civilian nuclear technology in return for placing a majority of its nuclear reactors under international inspection. For it to be effective, the US Congress has to amend the US Atomic Energy Act, which currently prohibits nuclear sales to non-NPT signatories. Critics argue that the agreement smacked of a double-standard and could embolden nuclear renegades such as Iran" /> Iranand North Korea" /> North Koreaeven though officials say India's nuclear non-proliferation record was exemplary. Among the latest critics of the deal was ex-US president Jimmy Carter, who said Wednesday that the deal was "just one more step in opening a Pandora's box of nuclear proliferation" He said India "may be a special case, but reasonable restraints are necessary." German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said also Wednesday that the timing of the accord was "surely not helpful" against the backdrop of international efforts to convince Iran to abandon sensitive nuclear research. Responding to criticism that the deal opens the possibility of a massive increase in India's nuclear weapons prgram, Saran said, "I would like to remind all of you of our record of responsibility, restraint -- and I would even say idealism -- in this regard. "We were reluctant to exercise our weapon option to begin with. Having felt compelled to do so, we remain committed to a credible minimum deterrent. If our posture so far has been one of restraint and responsibility -- not disputed even by our critics -- there is no reason why we should sudenly change now," he said. Saran said amongst US lawmakers, "there is very broad support for India-US partnership and I think if that aspect of the partnership is kept in view, there is no reason why this agreement cannot go through." Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 13 Guardian Unlimited: Rice Gets the Cold Shoulder in Britain From the Associated Press [UP] Friday March 31, 2006 12:31 PM AP Photo LON812 By ANNE GEARAN AP Diplomatic Writer BLACKBURN, England (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday that ``by all means'' anyone who opposes U.S. foreign policy or her weekend visit to Britain should speak their mind. Demonstrators organized marches to call America's top diplomat a war criminal and human rights abuser as she joined British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on a tour of his adopted northern England working-class home. ``People have the right to protest, that's what democracy is all about,'' Rice told reporters at a British aerospace plant. ``I would say to those who wish to protest, by all means.'' Rice said she was not surprised by the depth of opposition in Britain, President Bush's strongest ally in Iraq, to the war and other American policies. ``I've seen it in every city I've visited in the United States,'' Rice said. ``People have strong views.'' Rice also said the United States was ready to send humanitarian assistance to Iran following deadly earthquakes there on Friday, but she made it clear there would be no accompanying U.S. diplomatic overture to Tehran. Straw, Rice's host for her two-day visit, said Britain would send a condolence letter to the Tehran government. The United States has no diplomatic relations with Iran. At a high school visited by Rice and Straw, about 200 protesters stood across the street with banners and signs, chanting ``Condi Rice Go Home!'' One demonstrator held a yellow hand-lettered sign that read ``How Many Lives Per Gallon?'' Rice toured a high school math class and visited Ewood Park, the home stadium of Straw's favored soccer team, Blackburn Rovers. About 50 of Pleckgate School's students ``skived off'' their classes Friday to protest Rice's visit, said student Jabbar Khan, 16, who shook Rice's hand as she entered. The protests awaiting Rice on Friday were the reverse of the warm reception she received last fall when Straw accompanied her on a down-home tour of her native Alabama. Then, elderly white women lined up to shake the hand of a black native daughter made good, football fans cheered and the tantalizing possibility of a run for president - something she discounts - surrounded Rice. ``It's one thing to say this is a cultural visit, but others see it as a council of war,'' said Carmel Brown, an anti-war protester in Liverpool. Rice's planned visit to a mosque in Blackburn was canceled Thursday after anti-war protesters planned to heckle her during prayer time, a mosque leader said. A prominent poet and actress pulled out of planned appearances at a Liverpool Philharmonic concert Rice was attending Friday in protest of U.S. policies. Straw's Blackburn district has the country's third highest Muslim population. Rice also is to meet Muslim leaders and the town's mayor, Ugandan immigrant Yusuf Jan-Virmani, on Saturday. Straw's visit to Alabama was intended to show a different side of America to a visiting foreign leader and friend. Many people he met in Alabama, and a few who introduced him at events, had never heard of the British diplomat. Rice is far better known, as the two days of protests planned over U.S. policies in Iraq, Iran and the war on terrorism attest. Rice and Straw planned speeches on Iran on Friday. The United States and Britain were among the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council that moved this week to demand answers from Tehran over its disputed nuclear program. Opponents of the Iraq war set up a Web site, condiwatch.co.uk, that listed times and locations for marches and gatherings. Protesters planned to distribute T-shirts that read, ``Fab Four, Not War,'' in reference to Liverpool's most famous export, The Beatles. Rice had planned to attend Friday prayers at Masjide Al Hidayah mosque, but anti-war protesters presented a security threat, said Ibrahim Master, a mosque official. ``It wasn't canceled because we don't like Condoleezza Rice,'' said Master. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 14 Pakistan News: Pakistan’s nuclear assets in safe hands: Shaikh Rashid PakTribune.Com Raby` al-awal 2, 1427 Hijri April 01, 2006 RAWALPINDI: Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed has said that Pakistan’s nuclear assets are in safe hands and there is no threat to them. "No one in the world can dare to cast an evil eye on Pakistan", Mr Ahmed said while addressing an oath taking ceremony of the newly elected office-bearers of Traders Union, Rawalpindi (Moti Bazaar) and talking to journalists here on Friday. He said Pakistan successfully test-fired guided missile recently adding, only three or four countries in the world are capable of developing guided missile and Pakistan is among them. We are facing internal threats not external, he said. Mr Ahmed rejected the report on Pakistan’s nuclear assistance to Saudi Arabia and said that Pakistan has no concern with Saudi Arabia regarding working on its nuclear program. About Kashmir issue, he said steps were being taken for Kashmir resolution, as Pakistan wants peaceful solution of the issue. Information Minister said steps were being taken to resolve traffic, water supply and other problems besides providing better health facilities in Rawalpindi. He noted that he discussed the plan of super highway from Marir Chowk to Chandani Chowk with President Pervez Musharraf and he was reviewing the plan. Mr Ahmed observed that traffic problems could not be resolved despite the constructing of Committee Chowk underpass and spending of Rs 350 million on the project had gone waste. He went on to say that a plan has been presented in ACNEC to address the problem of water scarcity in Rawalpindi city. Rawal Town administration has acquired mechanical tractors to resolve sanitation problem in the city, he said. Mr Ahmed said four emergency centers were being set up in the city to cope with emergency situation. He said Rs 50 million have been acquired from Punjab government to beautify Rawalpindi city and beauty of Liaquat Bagh and other parks are being enhanced with this money. Pakistan News Service © PakTribune.com Pvt Ltd 2003-2004 ***************************************************************** 15 AFP: Saudi denies working on nukes with Pakistan Fri Mar 31, 12:36 PM ET RIYADH (AFP) - Saudi Arabia denied a German press report that it was working on a secret nuclear program with the help of Pakistani experts. The report "is totally unfounded," a defense ministry spokesman told the state SPA news agency, recalling that the kingdom "advocates imposing nuclear non-proliferation in the (Middle East) region." Pakistan had on Wednesday similarly rejected as "fabricated" the German report, saying it was "motivated by vicious intentions." Citing Western security sources, German magazine Cicero said in its latest edition that during the hajj pilgrimages to Mecca in 2003 through 2005, Pakistani scientists posed as pilgrims to come to Saudi Arabia in aircraft sponsored by the kingdom. Between October 2004 and January 2005, some of them took the opportunity to "disappear" from their hotel rooms, sometimes for up to three weeks, German security expert Udo Ulfkotte told the magazine. According to Western security services, the magazine added, Saudi scientists have been working since the mid-1990s in Pakistan, a nuclear power since 1998, thanks to the work of the now-disgraced Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. Cicero also quoted US military analyst John Pike as saying that Saudi bar codes can be found on half of Pakistan's nuclear weapons "because it is Saudi Arabia which ultimately co-financed the Pakistani atomic nuclear program." Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 16 AP Wire: Nuclear reactor shut down at Turkey Point power plant | 03/31/2006 | Associated Press FLORIDA CITY, Fla. - One of two nuclear reactors at the Turkey Point power plant in Miami-Dade County was shut down Friday after some equipment damage was discovered during a routine inspection, Florida Power & Light officials said. FPL, the state's largest electric utility, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission declined to elaborate on the nature and the extent of the damage, citing security reasons. The reactor had been shut down for a routine refueling, FPL spokeswoman Rachel Scott said. The damage was discovered late Thursday during a series of tests and inspections performed before bringing the unit back online, Scott said. A NRC inspection team was investigating, but it was too early to determine whether the damage was intentional or caused accidentally, NRC spokesman Roger Hannah said. FPL customers won't be affected by the shutdown, Scott said. The second nuclear unit as well as two units powered by oil and natural gas were fully operational, and the plant was in no danger, she said. Florida City is about 30 miles southwest of Miami. ***************************************************************** 17 SignOnSanDiego.com: San Onofre shuts down reactors; backup-tank gaskets faulty North County -- By Angela Lau UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER March 31, 2006 SAN ONOFRE  The nuclear power plant shut down its nuclear reactors this week after discovering faulty gaskets in some of its backup water tanks used to cool reactors in an emergency. No leaks of radioactive material occurred, and the power plant's electricity customers continued to receive power from backup sources in and out of California, San Onofre Power Plant spokesman Ray Golden said. No blackouts were necessary. The San Onofre Power Plant supplies 2,100 megawatts of electricity each day to 2 million households in San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles counties, he said. Yesterday, Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor Dricks said such gasket failures happen from time to time at nuclear power plants and are not a cause for concern if they are detected and repaired. At San Onofre, crews noticed a faulty gasket on Monday in a backup water tank to one of the power plant's two reactors. That reactor had been shut down since January for refueling and maintenance. Each reactor has four backup water tanks. Each tank carries 13,000 gallons of water, with 600 pounds of nitrogen gas on top to keep the water down in the tank. The backup water is released only when reactors run low on water because of leaks and need the backup to cool them down, Golden said. After discovering the first worn gasket, San Onofre workers checked the other three backup water tanks and found their gaskets slightly worn. The plant abandoned plans to restart that reactor on its scheduled day, Tuesday, until it has replaced all four gaskets, Golden said. It will restart in a week or so. As a precaution, the plant also shut down the other reactor at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. It already was scheduled for a 30-day maintenance shut-down at the end of next month, to prepare for peak summer demand, Golden said. Just last month, San Onofre was in the news when a contractor's tanker carrying radioactive wastewater from San Onofre to a Utah dump site leaked at a Utah truck stop because of a faulty gasket. An investigation is continuing. Angela Lau: (760) 476-8240; angela.lau@uniontrib.com 2006 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. • A Copley Newspaper Site ***************************************************************** 18 RIA Novosti: Russian-built reactor at NPP in China to come online soon 31/ 03/ 2006 BEIJING, March 31 (RIA Novosti) - A power unit built using Russian know-how at a nuclear power plant in China will start generating electricity in the near future, an official said Friday. "The first unit [at the Tianwan NPP] will start generating electricity soon," said Alexander Krykov, a spokesperson for Atomstroiexport, Russia's nuclear machinery export monopoly. Kryukov said that construction delays were due to the unique nature of the unit, which he said was the most advanced in the world. He added that the generator would be at commercial generating capacity by yearend. "The second unit will become operational in the fall of 2006 and will start producing electricity in the beginning of 2007," he said. Tianwan NPP, located in Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, is a major link in China's nuclear program, with an estimated annual electricity output of 14 billion kWh. The plant is running the Russian ASE-91 unit, an advanced model based on the older WWER-1000/320 series. Russia and China signed a contract for construction of two reactors at the Tianwan NPP in December 1997. Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency head Sergei Kiriyenko said recently that Russia had a good chance of being awarded contracts to provide additional reactors for the plant. © 2005 RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 19 Herald News: Exelon clean up proposed [SuburbanChicagoNews.com] Contaminated groundwater: IEPA is reviewing plan to dilute tritium levels By Kim SmithSTAFF WRITER BRACEVILLE Exelon Corp. has announced a plan to clean up groundwater containing radioactive tritium at the Braidwood Nuclear Plant in rural Will County. The plans are to be discussed during a Community Information Night hosted by the power plant operators from 4 to 8 p.m. April 6 at their training center at 36400 S. Essex Road in Wilmington. Exelon officials said the plan is under review by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the Illinois attorney general's office and the Will County state's attorney's office. Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow accuse Exelon of failing to properly maintain the underground pipeline where the leaks occurred and failing to notify the public after numerous spills of tritium that have occurred over the past 10 years. They recently filed a case against the power giant in Will County court. Glasgow, who once compared the managers of Exelon to Homer on television's "The Simpsons," also questioned the timeliness of Exelon's information night. "The scheduling of this informational session by Exelon is premature in light of the fact that the plaintiffs in the pending lawsuit have not approved their remediation plan," he said. The plan involves pumping water from a pond Exelon purchased earlier this year after learning it was contaminated. "We plan on starting our clean-up efforts in about three weeks after getting our permits from the county," said Neal Miller, spokesman for the Braidwood station. Nearly 7 feet of water would be pumped out of the pond directly into the pipe that already carries water from the cooling lakes. This would dilute the tritium levels down to acceptable levels to be discharged into the Kankakee River in accordance with IEPA regulations. The pond would be allowed to fill back up with the natural run-off of groundwater caused by rain, which will also eventually dilute the tritium levels in the pond. "This will stop the plume from moving," Miller said. "We are using nature to help nature." There are also plans to fence off the property as a safety measure. Tritium is a byproduct of nuclear generation. It can enter the body through ingestion, absorption or inhalation. The IEPA sets guidelines on what amounts are safe in drinking water, but some experts argue there are no safe amounts of exposure to anything radioactive. Exposure can increase the risk of cancer and cause birth defects and genetic damages. State and federal officials have said the leaks pose no health or safety risks. Will County Health Department officials are looking for people with documented health issues as a way to look into the matter. Residents concerned about their health should call Vic Reato, spokesman for the Will County Health Department, at (815) 727-5088. Will County recently completed the testing of drinking wells around the power plant to ensure residents are not drinking contaminated water. Exelon conducted its own tests on private drinking wells and only discovered one with an elevated level of tritium under the amount considered safe. Results will take about two weeks to come in. - Reporter Kim Smith can be reached at (815) 729-6067 or via e-mail at ksmith@scn1.com. 03/31/06 SuburbanChicagoNews.com — © Digital Chicago & Sun-Times ***************************************************************** 20 Platts: Bulgaria organizing to build new nuclear plant Bulgaria organizing to build new nuclear plant Brussels (Platts)--29Mar2006 Bulgaria will decide next month on organization of the Belene nuclear plant completion project, Minister of Economy & Energy Rumen Ovcharov told Platts in an interview. He said that decision, by the Council of Ministers, would include a financing plan. The plant will be initially under the management of national electricity company NEK. Two bids were submitted to NEK in February from vendor consortia led by Atomstroyexport and Skoda JS, both for building VVER-1000s at Belene. The site was first chosen before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ovcharov said the NEK evaluation committee would finish its work by June or July and a decision on a vendor would be made shortly thereafter. Copyright © 2006 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill Companies] ***************************************************************** 21 Platts: French lower house approves nuclear reform Paris (Platts)--30Mar2006 France's nuclear regulatory reform bill was passed by the National Assembly just past midnight today, after three long sessions of debate. The bill, which creates an independent nuclear regulatory agency, establishes a clearer legislative basis for nuclear licensing, and provides for greater public access to safety and regulatory information, was passed by the Senate March 8. The deputies approved dozens of amendments, including one rebaptizing the new agency the Nuclear Safety Authority--the Senate had kept the government's title of "High Authority for Nuclear Safety"--and another that gives the parliament tighter oversight control. Under pressure from both majority and opposition, the government reversed its earlier decision to fast-track the Nuclear Transparency and Safety Act. That means that instead of a conference committee to iron out differences in the two versions of the bill, it will go through second readings in both chambers, which is expected to happen in the coming weeks. Copyright © 2006 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill Companies] ***************************************************************** 22 Platts: Feinstein's global warming bill to benefit nuclear industry - PG&E Washington (Platts)--30Mar2006 Mandatory cap-and-trade provisions in a global warming bill Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat-California, is expected to unveil next week would make emission-free nuclear power more attractive, according to Peter Darbee, president, chairman and CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric. The San Francisco-based utility has been working with Feinstein on the issue, he told reporters Thursday. Darbee called global climate change a "serious threat to the environment" and said PG&E believes taking a leadership role in helping find a solution would be a win-win situation for the utility. Energy technologies that potentially could benefit from a cap on carbon dioxide emissions and trade of emission allowances include nuclear power, natural gas, and integrated gasification combined cycle technology, Darbee said. Nuclear power is only one that is a mature technology and reasonably priced, he said. Natural gas is mature, but its price is volatile, Darbee said, adding that IGCC is a high-cost technology that is not yet mature. PG&E owns and operates the two-reactor Diablo Canyon nuclear station outside Avila Beach, California. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. Copyright © 2006 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill Companies] ***************************************************************** 23 Platts: UK government confirms rise in nuclear clean-up cost to GBP70 bil London (Platts)--30Mar2006 The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's (NDA) strategy published Thursday that sets out for the first time how the UK will tackle the clean-up of its historic nuclear facilities confirms the estimated cost for this has risen to GBP70 billion from GBP56 billion, NDA spokesman Brian Hough told Platts. The strategy--which was subject to a three-month public consultation last year--sets out a comprehensive plan for the decommissioning and clean-up of the NDA's 20 civil nuclear sites. The revision of the figure is significant, sources said, since the government is still in the middle of an energy review--expected to be unveiled this summer-- and has yet to decide whether to go ahead with a new generation of nuclear power plants. In publishing the report, the NDA confirmed that its had received government apporval for its strategy and that UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Brian Johnson would address the House of Commons Thursday on the sale of British Nuclear Group (BNG), the nuclear clean-up arm of British Nuclear Fuel (BNFL). The NDA's life cycle baseline assessment of GBP56 billion in 2004 rose to GBP62.7 billion in 2005. The authority already identifies a further needed GBP7.5 billion that will be refelcted in its 2006 assessment. "You would be quite right to calculate that the cost is predicted to rise to GBP70 billion," spokesman Hough said. SELLAFIELD CLEAN UP MOST COSTLY The total cost covers the clean-up of the 20 sites for which the NDA is responsible only, with Sellafield in Cumbria being the most expensive. Any further increase depends on the amount of waste found at a site and the time needed to decommission it. In Sellafield's case this is 75 years, Hough said. "That's why the government has given us till 2008 to reach a copper-bottomed figure," he said, adding, "It takes time to work out the legacy we've inherited." NDA Chairman Anthony Cleaver said in a statement that gaining a much better understanding of the costs associated with delivering its remit had been one of the authority's most significant achievements over the past 12 months. "We are today publishing new site life cycle baselines which together total GBP62.7 billion, but we have also identified a potential further GBP7.5 billion of costs that will be included in the 2006/7 estimates. Within these overall totals are the cost of our income generating commercial operations at GBP14 billion and the cost of decommissioning and clean-up at GBP56 billion." However, NDA said there are a range of factors, some of which are the subject of government policy reviews, which will require further assessment. "We are targeted to establish the full costs of clean-up by 2008 and so this remains work in progress," the NDA said. The authority's priorities for the coming year are to launch its first competition--the contract to manage and operate the low-level waste facility at Drigg--and, by April 2007, issue a new Sellafield contract as part of the sale of BNG. It also intends to undertake consultations on the best approach to addressing socio-economic issues; to review site end states with stakeholders and to evaluate the business case for accelerated decommissioning for Magnox and other reactor sites. KEY PRINCIPLES Key principles established in the strategy include: prioritising safety, security and the environment by making the reduction of high hazards its key focus; an aspiration to deliver accelerated decommissioning wherever feasible; a competition schedule to create a strong competitive market that will achieve value-for-money for the taxpayer; maintenance and development of skills; effective stakeholder engagement; the provision of socio-economic support for communities directly affected by decommissioning and clean-up. Cleaver said the NDA was confident that its approved strategy provided the best approach--in terms of safety, cost efficiency and sustainability--to tackle the UK's historic 60-year nuclear legacy. "Central to the strategy is the competition schedule and, as a result of considerable feedback during the consultation period, we have revised this in a way which also accommodates the sale of BNG. We believe our schedule sets ambitious but realistic targets that will create a strong competitive market. The government's decision to approve a sale of BNG brings the benefits of competition, by way of a sale, to our biggest site, Sellafield, earlier than in our original schedule," he said. By offering a five-year contract to the new owner the NDA said its aim is to provide the incentive to drive strong performance improvements while also providing a period of stability for the site. Approval of the NDA's strategy within its first year is the culmination of a "range of significant achievements," NDA said, including: delivering real savings on the first year's work program; progress towards the creation of a new, industry-wide pension scheme; progress on the skills agenda, including initiatives to establish a Nuclear Skills Institute and a National Nuclear Skills Academy. ---claire-louise_isted@platts.com For more news, request a free trial to Power UK at Copyright © 2006 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill Companies] ***************************************************************** 24 The Local: ABB to upgrade Swedish nuclear facility [The Local: Sweden's news in English] Published: 31st March 2006 14:21 CET ABB Ltd said it has won a 24 million dollar contract from Sweden's OKG to help upgrade its Oskarshamn Unit 3 nuclear reactor on the southeast coast of Sweden. OKG wants to increase power generation from currently 1,200 to 1,450 megawatts, enough to heat about 100,000 homes. ABB's technology will be used to transmit electricity from the plant's power generators to Sweden's 400-kilovolt grid, the Swedish-Swiss technology group said. The project is scheduled for completion in mid-2008. Oskarshamn Unit 3 is OKG's largest reactor, which after the upgrade will operate until 2045. AFX ***************************************************************** 25 Detroit Free Press: Concrete shield falls in nuclear plant mishap Freep.com March 31, 2006 BY HUGH MCDIARMID JR. FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER A 35-ton concrete shield fell 15 feet onto the floor of D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant in west Michigan after the rigging on a crane failed earlier this week. Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Jan Strasma said the mishap occurred as workers were removing the last of three shields, which protect the entrance to the core of the Cook unit No. 2 -- one of two Cook plant reactors near Bridgman, on Lake Michigan's shore. The shields were being removed Monday in preparation of routine removal of old nuclear fuel rods from the core. Strasma said there was never any danger to the public or plant workers, but that it was unclear whether there was damage to the building's floor. On Thursday, plant workers were repairing the faulty rigging. Once they lift the fallen block, they will assess the damage, Strasma said. The reactor had been taken off-line for the fuel removal and will remain off-line until the damage can be assessed, he said. Bill Schalk, spokesman for Cook, said there was no immediate indication of structural damage. Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc. ***************************************************************** 26 CNW Group: CANDU is Ontario's best choice for base load energy supply April 1, 2006 QUICK Attention News Editors: Ontario's private sector is ready to work with AECL and Team CANDU TORONTO, March 31 /CNW/ - The Organization of CANDU Industries (OCI) is calling on the Ontario government to select nuclear technology for Ontario's future base load electricity needs. Canada's CANDU technology will provide Ontario with clean, reliable and affordable base load power and a new CANDU project here in Ontario will generate billions of dollars in economic activity in Ontario and across Canada. All OCI companies are ready to support Team CANDU and build new CANDU power plants here in Ontario. "Nuclear energy in Canada is a $5 billion a year industry, providing employment for more than 30,000 people in more than 150 companies," says Martyn Wash, General Manager of OCI. "Here in Ontario, the economic benefits of a new CANDU project are tremendous. It will provide businesses and consumers in Ontario with clean reliable and affordable electricity for years to come and will ensure the future of our world-class nuclear technology research and innovation capability. "Ontario needs to implement every possible conservation measure and install all possible renewable energy supply options," says Wash. "Even then, we will still be facing a looming gap in base load supply of electricity that has serious economic implications for business and residents. CANDU is a key part of the future solution." AECL's CANDU 6 reactors are operated in five countries on four continents by six different utilities and all have outstanding performance track records. Time is of the essence if we are going to meet our future electricity needs, and CANDU 6 has already been licensed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. CANDU 6 or single unit equivalents of the 900MWe Darlington are a proven safe, clean, reliable and affordable solution that is ready to fill Ontario's looming electricity supply gap in the shortest possible timeframe. We are confident that our superior performing technology, combined with our proven "on time, on budget" track record and the economic benefits to Canada, will make the CANDU option the obvious choice for meeting Ontario's future electricity needs. The Organization of CANDU Industries (OCI) is an association of 70-80 private sector companies that promotes nuclear technology on behalf of its members. For further information: contact: Martyn R Wash, General Manager, Organization of CANDU Industries, (905) 269-0852, www.oci-aic.org © 2005 CNW Group Ltd. PRIVACY &TERMS ***************************************************************** 27 Xinhua: Ghana atomic energy commission appeals for govt support www.xinhuanet.com www.chinaview.cn 2006-03-31 17:01:13 ACCRA, March 31, (Xinhua) -- The Ghana Atomic Energy Commission(GAEC), providing nuclear energy and biotechnology techniques for sustainable development, on Thursday appealed the government to give more support on its programs of services, according to Ghana News Agency's report. Professor Edward H. K. Akaho, director-general of the commission, told the Minister of Information Dan Botwe, on a visit to the commission that support receiving from the government was inadequate. GAEC handles nuclear science and technology, addressing problems of health, industry, agriculture and environment. "There was the need to combine science, politics and diplomacy to build a strong foundation for the expanded use of nuclear technology in Ghana and west Africa," said the professor. Akaho also said national nuclear power policy should be included in the energy mix to serve as a basis for sustainable energy development, policy decision and creation of public awareness. "This would solve the research and development problem that the commission is facing and to make the public benefit from most of the sustainable agricultural and industrial programs that the commission is undertaking," he said. Another major problem of the Commission was lack of staff to handle most of the scientific work, he said, the staff strength of 530 needed to be increased as early as possible to meet increasing demands. Enditem Editor: Yan Zhonghua Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 28 NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; FR Doc E6-4697 [Federal Register: March 31, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 62)] [Notices] [Page 16347-16348] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr31mr06-98] 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 review of continued 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: 10 CFR part 60-- ``Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Wastes in Geologic Repositories''. 2. Current OMB approval number: 3150-0127. 3. How often the collection is required: The information need only be submitted one time. 4. Who is required or asked to report: State or Indian Tribes, or their representatives, requesting consultation with the NRC staff regarding review of a potential high-level radioactive waste geologic repository site, or wishing to participate in a license application review for a potential geologic repository (other than a potential geologic repository site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Energy, which is now regulated under 10 CFR part 63). 5. The number of annual respondents: 1; however none are expected in the next three years. 6. The number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 1; however, none are expected in the next three years. 7. Abstract: Part 60 requires States and Indian Tribes to submit certain information to the NRC if they request consultation with the NRC staff concerning the review of a potential repository site, or wish to participate in a license application review for a potential repository (other than the Yucca Mountain, Nevada site proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy). Representatives of States or Indian Tribes must submit a statement of their authority to act in such a representative capacity. The information submitted by the States and Indian Tribes is used by the Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards as a basis for decisions about the commitment of NRC staff resources to the consultation and participation efforts. As provided in Sec. 60.1, the regulations in 10 CFR. Part 60 no longer apply to the licensing of a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain. All of the information collection requirements pertaining to Yucca Mountain were included in 10 CFR part 63, and were approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 3150-0199. The Yucca Mountain site is regulated under 10 CFR part 63 (66 FR 55792, November 2, 2001). Submit, by May 30, 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? [[Page 16348]] 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: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/index.html. 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 INFOCOLLECTS@NRC.GOV. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of March 2006. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Brenda Jo. Shelton, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of Information Services. [FR Doc. E6-4697 Filed 3-30-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 29 NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for the FR Doc E6-4698 [Federal Register: March 31, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 62)] [Notices] [Page 16348] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr31mr06-99] Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Review; Comment Request AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). ACTION: Notice of the OMB review of information collection and solicitation of public comment. SUMMARY: The NRC has recently submitted to OMB for review the following proposal for the collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). The NRC hereby informs potential respondents that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and that a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 1. Type of submission, new, revision, or extension: Extension/ Revision. 2. The title of the information collection: 10 CFR part 51, ``Environmental Protection Regulation for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions''. 3. The form number if applicable: N/A. 4. How often the collection is required: On occasion. Upon submittal of an application for a construction permit, operating license, operating license renewals, early site review, design certification review, decommissioning or termination review, manufacturing licensing, materials license, or upon submittal of a petition for rulemaking. 5. Who will be required or asked to report: Licensees and applicants requesting approvals for actions proposed in accordance with the provisions of 10 CFR Parts 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 40, 50, 52, 54, 60, 61, 70, and 72. 6. An estimate of the number of annual responses: 28. 7. The estimated number of annual respondents: 28. 8. An estimate of the total number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 113,596. 9. An indication of whether Section 3507(d), Pub. L. 104-13 applies: N/A. 10. Abstract: 10 CFR part 51 specifies information to be provided by applicants and licensees so that the NRC can make determinations necessary to adhere to the policies, regulations, and public laws of the United States, which are to be interpreted and administered in accordance with the policies set forth in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended. A copy of the final 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: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/index.html. The document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this notice. Comments and questions should be directed to the OMB reviewer listed below by May 1, 2006. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given to comments received after this date. John A. Asalone, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (3150-0021), NEOB-10202, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503. Comments can also be e-mailed to John_A._Asalone@omb.eop.gov or submitted by telephone at (202) 395-4650. The NRC Clearance Officer is Brenda Jo. Shelton, 301-415-7233. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of March, 2006. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Brenda Jo. Shelton, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of Information Services. [FR Doc. E6-4698 Filed 3-30-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 30 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding FR Doc E6-4710 [Federal Register: March 31, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 62)] [Notices] [Page 16348-16349] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr31mr06-100] of No Significant Impact for License Renewal for BWX Technologies, Inc., Lynchburg, VA AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of availability. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Billy Gleaves, Project Manager, Fuel Cycle Facilities Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop T-8F42, Washington, DC, 20852. Telephone: (301) 415-5848; fax number: (310) 415-5955; e-mail: bcg@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering renewal of a license to BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT), Materials License SNM-42, that would authorize the licensee to possess nuclear materials, manufacture nuclear fuel components, fabricate research and university reactor components, fabricate compact reactor fuel elements, perform research on spent fuel performance, and handle the resultant waste streams, including recovery of scrap uranium. If granted, the renewed license would allow BWXT to continue operations as authorized in the current license. If approved, the renewed license term would be for 20 years at BWXT's Mt. Athos Road facility in Lynchburg, Virginia. The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of this action in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate. If approved, the renewed license would be issued following the publication of this Notice. II. EA Summary The purpose of the proposed action is to authorize the renewal of BWXT's 10 CFR part 70 Special Nuclear Material [[Page 16349]] license, for a 20-year period, at the licensee's Lynchburg, Virginia facility. On June 30, 2004, BWXT requested that the NRC approve the renewal application. BWXT's request for the proposed change was previously noticed in the Federal Register on March 6, 2006 (71 FR 11231), with a notice of license amendment request and opportunity to request a hearing. The staff has prepared the EA in support of the proposed action. The NRC staff concluded that the proposed renewal, for a 20-year period, of Materials License SNM-42 involving the continued operations at the BWXT site in Lynchburg will not result in a significant impact to the environment. The NRC staff concluded that the proposed action will not adversely affect federally listed species or federally designated critical habitat because no federally listed species are known to occur in the project area. The NRC staff found that no historic properties will be affected by the proposed action. The facility is already built, and no changes to the operations are associated with the action. The proposed action can be viewed as a continuation of impacts and can be evaluated based on the previous impacts from past operations. Airborne effluents released through stacks and liquid effluents released in the James River are below regulatory limits for nonradiological and radiological contaminants. The radiological dose associated with the exposure to these effluents, for the maximally exposed individual is less than 1 percent of the NRC's 1.0 mSv [100 mrem] annual limit pursuant to 10 CFR 20.1301. Occupational doses are also well below regulatory limits. The environmental impacts of the proposed action have been evaluated in accordance with the requirements presented in 10 CFR part 51. The NRC staff has determined that the renewal of license SNM-42, allowing continued operations at the BWXT facility for a 20-year period will not have a significant impact on the human environment. No environmental impact statement is required, and a finding of no significant impact is appropriate in accordance with 10 CFR 51.31. III. Finding of No Significant Impact On the basis of the EA, the NRC has concluded that there are no significant environmental impacts from the proposed action and has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement. IV. Further Information Documents related to this action can be accessed on the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS) that provides electronic copies of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession number for the Federal Register notice related to this action is: Notice of License Amendment Request of BWX Technologies, Inc., Lynchburg, VA, and Opportunity to Request a Hearing (ML053430248). If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of March 2006. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Gary S. Janosko, Chief, Fuel Cycle Facilities Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. [FR Doc. E6-4710 Filed 3-30-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 31 Ananova: Nuclear plant owners lose keys German nuclear power station officials have admitted losing the keys to top security areas within their own plant. The Philippsburg nuclear plant in Germany is now under investigation after owners reported that they have been searching for the keys to vital areas around the reactors since March 10. The plant is run by German company EnBW, which reportedly took an entire week to inform the authorities about the loss of the keys. Prosecutors have opened an investigation "against unknown perpetrators" for theft. The company has announced that the locks are being changed, but German Environment Ministry spokesperson Karl Franz criticised the delay in reporting the case. He said: "We received no explanation as to why it took so long to report the occurrence." Story filed: 09:57 Friday 31st March 2006 --> Ananova Ltd. ***************************************************************** 32 MarketWatch: U.K. to privatize more nuclear operations as cleanup costs surge 4:27 AM ET Mar 31, 2006 (This story was originally published Thursday.) By Hyun Young Lee Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K. Thursday came a step closer to full privatization of its civil nuclear power program, as it announced the sale of British Nuclear Group, the cleanup arm of state-owned British Nuclear Fuels PLC (BNF.YY). BNG, which includes a five-year contract to manage the Sellafield nuclear plant in Northwest England, will be valued at more than GBP5 billion, senior executives from the government's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority said. The NDA also said the estimated cost of decommissioning the U.K.'s aging nuclear fleet over the coming decades had risen by a quarter to GBP70 billion. Much of that may go to contractors such as AMEC PLC (AMEC.LN), Bechtel Group Inc. (BTL.XX) and Fluor Corp. (FLR), with the decommissioning of Sellafield from 2012 using up a large chunk of the overall costs. The sale of BNG marks the latest stage in the U.K. government's withdrawal from all aspects of nuclear power management. Last week, the government said it would consider selling its majority stake in plant operator British Energy. Earlier this year, BNFL sold its U.S. nuclear construction arm, Westinghouse Electric Co., to Japan's Toshiba Corp. (6502.TO) in a deal worth more than $5 billion. As these deals are finalized, the government's part in the U.K. nuclear industry could be reduced to little more than supervising the cleanup of sites - just as the country could see its first nuclear construction for more than 10 years. The government's current energy review is considering replacing its aging fleet of nuclear power plants with new build, and a decision is expected this summer. The estimated price tag for BNG matches that of a new five-year contract for managing Sellafield, running from when BNG is put up for sale in late 2007. BNG's Chief Executive Lawrie Haynes said "the market will decide" whether the company has any additional value, but having the contract in the first place "makes us more attractive." Haynes reckons the experience of running Sellafield will allow the new owners to "bring in resources to enhance their own positions." BNG, together with the NDA, will set out the pre-qualification criteria for potential bidders this summer and draw up a shortlist. Haynes declined to say whether any companies were preferred bidders. "The companies I'm looking for are major companies with great experience in running major programs," Haynes said. In his opinion, BNG has the technical skills but isn't so strong in project management, nor does it have access to the enormous "bidding machines" of Fluor or Bechtel. A company of this size would also have the clout to deal with BNG's operational problems of the past year, notably the highly radioactive leak that has kept Thorp, the fuel reprocessing plant, shut since April. The U.K.'s AMEC has also been mooted as a potential bidder for BNG. But spokesman Charles Reynolds said a BNG bid wasn't in AMEC's plans. "We think we have the right team and the right resources to target the U.K. (without making a bid)," he said, adding that the company is aiming for a 20% to 30% share of the U.K.'s decommissioning market. AMEC recently signed a partnership with the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority and U.S. firm CH2M Hill Cos. LTD (CHH.XX) to target some of the 20 civil nuclear sites in the NDA's portfolio when bidding kicks off next month. The timing of the sale so close to a decision on new build is just a coincidence, according to Malcolm Grimston, a nuclear policy expert at the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Only the Westinghouse sale is linked to potential new build, as a state-owned vendor would be in a no-win situation: the government could face accusations of preferential treatment if Westinghouse won the bid, or of no confidence if it didn't, he said. A market-savvy buyer taking on BNG's strong technical skills and the Sellafield contract - a great confidence booster, Grimston says - will have a good chance at the multibillion pound U.K. market. -Contact: 201-938-5400 [End of Story] E-mail | Print | RSS Feed| Disable live quotes Sign up to receive the Weekend TV Show Preview e-Newsletter. ***************************************************************** 33 UPI: Key loss points to nuclear power safety United Press International - Energy - 3/31/2006 8:33:00 AM -0500 By STEFAN NICOLA UPI Germany Correspondent BERLIN, March 31 (UPI) -- A severe security blunder has embarrassed officials at one of Germany's largest nuclear power plants and refueled the debate on reactor security. At a power plant in southern Germany, a metal ring with no less than 12 keys giving access to several security-relevant rooms has been missing since March 10. A mechanic had used the keys to do some maintenance work on an emergency power generator; he now doesn't remember where he put them after he finished his work. Officials at the plant in Philippsburg, a city of 13,000 in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, informed police about the missing keys only a week later. They scanned the plant for days, but eventually had to admit: The keys are gone. The plant is owned by the EnBW, Germany's third-largest energy company. The state criminal office is investigating, but officials from Baden-Wuerttemberg's Environment Ministry have said they're displeased about how long it took EnbW to report the case. "We wish they would have told us a bit earlier," Karl Franz, a spokesman for the ministry, told United Press International in a telephone interview Friday. "We have received a report from the plant which we are in the process of evaluating. We'll have to see if consequences are necessary." Franz told UPI that plant officials have started to switch out "more than 100 locks." EnBW, the company based in Karlsruhe, just a stone's throw away from Philippsburg, has commented only in writing. It argues the security of the plant has not been compromised by the incident. "Even an unauthorized with the keys cannot enter these rooms without being detected," the company said in a statement. "We have a diverse, multi-hierarchy security system in place." The missing keys, however, document how lax internal security sometimes is at the plants. And it's not the first case time employees have breached security. In 2000, a plant worker stole plutonium, used in most modern nuclear weapons, from a closed reprocessing plant. He stored it in his apartment, severely contaminating himself and his family by radiation. Authorities sentenced the man to four years in prison. The latest incident comes in handy for the Germany's political left, which wants nuclear energy phased out in the next 15 years, a plan that has been laid out in a treaty between the former government and the energy industry. Social Democrat and Green Party lawmakers argue the damage that may be done by an old and vulnerable nuclear power plant can be excessive; they cite the example of the Russian city of Chernobyl, where in April 1986 a nuclear power plant exploded, killing thousands and contaminating the area for years. The left also argues a safe way to store nuclear waste still has to be found. Several top politicians from Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, however, would like to see the running time of the safest of Germany's 17 nuclear power plants extended. They say the country has to try to remain energy independent, and argue atomic energy is much more climate-friendly than oil and gas. Franz, the environment ministry spokesman, said safe nuclear energy should remain in the country's mix. "This Philippsburg incident was isolated," he said. "We won't be able to meet the energy demand only with renewable energy sources anytime soon." For April, the German government has scheduled an energy summit to discuss the country's future mix. As most Scandinavian countries, France and the United States have extended the running times of their nuclear power plants, Berlin is under pressure to at least double-check its plans. According to security experts, German nuclear power plants are among the safest in the world. Heinz-Peter Butz, a spokesman for the Society for Plant and Reactor Security, a scientific-technical expert and research organization, said Germany's plants not only meet, but go far beyond the standards set by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog. "For example the German safety standards against airplane crashes are the best in the world," he told UPI via telephone. "We have outer walls that are over 7 feet thick; even if a jet plane crashes into a plant, no radiation will be released. You don't have that anywhere else in the world." However the situation is much gloomier in parts of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, he said, adding no less than 13 Chernobyl-type reactors are still active. "Those plants have to be shut down immediately," he said. "They're so deficient, it's impossible to modernize them." -- (Comments to energy@upi.com) © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 34 UPI: Russian-built reactor to open in China United Press International - NewsTrack - 3/31/2006 1:13:00 PM -0500 BEIJING, March 31 (UPI) -- A new nuclear reactor built in China using Russian technologies will soon start generating electricity, Russian news agency RIA Novosti said Friday. In December 1997 Russia and China signed a contract for construction of two power units at the Tianwan nuclear power plant. Alexander Kryukov, a spokesman for Atomstroiexport, Russia's nuclear machinery export monopoly, told reporters that the first reactor would start generating electricity soon and would be at commercial generating capacity by the end of 2006. It's planned that the second generator will begin producing electricity by 2007. Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency head Sergei Kiriyenko hopes that Russia will sign new contracts for constructing additional reactors for the plant. © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 35 ITAR-TASS: 2005 saw 235 accidents at Russia’s high-risk industrial facilities 31.03.2006, 07.03 MOSCOW, March 31 (Itar-Tass) -- Last year saw 235 accidents at Russia’s 240,000 high-risk industrial facilities, the chief of Russia’s technical supervision watchdog Rostekhnadzor, Konstantin Pulikovsky, told the media on Thursday. Pulikovsky reviewed the results of the two-day session of the Rostekhnadzor collegium that analyzed supervision and control of the atomic, industrial, and ecological activities in 2005. Pulikovsky said Russia’s coal industry still had the gravest, most hazardous and risky labor conditions of all. He also pointed to growing rates of accidents at petrochemical and oil refining facilities and in the operation of electric power plants and electric and thermal power networks. At Russia’s nuclear power plants there were 40 various disruptions, six less than in 2004. “There were no violations of safe operation limits at the country’s nuclear power plants or disruptions of their operation that might be classified as accidents,” Pulikovsky said. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, ***************************************************************** 36 [NukeNet] Active Tests Begin at Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 14:27:42 -0800 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) Media Release (31 March 2006) A Sad Day for Nuclear Non-Proliferation "Efforts to stem the tide of nuclear proliferation were dealt a huge blow today, as Japan commenced active tests at the Rokkasho reprocessing plant", said Hideyuki Ban, Co-Director of the Tokyo based Citizens' Nuclear Information Center. The plant, located in Aomori Prefecture in the north of Japan's largest island, began separating plutonium from spent nuclear fuel for the first time at 2:58pm Japan time. "While the world's attention is diverted by the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea, Japan has strengthened the position of countries which wish to develop weapons-usable technologies. Japan wants to be treated as an exception, but it is ignoring the international ramifications of its actions." "Japan has justified its reprocessing policy on the grounds that it mixes plutonium with uranium to form a mixed oxide known as MOX. It says this is proliferation-resistant, but this is a deliberate misrepresentation of the risks associated with MOX." The International Atomic Energy Agency defines MOX as a 'special fissionable material' and a 'direct use material'. It can be converted into weapons material in the order of one to three weeks1. "The Japanese government has knowingly misled the Japanese public and the international community on this point." The owner of the Rokkasho reprocessing plant, Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd, plans to reprocess 430 tons of spent fuel during the active test phase, which is scheduled to continue for 17 months. During this period, it will separate between 3 and 4 tons of plutonium, enough for about 500 Nagasaki-type nuclear weapons. If the plant ever operates at full capacity it will separate up to 8 tons of plutonium from spent nuclear fuel each year. Mr. Ban said, "Commencing reprocessing at Rokkasho will only add to Japan's plutonium surplus. Japan already has a plutonium stockpile of 43 tons. We estimate that this will increase to about 70 tons by the end of 2010 if the Rokkasho reprocessing plant operates according to plan." Mr, Ban added, "Besides the proliferation risks, the beginning of active tests also marks the beginning of large-scale radioactive pollution from the plant. It is impossible to operate the Rokkasho reprocessing plant without discharging radioactivity with the liquid and gaseous wastes. The radioactivity released in one day of operation is equivalent to the radioactivity released from a nuclear reactor in one year." "There are benchmarks for the amount of radioactivity that may be released, but there is no guarantee that releases will be kept within these benchmarks. The marine environment downstream from Rokkasho will be permanently degraded and radioactivity released into the atmosphere will reach major cities in Aomori Prefecture, including Aomori, Hirosaki, and Hachinohe." 1. IAEA Safeguards Glossary, 2001 Edition, p.22 (3.13) and p.32 (4.16) Contacts Hideyuki Ban, CNIC Co-Director (Phone 81-3-5330-9520) Philip White, CNIC International Liaison Officer (Phone 81-3-5330-9520) Citizens' Nuclear Information Center 3F Kotobuki Bdg, 1-58-15, Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-0003 Phone: 81-3-5330-9520 Fax: 81-3-5330-9530 http://cnic.jp/english/ cnic@nifty.com _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings or access the archives at: http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net ***************************************************************** 37 DOE: DOE Awards $3 Million Contract to Oak Ridge Associated Universities for Expert Review of Yucca Mountain Work March 31, 2006 DOE Awards $3 Million Contract to Oak Ridge Associated Universities for Expert Review of Yucca Mountain Work Funding is for remainder of 2006, with at least another $3 million in 2007 WASHINGTON, DC  The Department of Energys Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) today announced the selection of Oak Ridge Associated Universities/Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORAU/ORISE) to provide independent expert reviews of scientific and technical work on the Yucca Mountain Project. The Yucca Mountain Project will be based on sound science. By bringing in Oak Ridge for independent reviews to assess our technical work, we ensure the highest level of expertise and credibility as we move the project forward, OCRWMs Acting Director Paul Golan said. This award gives us access to ORAU/ORISEs established brain trust of academic and research institutions to help us meet our mission and our legal obligation to license, construct, and open Yucca Mountain as the nations repository for spent nuclear fuel. ORAU is a not-for-profit consortium that includes 96 doctoral degree-granting institutions and 11 associate member universities. Together, these institutions produce one-third of the nations science and engineering PhDs. ORAU operates ORISE, a Department of Energy institute dedicated to furthering scientific initiatives and education in the United States. We are excited about this opportunity, which is a further extension of the capabilities weve demonstrated in peer reviews for many state and federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Homeland Security, and DOEs Office of Science, Dr. Ronald Townsend, President of ORAU and Director of ORISE, said. We also perform independent verifications for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and we have extensive experience in designing and implementing processes that ensure independence and support credibility through rigorous review. OCRWM is providing $3 million in funding to ORAU/ORISE for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2006. In addition, at least $3 million will be available next year for ORAU/ORISE. OCRWM will identify specific products or activities for review and provide a scope of work, based on which ORAU/ORISE will identify experts in appropriate disciplines and coordinate the activities of review teams. 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 | ***************************************************************** 38 Santa Fe New Mexican: Gallup residents tell of uranium mining's tragic impact By KATHY HELMS | Associated Press March 31, 2006 CHURCH ROCK, N.M. (AP) - Ed Carlisle of Church Rock chapter used to sit in the back of the wagon and go with his grandfather to haul water. "He'd park in the lake and he would give me water to put in the barrel, and I had this barrel covered with a piece of cloth," he said. "He used to pour the water in the barrel to get the tadpoles out. Now, we're pretty much doing the same thing. Water is really precious and scarce," Carlisle told U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, New Mexico Environment Department and Navajo Nation EPA officials, who were at the chapter recently to listen to community concerns regarding cleanup of the Northeast Church Rock Mine. But this time, it's not tadpoles in the water they're worried about. It's radionuclides and heavy metals. And they've been there for years. So many years, in fact, Navajo residents were not necessarily impressed with EPA's accelerated cleanup plan, which ideally would wipe clean nearly 40 years of uranium mining in the area in one year. Robert Dodson came to address the EPA about the impact of this issue on his community. "The sickness people are getting is going to continue because of the vegetation, the ground. The uranium that soaked into the ground is going to take years. How are you going to clean that? It's not going to happen," Dodson said. Dodson worked for the Kerr-McGee uranium mine in the 1960s and 1970s. "I used to work down there and eat down there. We even drank water down there because the water was cool. We weren't aware of all this contamination that had gone on with uranium and underground water," he said. Dodson said workers were unaware of contamination and the health risk the dust particles posed to their lungs. "Our medicine man in return tries to help us. Our medicine man tells us those are the herbs that will help us for maybe two months, two years, to be well again," he said. Raphael Martin of Pinedale chapter told state and federal officials he can still detect odd odors coming from area ponds. "How long are we going to talk about what we're talking about today? When is someone going to really mean business to clean up that area? When? Nobody seems to have the answer," Martin said. Martin said he was serving as a council delegate when the first meeting was held after the July 1979 spill released about 93 million gallons of tailings and pond water into the Rio Puerco. "They had a timeline (for cleanup), and for some reason, those timelines have maybe got covered by the wind or something, the dust," he said. "There seems to be no end. We just talk, talk, talk. Bring the people together...saying we're going to do this, we're going to do that again there's no end to this." Martin said Pinedale community members want to know when they are going to complete the cleanup. The community is depending on the Navajo Nation EPA agency to get cleanup started and data must be collected and studied, he said. "There's a mess back there and we just talk about it. Let's do something. I'd like to see some results," Martin said. John Benally told the EPA he lives where all the drainage comes together from the Church Rock mine. "I'm concerned about the people, the livestock, the land. Whoever signed the agreement for the mining of uranium, they compromised the health and safety of the people," he said. "The uranium was used in a negative way. They used it as an atomic weapon. Unless we can fix that problem we will still have these problems. We should respect Mother Earth. This desecration of Mother Earth ... you fall out of harmony with Nature." Benally worked in the uranium mines for 11 years and sought out the services of a medicine man for his ails, not only to his health but also to his soul. "(The mining company) drilled wells every thousand feet so they could locate the uranium. And during that process they desecrated gravesites," he said. Lorraine Livingston told EPA that back in the 40s and 50s, the mine area was a beautiful place to live. "Every home had sheep. My neighbor had a lot of sheep, and across the arroyo, that family had sheep. Now, you don't see anything over there," she said. ©2006, Santa Fe New Mexican, all rights reserved. Opinions ***************************************************************** 39 reviewjournal.com: Berkley calls on DOE to fire Yucca Mountain cartoon man Mar. 31, 2006 By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU Yucca Mountain Johnny Joe Camel WASHINGTON -- Joe Camel, and now Yucca Mountain Johnny? Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., connected the icons on Thursday in calling on the Department of Energy to erase the square-jawed cartoon miner from its taxpayer-funded Web site for the planned nuclear waste repository. Berkley charged that Johnny's job on the site's "youth zone" is to "convince kids in Nevada that nuclear waste is OK and that the state of Nevada is a safe place to store nuclear waste." Text on Johnny's site states: "We must be responsible for our nuclear waste and put it in a place where it can never harm people or the environment." Critics say Yucca Mountain is not that place. "What really bothers me is the message that Yucca Mountain Johnny is giving our schoolchildren is akin to Joe Camel telling our school kids that smoking is healthy," Berkley said in a House speech delivered while standing next to an enlargement of the character. The R.J. Reynolds tobacco company ended an advertising campaign featuring Joe Camel in 1997 under pressure from Congress and public health groups. Although the company denied it, the character was widely associated with the promotion of Camel cigarettes to children. The Energy Department does not plan to bury Yucca Mountain Johnny, said spokesman Craig Stevens, who rejected the comparison as "preposterous." Yucca Mountain Johnny is not propaganda but rather a teaching tool, Stevens said. The character has existed for nearly 10 years and has been on the DOE Web site for two years without drawing comment or complaint, he said. He can be found at www.ocrwm.doe.gov/youth/index.htm. "Yucca Mountain Johnny has been educating thousands of students and adults around the world on complex science issues including nuclear physics, hydrology, geology and engineering," Stevens said. But Yucca Mountain Johnny -- depicted with an open, smiling face and strong jaw -- also appears to be selling trust, said Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, an advocacy group that studies how the media conveys messages to children. "The character as depicted makes you think that Yucca Mountain is a fine thing," he said. "He looks like a trustworthy guy. That is the image the DOE is trying to put forth here about Yucca Mountain, but as a matter of policy that is deeply subject to question. "If Yucca Mountain Johnny was depicted as an atom bomb, it would make a different point," Ruskin said. This is not the first time the that Energy Department outreach on Yucca Mountain has run afoul of critics. In 2001, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., got a bill passed that temporarily blocked the department from advertising public tours of the repository site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Reid maintained DOE was using the tours to lobby for Yucca Mountain. The advertising ban expired a year later and was not renewed. The mention of the cartoon earlier this month on wonkette.com, a popular blog, focused attention on the character and led Nevadans who oppose Yucca Mountain to conclude the state was being insulted. On Thursday, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., registered a Yucca Mountain Johnny complaint with the Energy Department through an aide, spokesman Jack Finn said. Other Nevada lawmakers echoed the call for the department to terminate the character. "To sell the Yucca Mountain Project to our children through the use of a cartoon character is an irresponsible and desperate act," said Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev. But a Clark County science teacher questioned Yucca Mountain Johnny's reach. In the county curriculum, eighth-graders being taught Newtonian physics and introduction to nuclear physics would be most likely to visit the Yucca Mountain Web site for assignments, said Brad Evans, science department chairman at Sawyer Middle School. These students in their early teens don't notice the cartoons, said Evans. "They would be more concerned about the information they could find on the site rather than the character," he said. "They would look at it and think it was silly." Evans added students recognize that information on the government's Web site is "slanted" on the project. "They seem to be more astute as far as that goes," Evans said, adding that a savvy student running a Google search of "Yucca Mountain" would discover 6.4 million other potential sources of information about the repository. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2006 Stephens Media GroupPrivacy Statement ***************************************************************** 40 reviewjournal.com: Reid sees more cuts for Yucca Mountain Mar. 31, 2006 Savings might help fund geothermal research By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid said Thursday the Energy Department should expect a new round of budget cuts for Yucca Mountain, with savings going for geothermal research and other projects. The Nevada Democrat's comments at a Senate budget hearing signal the launch of an annual campaign Reid wages to pare spending on nuclear waste disposal in an effort to slow the Yucca project long enough until critics can stop it outright. Every year since 1994, Congress has scaled back the president's spending request for the Nevada program by tens of millions of dollars and sometimes more. DOE officials have acknowledged the perennial shortfalls have contributed to delays at Yucca Mountain, which is eight years behind schedule. This year, the Bush administration has asked Congress to allocate $544.5 million for Yucca Mountain, making it a big ticket item that is going to be scrutinized as lawmakers juggle funds for a variety of energy programs, Reid said. "Some very difficult choices will have to be made," Reid said. He predicted Congress will restore Bush budget cuts to heating assistance programs and "clean coal" research. Reid is senior Democrat on the energy and water subcommittee that writes spending bills each year for DOE and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Subcommittee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said after the hearing he agreed that Yucca Mountain probably would sustain a budget cut. He did not specify how much. Speaking to DOE officials who outlined their budget, Reid said he was mystified by the decision to terminate federal spending for geothermal projects. Nevada is considered rich in the underground heat resource and is a major target for investors. "It is safe to say that there will be a geothermal energy program" in fiscal 2007, Reid said. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2006 Stephens Media GroupPrivacy Statement ***************************************************************** 41 Platts: Domenici to cut Yucca Mountain's FY-07 cash, may submit own bill Washington (Platts)--30Mar2006 Senate appropriators are expected to cut fiscal year-2007 funding for the Department of Energy's proposed nuclear waste repository project at Yucca Mountain, Nevada after key members of an appropriations subcommittee said Thursday the $544 million being sought for that program was too high. "That has got to come down," the subcommittee chairman Pete Domenici, Republican-New Mexico, said following a hearing on the DOE fiscal 2007 budget request. The panel's ranking Democrat, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, told reporters as he left the hearing he didn't know how the long-delayed program could spend that much money. Reid opposes DOE plans to build a nuclear waste disposal facility at Yucca Mountain, roughly 100 miles outside Las Vegas. Separately, Domenici said in his opening statement at the hearing he would introduce his own nuclear waste bill if the department didn't present draft legislation to the Senate and House soon. Domenici declined to reveal details of his bill. DOE has been promising a draft bill since early February. Domenici said during the hearing Thursday he would introduce a DOE bill out of courtesy to the administration, but that didn't necessarily mean he would support the entire bill. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. Copyright © 2006 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill Companies] ***************************************************************** 42 Xinhua: Japan's nuclear reprocessing plant begins trial run www.xinhuanet.com www.chinaview.cn 2006-03-31 21:24:07 TOKYO, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Japan began a test run of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant on Friday, which would turn spent nuclear fuel into plutonium for making nuclear power plant fuel. The Rokkasho plant, located in northern Japan, is designed to reprocess some 800 tons of spent nuclear fuel annually into more than 4 tons of plutonium when fully operated in August 2007, Kyodo News said. The plutonium will be used as uranium-and-plutonium mixed fuel at Japan's nuclear power plants. "This is a very important step forward for the ministry, and the entire energy industry," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai said earlier on Friday. The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan plans to use such mixed fuel at 16 to 18 reactors across the country by March 2011. During the test run, about 430 tons of spent nuclear fuel will be melted to extract plutonium and uranium. Japan Nuclear Fuel, the operator of the plant, began to build the reprocessing plant in 1993. The construction costs of the plant, located 580 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, swelled to 2,193 billion yen (18.66 billion U.S. dollars) following a series of troubles such as a water leakage in the fuel pool and a design error in the cooling devices. Nuclear power is an essential part of Japan's energy portfolio, supplying more than one third of its energy. Enditem Editor: Yao Runping Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 43 AFP: Japanese nuclear plant starts tests [Japan's first plant to extract plutonium and uranium from spent nuclear fuel] TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's first plant to extract plutonium and uranium from spent nuclear fuel started test runs in hopes of providing much-needed energy despite protests from residents and environmentalists. The 17-month test is expected to lead to full-fledged production next year in the northern village of Rokkasho, providing a new form of energy to one of the world's biggest oil importers. "Everything went smoothly without any obstruction," said Kazuhiko Shimada, a spokesman for the plant's operator, Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. The company raced Friday to sign last-minute agreements with surrounding communities pledging safety before beginning the long-delayed tests. The plant will eventually produce uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel, which would boost the electricity generated by existing reactors through recycling. More than 30 MOX reactors now operate in Europe. Concerned residents and environmentalists of the only country attacked with atomic bombs have held periodic protests against the plant, which theoretically could also process weapons-grade plutonium to produce energy. About 100 protestors gathered at the front gate Friday to protest the launch of the tests at the Rokkasho plant which lies on the northern tip of Japan's main island of Honshu. "I really feel frustrated and sad," said Keiko Kikukawa, 57, a local farmer who has protested the project for years. "I've worked for such a long time to stop this test run, which is not necessary at all," she told AFP by telephone. Protesters have pointed out that even though the plant would create the new type of fuel, Japan does not yet have any reactors that can operate on it. The city of Genkai in southern Japan on Sunday accepted a plan by regional power utility Kyushu Electric Power Co. to begin using MOX fuel at one of its reactors. But the Genkai reactor would not be able to process MOX fuel until the business year to March 2011 at the earliest and lies more than 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) from Rokkasho, in Aomori prefecture, raising further concerns about safety. The Japanese electric industry has planned to use the plutonium and uranium extraction method since 1997 and had set a plan to operate 16 to 18 nuclear reactors by the year to March 2011. But the goal has been stalled by a series of accidents and scandals. Construction of the Rokkasho facility began in 1993 but the start of operations was delayed by problems including a design flaw. "I believe this reprocessing plant will contribute a lot to the nation's energy policies," Aomori governor Shingo Mimura said Tuesday. Japan counts on nuclear energy for 30 percent of its electricity but is almost entirely dependent on imports for its oil. Greenpeace complained about the waste that would be generated by the plant and the potential military link. "Reprocessing is a daily nuclear accident due to the massive discharges of nuclear waste authorized by government agencies, which have no regard for public health or the wider environment," the group's Shaun Burnie said. AFP '); [ src=] ***************************************************************** 44 Japan Times: Government drafts plans for reactor to succeed Monju The Japan Atomic Energy Agency proposed a blueprint Thursday for nuclear technology development that envisions a 1,500-megawatt fast-breeder reactor to succeed the prototype fast-breeder reactor Monju in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture. The agency outlined the plan in a proposal submitted to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Like Monju, the envisaged reactor will use sodium coolant and burn plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel (MOX) made from spent fuel, stockpiles of which have been growing rapidly. The agency plans to build a reactor that is about one-sixth the size of Monju but with an output of about 1,500 mw -- about five times that of Monju. The government is set to contribute to the U.S.-led Global Nuclear Energy Partnership initiative in the area of fast-breeder reactor technology and fuel reprocessing technology. The agency says the proposal's direction is basically the same as that of GNEP. According to the proposal, the agency has evaluated its representative octagonal nuclear reactor in five areas, including safety, economic efficiency and resistance to nuclear proliferation. For the analysis, the agency chose the same type of reactor as Monju, which uses sodium coolant and MOX fuel. The agency says it will present a detailed plan by 2015. It plans to conduct verification tests at its experimental facility and at Monju to develop a 300- to 500-mw reactor by around 2025. On fuel reprocessing, the agency plans to develop the method being used by Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. at its reprocessing facility in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture. It plans to extract plutonium with other radioactive materials because pure plutonium can easily be used in nuclear weapons. The Japan Times: Friday, March 31, 2006 (C) All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 45 Japan Times: Nuclear reprocessing plant begins trials SAFETY ASSURANCE IN ROKKASHO Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. began a test run Friday of Japan's first spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture. [News photo] Antinuclear activists protest the start of the first test run at Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.'s spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant here Friday. The operation to extract plutonium and uranium from spent nuclear fuel got under way after the operator signed a safety agreement with five municipalities surrounding the village earlier in the day. The conclusion of the agreement with the city of Misawa, the towns of Tohoku, Noheji and Yokohama, and the village of Higashidori follows the signing Wednesday of a similar agreement with Aomori Prefecture and Rokkasho. The agreement contains provisions on ensuring safety, information disclosure and the right of local governments to conduct investigations at the plant. The start of a test run represents a major step forward in Japan's attempt to establish a nuclear fuel reprocessing cycle centering on the so-called pluthermal method, under which nuclear plants will use oxide fuel mixed with plutonium and uranium to be extracted at the Rokkasho plant. The test run will involve the same procedures as an actual operation, in which the spent fuel will be reprocessed to extract plutonium and uranium. The plant, whose construction started in 1993, aims to start full operations in August 2007. The construction costs have grown to 2.19 trillion yen as a result of delays in the start of operations due to a series of problems, including a design error in the cooling devices. The Japan Times: Saturday, April 1, 2006 (C) All rights reserved The Japan Times] ***************************************************************** 46 AU ABC: Labor to debate uranium mining The World Today - Friday, 31 March , 2006 12:40:00 Reporter: Nance Haxton ELEANOR HALL: As the Federal Government signals that it's likely to look favourably on exporting Australian uranium to China, the Federal Labor Party is now moving to relax its stance on mining the controversial mineral. Speaking at a national uranium conference in Adelaide this morning, the Federal Labor Party's Resources spokesman, Martin Ferguson, announced that Labor's three mines policy would be up for debate at the party's next national conference. Mr Ferguson, who supports revising the policy, says the debate has now moved on from whether Australia should mine uranium, to how it should control the product's export, as Nance Haxton reports from Adelaide. NANCE HAXTON: Martin Ferguson says he cannot believe how far the debate on uranium has come in just the past six months. The man who once represented the Miscellaneous Workers Union in the heady protests against uranium mining in the 1970's is now Labor's Primary Industry and Resources spokesman. But he says the Australian community now understands that uranium resources are a key part of the solution to the global energy crisis. MARTIN FERGUSON: To deny our involvement in that debate is for us as a nation to walk away from our global responsibilities. The debate is on about whether or not the Labor Party should change its policy. (sound of applause) NANCE HAXTON: He says exporting uranium exclusively for the use of power generation would not necessarily threaten Australia's coal industry. MARTIN FERGUSON: I actually think as a nation we can actually walk and chew gum at the same time, potentially sell coal and uranium. NANCE HAXTON: South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy Chief Executive Phillip Sutherland says until Labor reviews its opposition to any new uranium mines, the uranium industry's future will remain uncertain. PHILLIP SUTHERLAND: It's a risk that a lot of interest industry and people are prepared to contribute quite a lot of money in terms of investing in the exploration effort. NANCE HAXTON: So there's still some hesitancy until this Labor Party policy becomes official? PHIILLIP SUTHERLAND: Well of course there always will be. There's no doubt about that. I mean people are putting up their money and they'd like to know that the way forward is quite clear. NANCE HAXTON: While South Australia's Premier Mike Rann has publicly supported a review of Labor's three uranium mine policy, the Queensland and West Australian Governments are less sympathetic. Mr Ferguson says the topic will no doubt lead to robust debate at the next national Labor conference. MARTIN FERGUSON: There have been a number of attempts to review it, and they have failed. So we've got to strengthen our leadership role as potentially the biggest exporting nation in guaranteeing it's safer than ever and it reflects the modern concerns of the 21st century, not the 20th century. NANCE HAXTON: How confident are you that the Labor Party will change its policy on this? It's been longstanding? MARTIN FERGUSON: The Labor Party is a complex institution. We've had a range of debates over the years. I can remember the original debate about Olympic Dam. It is a live debate, not just in the Labor Party, it's a live debate in the Australian community. NANCE HAXTON: Do you think that changing the three uranium mine policy will have the support of the Australian people though? MARTIN FERGUSON: The Australian community is absolutely concerned about making sure we live in a safe world. That's why there is good support for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, reviewing it and strengthening it. In terms of the export of uranium, the Australian community understands that very shortly, we will be the biggest exporter of uranium with the biggest mine in the world. Whether or not there's another mine is not the debate. The debate is about the conditions of export of Australian uranium. That has always been the main issue of concern in the Australian community. NANCE HAXTON: Well is Labor simply being pragmatic then, wanting not to miss out on this booming world market? MARTIN FERGUSON: The Labor Party's about adopting a leadership position. It's broader than whether or not we have a couple more uranium mines. It’s about the future of Australia. ELEANOR HALL: And that's the Federal Labor Party's Resources spokesman, Martin Ferguson, ending that report by Nance Haxton in Adelaide. ***************************************************************** 47 Pahrump Valley Times: Yucca advances earth sciences technologies March 31, 2006 By STEVE TETREAULT PVT WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON - Spray-on metal coatings that could resist corrosion for half the cost of expensive alloys. Timesaving electron beam welding that could seal canisters in a single pass. Longer lasting disc blades that might be able to cut through 2,000 feet of rock before wearing out. New technologies and research funded by the Department of Energy for Yucca Mountain show promise to deepen understanding of the proposed Nevada nuclear waste site and potentially save millions of dollars, according to scientists taking part in the studies. Much of the work being conducted in science incubators are in the early phases and could take years to explore, officials said. But DOE officials say fruit-bearing elements eventually could be incorporated into the waste repository designs. "The benefits are potentially enormous as far as performance and cost standpoints," said John Wengle, director of the Office of Science and Technology. Wengle and other DOE officials and research team leaders delivered presentations last week at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which would conduct license hearings for the proposed repository. Some of the participants said research outcomes could allow DOE to hone repository safety calculations or fill gaps in research. There was no discussion of what might happen if follow-on research turned up potential showstoppers for the project. Researchers assembled by the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, for instance, are taking a new thrust at the physical characteristics of Yucca Mountain and how water might seep through its cracks and fissures into repository emplacement drifts. "Our work is really a demonstration the Yucca Mountain site is a real good site for disposal of nuclear waste," said Bo Bodvarsson, director of the earth sciences division at the Berkley lab. "This portfolio is going to help us demonstrate a significant increase in repository performance." But as work proceeds, the Energy Department is drawing questions as to whether the follow-up research might just complicate repository licensing, which would be built on studies the department conducted over the past 20 years. How does DOE plan to integrate new features into a highly complex undertaking that faces scrupulous review, DOE officials were asked at the session by NRC staff and members of an NRC advisory commission. "Clearly there is much more to the story than we have heard so far," said Lawrence Kokajko, deputy director of the high-level waste repository safety division in the NRC's Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. Bob Loux, a repository critic, said "It seems to me there is a huge disconnect between the science program and the Yucca project. "If they are developing good ideas in science, they ought to have bought enough time to incorporate those into the program. Otherwise why do it?" Loux, director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, said in a telephone interview. The Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management is spending $21.3 million on Yucca follow-up work this year that is spread among the national laboratories and close to 20 universities and research entities. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the University of Nevada, Reno, Nye County and Nevada-based Desert Research Institute are among the groups receiving funding. Besides the earth science studies, major topics include efforts to understand how waste-bearing containers will corrode, and how spent fuel will behave once it is emplaced in the repository and starts to decay. "We are developing a community of experts who will address issues unknown at the moment but will inevitably arise as the project moves forward," said Rodney Ewing, a nuclear engineering professor at the University of Michigan. "At the end of the day if you are telling a story out to hundreds of thousands of years, the credibility of the storyteller is important," Ewing said. Among technologies being examined, DOE and the Defense Department are teaming on development of iron-based amorphous metal coatings that are said to be highly corrosion resistant, DOE official Jef Walker said. The iron-based coating material could be procured for $8 a pound and sprayed onto waste containers, while costs for nickel-based Alloy 22 are double that or more, Walker said. DOE's current design calls for placing Alloy-22 sleeves on waste packages entering the mountain. Walker declined to estimate how much money might be saved but conceded the amount was "substantial, possibly staggering." Similar metal coatings could be applied on tunnel boring machines to reduce wear and tear on cutting implements, Walker said. The cutting discs now must be replaced after slicing through 500 feet of rock. "We would like it to last 2,000 feet, the length of an emplacement drift," Walker said. For comment or questions, please e-mail Copyright © Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - 2006 ***************************************************************** 48 Advertiser: Time to be nuclear smart [01apr06] By ANNA VLACH AUSTRALIA must not only increase its uranium exports but also become a world leader in nuclear technology, federal Opposition spokesman on mineral resources Martin Ferguson said in Adelaide yesterday. "Australia's role in the global nuclear cycle as a responsible citizen of the world does not stop with exporting our uranium," he told delegates to the 2006 Uranium Conference. "Just as we are recognising that to address both global energy security and climate change we must invest in and accelerate our development of solar and clean-coal technologies, we have to recognise that nuclear technology is equally important." Mr Ferguson gave the strongest indication yet that he will push for an end to the Labor Party's "no new mines" policy at the party's national convention next year. "The debate is on," Mr Ferguson said. "Whether or not there is another mine is not the debate, it is now about the conditions of export." Australia should head a global nuclear watchdog and that continuing its 30-year tradition of only exporting to countries that had signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was essential. "We have to strengthen our leadership role as potentially the biggest exporting nation in the world, in guaranteeing it is safer than ever," Mr Ferguson said. Research and development, which he said had fallen by the wayside, should be a key focus. "It is critically important Australia has the capacity to understand the technology that is being deployed on its doorstep in the Asia Pacific - in our backyard." "I can see considerable merit in establishing and properly funding a post-graduate nuclear technology school." On changing federal policy, Mr Ferguson said Western Australian Premier Alan Carpenter's anti-uranium mining stance should only be honoured "for the life of the Parliament". He also said Queensland Premier Peter Beattie's opposition to uranium mining, based on a perceived threat to that state's coal exports, was unfounded and the two industries could co-exist. "There is growth in demand for energy that is beyond belief ... we can walk and chew at the same time," Mr Ferguson said. SA Chamber of Mines and Energy chief executive Phillip Sutherland said Mr Ferguson's words were encouraging, but admitted potential projects - "hard to say which ones" - were being held back by Labor's policy which was making investors "hesitant". Also at the conference, PepinNini Minerals said it was primed to have the first new uranium mine development after a change in Labor Party policy. "I believe the Labor Party policy will change next year to allow additional mines, and we want to be in a position at Crocker's Well and Mt Victoria to open a mine and produce uranium," PepiNini managing director Norman Kennedy said. "The Crocker Well-Mt Victoria project will not be a huge exercise but it certainly will be a profitable exercise." PepinNini aims to conduct a bankable feasibility study before the next ALP national conference. The Crocker Well-Mt Victoria project is in the Curnamona Province in SA's northeast. © Advertiser Newspapers Pty Limited ***************************************************************** 49 WorkingForChange-Tomgram: Privatizing the apocalypse Tom Engelhardt TomDispatch.com 03.31.06 Frida Berrigan on a for-profit nuclear world Every now and then, amid all the grim stories in our world, you run across one that rings a special bell for you. Frida Berrigan's today is that for me. In fact, consider this week at Tomdispatch as a discordant hymn to the privatization disasters of the Bush administration. Michael Schwartz began it with his account of how the draconian economic privatization program Bush administration officials enacted on prostrate Iraq in 2003 led directly to the catastrophe of the moment in that country. We know as well that, under this administration, the Pentagon has been on its own privatization binge, turning what were once essential military activities over to Halliburton, its subsidiary KBR, and other private firms in a wholesale fashion. In addition, the Pentagon and the Bush administration have been on another kind of binge, privatizing national (and international) security. From New Orleans to Iraq, rent-a-mercenary companies are having a for-profit field day based on the woes of others. According to P.W. Singer, author of Corporate Warriors, for every hundred U.S. soldiers in our first Gulf War, there was one private "security contractor." This time around, it's closer to one in ten. It has been estimated that there are up to 20,000 guns-for-hire, Iraqi and Western, working in that country, the second largest (if also motliest) force in the "coalition of the willing." Such private companies are above the law in Iraq, and their trigger-happy hirees don't hesitate to create mayhem. In part because their own casualties can largely be kept private, such companies have done much to reduce the political costs of going to war in the United States, while raising the stakes in Baghdad. In a February 2004 New Yorker article, retired Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner told journalist Jane Mayer, "When you can hire people to go to war there is none of the grumbling and political friction" associated with mustering a larger public fighting force. Increasingly this sort of questionable "security" is making itself felt at home as well. The premises of the Homeland Security Department are now guarded by the private security firm, Wackenhut Services, Inc. (hired through a contract with the U.S. Navy). Among other goofs, its personnel reportedly mishandled a potential anthrax attack on Homeland Security headquarters. ("An envelope with suspicious powder was opened last fall at the headquarters. Daniels and other current and former guards said they were shocked when superiors carried it past the office of Secretary Michael Chertoff, took it outside and then shook it outside Chertoff's window without evacuating people nearby.") Meanwhile, Wackenhut guards at the Energy Department, according to its inspector general, "had thwarted simulated terrorist attacks at a nuclear lab only after they were tipped off to the test; and... had improperly handled the transport of nuclear and conventional weapons." This is what for-profit national security can mean on a small scale. Now, transfer that thought to the ultimate weaponry -- our nuclear arsenal. Sounds like the sort of nightmare you'd only find in the Wackenhuttiest of dystopian sci-fi novels, but read on and imagine our nuclear future in those same trustworthy privatized hands. Tom Privatizing the Apocalypse By Frida Berrigan Started as the super-secret "Project Y" in 1943, the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has long been the keystone institution of the American nuclear-weapons producing complex. It was the birthplace of Fat Man and Little Boy, the two nuclear bombs the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Last year, the University of California, which has managed the lab for the Department of Energy since its inception, decided to put Los Alamos on the auction block. In December 2005, construction giant Bechtel won a $553 million yearly management contract to run the sprawling complex, which employs more than 13,000 people and has an estimated $2.2 billion annual budget. "Privatization" has been in the news ever since George W. Bush became president. His administration has radically reduced the size of government, turning over to private companies critical governmental functions involving prisons, schools, water, welfare, Medicare, and utilities as well as war-fighting, and is always pushing for more of the same. Outside of Washington, the pitfalls of privatization are on permanent display in Iraq, where companies like Halliburton have reaped billions in contracts. Performing jobs once carried out by members of the military -- from base building and mail delivery to food service -- they have bilked the government while undermining the safety of American forces by providing substandard services and products. Halliburton has been joined by a cottage industry of military-support companies responsible for everything from transportation to interrogation. On the war front, private companies are ubiquitous, increasingly indispensable, and largely unregulated -- a lethal combination. Now, the long arm of privatization is reaching deep into an almost unimaginable place at the heart of the national security apparatus --- the laboratory where scientists learned to harness the power of the atom more than 60 years ago and created weapons of apocalyptic proportions. Profane Problem or Prolific Profit? Nuclear weapons are many things to many people -- the sword of Damocles or the guarantor of American global supremacy, the royal path to the apocalypse or atoms for peace. But in each notion, they are treated as idols -- jealously-guarded, shrouded in code, surrounded by sacred secrecy. That is changing. Private companies have long played a role in the nuclear complex, but it's been a peripheral one. For example, Kaiser-Hill, a remediation company, is cleaning up radioactive waste at Rocky Flats, the Denver, Colorado complex that manufactured nuclear weapons. At Idaho Falls, another company, CH2M, is mopping up the mess left behind after the construction of 52 nuclear reactors. BWX and Honeywell formed a new company along with Bechtel to manage and operate the Pantex Plant in Texas which assembled nuclear weapons throughout the Cold War. At least ten different subcontractors are involved in managing the Hanford nuclear complex. But the famed nuclear laboratories, Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, and Sandia -- where the high priests of nuclear physics are free to explore the outer realms of their craft -- have long been above prosaic bottom-line or board-room considerations. Until this year, that is. At Los Alamos, the University of California has already been replaced by a "limited liability corporation," says Tyler Przybylek of the Department of Energy's Evaluation Board; and, more generally, the writing is on the containment wall. Nuclear laboratories are no longer to be intellectual institutions devoted to science but part of a corporate-business model where research, design, and ultimately the weapons themselves will become products to be marketed. The new dress code will be suits and ties, not lab coats and safety glasses. Under Bechtel, new management will lead to a "tightly structured organization" that will "drive efficiency," predicts John Browne, who directed the lab at Los Alamos from 1997-2003. "If there is a product the government wants," he concludes, "they will necessarily be focused on that. A lot more money will be at stake." Los Alamos was the first to go. Now, the management contract for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is on the auction block as well. Bechtel's Boondoggles Many say strong corporate oversight will correct a legacy of embarrassing missteps at Los Alamos. The keystone of the nuclear complex, it has been dogged by missing classified computer disks, cost overruns on its expensive new projects, and an outspoken cadre of scientists who found their voice on LANL: The Real Story, a blog where once deferential employees blew off steam and exposed lapses in lab management. The idea is that, under private management, this legacy of money wasted and dreams deferred can do an abrupt u-turn. But the question is: Can Bechtel (or any other private military contractor) usher in a new era of nuclear responsibility? Pete Domenici, Republican Senator and Chairman of the powerful Energy and Water Committee, thinks so. In January, he claimed that "this great lab will thrive under the management team led by Bechtel." But a look at Bechtel's record might not inspire others to Domenici's confidence. The California- based construction giant has a long history of big projects, big promises, bigger budgets and even bigger failures. In Boston, Bechtel was put in charge of the "Big Dig," the reconstruction of Interstate 93 beneath the city. In 1985, the price tag for the project was estimated at about $2.5 billion. Now, it is a whopping $14.6 billion (or $1.8 billion a mile), making it the most expensive stretch of highway in the world. Near San Diego, citizens are still paying the bills for cost over-runs at a nuclear power plant where Bechtel installed one of the reactors backwards. In 2003, Bechtel took this winning track record to Baghdad, where it blew billions in a string of unfinished projects and unfathomable errors. The company reaped tens of millions of dollars in contracts to repair Iraq's schools, for example, but an independent report found that many of the schools Bechtel claimed to have completely refitted, "haven't been touched," and a number of schools remained "in shambles." One "repaired" school was found by inspectors be overflowing with "unflushed sewage." Bechtel also has a $1.03 billion contract to oversee important aspects of Iraq's infrastructure reconstruction, including water and sewage. Despite many promises, startling numbers of Iraqi families continue to lack access to clean water, according to information gathered by independent journalist Dahr Jamail. The company made providing potable water to southern Iraq one of its top priorities, promising delivery within the first 60 days of the program. One year later, rising epidemics of water-borne illnesses like cholera, kidney stones and diarrhea pointed to the failure of Bechtel's mission. Outside of its ill-fated reconstruction contracts in Iraq, Bechtel is not known as a large military contractor, but the company has been quietly moving into the nuclear arena. It helped build a missile-defense site in the South Pacific, runs the Nevada Test Site where the United States once performed hundreds of above-and underground nuclear tests. Bechtel is also the "environmental manager" at the Oak Ridge National Lab, which stores highly-enriched uranium, and is carrying out design work at the Yucca Mountain repository where the plan to store 77,000 tons of nuclear waste has environmentalists and community activists up in arms. At Washington State's Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, Bechtel is working on technology to turn nuclear waste into glass. But the estimated costs of building the facility to do that have doubled in one year to about $10 billion while the completion date slipped from 2011 to 2017. Members of Congress have proposed that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission take over management of the project from Bechtel because of its cost overruns and delays. Proliferation's New Meaning Given this track record, it's hard to make the case that Bechtel assumes the helm at Los Alamos out of an altruistic, even patriotic, desire to impose clean, lean corporate management on a complacent institution long overfed at the public trough. The question remains: Why this urge to privatize the apocalypse? To answer that question, you have to begin with the post-Cold War quest of the nuclear laboratories for a new identity and raison d'être. The dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the loss of the other superpower as a nuclear twin and target, and an international shift in favor of nuclear disarmament sent Los Alamos and the whole U.S. nuclear complex into existential crisis: Who are we? What is our role? What do we do now that nuclear weapons have no obvious role in a world of, at best, medium-sized military enemies? Throughout the Clinton years, these questions multiplied while the nuclear arsenal remained relatively stable. More recently, with a lot of fancy footwork, a few friends in Congress, and the ear of a White House eager to be known for something other than the Long War on global terrorism, the labs finally came up with a winning solution that has Bechtel and other military contractors seeing dollar signs. They found their salvation in a few lines of the Nuclear Posture Review, released in January 2002, where the Bush administration asserted: "The need is clear for a revitalized nuclear weapons complex that will be able, if directed, to design, develop, manufacture, and certify new warheads in response to new national requirements; and maintain readiness to resume underground testing if required." There's gold in that there sentence. During the Cold War, spending on nuclear weapons averaged $4.2 billion a year (in current dollars). Almost two decades after the "nuclear animosity" between the two great superpowers ended, the United States is spending one-and-a-half times the Cold War average on nuclear weapons. In 2001, the weapons-activities budget of the Department of Energy, which oversees the nuclear weapons complex through its "semi-autonomous" National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), totaled $5.19 billion; and a "revitalized nuclear weapons complex," ready to "design, develop, manufacture, and certify new warheads," means a more than billion-dollar jump in spending to $6.4 billion by fiscal year 2006. And that's just the beginning. The NNSA's five-year "National Security Plan" calls for annual increases to reach $7.76 billion by 2009. David Hobson, Republican congressional representative from Ohio, calls this kind of budgeting "the ultimate white-collar welfare," saying that the weapons complex can be "viewed as a jobs program for PhDs." He's right. That's a lot of money for a few labs and a few thousand scientists. And private military contractors large and small are all over it. Entering Acronym Land To justify this huge jump in spending, the nuclear laboratories have cooked up plans for an alphabet soup of projects as part of the SSMP, scientists are pushing -- to mention just a few of the acronyms on the table right now -- ASCC, MESA, the RRWP, the ICFHY campaign and the RNEP. In the interest of not putting everyone to sleep, we can take a closer look at just a few of the Bush administration's proliferating nuclear projects. Under the umbrella of Stockpile Stewardship Management (SSMP), scientists are working to safeguard the stockpile of nuclear weapons and materials so it is not ravaged by time and neglect. The Reliable Replacement Warhead Program (RRWP) will exchange existing warheads for more "reliable" (read: more powerful) ones. There are plans underway to develop the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) and other "useable" new nuclear weapons supposedly to meet new threats by new enemies -- "rogue states" like Iran -- in future preemptive anti-proliferation wars. Under each of these programs are many other acronym- heavy, cash-rich programs that seem to lead nowhere -- except toward further nuclear proliferation. The Inertial Confinement Fusion and High Yield Campaign is just one of the more outlandish and expensive of these projects. It proposes using lasers to replicate what happens inside an actual nuclear explosion in weapons labs. Sounds simple enough, right? The Nuclear Ignition Facility -- where the lasers will do their work -- is the single largest project in the NNSA budget and, according to analyst Christopher Paine, "quite possibly the most expensive experimental facility ever built." The Department of Energy projects $3.5 billion in costs for this alone, but the independent environmental group, the National Resources Defense Council, puts the figure higher yet -- at $5.32 billion -- and that money will be spent before anyone can even demonstrate that the system works. The Age of Nuclear Terror? Do nuclear weapons have a role in the "Age of Terror" -- other than as potential weapons for terrorist groups? In a new and ever-shifting environment of emerging regional powers and wars that transcend national boundaries, the Bush administration is taking a have-it-both-ways approach: It is pushing aggressive non- proliferation policies for chosen enemy nations and embracing a policy of accelerated nuclear proliferation for itself. How much harder will it be in the future to dissuade other powers from building nuclear weapons when the American nuclear industry and its weapons labs have switched even more fully into private mode and the profit-motive is increasingly at stake in global nuclear planning? These and many other questions unfortunately remain unasked. Yet, a new era of nuclear weapons for profit threatens to turn Armageddon into a paying operation. During the height of the Cold War, when competition between the nuclear laboratories seemed to rival the superpower stand-off, a Lawrence Livermore scientist posted a sign that read: "Remember, the Soviets are the Competition, Los Alamos is the Enemy." In a new era of potential corporate antagonism over apocalyptic weaponry, will there be a sign at the Bechtel-run nuclear lab emblazoned with: "Remember, the Terrorists are the Competition, Lockheed Martin is the Enemy"? Frida Berrigan (berrigaf@newschool.edu) is a Senior Research Associate at the World Policy Institute's Arms Trade Resource Center. Her primary research areas with the project include nuclear-weapons policy, war profiteering and corporate crimes, weapons sales to areas of conflict, and military-training programs. She is the author of a number of Institute reports, most recently Weapons at War 2005: Promoting Freedom or Fueling Conflict. Tom Engelhardt, who runs the Nation Institute's Tomdispatch.com ("a regular antidote to the mainstream media"), is the co-founder of . Under each of these programs are many other acronym-heavy, cash-rich programs that seem to lead nowhere -- except toward further nuclear proliferation. © 2006 Working Assets. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 50 [southnews] US to test 700-tonne explosive near Vegas Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 16:23:37 -0600 (CST) AFP 31mar06 THE United States military plans to detonate a 700 tonne explosive charge in a test called "Divine Strake" that will send a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas, a senior defence official said. "I don't want to sound glib here but it is the first time in Nevada that you'll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons," said James Tegnelia, head of the Defence Threat Reduction Agency. Mr Tegnelia said the test was part of a US effort to develop weapons capable of destroying deeply buried bunkers housing nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. "We have several very large penetrators we're developing," he said. "We also have - are you ready for this - a 700 tonne explosively-formed charge that we're going to be putting in a tunnel in Nevada. "And that represents to us the largest single explosive that we could imagine doing conventionally to solve that problem." The aim was to measure the effect of the blast on hard granite structures, he said. "If you want to model these weapons, you want to know from a modelling point of view what is the ideal best condition you could ever set up in a conventional weapon - what's the best you can do. "And this gets at the best point you could get on a curve. So it allows us to predict how effective these kinds of weapons would be," he said. He said the Russians have been notified of the test, which will be done in the first week of June at the Nevada test range. "We're also making sure that Las Vegas understands," Mr Tegnelia said. The archives of South News can be found at http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/ ***************************************************************** 51 [du-list] Plans for US bunker blast in Nevada desert draw fire Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 14:27:44 -0800 A huge mushroom cloud of dust is expected to rise over Nevada's desert in June when the Pentagon plans to detonate a gigantic 700-ton explosive -- the biggest open-air chemical blast ever at the Nevada Test Site -- as part of the research into developing weapons that can destroy deeply buried military targets. The Pentagon for several years has sought funding for research into the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) -- also known as the "bunker buster" -- after the administration's 2001 Nuclear Posture Review stated that no weapon in the U.S. arsenal could threaten a growing number of buried targets. Congress, however, has repeatedly refused to grant funding for a study on a nuclear bunker buster, instead directing money toward conventional alternatives. In 2004, the US Defense Department awarded a contract to Boeing to design and test a huge conventional bomb, to be known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator. However the prospect of using Depleted Uranium (DU) in the penetrator's head is still disturbing for large scale radio active fallout. Plans for massive blast in Nevada desert draw fire By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY ASSOCIATED PRESS LAS VEGAS (AP) - Nevada leaders and a disarmament activist criticized plans made public Thursday for a Pentagon-led experiment that will detonate 700 tons of explosives in the desert northwest of Las Vegas. The explosion scheduled June 2 at the Nevada Test Site is part of an effort to design a weapon that can penetrate deep into solid rock formations in which a country might store nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction. "I am concerned that tests of this magnitude have been planned without providing Nevadans with any information about the possible impact on their health or safety," Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement. "I am also not comforted by the irresponsible and inflammatory comments that were printed in the media today." James Tegnelia, director of the federal Defense Threat Reduction Agency, told reporters the blast "is the first time in Nevada that you'll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons." He later retracted the statement, saying it was inaccurate. Nevada Test Site spokesman Darwin Morgan said the test will be conducted about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, near the center of the former nuclear testing site. Morgan said the resulting mushroom cloud would not be visible from Las Vegas, but it was possible the blast could be felt in the town of Indian Springs, about 45 miles away. The test, named "Divine Strake," will involve nearly 40 times the amount of commercial ammonium nitrate and fuel oil explosive set off in the largest open-air, non-nuclear blast at the site to date. In 2002, 18 tons of explosives were set off at the Nevada Test Site. "This is nothing that's out of the bounds for us. That's what our expertise is in," he said. Morgan said the site had obtained the required state approvals and air quality permits in January. Officials from the National Nuclear Security Administration, which operates the site, alerted the state's congressional delegation and state government in December. The Nevada Department of Administration responded with a letter stating: "Your proposal is not in conflict with state plans, goal or objectives." No elected officials responded to the notice until Thursday, Morgan said. The test site is not required to seek public comment, he said. "Given the level of contamination in areas where nuclear tests were conducted, I have real concerns about the dust and other pollutants that will be released into the air as a result of this explosion," said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who planned to meet with Tegnelia next week to discuss the explosion. Disarmament activist Pete Litster said tests at the site violate international law. Litster, executive director of the Shundahai Network, contends the site belongs to the Western Shoshone Indian tribe. "Again, they're going ahead on land that was and continues to be illegally occupied by the U.S. government. This is activity that was never sanctioned and was never decided on in consultation with the Western Shoshone," he said. -- The archives of South News can be found at http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/ To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. ***************************************************************** 52 Guardian Unlimited: Pentagon plans record-breaking explosion in Nevada desert Julian Borger in Washington Saturday April 1, 2006 The Pentagon is preparing to set off a record-breaking bang, detonating 635 tonnes of high explosives and sending a mushroom cloud into the sky over the Nevada desert. The blast, on June 2, codenamed Divine Strake, is likely to be the biggest controlled conventional explosion in military history, experts said, and is designed to test the impact of bunker-busting bombs aimed at underground targets. The blast comes at a time of rising tension with Iran over its nuclear programme. The US has refused to rule out military action and is considering the feasibility of destroying underground warhead development sites Iran is alleged to have built. "We have several very large penetrators we're developing," James Tegnelia, head of the Defence Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) told US defence reporters. "We also have - are you ready for this? - an explosively formed charge that we're going to be putting in a tunnel in Nevada ... and that represents to us the largest single explosive that we could imagine doing conventionally to solve that problem." The explosive used will be ammonium nitrate soaked in fuel oil - a cheap but potent combination. "I don't want to sound glib here but it is the first time in Nevada that you'll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons," Mr Tegnelia said. Ivan Oelrich, a munitions expert at the Federation of American Scientists, said: "I suspect this is primarily a test of their computer modelling abilities, because I don't know how they could deliver a weapon like this. They are looking at how different rocks respond to shockwaves." The White House and the Pentagon wanted to develop a nuclear bunker-buster bomb, but the initiative was blocked by Congress, obliging the defence department to experiment further with conventional explosives. Mr Tegnelia's remarks triggered some anxiety in Las Vegas. Shelley Berkley, a Nevada Democrat, told the House of Representatives: "Anytime an administration official starts talking about mushroom clouds and Las Vegas, I want answers." The DTRA later issued a statement saying: "All explosives, given the right thermal characteristics, create a cloud that may resemble a mushroom cloud." "The dust cloud ... may reach an altitude of 10,000 feet and is not expected to be visible off the Nevada test site," Major Susan Idziak, a spokeswoman, said. "No adverse impact on the environment or health of exercise participants or local residents is anticipated." [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 53 DOE: DOE Appoints Stephen Eule As Director of the Climate Change Technology Program March 31, 2006 WASHINGTON , D.C.  Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman today announced the appointment of Stephen D. Eule as the Director of the Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP) in the Office of Policy and International Affairs. With his depth of experience in science, environmental and energy policy issues, Steve will provide invaluable counsel to the Department and this Administration as we work to bring the latest in climate change technology to the forefront, Secretary Bodman said. As director of the CCTP, Mr. Eule will coordinate the federal governments technology research and development (R&D) activities. Through a multi-agency structure, Mr. Eule will oversee a comprehensive, sound, multi-year R&D program plan for the development of climate change technology, specifically in regards to climate change goals and objectives. The advanced climate change technologies we are working on have the potential to fundamentally change the way we produce and use energy, Eule said. It is an exciting time to be at the Department of Energy, and I look forward to furthering the ambitious goals of the program. CCTP is organized under the auspices of the Cabinet-level Committee on Climate Change Science and Technology Integration (CCCSTI), established by President Bush on February 14, 2002. CCTP was authorized in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Before joining the Department of Energy in June 2003, Mr. Eule spent a decade working in various public policy positions. He spent several years in the U.S. House of Representatives, first as a professional staffer; then subcommittee staff director with the Committee on Science; and later as legislative director in the personal office of Representative Nick Smith (R-MI). Mr. Eule also served in former New Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitmans Washington, D.C. office as an environmental analyst. Prior to that, Mr. Eule worked with the Orkand Corporation as an energy consultant to DOEs Energy Information Administration. His experience also includes a stint with the Heritage Foundation, where he served as an assistant editor on the book Free Market Energy. Mr. Eule is also currently involved in managing DOEs participation in the Climate VISION program and the Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate, and represents DOE at various international climate change forums. Mr. Eule graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Southern Connecticut State College and earned his Master of Arts degree in geography from The George Washington University. Media contact(s): Daniel Morales, (202) 586-4940 [ ] U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 | ***************************************************************** 54 Portsmouth Daily Times: Buildings demolished at Piketon plant By JEFF BARRON PDT Staff Writer Wednesday, March 29, 2006 2:06 AM EST As part of the continuing cleanup at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, LATA/Parallax Portsmouth has demolished three unused buildings. The buildings were an environmental monitoring station, an environmental storage building and a waste oil storage building. #8220This represents an important project, said project manager Paul Kreitz. #8220The removal of these facilities will mean a reduction in long-term surveillance and maintenance costs for the Department of Energy. The DOE owns the plant and leases it to the United States Enrichment Corp. LATA/Parallax Portsmouth is a DOE contractor that is cleaning the site of waste materials. It took over cleanup operations from Bechtel-Jacobs in 2004. The LATA/Parallax contract runs through September 2009. Two more buildings, a fire training building and the liquid effluent control building are scheduled for demolition next month. All five buildings had been abandoned for several years and were no longer needed. They were built in the 1980s and were not historically significant, according to the Ohio Historic Preservation Office. The environmental monitoring station was small masonry block building on the east side of the plant. The environmental storage building was a temporary steel building and was used for general and soil sample storage. It was later used as an air monitoring station. The waste oil storage building housed 55-gallon drums of waste solvents and oils. The DOE closed it under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in the mid-1990s. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency officially accepted the closure in 1998. It was the largest of the three buildings which have been demolished. The shipment of all debris from the buildings is expected to be completed by the end of the month. JEFF BARRON can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 236. | Copyright © 2006 The Portsmouth Daily Times | Top ***************************************************************** 55 DOE: RIN 1991-AB64 Acquisition Regulation: Make-or-Buy Plans FR Doc 06-3085 [Federal Register: March 31, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 62)] [Rules and Regulations] [Page 16241-16243] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr31mr06-20] AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) is amending the Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation (DEAR) to revise its requirements for contractor make-or-buy plans. The Department published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on December 15, 2004, proposing to eliminate its program requiring make or buy analyses and plans from its management and operating (M) contractors. DATES: Effective Date: May 1, 2006. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Langston, U.S. Department of Energy, MA-61, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, Telephone (202) 287-1339 or submit electronically to Richard.Langston@hq.doe.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background II. Discussion of Public Comments III. Section-by-Section Analysis IV. Procedural Requirements A. Review Under Executive Order 12866 B. Review Under Executive Order 12988 C. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act D. Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act E. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act F. Review Under Executive Order 13132 G. Review Under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 H. Review Under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1999 I. Review Under Executive Order 13211 J. Review Under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 K. Review Under the Small Business Regulatory Fairness Act of 1996 L. Approval by the Office of the Secretary of Energy I. Background DOE now has more than eight years of experience with the make-or- buy policy it established in 1997. All M contractors have approved make-or-buy plans in place. The Department has evaluated the operation of the make-or-buy policy and the effect that policy has had in achieving the Department's objectives. The make-or-buy program is not delivering value to the Department commensurate with the costs of its implementation. The Department conducted a number of assessments since establishing the current make-or-buy plan requirements and implemented a number of actions intended to improve the manner in which DOE and its contractors implemented the make-or-buy requirements. The conclusion drawn from the most recent assessment is that there is little evidence that these plans are producing the efficiencies and cost savings anticipated by the Department. The Department has determined that the lack of measurable progress and costs of complying and monitoring compliance with the make-or-buy policy outweigh any potential benefits to the Department. There are multiple approaches to achieving cost efficiencies and operational effectiveness under a contract, and the Department has made great strides with its other contract reform initiatives. The make-or- buy plan requirements have not increased efficiency and the Department is amending the DEAR to eliminate the requirement that M contractors prepare and maintain formal make-or-buy plans. II. Discussion of Public Comments Only one comment was received in response to our December 15, 2004 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The reviewer suggested that, rather than eliminate the make-or-buy review analysis, the Department introduce a 5-part alternative make-or-buy system which would include consolidation of identified products or services into a DOE-wide plan. The Department has evaluated the suggested revisions to the make- or-buy process. The make-or-buy process was ideally meant to be a system for categorizing all M contract internal work activities as ``make'' or ``buy'' activities. ``Make'' activities are core competencies critical to the mission success that are not available for outsourcing. ``Buy'' activities are non-core work activities that provide strategic support to core competencies that are available for outsourcing. Contractors use their make-or-buy plans to evaluate subcontracting opportunities and improve in-house performance. The objective of the make-or-buy policy is to require M contractors to operate the Department's laboratories, weapons production plants, and other facilities in the most cost effective and efficient manner. The suggested alternative does not appear to offer advantages in fulfilling those needs. Accordingly, the Department is not pursuing the suggested alternative. III. Section-by-Section Analysis The Department is amending the DEAR as follows. 1. Sections 901.105 is amended to delete the reference to the Office of Management and Budget, OMB control number for make-or-buy plans. 2. Sections 970.1504-4-1 through 970.1504-4-3 are eliminated. 3. Section 970.1504-5(b) is eliminated. 4. Section 970.5203-1 is amended to include outsourcing of functions as a consideration of efficient and effective operations. 5. Section 970.5203-2 is amended to provide a requirement for contractors to consider outsourcing as a mechanism to increase improvement in the management of the contract. 6. Section 970.5215-2 is eliminated. 7. Section 970.5244-1 is amended to remove and reserve paragraph (n). IV. Procedural Requirements A. Review Under Executive Order 12866 This regulatory action has been determined not to be a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993). Accordingly, this rule is not subject to review under the Executive Order by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the OMB. B. Review Under Executive Order 12988 With respect to the review of existing regulations and the promulgation of new regulations, section 3(a) of Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform, 61 FR 4729 (February 7, 1996), imposes on Executive agencies the general duty to adhere to the following requirements: (1) Eliminate drafting errors and ambiguity; (2) write regulations to minimize litigation; and (3) provide a clear legal standard for affected conduct rather than a general standard and promote simplification and burden reduction. With regard to the review required by section 3(a), section 3(b) of Executive Order 12988 specifically requires that Executive agencies make every reasonable effort to ensure that the regulation: (1) Clearly specifies the preemptive effect, if any; (2) clearly specifies any effect on existing Federal law or regulation; (3) provides a clear legal standard for affected conduct while promoting simplification and burden reduction; (4) specifies the retroactive effect, if any; (5) adequately defines key terms; and (6) [[Page 16242]] addresses other important issues affecting clarity and general draftsmanship under any guidelines issued by the Attorney General. Section 3(c) of Executive Order 12988 requires Executive agencies to review regulations in light of applicable standards in section 3(a) and section 3(b) to determine whether they are met or it is unreasonable to meet one or more of them. DOE has completed the required review and determined that, to the extent permitted by law, these regulations meet the relevant standards of Executive Order 12988. C. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act This rule has been reviewed under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., which requires preparation of an initial regulatory flexibility analysis for any rule that must be proposed for public comment and that is likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The rule would not have a significant economic impact on small entities because no small entities are DOE M contractors and because the rule would eliminate the existing burden of preparing make-or-buy analyses. Accordingly, DOE certifies that this rule would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, and, therefore, no regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared. D. Review Under Paperwork Reduction Act Information collection or recordkeeping requirements contained in this rulemaking have been previously cleared under OMB paperwork clearance package number 1910-5102. The existing burden will be removed by this rulemaking. E. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act DOE has concluded that promulgation of this rule falls into a class of actions which would not individually or cumulatively have significant impact on the human environment, as determined by DOE's regulations (10 CFR part 1021, subpart D) implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). Specifically, this rule is categorically excluded from NEPA review because the amendments to the DEAR are strictly procedural (categorical exclusion A6). Therefore, this rule does not require an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment pursuant to NEPA. F. Review Under Executive Order 13132 Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 4, 1999) imposes certain requirements on agencies formulating and implementing policies or regulations that preempt State law or that have federalism implications. Agencies are required to examine the constitutional and statutory authority supporting any action that would limit the policymaking discretion of the States and carefully assess the necessity for such actions. DOE has examined today's rule and has determined that it does not preempt State law and does not have a substantial direct effect on the States, on the relationship between the National Government and the States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government. No further action is required by Executive Order 13132. G. Review Under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4) requires a Federal agency to perform a detailed assessment of costs and benefits of any rule imposing a Federal Mandate with costs to State, local or tribal governments, or to the private sector, of $100 million or more in any single year. This rulemaking does not impose a Federal mandate on State, local or tribal governments or on the private sector. H. Review Under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1999 Section 654 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1999 (Pub. L. 105-277), requires Federal agencies to issue a Family Policymaking Assessment for any rule or policy that may affect family well-being. This rule will have no impact on family well being. I. Review Under Executive Order 13211 Executive Order 13211, Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use, (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001) requires Federal agencies to prepare and submit to the OIRA, Office of Management and Budget, a Statement of Energy Effects for any significant energy action. A ``significant energy action'' is defined as any action by an agency that promulgates or is expected to lead to promulgation of a final rule, and that: (1) Is a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866, or any successor order; and (2) is likely to have a significant adverse effect on the supply, distribution, or use of energy, or (3) is designated by the Administrator of OIRA as a significant energy action. For any significant energy action, the agency must give a detailed statement of any adverse effects on energy supply, distribution, or use should the proposal be implemented, and of reasonable alternatives to the action and their expected benefits on energy supply, distribution, and use. Today's rule is not a significant energy action. Accordingly, DOE has not prepared a Statement of Energy Effects. J. Review Under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 The Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001, 44 U.S.C. 3516, note, provides for agencies to review most disseminations of information to the public under implementing guidelines established by each agency pursuant to general guidelines issued by OMB. OMB's guidelines were published at 67 FR 8452 (February 22, 2002), and DOE's guidelines were published at 67 FR 62446 (October 7, 2002). DOE has reviewed today's rule under the OMB and DOE guidelines and has concluded that it is consistent with applicable policies in those guidelines. K. Review Under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 As required by 5 U.S.C. 801, DOE will report to Congress promulgation of this rule prior to its effective date. The report will state that it has been determined that the rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(3). L. Approval by the Office of the Secretary of Energy The Office of the Secretary of Energy has approved issuance of this final rule. List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 901 and 970 Government procurement. Issued in Washington, DC, on March 23, 2006. Edward R. Simpson, Director, Office of Procurement and Assistance Management, Office of Management, Department of Energy. Robert C. Braden, Jr., Director, Office of Acquisition and Supply Management, National Nuclear Security Administration. 0 For the reasons set out in the preamble, the Department of Energy is amending chapter 9 of title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations as set forth below: [[Page 16243]] PART 901--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM 0 1. The authority citation for part 901 is revised to read as follows: Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2201; 2282a; 2282b; 2282c; 42 U.S.C. 7101, et seq.; 41 U.S.C. 418b; 50 U.S.C. 2401, et seq. 0 2. Section 901.105 is amended by revising the second sentence to read as follows: 901.105 OMB control numbers. * * * The OMB control number for the collection of information under 48 CFR chapter 9 is 1910-4100 except for Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements for Safety Management (see 48 CFR 970.5223- 1) which is 1910-5103. PART 970--DOE MANAGEMENT AND OPERATING CONTRACTS 0 3. The authority citation for part 970 continues to read as follows: Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2201; 2282a; 2282b; 2282c; 42 U.S.C. 7101, et seq.; 41 U.S.C. 418b; 50 U.S.C. 2401, et seq. 970.1504-4-1-970.1504-4-3 [Removed and Reserved] 0 4. Sections 970.1504-4-1 through 970.1504-4-3 are removed and reserved. 970.1504-5 [Amended] 0 5. Section 970.1504-5 is amended by removing paragraph (b), and redesignating paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) as paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) respectively. 970.5203-1 [Amended] 0 6. Section 970.5203-1 is amended by revising the clause date to read ``May 2006'' and by adding in paragraph (a)(1), second sentence, the words ``including consideration of outsourcing of functions'' after the word ``promoted''. 970.5203-2 [Amended] 0 7. Section 970.5203-2, is amended by revising the clause date to read ``May 2006'' and by adding in paragraph (a), last sentence, the words ``outsourcing decisions,'' after the words ``changes in organization,''. 970.5215-2 [Removed and Reserved] 0 8. Section 970.5215-2, Make-or-Buy plan, is removed and reserved. 970.5244-1 [Amended] 0 9. Section 970.5244-1 is amended by revising the clause date to read ``May 2006'' and by removing and reserving paragraph (n). [FR Doc. 06-3085 Filed 3-30-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 56 reviewjournal.com: 'MUSHROOM CLOUD OVER LAS VEGAS'- Comment causes a chain reaction Mar. 31, 2006 Official blasted for remarks about 700-ton explosion By TONY BATT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- A government official's comment that a 700-ton blast scheduled June 2 at the Nevada Test Site would send a "mushroom cloud over Las Vegas" set off a firestorm on Thursday even though state officials signed off on the experiment in January. Talking to reporters at the Pentagon, James Tegnelia, chief of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, said, "I don't want to sound glib here but it is the first time in Nevada that you'll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons." Tegnelia said the test, called "Divine Strake," is part of an effort to develop weapons that can destroy underground bunkers storing nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. Calls and e-mails to the agency were not returned on Thursday. It was established in 1998 as a branch of the Department of Defense to reduce the threat to the United States and its allies from weapons of mass destruction. The mushroom cloud image disturbed Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. She took to the House floor to sharply criticize Tegnelia for his comments. "It's bad enough that we didn't get prior notice and ... obviously, the congressional delegation wasn't briefed, but the people of the state of Nevada haven't been briefed either," Berkley said. As it turned out, Berkley and the other four members of the congressional delegation were notified about the planned explosion in a Dec. 19, 2005, letter from the National Nuclear Security Administration. In addition, Nevada Department of Administration official Zosia Targosz said in a Jan. 9 letter to the NNSA's office in Las Vegas that "your proposal is not in conflict with state plans, goals or objectives." Berkley spokesman David Cherry acknowledged Berkley was notified last year about the blast. "But the notification did not include phrases like 'mushroom cloud over Las Vegas,' " Cherry said. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement calling Tegnelia's comments "irresponsible and inflammatory." Reid said he would press for a briefing from military officials. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., was traveling and could not be reached for comment. His spokesman, Jack Finn, said Ensign's staff have contacted officials at the test site and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Reps. Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter, both R-Nev., issued statements saying a report in November indicated there would not be a safety risk or adverse environmental impact from the test. They added they will continue to monitor the situation but raised no objection to the proposed explosion. Tegnelia said the Russians have been told about the test. Darwin Morgan, an NNSA spokesman at the test site, said the detonation will occur in a pristine area about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The 700 tons of ammonium nitrate fuel oil will be poured into a 30-foot pit that will be dug above one of the test site's tunnels, Morgan said. Berkley said Tegnelia told her the mushroom cloud that results from the blast will be visible from Las Vegas. But while he acknowledged there will be a mushroom cloud, Morgan said surrounding mountains are likely to block the view from Las Vegas. Morgan also said it is "highly unlikely" the blast will be felt in Las Vegas. "The most likely scenario is that someone in Indian Springs might hear something that sounds like distant thunder," Morgan said. Morgan described the blast as "an open-air experiment." "The test site is a user facility for the national labs and the Defense Department and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. This is what we do -- high hazard operations." The 700-ton blast will not be the largest ever conventional test in Nevada, according to Morgan. In 1993, a 2.9 million-pound explosion occurred in a test site tunnel. The last nuclear test at the test site occurred Sept. 23, 1992. Frank von Hippel, a Princeton University professor who served as an assistant director for national security during the Clinton administration, said the June test sounds similar to the Bush administration's abandoned plan to develop a nuclear bunker buster. "If this is really being done to simulate a conventional weapon, I don't understand why they aren't using 20 tons (of explosives) instead of 700 tons," von Hippel said. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2006 Stephens Media GroupPrivacy Statement ***************************************************************** 57 Pahrump Valley Times: Bechtel out at the Nevada Test Site March 31, 2006 By PHILLIP GOMEZ PVT The Nevada Test Site's principal management and operations contractor for the past 11 years, Bechtel Nevada Corp., will no longer be in the driver's seat after July 1. The decision is expected to affect a small number of Bechtel employees living in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and the more than 200 who live in Pahrump. The Department of Energy's semi-autonomous agency, the National Nuclear Security Administration, announced earlier this week the selection of National Security Technologies LLC, to replace Bechtel. The transition to the new contractor is to begin Saturday. As NTS contractor, Bechtel Nevada comprises both Bechtel Nevada and Lockheed Martin Nevada Technologies Inc. More than half of Bechtel Nevada's employees work in the Las Vegas area or at the nearby Nevada Test Site, according to the company's Web site. Bechtel employs 267 persons who reside in Pahrump, according to media contact Leann Inadomi. A clause in the contract provides for continued employment to most employees wanting to keep their jobs, according to National Nuclear Security Administration spokespersons. The majority of Bechtel employees, about 2,900 in number, will be retained in the transition, but some 100 key personnel will not be, said Inadomi. Bechtel is also the principal contractor for the Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Repository on the edge of the NTS near Lathrop Wells in Amargosa Valley, the contract for which is unaffected by NNSS's new contract with NSTec. The terms of NSTec's contract are for the next five years with potentially five additional years after that. NSTec is to manage operations at the 1,375-square-mile facility established in 1951 as the nation's premier atomic proving grounds. Global defense behemoth Northrop Grumman Corp., the managing partner in NSTec, is headquartered in Los Angeles. Others in the joint venture are AECOM, CH2M Hill and Nuclear Fuel Services. Northrop Grumman, with approximately 125,000 employees and operations in all 50 states and 25 countries, plans for about 3,000 employees in its technical services division to work on the contract. The government puts out bids on a regular basis, said media contacts for the NNSA. A little over a year ago bids were reviewed and NSTec was selected for offering the best proposal. Under the contract, NSTec will be responsible for managing and operating the NTS, Nellis Air Force Base and satellite facilities in North Las Vegas. In addition, nuclear laboratories, air force bases and scientific offices across the nation will fall under the new contractor's management auspices, including Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories in Livermore and Santa Barbara, Calif. NSTec's Test Site work will include management of the nuclear explosives safety team, which supports the Department of Energy's efforts to prevent or slow the spread of nuclear weapons and to bolster the department's counter-terrorism mission. The contract also states that NSTec provide technical support in hazardous chemical spill testing, emergency response training and conventional weapons testing. Some of NSTec's specific duties will include remote field experiments; physical and environmental science; design and fabrication of electronic, mechanical and structural systems; remote and robotic sensing; management of multi-laboratory facilities; engineering, construction and mining operations; chemical, explosives and hazardous materials systems and technologies; and waste management for various categories of waste. The NNSA is responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; works to reduce global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad. For comment or questions, please e-mail Copyright © Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - 2006 ***************************************************************** 58 DOE: Public Scoping Meeting on Study of Energy Rights-of-Way on FR Doc E6-4711 [Federal Register: March 31, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 62)] [Notices] [Page 16298-16299] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr31mr06-58] Tribal Lands AGENCY: Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of Public Scoping Meeting and Request for Public Comment. SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Department of Energy (``DOE'') and Department of the Interior (``DOI'') (collectively referred to as the ``Departments'') intend to jointly hold a three-day public scoping meeting in connection with the Department's ongoing study of energy rights-of-way on tribal land pursuant to section 1813 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Through these meetings, the Departments invite the public to provide additional oral or written comments about how to proceed with the implementation of section 1813. DATES: A three-day meeting will be held April 18, 19 and 20, 2006, at the Hyatt Regency Denver, 650 15th Street, Denver Colorado, 80202; Tel. (303) 486-4402. We have reserved a block of rooms at the hotel for the meeting on a first-come first-served basis. Please inform the hotel that you are attending the ``Energy Policy Act--Section 1813 Meeting.'' If you are representing a 638 Tribe, you can request the government rate, which we have obtained for some of the rooms in the reserved block. All written comments should be submitted to the contacts below before May 1, 2006. ADDRESSES: Please send written comments by regular mail to Attention: Section 1813 ROW Study, Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, 1849 C St., NW., Mail Stop 2749-MIB, Washington, DC, 20240 or by e-mail to IEED@bia.edu. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Darryl Francois, Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, 1849 C St., NW., Mail Stop 2749-MIB, Washington, DC, 20240. He can also be reached by telephone at (202) 219-0740 or by electronic mail at darryl.francois@mms.gov. Please contact Mr. David Meyer via mail at, Department of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, 1000 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585, via phone at (202) 586-3118, or via electronic mail at david.meyer@hq.doe.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 1813 of Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires the Secretaries of the Departments of the Interior and Energy to jointly conduct a study of energy rights-of-way on tribal land. Specifically, section 1813 requires the Departments submit to Congress a report on the findings of the study, including: (1) An analysis of historic rates of compensation paid for energy rights-of-way on tribal land; (2) recommendations for appropriate standards and procedures for determining fair and appropriate compensation to Indian tribes for grants, expansions, and renewals for energy rights-of-way on tribal land; [[Page 16299]] (3) an assessment of the tribal self-determination and sovereignty interests implicated by applications for the grant, expansion, or renewal of energy rights-of-way on tribal land; and (4) an analysis of relevant national energy transportation policies relating to grants, expansions, and renewals of energy rights-of-way on tribal land. At the April meetings, the Departments seek the public's input on the types of information related to the historic rates of compensation paid for energy rights-of-way on tribal land that are important for the Departments to consider in the study. While the Departments are making good progress in this regard, we continue to seek factual information from the public to support specific case studies that members of the public regard as relevant to one or more elements of the study. The overall purpose of the April meeting is to advance the dialogue that took place at the scoping meetings in Denver, March 7-8, 2006, and provide an additional opportunity for the public to supply oral and/or written comments about each of the four elements of the study. The April meetings will also provide an opportunity for the Departments to present preliminary progress made with respect to each of the study elements. Issued in Washington, DC, on March 27, 2006. Kevin M. Kolevar, Director, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, U.S. Department of Energy. [FR Doc. E6-4711 Filed 3-30-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 59 Rocky Mountain News: Allard urges end to Flats fight By Karen Abbott, Rocky Mountain News March 31, 2006 Colorado's senior U.S. senator urged the Department of Energy Thursday to end the long legal battle between neighbors of the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant and the bomb factory's former operators. "We need to get this situation resolved as soon as possible," Republican Sen. Wayne Allard said during a meeting of the U.S. Senate Water and Energy Appropriations subcommittee, according to a news release from his office. A federal jury awarded almost $354 million last month to owners and former owners of about 12,000 parcels of land just east of Rocky Flats. The neighbors contended that former Rocky Flats operators Dow Chemical Co. and Rockwell International Corp. trespassed on their property by allowing radioactive plutonium to contaminate it, reducing the value and interfering with their use and enjoyment of what they owned. Dow and Rockwell contend they safely handled all hazardous materials at the plant during its four decades of operation, and that only tiny amounts of plutonium - too small to harm anyone - ever escaped. They are expected to appeal the jury's verdict in the landmark class-action lawsuit, which was filed in 1990 and came to trial last fall. The jury award and the lawyers' fees for both sides - totaling tens of millions of dollars so far - are supposed to be paid by the federal government. The Department of Energy owns Rocky Flats and contracted for Dow and Rockwell to operate it, indemnifying the two companies against such claims and costs. Rocky Flats, 16 miles northwest of downtown Denver in Jefferson County, has been closed and is slated to become a wildlife refuge. The jury awarded the neighbors about $176.9 million on each of two legal claims - nuisance and trespass - plus $200 million in punitive damages. Some media have reported the verdict was more than $550 million. However, amounts awarded by juries for various types of damages cannot simply be added together. The Rocky Flats neighbors can only collect one $176.9 million award, instead of two separate awards for their nuisance and trespass claims. In addition, Colorado law limits punitive damages to the amount of compensatory damages - in this case, $176.9 million. The Department of Energy so far has paid the lawyers for Dow and Rockwell about $48 million in fees and costs, but their bills still are being submitted, and the government may not pay all of them. The plaintiffs' legal fees and costs will be calculated later in federal court. site map--> Subscribe | © The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 60 lamonitor.com: Domenici questions clean-up cuts The Online News Source for Los Alamos ROGER SNODGRASS, roger@lamonitor.com, Monitor Assistant Editor Sen. Pete Domenici expressed concerns Thursday about spending reductions in environmental clean-up programs at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Domenici, who chairs the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, took advantage of an FY2007 budget review hearing in Washington to call attention to a $762 million shortfall in the Department of Energy's clean-up program. He said the reductions were problematic to existing clean-up agreements for Los Alamos National Laboratory. Domenici asked DOE officials to explain how the recommendation to cut $70 million from environmental cleanup would affect projects at Los Alamos and its legal obligations with the state government. Local officials on Wednesday revealed that substantial reductions in the LANL environmental programs were under consideration that would have a substantial effect on meeting deadlines prescribed by a judicial consent order negotiated with the state last year. Cleanup of potential release sites and the shipment of stored radioactive materials at LANL is required for maintaining an operating permit with the state, and therefore required to maintain the lab's weapons mission, as the DOE's Five-Year Plan described the local situation. Nevertheless, the report issued this month, identified several "uncertainties and programmatic risks" at Los Alamos, beginning with "the current lack of a completed and validated revised baseline for LANL." "The budget justification claims that the department has yet to complete its validation of the site baseline in costs estimates," Domenici said in a prepared statement. "I find it remarkable that the department which has been onsite for more than five decades, doesn't have an accurate picture of the clean-up responsibilities or cost estimate." The Environmental Management plan added, "The new site contractor is expected to improve performance." A spokesman for Los Alamos National Security, the new contractor, said the company is aware of the proposed reduction. "We share the concern of the incumbent managers," Jeff Berger said. "We're discussing with the incumbents this issue and those discussions are part of an overall regimen of reviewing lab programs, plans, policies and budgets. We're closely monitoring the lab's response." During the budget hearing, Domenici asked for a list of cleanup activities that would be affected under the reductions and a more specific description of the expectations of the new contractor for finding cost savings and how those would offset the loss of funds for soil and water remediation. Domenici predicted that the committee would support aspects of the President's budget proposal, including initiative for competitiveness and energy. He also expected to revisit several categories from which funds had been cut, including Environmental Management. © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 61 lamonitor.com: Feds slash LANL environmental management funds The Online News Source for Los Alamos ROGER SNODGRASS, roger@lamonitor.com, Monitor Assistant Editor SANTA FE - Environmental stewardship at Los Alamos National Laboratory will be severely constrained over the next two years unless something can be done about funding cuts and budget plans that threaten to cripple the program, according to local officials. Possible consequences include unmet land transfer commitments from DOE to the county, broken agreements under the consent order with the state of New Mexico and reduced groundwater monitoring at a time of heightened concern over laboratory contamination in the regional aquifer. The unpleasant prospects were delivered Wednesday night at a meeting of the Northern New Mexico Citizen's Advisory Board at Santa Fe College. "It appears to be a bad situation," said Ed Wilmott, manager of the Los Alamos Site Office, who said efforts were underway to reverse the budget decisions in Washington, D.C. Environmental management programs are funded through what Wilmott called "the big DOE," rather than through the National Nuclear Security Administration, the quasi-independent agency that runs the weapons labs. Ken Hargis, acting division leader for the Environmental Stewardship Division at the laboratory said $16.7 million had been cut from the current budget of $127 million. Coming halfway through the fiscal year makes the situation more difficult, he said. "Some work will be delayed," he said, and some consent order milestones will be missed. The cuts won't affect the cleanup of two material disposal areas along DP road, but will slow other decommissioning work at TA-51. A bigger problem potentially looms over next year. The president's budget request for FY 07 includes $28.3 million, rather than $82.7 million that had been scheduled. Hargis said the reductions would reduce storm water monitoring and groundwater surveillance and maintenance to a minimum, risk deadlines on 22 or more cleanup projects, and hazard at least $8 million in fines, under the state consent order that was signed last year. Because of delays in remediation projects, DOE commitments for land transfer of 2000 acres may not be met, according to a bulleted item in Hargis' presentation. James Bearzi, chief of the Hazardous Waste Bureau and point man for the consent order with the New Mexico Environment Department, called the situation "dire." He said the 70 percent reduction for environmental management plan amounted to "keeping the lights on without doing the work." Predicting a messy regulatory future filled with notifications of violations, fines and litigation, he said, "The governor is not interested in renegotiating the Consent Order." Wilmott and Hargis emphasized that the forecast was preliminary and that steps were underway to mitigate the prospective damages. Wilmott said he was hopeful that Los Alamos National Security, the new limited liability corporation that assumes contract responsibility for the laboratory on June 1, would be able to find operational savings that could be applied to the environmental management shortfall. He said a new baseline plan was under development to help convince the bureaucracy to reconsider. "We're working very hard internally because we know this is going to have a big impact," he said. The citizens advisory board also heard reports on cleanup plans at Area G and Area L. The board is sponsoring a public forum on groundwater issues in Los Alamos on May 17. The CAB is recruiting new volunteers to serve as board members, said Menice Santistevan, the board's executive director. The board is chartered by the Department of Energy to provide public input on environmental activities at LANL Interested people should call Santisteven at 995-0393, or e-mail msantistevan@doeal.gov. © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 62 PR: Berkley Raises Red Flag Over Plan To Detonate 700 Ton Bomb At Nevada Test Site Congresswoman Shelley Berkley - Legislation: Press Releases 2005 Bush Admin. Official Says Expect a Mushroom Cloud Over Las Vegas (Washington, DC -- March 30, 2006) Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-NV) today challenged a top U.S. defense official to explain his statement that an upcoming conventional explosives test in Nevada would be, “…the first time in Nevada that you’ll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons.” Learning of the statement made by James Tegnelia, Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), Berkley called the Agency, demanding an explanation. During a conversation with the Congresswoman, Tegnelia retracted his statement that a mushroom cloud would be seen over Las Vegas, and instead, asserted that the cloud would only be seen from Las Vegas when the 700 ton explosive device is detonated this coming June. “Anytime an administration official starts talking about mushroom clouds and Las Vegas, I want answers,” said Berkley, who spoke about the issue this afternoon on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. “Mr. Tegnelia was unable to adequately address my concerns, nor could he answer all my questions, so I will meet with him next week at my office in Washington. That way, I can make sure my concerns are fully addressed and my questions are all answered. Quizzed by Berkley, Tegnelia could not provide definitive information about the size of the cloud that could be created by the blast, or whether any toxic materials, including radioactive particles left over from nuclear experiments at the Test Site, would be unleashed by the explosion. “The inconsistency in the information being released by these federal agencies is frustrating and I am angry that not enough information has been provided to Nevadans about this plan. I need to be certain that if we set off huge explosives at the Test Site, there are no potential health or environmental risks to the Nevada public. Given the level of contamination in areas where nuclear tests were conducted, I have real concerns about the dust and other pollutants that will be released into the air as a result of this explosion,” Berkley said. Berkley noted that an official with the Department of Energy (DOE) assured her today that there would be no mushroom cloud visible from Las Vegas. The DOE official also stated the blast would be above ground, while DTRA’s Tegnelia described it in his statement to the media as being in a tunnel. Berkley said the military may well need special, powerful explosives to deal with underground facilities used by terrorists or rogue states, but that any testing must be done in a safe manner, and federal officials must be responsible in their public statements about such testing. The test is being billed by the DTRA as part of the effort to develop so-called bunker buster weapons that can be used to destroy hardened underground facilities. # # # 439 Cannon HOB Washington, DC 20515 Phone - (202) 225-5965 Fax - (202) 225-3119 2340 Paseo Del Prado, Suite D-106 Las Vegas, NV 89102 Phone - (702) 220-9823 Fax - (702) 220-9841 ***************************************************************** 63 Knox News: OR selected for nuke review work By RICHARD POWELSON, powelsonr@shns.com March 31, 2006 WASHINGTON — The Department of Energy said today it is awarding at least $6 million to a federal energy division at Oak Ridge to study and comment on plans for the nation’s permanent nuclear waste repository slated for Nevada. A division of Oak Ridge Associated Universities won the two-year contract based on its expertise in scientific and technical review, said DOE spokesman Craig Stevens. DOE is compiling several million pages of technical documents to make the case to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to license an area at Yucca Mountain, Nev., for thousands of years of storage of used radioactive fuel from nuclear power plants and other facilities, Stevens said. The documents require peer review by experts in various fields to ensure accuracy. The federal government is years behind in having an approved site ready to accept used nuclear fuel. TVA won a lawsuit against DOE two weeks ago that calls for the energy department to pay TVA $34.9 million in damages. A judge ruled DOE did not meet the 1998 contractual deadline to accept fuel waste from TVA’s nuclear plants and TVA had to provide alternative storage. That fuel was intended to be stored at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain Repository, but controversy over the location of the facility has delayed its opening even though it has been approved by Congress and signed into law by President Bush. DOE was supposed to store spent nuclear fuel from TVA’s Browns Ferry plant in northern Alabama and the Sequoyah plant near Chattanooga. U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, who represents the Oak Ridge area, said in a written statement: "This is great news and the best selection DOE could have made. Oak Ridge Associated Universities has more than 15 years of experience doing peer and merit reviews." Pam Bonee, a spokeswoman for Oak Ridge Associated Universities, said five to 10 staff members in Oak Ridge will be working with experts in industry and many universities on the Yucca Mountain contract. "We have an extensive network" of expert contacts across the country, she said, and worked with 1,600 reviewers last year in 49 states. DOE’s design contractor currently is working on a revised plan in which waste would be packaged in standard containers for shipment to Yucca Mountain, located in a desert about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, and be stored long-term in the same containers. Richard Powelson may be reached at 202-408-2727. © 2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel ***************************************************************** 64 Albuquerque Tribune: Los Alamos experts to debate future of energy By Mike Tumolillo Tribune Reporter March 30, 2006 Nuclear power, says Ben Luce, policy director of the New Mexico Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy, has drawbacks that make renewable energy the better choice for feeding an electricity-hungry world. NUCLEAR OR NOT What: Two experts will debate nuclear and renewable energy in a public forum. Where: University of New Mexico Law School, 1117 Stanford Dr. N.E., Room 2405. When: Thursday, April 6, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. More info: Citizen Action New Mexico at 505-262-1862. But many of those drawbacks are exaggerated and would nearly disappear with a new generation of nuclear power plants, says Donald Petersen, a retired scientist who works with a group educating people on nuclear power. The two experts, both with years of experience at Los Alamos National Laboratory, will debate how best to feed the world's growing hunger for power at a public forum in Albuquerque next week. "It really opens up a can of worms when one looks at the potential impacts of . . . renewable and nuclear energy sources," says Susan Dayton, director of Citizen Action New Mexico, the organizers of the debate. "Here you have these two Los Alamos scientists on either side of the spectrum on this issue. I think it's going to be a really interesting forum." She says the forum is important given New Mexico's history of involvement with nuclear technology, and with the potential construction of a uranium enrichment plant in southeastern New Mexico, five miles east of Eunice. If built, the National Enrichment Facility will prepare uranium for use as fuel in commercial power plants. Construction of the facility awaits approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A decision is expected in June. Luce says current and coming technology will make solar power a more viable energy source in the near future. Add energy efficiency measures and other renewable sources to the mix, and many of the world's energy challenges can be addressed. "Renewables aren't an absolute panacea for everything," he says. "But I think it's superior when it comes to nuclear weapons, global warming (and) land impact." Petersen also supports renewable energy. It can get power to hard-to-reach places. But, he says, nuclear power packs an energy punch that can't be ignored in a world whose power demand he estimates will grow by three to 10 times in the future. "There's a million-fold advantage in the potential energy available from fission," which the world shouldn't ignore, he says. "It just stands to reason that you can't look a million-fold advantage in the face and throw it away" based on what he calls "the marginally demonstrable" negative effects of nuclear power that have kept it from being developed in the United States. And, according to Petersen, existing technology can be used to build new nuclear power plants that create less waste - at a rate of one pound to every 2,000 pounds currently spat out - and even use existing radioactive waste as a fuel. The main barrier, he says, is the "not in my backyard" resistance to nuclear power fed by overstatements of its danger. "There are enormous . . . emotional and conjectural objections rather than anything that has any basis in history," he says. ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************