*****************************************************************
04/05/06 ****     RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL)       **** VOL 14.81
*****************************************************************
   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 [southnews] Neocons want to take out Iran's nuclear assets
2 IRNA: Nuclear talks ended because of West's double standards - Motta
3 AFP: US running out of patience over North Korea - envoy 
4 Las Vegas SUN: Rice Faces Questions on India Nukes Deal 
5 US: Guardian Unlimited: Rice Faces Congress on India Nuclear Plan
6 US: Dayton Daily News: Atomic workers concerned about reduction in b
7 US: New York Times: Rice Urges Congress on Deal With India - 
8 AFP: Selling India-US nuclear deal to US Congress tough task - Burns
9 AFP: US concerned over India-Iran ties - Rice 
10 AFP: Rice warns Congress against tinkering with US-India nuclear dea
11 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: North's faulty judgment
12 RIA Novosti: Moscow court prolongs ex-nuclear minister's arrest till
13 Daily Times: VIEW: A revised ‘axis of evil’? —Miranda Husain 
14 AFP: Investigations continue into Pakistani nuclear scandal - US off
15 IRNA: UN stresses cleaning up landmines
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
16 US: TMI v. TMI-Alert Report Cards April 5, 2006
17 US: [NukeNet] Stop Exelon's Energy Takeover
18 SABCnews.com: Eskom finally receives rotor from France              
19 News24: Koeberg rotor arrives
20 US: Bradenton Herald: Plans raise nuclear concerns
21 US: Beacon Journal: Trial delayed for 3 in Davis-Besse case
22 US: San Luis Obispo Tribune: Force-on-force drill tested Diablo secu
23 US: AP Wire: Leaks from Exelon nuclear plant worry nearby residents,
24 US: Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Concerns about nuclear reactors
25 US: JOURNAL NEWS: Lawmakers don't like nuke review plans, will push 
26 US: NRC: NRC to Discuss 2005 Performance at Crystal River Nuclear Pl
27 Belfast Telegraph: Life returns to Chernobyl
28 Irish Examiner: Energy crisis may force State nuclear 
29 US: NRC: NRC to Discuss 2005 Performance Assessment for Susquehanna 
30 Kyiv Post: Government pledges $4 million for events, aid to mark
31 US: Lincoln County News: Maine Yankee Decries Nuke Disposal Inertia 
32 US: Boston Globe: Vermont Yankee given green light to continue power
33 US: NJPIRG: GAO/NJ DEP Find Fault With Nuclear Plant Security 
34 Mos News: Atomic Energy Agency Head Denies Privatization of Russian 
35 US: NRC: NRC Increases the Amount of Security-Related Information Re
36 US: WOODTV.com & WOOD TV8: Public comments on nuclear power plant
37 US: WIStv.com: Environmental group announces campaign to prevent new
38 SMN: British Nuclear Group Eyes Bulgaria's Energy Sector
 
                          NUCLEAR SECURITY
 
39 US: Guardian Unlimited: Ky. Nuclear Facility Boosts Security
40 US: AP Wire: Cut discovered in security fence
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
41 US: Bradenton Herald: Judge returns Tallevast case
42 US: AU ABC: Govt hits back at uranium stance criticism
43 PR: PORTER REACTS TO PROPOSED YUCCA MOUNTAIN LEGISLATION
44 Las Vegas SUN: Tom Gorman on the sheer lunacy of adding 55,000
45 reviewjournal.com: Administration bill aims to expedite nuclear 
46 Hanford News: DOE seeks to lift cap on Yucca waste storage
47 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Rolly: I-80 depot proposed for nuke transfer 
48 US: Newsday: Cotter mulls appeal of judge's decision on NJ material 
49 US: AU ABC: ALP president wants debate on uranium mining. 
50 US: AU ABC: Martin urged to declare uranium mining stance. 
51 US: KRNV.com: Trailer that once held radioactive material found in H
52 The Hill: Reid vows to block new push for Yucca Mountain nuke site
53 US: NEWS.com.au: Beattie 'wants uranium change' 
 
                           PEACE
 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
54 KnoxNews: Munger: Oak Ridge cache of U-233 may end up in New Mexico 
55 Guardian Unlimited: Energy Dept. to Consolidate Plutonium
56 Tracy Press: A radioactive problem 
57 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Cost of new plant at Hanford keeps risin
58 Las Vegas SUN: Scientists say planned blast a part of nuclear testin
59 Hanford News: Study: DOE faces problems removing nuke waste from bur
60 Hanford News: Technology should be focus of cleanup
61 kgw.com: Study: DOE faces problems removing nuke waste from buried t
62 lamonitor.com: LANL transition affecting many's financial future 
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
                         FULL NEWS STORIES
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
 1 [southnews] Neocons want to take out Iran's nuclear assets
 
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2006 00:49:59 -0500 (CDT)


De Borchgrave points out that most of Irans secret nuclear 
installations are not only underground, but also close to population 
centres. The first pictures of a B-2 raid would be dead women and 
children on al-Jazeera television newscasts, now as globally ubiquitous 
as CNN and FOX. The collateral damage would then rival Abu Ghraibs 
devastating impact on Americas good name. The perceived American 
indifference over the loss of Arab lives would now be seen as spreading 
to another Muslim country, he writes. The neo-con informant told the 
correspondent that there is absolutely no way Bush will accommodate to 
an Iranian nuke or two, the way he blinked first with North Korea.

Operation silence mullahs

By Arnaud De Borchgrave
Apr 3, 2006, 19:00 GMT

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- While Condoleezza Rice said this 
was not the time to try and come to a conclusion about what the next 
step on Iran`s nuclear defiance might be, those who assured us Operation 
Iraqi Freedom would be a walk in the park are now telling us Operation 
Silence Mullahs would be casualty-free -- at least for the good guys.

A prominent \'neocon,\' still in good odor at the White House and OSD 
(Office of the Secretary of Defense), speaking privately, assured us 
that by the time president Bush leaves office in January 2009, Iran`s 
nuclear weapons ambitions would be history.

Assuming tough sanctions -- draconian or otherwise -- don`t bring Iran`s 
mullahs to heel, we inquired, trying not to sound too wimpish, what 
would be Mr. Bush`s next step?

\'B-2s,\' this prominent armchair strategist replied. \'Two of them 
could do the job in a single strike against multiple targets.\' With a 
crew of two per bomber, only four American lives would be at risk, an 
all-time record in the history of warfare.

So we looked up B-2s. The U.S. Air Force only has 21 of them. Perhaps 
price had something to do with it. They came in at $2.2 billion a copy. 
But they can carry enough ordnance to make Iranians nostalgic for the 
Shah and his role as the free world`s gendarme in charge of the West`s 
oil supplies in the Gulf. These stealthy bombers have one major drawback 
in the Persian magic carpet mode. They can only attack 16 targets 
simultaneously; one short of the 17 underground nuclear facilities 
pinned red on Mossad`s target-rich PowerPoint presentations to the 
political leadership. Presumably, that`s why two B-2s would be required.

For the cognoscente, the B-2`s payload offers a rich and varied menu of 
seriously harmful goodies/nasties. Either the multi-billion-dollar 
bomber can carry 34 CBUs (laser-guided Cluster Bomb Units), or 16 JDAMs 
(Joint Direct Attack Munition), or 8 BLU-28s (daisy-cutting, 
satellite-guided bunker-busters), or 16 JSOW (Joint Standoff Weapon), or 
16 JASSM (Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile). Whatever the option 
selected for Iran, it would be 40,000 pounds of explosives delivered 
with a standoff capability, or about 15 miles from the target.

Most of Iran`s secret nuclear installations are not only underground, 
but also close to population centers. The first pictures of a B-2 raid 
would be dead women and children on al-Jazeera television newscasts, now 
as globally ubiquitous as CNN and FOX. The collateral damage would then 
rival Abu Ghraib`s devastating impact on America`s good name. The 
perceived American indifference over the loss of Arab lives would now be 
seen as spreading to another Muslim country.

At almost half a trillion dollars by year`s end, the Iraqi \'cakewalk\' 
turned out to be (thus far) a costly boondoggle, which translated into a 
gain for Chinese and Russian influence on the global chessboard and a 
corresponding loss of U.S. influence. While we continue to dig a deeper 
hole in Iraq, China cuts deals to dig deeper oil wells.

The neocon informant says there is \'absolutely no way\' Bush will 
accommodate to an Iranian nuke or two, the way he blinked first with 
North Korea. His uncompromising view of the Iranian nuclear danger and 
his determination to prevent it by force of two B-2s if necessary is 
\'as solid as his resolve to rid Iraq of Saddam Hussein.\'

This is also the British assessment of Bush`s intentions against Iran, a 
power whose president has vowed to wipe Israel off the map. Today, 
senior British officials met with defense and intelligence chiefs to 
assess the consequences of air strikes against Iran -- as well as 
European and global repercussions.

Neocons are unfazed by the fact that Iran is an ancient civilization of 
70 million people with retaliatory assets that range from a choke-hold 
on the world`s most important oil route in the Strait of Hormuz, to an 
anti-U.S. Shiite coalition in Iraq with two private militias, funded and 
armed by Iran, to terrorist groups throughout the Middle East that have 
a global reach. Iran is also a power that not only resisted an Iraqi 
invasion, but fought Saddam Hussein`s legions to a standstill in an 
eight-year-war of attrition that killed about 1 million soldiers on both 
sides.

If, as Bush has indicated, U.S. troops were still in Iraq in 2009 under 
the next president, Tehran, in retaliatory animus, would pull out all 
the stops to ensure a Vietnam-like send-off for remaining U.S. forces in 
Iraq.

For the time being, Tehran is delighted to keep U.S. troops in Iraq as 
protective cover for Iran as it consolidates its influence throughout 60 
percent of the country.

At the recent Berlin conference of the world`s major powers -- the 
veto-wielding big five of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany -- 
there was opposition to any kind of sanctions against Iran. 
International Atomic Energy Agency`s Mohamed ElBaradei, the world`s 
nuclear watchdog, threw a damper on U.S. expectations by saying, \'we 
need to lower the pitch.\'

For the time being, Iran`s \'cakewalkers\' appear to be those in charge 
of diplomatic choreography. The Chinese are not about to blow their $100 
billion long-range deal for guaranteed oil supplies. Iran is also a good 
Russian customer. Germany, it now turns out, supplied Iran with some of 
the technology needed for the enrichment of nuclear fuel to 
weapons-grade standards.

A muscular sanctions policy does not appear to be Germany`s thing 
either. So Iran`s stealthy uranium enrichment is likely to continue 
unimpeded until the stealthy B-2s get the order to discombobulate the 
mullahs` nuclear plans. The ranking neocon thought this would be 
sometime between next November`s elections and the presidential election 
two years later.

Before the Middle East`s unfriendly volcano erupts again, it would 
behoove the National Security team to advise the president that kicking 
butt in Iran, like kicking Iraq`s gluteal region, triggers the law of 
unintended consequences.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

The archives of South News can be found at
http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/ 

*****************************************************************
 2 IRNA: Nuclear talks ended because of West's double standards - Mottaki

April 5, IRNA                                                                                                                  

Iran's nuclear talks came to an end because of the West's double
standards, a Swiss newspaper quoted Iranian Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Mottaki as saying here on Tuesday.

 Mottaki told `Le Tan' daily in an exclusive interview published
in its Tuesday edition that Tehran would defend its legitimate
right to access peaceful nuclear technology.

 Mottaki, who was described by the daily as "cool" and "highly
self-confident," was further quoted as saying the West resorted
to international law and regulations in order to impose its
wishes on other states.

 In the interview, Mottaki referred to Article 4 of the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that says any member state of the
treaty has the right to pursue a peaceful nuclear program.

 "It (Art 4) further stresses that nuclear powers are even
required to assist other members" in their desire to avail of
nuclear energy, Mottaki pointed out.

 Mottaki also reminded that Tehran "has continuous and close
cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog and its nuclear sites
are open to IAEA inspectors."
 Arguing that Western countries had pre-judged Iran's peaceful
nuclear program by accusing Tehran of having the intention to
produce nuclear weapons, Mottaki reminded that Iran was one of
the first to sign the NPT, having signed it 36 years ago.

 "It is high time Tehran avails of its benefits" (after 36 years
of membership), he added.

 "Iran will, by no means, give up its legitimate right to
peaceful nuclear technology," Mottaki firmly told the Swiss
newspaper.

 He expressed confidence threats and sanctions would not be
imposed on Iran.

 Reiterating that Tehran would in no way give in to threats,
Mottaki was also confident a compromise would be reached within
the 30-day deadline set in the UNSC statement.

 The United Nations Security Council last week set a deadline of
30 days for Iran to quit uranium enrichment and enjoined the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to report after 30
days on Iran's compliance.

 Asked by the paper why Tehran insisted on availing of nuclear
energy despite its "rich natural oil and gas resources," the
minister responded, "Do you ask the same question from the US
that obtains 25 percent of its energy needs from nuclear power
plants?"
 Mottaki bewailed the double standards applied by the West with
respect to its nuclear activities, saying "Westerners are
imposing some criteria on Iran which they do not impose on
themselves or are not willing to comply."
 Asked whether Iran would use oil as a "weapon" or political
lever, the minister replied: "Iran will never use oil as a
political lever and will continue to honor its commitments,
particularly to its Asian importers."
 Turning to US accusations that Iran is meddling in Iraqi
internal affairs, Mottaki said that the US war against terrorism
has spread the flames of terrorism instead of containing it.

 "The situation that Washington has created in Iraq makes it
obvious that it should no longer talk about meddling."
 He further stressed that Tehran has always given great
importance to establishing a stable Iraq and continues to
"support any effort that would bring back stability to that
country."
		 				 		 			
*****************************************************************
 3 AFP: US running out of patience over North Korea - envoy 

 Wed Apr 5, 10:42 AM ET 		 	 

SEOUL (AFP) - The United States is losing patience at North
Korea" /> North Korea's boycott of six-party talks aimed at
ending its nuclear weapons ambitions, US ambassador to Seoul
Alexander Vershbow said. 

 He urged the Stalinist North to revive the nuclear talks which
have been stalled for five months. 

"Everyone in Washington would like to reach a negotiated
solution, but everyone in Washington is also running out of
patience," Vershbow said in a message on a website run by the
embassy. 

The two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States have
held talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program
since 2003. In September 2005 the North agreed to abandon
nuclear programs in return for receiving a US-led security
guarantee and economic and diplomatic benefits. 

But the talks are in limbo following the last meeting in
November, after Washington accused Pyongyang of counterfeiting
US dollars and laundering money. 

The North denies the charge and demands the US lift financial
sanctions before it returns to the talks. 

Japanese officials said Tuesday a North Korean envoy would
attend a private security conference in Tokyo from April 9 to 13
amid hopes that it could help jumpstart the six-way talks. 

Academics and officials, including the top nuclear negotiators
of the United States, South Korea" /> South Koreaand Japan, are
to take part in the event. 

North Korea has recently threatened to bolster its nuclear
deterrent, citing US-South Korean joint military drills and
media reports -- long denied by Seoul -- that South Korea plans
to build a nuclear-powered submarine. 

On Wednesday it maintained its tough stance. 

"The US is cooperating with the South Korean authorities in
nuclear armament against the DPRK (North Korea)," Rodong Sinmun,
the ruling communist party newspaper, said in a commentary. 

"This compels the DPRK to harden its resolution to further
strengthen its self-defensive nuclear activities." 

	 		 			
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 4 Las Vegas SUN: Rice Faces Questions on India Nukes Deal 

Today: April 05, 2006 at 9:45:53 PDT 

By BARRY SCHWEID ASSOCIATED PRESS 

WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on
Congress Wednesday to approve an unprecedented U.S. plan to
share nuclear technology with India, saying the deal will not
trigger an arms race in Asia. 

Her testimony was received with skepticism. Senate Foreign
Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar agreed that India
under the deal would submit to more international safeguards.
But the Indiana Republican with a strong interest in arms
control, said the pact "would not prevent India from expanding
its nuclear arsenal." 

Rice clashed with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., over port calls
that Iranian vessels have made on India. 

Under questioning, the secretary said Indian authorities had
given assurances their country was not training Iranian sailors
and soldiers, but she also said "we have made clear we are
concerned about their relationship with Iran." 

"The Indians say they have some low-level military contacts with
Iran," Rice said. 

Boxer declared: "It is an issue of deep concern to me. Your
words are a bit hollow." 

In advance of hearings in both the House and Senate, Rep. Tom
Lantos of California., a supporter of the deal, said that Rice's
testimony would put the nuclear cooperation issue "front and
center for the first time." 

The House committee's senior Democrat, Lantos described as
"jarring" the disclosure this week that two Iranian ships have
visited ports in India. 

Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, senior Democrat on the committee,
"it comes down to a simple bet we are making, that India
appreciates as much as we that the two nations have the
potential to be anchors for stability." He also said he would
probably vote for it. 

Sen. George Allen, R-Va., said "this is a good bet," when
benefits to India and the rest of the world are taken into
account. The two countries share democratic values and there is
a shared sense of security, he said. 

President Bush agreed to last month with India could
dramatically increase India's nuclear arsenal and weaken efforts
to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, and Rice maintained
that "civil nuclear cooperation with India will not lead to an
arms race in South Asia." 

India has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and
is unlikely to ever do so, she said. "We are simply seeking to
address an untenable situation. This agreement does bring India
into the nonproliferation framework, and does strengthen the
regime." 

Rice called it a "path-breaking" deal and said it "obviously
deserves the support of the U.S. Senate." 

The pact, which must be approved by Congress, strengthens U.S.
ties with the world's largest democracy but also upends more
than three decades of U.S. law and policy. 

Her appearance comes at a time of growing domestic
disenchantment with U.S. foreign policy. Uncertainty over the
military course of a rising China, unceasing turmoil in Iraq and
stalemated Mideast and nuclear diplomacy over Iran and North
Korea pose difficulties for Rice, even though her own
performance continues to receive rave reviews on Capitol Hill. 

The election season is dawning for members of Congress and those
who aspire to replace them. They all are aware of public
discontent with the Bush administration's global record on
several fronts. 

The new U.S. strategic partnership between Washington and New
Delhi reverses restrictions on trade with states, such as India,
that did not accept comprehensive international safeguards over
all their nuclear facilities. The administration's response is
that the deal will foster nonproliferation by conditioning
India's purchase of foreign-made nuclear reactors on opening its
civilian facilities to international inspections. 

However, the Congressional Research Service, in a report last
week, noted that India would have the sole right to decide which
reactors are civilian and which are military, which need not be
under international supervision. 

--- 

On the Net: 

State Department: http://www.state.gov 

All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 5 Guardian Unlimited: Rice Faces Congress on India Nuclear Plan

From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Wednesday April 5, 2006 9:46 PM

AP Photo WCAP105 

By LIZ SIDOTI 

Associated Press Writer 

WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought to
assure a wary Congress on Wednesday that a landmark plan to
share nuclear technology with India for its civilian program
won't undercut efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. 

``Clearly, this agreement does not constrain India's nuclear
weapons program. That was not its purpose,'' Rice told a House
committee. ``Neither, however, as some critics have suggested,
does it enhance India's capability to build nuclear weapons.'' 

In the House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats alike
expressed serious reservations over the plan and criticized what
they called the Bush administration's failure to explain its
details to lawmakers earlier. 

``It is my view that this is in trouble here,'' said Rep. Gary
Ackerman, D-N.Y., who supports the plan but criticized how the
administration has handled it. 

The administration needs Congress to change, or approve an
exception to, the law that bans civilian nuclear cooperation
with countries that have not submitted to full nuclear
inspections. India continues to refuse to sign the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty. 

Despite concerns, some lawmakers from both political parties
indicated they would back the plan because of an overall goal of
strengthening the U.S.-India relationship. 

``This is a very good bet for our country,'' said Sen. George
Allen, R-Va. 

Others weren't swayed. 

``I fear that this deal could end up making our world less safe
rather than more safe,'' said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis. 

Rice testified on the plan during back-to-back hearings before
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House International
Relations Committee. The administration is pursuing the proposal
in part because it sees India as an ally in a region now
dominated by China. 

Considered a major U.S. policy shift, the plan calls for the
United States to share nuclear technology and fuel with India to
help power its rapidly growing economy. India, for its part,
agreed to allow U.N. inspections of its civilian nuclear
reactors. India's nuclear weapons facilities would be off
limits. 

Critics on and off Capitol Hill contend the plan could
dramatically increase India's nuclear arsenal and weaken decades
of efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. 

Rice rejected those arguments, saying the plan will help fulfill
the energy needs of a country that has been ``a responsible
actor'' with regard to its nuclear technologies. 

``Civil nuclear cooperation with India will not lead to an arms
race in South Asia,'' Rice told the Senate panel. ``Nothing we
or any other potential international suppliers provide to India
under this initiative will enhance its military capacity or add
to its military stockpile.'' 

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., the Senate committee chairman and a
longtime nonproliferation advocate, praised the plan for
allowing more inspections by the U.N. nuclear watchdog. But he
also expressed concern that ``it would not prevent India from
expanding its nuclear arsenal.'' 

In the same vein, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., noted that eight of
India's 22 nuclear plants would not be open to U.N. inspectors,
``and they will be producing large amounts of nuclear
material.'' 

Still, two senior Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, Joseph Biden of Delaware and John Kerry of
Massachusetts, signaled they were inclined to vote for the
agreement, albeit reluctantly. 

``It comes down to a simple bet we're making,'' said Biden, the
panel's top Democrat. ``It's a bet that India appreciates, as
much as we do, that the two nations have the potential to be the
anchors for stability and security in the world going into the
21st century.'' 

In both the House and the Senate, lawmakers questioned the
relationship between India and Iran. ``Iran is the most
troubling aspect of this deal,'' said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,
R-Fla. 

The lawmakers pointed to energy cooperation between the two
countries and port calls that Iranian vessels have made on
India. 

``In whose best interest is this?'' asked Sen. Lincoln Chafee,
R-R.I. He said it appeared that the United States wanted to
change U.S. law simply to impede India's oil and gas
relationship with Iran. 

Not so, Rice said. The goal of the plan is to create a
``strategic partnership'' with India on technology, energy and
economic issues. 

Rep. Tom Lantos, the House committee's top Democrat and a
supporter of the plan, warned that India-Iran military
cooperation could derail it in Congress. ``There can be no
equivocation on India's part regarding Iran under its current
management,'' said Lantos, D-Calif. 

In a tense exchange with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., on the
same issue, Rice acknowledged that India has some ``low-level
military-to-military contacts with Iran.'' 

But, she said: ``The United States has made very clear to India
that we have concerns about their relationship with Iran.'' 

``I just think your words are a bit hollow,'' Boxer responded.
``This deal has to have more checks and balances.'' 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 6 Dayton Daily News: Atomic workers concerned about reduction in benefits
 
Memo says U.S. could save if help is harder to get
 	
By Tom Beyerlein
Dayton Daily News 	 	 		 		 		 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		 	 	

Lawmakers and worker advocates fear the Bush administration will
hobble an already long-delayed and troubled compensation program
for sick atomic workers by allowing budget worries to influence
eligibility decisions.

There's bipartisan concern on Capitol Hill about a leaked White
House memo that recommends controlling costs by making it harder
for worker groups from places like Monsanto Research Corp. in
Dayton and the Feed Materials Production Center at Fernald to
get federal compensation and health benefits for cancers
possibly caused by radiation exposure. 

A House Judiciary Committee subcommittee heard testimony in
March about the issue and is to schedule more hearings for May. 

"I would call it disgraceful," said U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland,
D-Lisbon. "If this is allowed to happen, it would be saying that
your illness is not nearly as important to us as our ability to
save a few bucks." 

Strickland sent a letter to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Health
and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt and Office of
Management and Budget Director Joshua Bolten, asking them to
disavow the rule changes discussed in the undated OMB memo to
the Labor Department, which runs the program. He also wants a
briefing on the status of the proposals in the memo, which are
not yet in force. 

"Atomic workers served their nation's defense by building and
testing nuclear weapons, while putting their health in
jeopardy," Strickland, who is running for governor, wrote last
week. "In turn, they expect that the government will honor its
commitment to provide them with fair compensation decisions if
they were made ill from their work in nuclear weapons
facilities." 

But Strickland, who helped to enact the compensation program,
said the memo "suggests that OMB is intent on dishonoring this
commitment." 

The program, which has no budget ceiling, grants $150,000 plus
medical expenses to eligible sick workers. To date, fewer than
15,000 of 90,000 applicants have been awarded compensation. 

Each applicant must undergo a "dose reconstruction," which uses
worker history and plant records to determine if an illness was
likely job-related. Many workers question the validity of the
reconstructions. 

Workers avoid dose reconstructions if they belong to a "special
exposure cohort" whose members' illnesses are presumed
job-related. 

The cohort consists of plants with unreliable records, including
Ohio's Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. 

Some workers at Miamisburg's old Mound Plant and the Fernald
complex near Cincinnati want to be covered under the cohort, but
the OMB memo suggests rules requiring White House approval of
any new groups. 

Critics say the White House is also stacking the program's
advisory board with members likely to vote against new groups. 

Contact Tom Beyerlein at 225-2264. 	 

DaytonDailyNews.com: Contact Us | Advertise | Rated with ICRA|

Copyright ©2006 Cox Ohio Publishing, Dayton, Ohio, USA. All
rights reserved. 
*****************************************************************
 7 New York Times: Rice Urges Congress on Deal With India - 
 
By Published: April 5, 2006                     

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice faced tough questioning from
the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee this morning on the
administration's nuclear deal with India. But while Democrats
made clear they would seek changes in the pact they did not seem
inclined to try to block it. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This
Image [ border=] Matthew Cavanaugh/European Pressphoto Agency 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testified before the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee today on the proposed agreement to
share nuclear technology with India. 

Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, who is the panel's
senior Democrat, seemed to sum up the mood of many on the
committee when he mused that the damage to our relationship with
India that blocking the deal would certainly cause outweighed
the possible danger that the agreement could lead to a breakdown
in anti-proliferation efforts. 

Ms. Rice argued that the Senate needed to approve the deal
President Bush signed with India to keep that country aligned
with the United States in what she called "an all-out rush for
energy supplies" by rapidly developing nations.

"Nothing has taken me more aback as secretary of state than the
way energy is — I will use the word warping — international
diplomacy," she said. 

Ms. Rice described a world in which limited supplies of energy
and competing demands from countries like India and China are
giving countries that supply oil and natural gas undue
influence, and called the agreement crucial to developing a
"strategic partnership" between the United States and India.

"India is a rising global power that we believe could be a
pillar of stability in a rapidly changing Asia," she said. 

Her remarks were greeted with caution by the panel's chairman,
Senator Richard G. Lugar, an Indiana Republican, who noted that
it "would not prevent India from expanding its nuclear arsenal." 

"The course of history is not going to be kind to us if we're
involved in an arms race" among developing nations," he said.

The agreement, which was first announced last summer and
completed by President Bush in his recent trip to New Delhi,
would give India access to nuclear technology that had been
barred because it never signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty, and would remove sanctions imposed after it developed
nuclear weapons. In return, India would designate most of its
nuclear reactors for civilian use only and allow international
inspections of them. 

Ms. Rice acknowledged that "regional realities" meant that India
would not agree to accept a cap on its nuclear arsenal. "We are
simply seeking to address an untenable situation," she said,
asserting that the deal that would "bring India into the
nonproliferation framework."

The agreement would require amending the 1954 Atomic Energy Act.
But so far, members of Congress in both parties have been
relatively cool to the idea. 

The chairman of the House International Relations Committee,
Representative Henry J. Hyde, an Illinois Republican, said last
month that he believed members of Congress might seek changes in
the pact. Ms. Rice testified before that committee this
afternoon.

During her testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, Senator Biden said he was "probably going to support"
the deal, but primarily because rejecting it would damage
relations with India. 

"It comes down to a simple bet we're making," he said of the
pact, that India would value its relationship with the United
States more than the security it would gain by making more
atomic bombs. 

Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, said the pact
"rewards a nation for not signing the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty." 

She also questioned whether it would foster the kind of
great-power alliance that Ms. Rice described. "I do not share
the view that closer U.S.-India ties will be a counterweight to
China, which seemed to be the unstated yet driving force behind
this deal," Ms. Boxer said, calling the idea "old-fashioned,
cold war thinking."

But Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat, said he
would probably support what he called an imperfect deal because
it would offer greater international oversight of India's
nuclear program than now exists. 

Other senators suggested that action on the deal should be
delayed until the package is fully negotiated, including the
detailed technical agreement under which the International
Atomic Energy Agency would supervise India's civilian nuclear
program. 

NYTimes.com
 	 	
*****************************************************************
 8 AFP: Selling India-US nuclear deal to US Congress tough task - Burns -

 Wed Apr 5, 10:48 AM ET 		 	 

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Persuading the US Congress to support a
landmark nuclear deal with India is proving difficult but a
major effort is being made to ease their fears of proliferation,
a senior US State Department official said. 

 "Sometimes bold ideas take a little while to be understood or
to be accepted," US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told
private Indian television news channel NDTV in an interview
aired Wednesday. 

"But we are very confident we have done the right thing," Burns,
the chief American negotiator of the India-US deal, told NDTV. 

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" /> Condoleezza Ricewas
due to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee" />
Senate Foreign Relations Committeeand the House of
Representatives International Relations Committee on Wednesday
to defend the civil nuclear cooperation accord signed last
month. 

"They (Congress) can't just be expected to sign off on something
without having held hearings ... and without having been able to
get the detailed answers from the American government which they
are entitled to," Burns said. 

"There is no question that this is controversial." 

The agreement would lift embargoes on the transfer of nuclear
fuel and technology to India for civilian purposes, in return
for New Delhi separating its military and civil facilities and
opening most of the latter to international inspections. 

The deal must be ratified by the US Congress and the 45-member
Nuclear Suppliers Group that controls the trade in civilian
nuclear technology and fuel. 

Burns said bringing India's civil nuclear industry under
international inspection would strengthen the global
non-proliferation regime. 

It was "much better now to bring India in to strengthen the
non-proliferation regime" and Rice would be making this argument
to the Senate and House, he said. 

India has not signed the 1972 Non-Prolieferation Treaty which
many US lawmakers consider a cornerstone to control the spread
of nuclear weapons. 

Burns said he disagreed with critics inside the US
administration who said the deal would help fuel a nuclear arms
race between India and Pakistan. 

India tested a "peaceful nuclear device" in 1974 which brought
the embargo and then conducted weapons tests in May 1998 that
were matched by rival Pakistan the same month. 

"Some people say, well, this will lead to an arms race between
Pakistan and India. We don't think so. There is no reason why
India should seek to use this opportunity to double or triple
its strategic (military) programme," he added. 

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 9 AFP: US concerned over India-Iran ties - Rice 

 Wed Apr 5, 3:17 PM ET 		 	 

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is concerned over India's
ties with Iran" /> Iranbut will not ask it to sever links with
the Islamic republic in return for American civilian nuclear
fuel and technology, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" />
Condoleezza Ricesaid. 

"The United States has made very clear to India that we have
concerns about their relationship with Iran," she told a Senate
hearing on the controversial US-India civilian nuclear deal. 

"We've made clear to them we have concerns about the pipeline.
We have made clear to them that we have concerns about their
initial" reservations about bringing Iran before the UN Security
Council over its nuclear program, Rice said. 

"So, of course, we have concerns about the relationship with
Iran," she said. 

Iran, which Washington accuses of trying to build a nuclear bomb
and being a state sponsor of terror, is nearing an accord with
India and Pakistan for a natural gas pipeline project costing
more than seven billion dollars. 

Despite its initial reservation, India voted for a referral of
the Iranian nuclear program to the UN Security Council. 

Several Senators during the hearing Wednesday expressed concerns
over India's military links with Iran, including New Delhi's
reported training of Iranian naval personnel. 

Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, citing a defence journal
report, said it was "very disturbing" that India provided
training to Iranian naval personnel at Kochi, the headquarters
of the Indian Navy's Southern Command, under a three-year-old
military cooperation agreement. 

Rice said two Iranian warships had just paid a port call on the
Indian southern city and there was no military training
involved. 

"There have been Iranian ship port calls in India. The
assertion, we understand, that they train Iranian sailors is not
right. There have been and probably will be Iranian port calls
in a number of countries in the world," she said. 

The chief US diplomat said it was unfair to single out India
when there were many US allies which had links with Tehran
although Washington had no diplomatic links with the Islamic
republic. 

Asked by Democratic Senator Bill Nelson whether the Indian
military was cooperating in any way with the Iranian military,
Rice said, "The Indians have told us that they have some, as
they characterize them, low-level military-to-military contacts. 

"I believe we're not going to do better in pulling India toward
us by insisting that they cut off relations with other states. I
don't think that's going to work effectively,' she said. 

US President George W. Bush" /> President George W. Bushand
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on March 2 signed a
civilian nuclear deal even though New Delhi has refused to sign
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has developed
nuclear weapons. 

But Rice pushed lawmakers to endorse the deal for energy-starved
India to gain access to long-denied civilian nuclear technology
in return for placing a majority of its nuclear reactors under
international inspection. 

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 10 AFP: Rice warns Congress against tinkering with US-India nuclear deal
     
 Wed Apr 5, 6:49 PM ET 		 	 

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" />
warned Congress that altering a landmark civilian nuclear deal
with India could destroy a new partnership with the Asian giant. 

 US lawmakers are reportedly sceptical about the deal clinched
by President George W. Bush" /> and Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on March 2 because New Delhi has refused to sign
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has developed
nuclear weapons. 

But Rice, speaking at hearings in the Senate and House of
Representatives, pushed lawmakers to endorse the deal for
energy-starved India to gain access to long-denied civilian
nuclear technology in return for placing a majority of its
nuclear reactors under international inspection. 

"What would happen if this initiative were defeated or changed
in a way that fundamentally alters its substance?" she asked. 

"All the hostility and suspicion of the past would be
redoubled," she said, recalling Cold War tensions, when
relations were "bedeviled" and there was "structural
ambivalence" between the two nations. 

Rice cautioned lawmakers that a failed nuclear deal would also
"hand the enemies of this new relationship a great victory. We
would slide backward, when we should be striding forward," she
said. 

The top US diplomat said Russia, Britain, France and Australia
had all backed the deal, which could only be effective if
Congress amended the US Atomic Energy Act prohibiting nuclear
sales to non-NPT signatories. 

Critics argue that the agreement smacked of a double standard
and could embolden nuclear renegades such as Iran" /> and North
Korea" /> even though officials say India's nuclear
non-proliferation record was exemplary. 

Dick Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee"
/> , called for "a thorough, bipartisan review" of the deal in
the context of non-proliferation goals, global energy
requirements, environmental concerns, and the US geo-strategic
relationship with India. 

Henry Hyde, head of the House international relations committee,
said "the principal area of contention by far" concerns the
deal's possible detrimental impact on global nonproliferation
policy. 

Democratic senators Joseph Biden and John Kerry" /> said
Congress was being asked to approve the deal without having
details of safeguards to be imposed on India by the
International Atomic Energy Agency" /> (IAEA). 

"I am uncomfortable voting to change the overall structure
without seeing those safeguards, knowing what they're going to
be," Kerry said. 

Rice said the head of India's atomic energy commission was
travelling to Vienna this week to begin negotiations with the
IAEA on the safeguards agreement. 

She said she told Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran "in no
uncertain terms that this was going to be an issue with Congress
and that they ought to negotiate with the IAEA as quickly as
possible." 

US lawmakers also wanted India to implement its commitment to a
multilateral fissile material cut-off treaty. 

"We've told the Indians they need to be helpful in that. They've
promised that they will. And we will press them very hard to
help us on that," Rice said. 

She stoutly defended the deal, saying it would "clearly enhance
energy security, benefit the environment and does strengthen the
international nuclear nonproliferation regime." 

On worries over India's nuclear weapons, she said New Delhi
would never accept a unilateral freeze or cap on its atomic
arsenal considering the security situation in its neighbourhood. 

"No one can credibly assert that India would accept what would
amount to an arms control agreement that did not include other
key countries like China and Pakistan," she added. 

It is not clear when Congress will make the changes to the law
but the Bush administration wants it to act before summer. 

Some lawmakers were reported saying the complex issue would
probably not be taken up until after the November Congressional
elections. 

Once endorsed by Congress, the nuclear deal is widely expected
to be adopted by the international Nuclear Suppliers Group to
effectively end India's status as a nuclear pariah. 	 		 			
													 			 			 				
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 11 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: North's faulty judgment

[EDITORIALS]

April 6, 2006 KST 14:34 (GMT+9)                                                          
                       
  South Korea's Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok said North
Korea has "some problem in its self judgment," commenting on the
delay in six-party talks on the country's nuclear issue. The
remark, given the current administration's reluctance in
criticizing North Korean regime, is an unusual one. 

South Korea and the United States recently compromised their
previous stance that the six-party talks and financial
restrictions on North Korea should be dealt with separately, and
suggested that North Korea discuss the normalization of
U.S.-North Korea relations and the financial sanctions together
in the six-party talks. North Korea refused the proposal, saying
the full removal of sanctions should be completed prior to
resuming talks. 

Mr. Lee seems to believe the North's stern stance on the issue,
which made the United States further intensify pressure on the
North and further enhanced North Korea-China relations, will
have a negative impact on both Koreas. North Korea now seems
determined to increase its dependence on China in order to
survive amid increasing U.S. pressure and to continue its
nuclear development program. But such a measure, which may help
the nation temporarily, can never be the ultimate solution to
help the nation survive. 

China, whose priority is to develop its economy by 2030, is
keenly aware that its relationship with the United States plays
an important role in achieving its goal. Thus, China's policy of
defending North Korea is bound to face limits soon. North Korea
is left with only one choice ¡ª it needs to come to the
six-party talks first and voice its opinions. 

Now it is time to really pay attention to Mr. Lee's comment
that, "We can ask for [other countries] to give the North some
breathing room only if it shows some signs of easing its
stance." There is not much time left.   
	  
  2006.04.05       

Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use |
*****************************************************************
 12 RIA Novosti: Moscow court prolongs ex-nuclear minister's arrest till June 8
 
05/ 04/ 2006                                  

MOSCOW, April 5 (RIA Novosti) - A Moscow court extended
Wednesday the arrest of a former nuclear power minister of
Russia, Yevgeny Adamov, arrest until June 8. 

The Basmanny Court said Adamov should remain in custody because
he stood accused of a being a member of a criminal gang and was
facing more than two years in prison. 

Adamov said the ruling to extend his custody was typical of the
Basmanny Court, which has been accused by some of ruling in
favor of prosecutors and had earlier remanded him in custody. 

"Today the court had a chance to ruin its [negative] image but
it failed to use it," the former minister said. 

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office officially charged
Adamov, 66, with embezzlement and abuse of office December 31 in
the presence of his lawyers after a long battle to secure his
extradition from Switzerland, where he had been arrested at the
request of the U.S. in May. 

The U.S. authorities accused Adamov, who served as nuclear power
minister in 1998-2001, of misappropriating $9 million granted to
Russia for nuclear safety projects. He faced 60 years in prison
if convicted. 

On October 3, the Swiss Federal Justice Department announced it
would extradite the former Russian minister to the U.S., but
Adamov's defense team filed an appeal with the Federal Tribunal,
Switzerland's Supreme Court, in Lausanne in November. On
December 22, the Lausanne court upheld the appeal and ruled that
the ex-minister be extradited to Russia because the country
submitted its extradition request first. 

© 2005 RIA Novosti   
*****************************************************************
 13 Daily Times: VIEW: A revised ‘axis of evil’? —Miranda Husain 

Thursday, April 06, 2006           

Russia and China represent a more potent threat to US foreign 
policy designs than Syria or North Korea. Both can upset the US 
apple cart on a truly global scale 

What are we to make of President George W Bush’s 2006 National
Security Strategy? 

Beyond the rhetoric, we may conclude that the US defines the
biggest threats to its interests coming from states directly
challenging America’s foreign policy designs. But if that is
true, then it is not just Iran that is in the eye of the storm,
but also Russia and China. 

The biggest threat the Islamic Republic poses to the US is not
its alleged nuclear weapons programme per se, but its overt
endeavours to position itself as a force of regional
pre-eminence. The US has lived with a belligerent Iran since
1979 — an Iran that re-energised its quest for nuclear
capability following the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war of the
1980s. Indeed, successive US administrations have persistently
slammed Iran as the Persian Gulf’s biggest weapons proliferator
as well as accusing it of sponsoring terrorist groups as
wide-ranging as Hizbollah, Hamas, Al Qaeda, the IRA and the ETA. 

Admittedly, this was before 9/11 changed everything. Even after
the terrorist attacks on the US, it was Iraq that was invaded,
not the Islamic Republic. 

Today the US fears the regional leverage that nuclear capability
would afford Tehran in its quest to reshape the post-Saddam
Middle East in its own image. This is a role Washington wants
for itself. After all, Bush did not topple the Saddam regime to
have some upstart clerical regime try and scupper its plans for
a democratic Middle East dominated by Israel. 

But do not Russia and China pose a more potent threat to US
foreign policy designs than, say, Syria or North Korea? 

The answer is yes. Both Moscow and Beijing have the potential to
upset the US apple cart on a truly global scale. It appears that
Washington has already anticipated such an eventuality and taken
measures necessary to safeguard against future dissent. 

Writing in the current issue of Foreign Affairs, Keir A Lieber
and Daryl G Press (The Rise of US Nuclear Primacy), outline an
important shift in the balance of geo-political nuclear power.
America, they assert, is, for the first time in 50 years, on the
verge of obtaining nuclear primacy. 

With the end of the Cold War and its sustained mutually assured
destruction (MAD), not only has the US emerged as the world’s
dominant nuclear force — it will soon be able, according to the
writers, to destroy with a first strike the long-range nuclear
arsenals of both Russia and China. 

This is not to suggest that the Bush administration is
contemplating a nuclear strike against either country. What it
does suggest is that the US is preparing an offensive, not
defensive, posture to ensure that major world powers (as opposed
to mere rogue states) toe the American line. 

Russia and China would do well to take note. 

Washington increasingly views recent Russian behaviour at the
international level as signalling the beginning of the end of
Moscow’s rapprochement with the West. 

Russia and China have systematically thwarted US-led efforts at
the UNSC to reach a consensus on addressing the Iranian nuclear
threat. Both staunchly oppose economic sanctions and especially
a possible military strike against Tehran. 

It was this sustained joint opposition that led to a watering
down of a (US-backed) Franco-British draft UNSC text on Iran.
This is to say nothing of Russia’s flirtation with the idea of
issuing its own draft text to resolve the issue.

Equally irksome for Washington was Moscow’s hosting of Hamas
leaders at the beginning of March. It represented a de facto
recognition of a Palestinian government led by an organisation
the US called terrorist. Russia’s status as a member of the
Quartet sponsoring the US-backed roadmap to Middle Eastern peace
served only to rub salt in the US wound. 

Even more alarming for America has been a recent US military
report accusing Moscow of having provided Saddam Hussein
advanced notice of US military plans to invade Iraq in 2003.
That Russia has dismissed the allegations as politically
motivated further suggests that the US-Russian détente is fast
coming to an end. 

While China’s siding with Russia on the Iran issue has won it no
US favours, it is Beijing’s increasing political clout that the
US finds more troubling. When smaller SAARC members, led by
Nepal, signalled last year that they would support membership
for Afghanistan only on the condition that China got the
observer status it represented a robust counter-move against
Indian regional hegemony. It also demonstrated Beijing’s success
in making inroads into regions further afield than its immediate
backyard. 

Yet it is the dragon’s economic rise that represents the biggest
Chinese challenge to US authority. Estimates predict that
Beijing’s economy will overtake that of the US by 2040,
effectively posing a direct challenge to American superpower
status and therefore to US foreign policy designs. 

Does the world have any reason to fear the inclusion of new
members on the US watch list of states deemed to pose a threat
to American interests? Yes. Because this is perhaps the first
time since the end of the Cold War that America appears to be
targeting major international nuclear powers. Now those powers
are supporting Iran.

The next level of the Great Game has begun. 

Miranda Husain is a staff member 

Daily Times - All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
 14 AFP: Investigations continue into Pakistani nuclear scandal - US official - 

 Wed Apr 5, 11:13 AM ET 		 	 

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Investigations into a global underground
nuclear proliferation network headed by Pakistan's disgraced
scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan have not been abandoned, a top US
diplomat said. 

Pakistan is at the centre of probes into a nuclear black market
run by Khan, who confessed in 2004 to passing atomic secrets to
Iran" /> Iran, Libya and North Korea" /> North Korea. 

Pakistan has so far has not allowed any foreign organisation or
individual to question Khan, who was pardoned by military ruler
General Pervez Musharraf and now lives effectively under house
arrest. 

"It is an ongoing thing. We expect it to continue," Richard
Boucher, US assistant secretary of state for South and Central
Asian Affairs, told reporters at a press conference when asked
if the US is still seeking to speak to Khan. 

Boucher said that nuclear proliferation was an "ongoing problem"
and international community was working together to stop it. 

He noted that Pakistan had good relations with the United States
and the International Atomic Energy Agency" /> International
Atomic Energy Agency. 

The United Nations" /> United Nationsnuclear watchdog suspects
that Iran obtained centrifuges through the Khan network. 

Pakistan has developed its nuclear arsenal amid a half-century
standoff with its historic rival India. The neighbours have
already fought three wars and routinely carry out tests of
nuclear-capable missiles. 

Boucher has held talks with Musharraf and Foreign Minister
Khurshid Kasuri over boosting relations between the two
countries following a visit last month by US President George W.
Bush" /> President George W. Bush. 

Pakistan, a major US ally, has played a key role in combating
Al-Qaeda militants after the September 11, 2001 attacks. 

	 		 			
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 15 IRNA: UN stresses cleaning up landmines

 April 5, IRNA                                                                                                                  

From the front line of the battle against the deadly legacy of
landmines in Iraq and Sudan to command offices throughout the
world, the United Nations Tuesday marked the first International
Day dedicated to curbing the scourge with calls for a universal
ban and pleas for greater donor support in cleaning up these
remnants of war.

 The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) noted that from 3,000 to 4,000
children alone are killed or wounded by mines every year, with
the countries most affected including Angola, Cambodia,
Afghanistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina, a press release issued
by the UN Information Center (UNIC) said here Wednesday.

 "Decades after conflicts have receded, these invisible killers
lie silently in the ground, waiting to murder and maim. Through
them, 20th century battles claim 21st century victims, with new
casualties added every hour," Secretary-General Kofi Annan said
in a message on International Day for Mine Awareness and
Assistance in Mine Action.

 "The goal of a world without landmines and explosive remnants
of war appears achievable in years, not decades as we used to
think," he added, stressing the vital importance of the 1997
treaty banning anti-personnel landmines, which has 150 state
parties.

 "But to realize this ideal, every one of us - donors, the
general public and mine-affected countries - must focus our
energies, and our imaginations, on the cause of mine clearance.
Having been so effective in laying mines, we must now become
even better at clearing them.

 Each mine cleared may mean a life saved," he declared, calling
on governments to ratify the treaty.

 "The message is clear and must be heard: landmines have no
place in any civilized society," he added. In the heart of the
battle in Iraq, the UN Assistance Mission there (UNAMI) noted
the special meaning the day had for the inhabitants of the
war-torn country.

 "Not only do they face the challenge of living in a highly
volatile security situation, they also live amidst one of the
greatest concentrations of landmines, unexploded ordnance and
other explosive remnants of war (ERW) in the world, presenting a
threat to their lives and a barrier to reconstruction efforts,"
it said.

 Moreover, decades of war and conflict have left Iraq with a
serious contamination problem of ERW, some containing depleted
uranium.

 "Not only are civilians at risk of losing their lives or a limb
due to mines and ERW, but contamination also poses major
challenges to the implementation of relief, rehabilitation,
reconstruction and development projects," Annan's Deputy Special
representative Staffan de Mistura said.

 In Sudan, too, where an accord last year ended two decades of
vicious civil war in the south, the UN is facing similar
problems as it seeks to help some 4.5 million refugees and
internally displaced persons (IDPs) return to their homes.

 "Without demining of return routes and communities, refugees
and IDPs will not be able to come back or resume their life,"
Annan's Deputy Special Representative Manuel Aranda da Silva
said adding that without demining, reconstruction of roads,
schools, hospitals and any other post-war recovery and
development project cannot be implemented.

 More than 7,000 kilometres of roads still need to be verified
and cleared.

 From its headquarters in Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) underlined the enormous problems mines and ERW
pose for its work, noting that there were 84 countries in the
world affected by them, singling out South Sudan as a prime
example.

 "UNHCR is trying to get more involved in mine action as this is
key to our program on return to south Sudan," said Harry Leefe,
Mine Action Focal Point for the agency.

 "South Sudan is in a way competing with places such as
Afghanistan and Cambodia where the mine problem is also huge. So
donors do not necessarily see mine activities as a priority in
south Sudan, but they are crucial," he added.		 				 		 			

 			 			 				News sent: 12:17 Wednesday April 05, 2006 				Print
*****************************************************************
 16 TMI v. TMI-Alert Report Cards April 5, 2006
 
Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2006 14:56:44 -0700

<x-flowed>
  TMI-Alert's report card enclosed in PDF format.

  For more information contact: Eric Epstein at 717-541-1101

-----

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold its annual performance
assessment session with the operators of Three Mile Island at 7 tonight in
the Middletown Borough Building, 60 W. Emaus St.

----




NRC to Discuss 2005 Performance Assessment for Three Mile Island 1 Nuclear
Power Plant

KING OF PRUSSIA (March 30) -- Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet
with representatives of AmerGen Energy Co., LLC, on Wednesday, April 5, to
discuss the agency¹s annual assessment of safety performance at the Three
Mile Island 1 nuclear power plant. The period of performance to be discussed
is Jan. 1 to Dec.
31, 2005.

AmerGen operates the plant, which is located in Middletown, Pa.

The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled
to begin at 7 p.m. at Middletown Borough Hall, 60 W. Emaus St., Middletown.
Before the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer
questions from the public on the plant¹s safety performance, as well as the
agency¹s role in ensuring safe operation of the facility.

³As we do every year, we have carefully reviewed the safety performance of
the Three Mile Island 1 nuclear power plant during the previous calendar
year,² NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins said. ³The meeting on
April 5th will afford the public a chance to learn more about the results of
our assessment and to pose any questions they might have regarding plant
performance or our
oversight activities.²

A letter sent from the NRC Region I Office to plant officials addresses the
performance of the plant during the period and will serve as the basis for
the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at:
www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/tmi_2005q4.pdf .

The meeting notice, with the meeting agenda attached, is available in the
NRC¹s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under
accession number ML060750799. The NRC slides for the meeting can be found
under accession number ML060750803. ADAMS is accessible via the agency¹s web
site at: www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html . Help in using ADAMS is
available by contacting the NRC¹s Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or
301-415-4737, or by e-mail at PDR@NRC.GOV .

Overall, Three Mile Island 1 operated safely during the period. The NRC uses
color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess nuclear
power plant performance. The colors start with ³green² and then increase to
³white,² ³yellow² or ³red,² commensurate with the safety significance of the
issues involved.

All of the performance indicators for Three Mile Island 1 were ³green²
during 2005. With regard to inspection findings, they were all ³green² with
the exception of a ³white² finding identified in the second quarter of last
year. That finding involved some members of the plant¹s emergency response
organization not completing required annual classroom training.

The NRC confirmed during the initial inspection that the company had begun
to take actions to address the issue. NRC then conducted a supplemental
inspection during the week of Feb. 27, 2006, to determine if the issue had
been addressed. The results will be issued within a few weeks. The finding
will remain open at least through the first quarter of this year.

Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to
the plant and by specialists from the Region I Office in King of Prussia,
Pa., and the agency¹s headquarters in Rockville, Md. Among the areas of
plant operations to be inspected during the next year by NRC specialists are
problem identification and resolution, emergency planning and radiological
safety.

Current performance information for Three Mile Island 1 is available on the
NRC web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/TMI1/tmi1_chart.html .

News Briefs  || News by Subject || Week in Review || DEP Home || PA Home
Copyright © 2004
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection
DEP Press Office Contact: Susan Rickens, Editor
P.O. Box 2063, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2063
(717) 787-1323
All Rights Reserved






</x-flowed>

Attachment Converted: "c:\program files\eudora\attach\TMI ROP Card.pdf"
*****************************************************************
 17 [NukeNet] Stop Exelon's Energy Takeover
 
Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2006 14:57:14 -0700

<x-flowed>
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)



Coalition for Peace and Justice; UNPLUG Salem Campaign, 321 Barr Ave,
Linwood; NJ08221; 609-601-8583

-----Original Message-----
From: unplugsalem-announce@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:unplugsalem-announce@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
ncohen12@comcast.net
Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 1:05 PM
To: unplugsalem-announce@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [unplugsalem-announce] Stop Exelon's Energy Takeover

Hi,

Ask the NJ BPU to Stop Exelon's Energy Takeover at the following web site -

http://njpirg.org/NJ.asp?id=1519&id4=TAFsent

****************

This message is being sent to you by a friend. If you have received this
note in error, we apologize.








*****************************************************************
 18 SABCnews.com: Eskom finally receives rotor from France                                                                        

South African Broadcasting Corporation Copyright © 2000 - 2005 

The long awaited nuclear power station rotor is finally in Cape 
Town                                                                            

April 05, 2006, 17:45
 				
The long-awaited Koeberg Nuclear Power Station rotor is finally 
in Cape Town. The 200 tonne rotor arrived from France this 
afternoon and will help fix the generator that was damaged during 
a routine maintenance last year. The mechanism will be 
instrumental in solving Koeberg's power cut problems, but Western 
Cape residents should brace themselves for further outages.
 
Rolling blackouts has been the order of the day in recent months
in the city. This has been a result of a damaged bolt on the
Unit one generator, but the arrival of this rotor is a light at
the end of the tunnel.
 
The rotor is expected to be fitted by the middle of May, but
Eskom warns that there is still a need for power saving as
winter approaches. It plans to only have full power restored to
the Western Cape by the end of July, Eskom added. 				

*****************************************************************
 19 News24: Koeberg rotor arrives

Cape Town - The giant rotor needed to get one of the Koeberg
nuclear power station's two reactors back on line arrived in
Cape Town harbour on Wednesday to a VIP welcome. 

The 200-ton rotor was brought from Europe by the navy's SAS
Drakensberg, in a container held down by shackles welded to the
vessel's helicopter flight deck. 

The rotor is on loan from French electricity company Electricite
de France (EDF), and will be returned once the original rotor -
damaged along with other components by a loose bolt left in a
generator after routine maintenance - has been repaired. 

The Drakensberg, a supply ship, was diverted from a mission
escorting the first of South Africa's new submarines from
Germany to Simon's Town, to pick up the 20m part at Antwerp - in
an operation the navy dubbed "Khanyisa", or "bringing light". 

According to the navy, the rotor weighs half as much as one of
its strike craft, or a quarter the weight of a Daphne class
submarine. 



"We've never carried anything like this," said Rear Admiral
Rusty Higgs. 

As the ship berthed on Wednesday afternoon, it carried a
hand-painted banner tied to one side that said: "Going the extra
mile to light up your lives". 

It was a welcome message for residents of the Western Cape, who
have had to live with regular power cuts since Koeberg's unit
one went down in December last year. 

Saving electricity 

However, Eskom chief executive Thulani Gcabashe told a welcoming
ceremony on board the vessel that the province would still have
to save about 400 megawatts of electricity at peak periods. 

He said that as soon as unit one was back on line, scheduled for
May 15, unit two would be shut down for refuelling. 

Only towards the end of July would both units be operating at
full power again. 

Thanking the navy, the French government and EDF, he said:
"Today is certainly a pleasant occasion. It's good when a
partnership comes together." 

The cost of the whole shipping exercise would be "fairly
minimal", he said, noting that the rotor had not been purchased. 

Also at the ceremony were Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool,
Cape Town mayor Helen Zille, the chief of the navy, Vice-Admiral
Refiloe Mudimu, and French ambassador Jean Felix-Paganon. 

Felix-Paganon said: "I invite you to see this huge piece of
equipment as a token of the friendship of the French people for
the people of South Africa." 

Zille said: "It's quite some spare part. 

"We're delighted to be able to get this. It has been a small
miracle." 

Eskom says that over the next few days the rotor will be
unloaded from the Drakensberg and taken by road on a 12-axle
flat-bed trailer to Koeberg. 			

*****************************************************************
 20 Bradenton Herald: Plans raise nuclear concerns

| 04/05/2006 | 

Opposition says a new plant would pose too many risks

 MICHAEL BARBER Herald Staff Writer 

MANATEE - A new nuclear power plant could be in Florida's
future. 

Florida Power &Light Co. has filed a letter-of-intent with the
federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission indicating it plans to
file an application to build a nuclear plant. 

Filing of the letter-of-intent is just the first step in an
arduous process that could last more than a decade, according to
Rachel Scott, spokeswoman for FPL. 

At this point, FPL has not assessed potential sites for a new
nuclear plant, Scott said. No nuclear reactor has been ordered
for construction in the United States since 1973. 

"We are overly dependent on natural gas and of course the costs
of natural gas is skyrocketing which impacts customer bills
significantly," said Scott, explaining FPL's rationale for
pursing another nuclear power plant in Florida. 

"We have more than 30 years of operating experience with nuclear
power and we have a good record of safe and reliable
operations," Scott said. "In addition, we think it's very
important to diversify our fuel mix as much as possible." 

Natural gas makes up 42 percent of FPL's current fuel mix;
nuclear power accounts for 19 percent; oil 17 percent; coal 5
percent and 19 percent is purchased from sources outside FPL. 

The availability of natural gas can be compromised, Scott said.
The gas, which is pumped in via pipelines from states like Texas
and Louisiana, has been disrupted during each of the last two
years due to hurricanes and tropical storms. 

Despite the economic or availability concerns of large utility
companies, opponents claim cultivating nuclear energy is too
risky. 

"We have a number of concerns regarding any increase in the use
of nuclear energy in Florida," said Glenn Compton, chairman of
ManaSota-88, a nonprofit public health and environmental
organization. "There are too many inherent dangers to public
safety and national security that go along with the use of
nuclear power." 

From problems associated with storing nuclear waste to nuclear
plants becoming targets for terrorists attacks, Compton claimed
nuclear power was not worth the risk. 

"It only takes one accident to make it catastrophic," Compton
said. "That's not a risk the citizens of Florida should be
willing to take." 

Based in Juno Beach, FPL Group Inc. provides electricity to 4.3
million homes and businesses. The company said it expects to
begin adding about 100,000 customers a year, and will need to
increase the amount of power it produces by 27 percent during
the next decade. 

FPL, the state's largest electrical utility provider, already
has four nuclear reactors in Florida: two at its Turkey Point
plant in Miami-Dade County and two at its St. Lucie plant. 

Another nuclear power plant located near Crystal River is owned
by Progress Energy-Florida, according to Progress Energy's Web
site. 

Although FPL appears a long way from selecting a site, Scott did
give some criteria that a future site would need to be
considered. 

The next site would have to be close to a sufficient water
source, there would have to be at least 2,000 acres of open land
and it would have to be near an area with substantial customer
growth. 

"I would not be surprised if this area (Manatee and DeSoto
counties) was proposed as a site for a nuclear power plant,"
Compton said. 

Mel Klein, local spokesman for FPL, said it's too early to
speculate on possible sites and that the criteria could probably
apply to almost all of the 30-plus counties serviced by FPL. 

"It's premature for any area to start thinking it's going to be
here," Klein said. "It's way too early for that kind of
thinking." 

*****************************************************************
 21 Beacon Journal: Trial delayed for 3 in Davis-Besse case

| 04/05/2006 | 

A delay has been granted in the trial of two former FirstEnergy
employees and a contractor who worked at Davis-Besse nuclear
power plant when a hole was developing in the reactor. 

David Geisen and Andrew Siemaszko, former FirstEnergy employees,
and Rodney Cook, a contractor the utility hired, are to be tried
in Toledo; a date has not been set. 

The three are named in a five-count federal indictment that
accuses them of lying to Nuclear Regulatory Commission
inspectors and withholding information from the government about
inspection results and procedures. 

U.S. Magistrate Vernelis K. Armstrong in Toledo granted the
delay after prosecutors said the case is too complicated to
secure a speedy trial for the three men. Prosecutors said more
than 20,000 documents are involved. The next deadline for filing
motions is May 24. 

Wooster firm buys into MSC Software 

TechniGraphics, a data-capturing service in Wooster, has bought
assets of MSC Software Corp. 

The acquisition includes certain assets of the Santa Ana,
Calif., company's product lifestyle management business. 

Dee Vaidya, president and CEO of TechniGraphics, said the deal
allows his company to diversify and expand in the North American
engineering and rapid prototyping services markets. Terms of the
transaction were not disclosed. 

Wal-Mart to build in struggling areas 

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., often accused by critics of harming local
businesses, said Tuesday it plans to build more than 50 stores
in struggling urban neighborhoods over the next two years to
create jobs and help small establishments. 

Chief Executive Lee Scott said the new stores will generate
between 15,000 and 25,000 jobs in neighborhoods with high rates
of crime or unemployment, on sites that are environmentally
contaminated, or in vacant buildings or malls in need of
revitalization. 

Ten of those stores will anchor ``Wal-Mart Jobs and Opportunity
Zones'' that will help local businesses -- especially minority
and female-run enterprises -- with free advertising, grants to
local chambers of commerce and seminars and advice on doing
business near Wal-Mart and with Wal-Mart. 

Akron company to buy British firm 

The Smithers Group, a testing, consulting and contract research
organization based in Akron, said Tuesday it has closed a deal
to buy the British company Rapra Technology and make it a wholly
owned subsidiary. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

*****************************************************************
 22 San Luis Obispo Tribune: Force-on-force drill tested Diablo security

| 04/05/2006 | 

Watchdog report questions improvements against terror attacks at
nation’s nuclear plants

 By David Sneed The Tribune 

dsneed@thetribunenews.com

Diablo Canyon is one of only 27 nuclear power plants to have
undergone a force-on-force drill since the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks in which security experts simulate an attack
on the plant and grade the security force on how well it thwarts
the attackers. 

"They try to get into the plant and get past our officers and
barriers," plant spokesman Jeff Lewis said. "Our goal is to stop
them." 

The terrorist attacks brought about major security improvements
at the nation’s 103 nuclear reactors, including Diablo Canyon.
But a federal report released Monday shows that some members of
Congress and critics of the nuclear industry are not satisfied. 

The report from the Government Accountability Office, the
federal watchdog agency, acknowledged the many security
enhancements but concluded that the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission relied too heavily on input from the nuclear industry
when it recently developed new security requirements. 

Nuclear industry officials say it was reasonable to ask them for
input because any new security requirements can affect plant
operations. The GAO recommends that an NRC office, separate from
the one that assesses plant security, handle industry feedback. 

Since the 2001 attacks, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has spent
$30 million implementing NRC-mandated security improvements at
Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, Lewis said. 

They fall into four major areas: doubling the number of armed
guards and improving their training; bigger barriers to stop
bomb-carrying vehicles before they can reach the plant; building
reinforcements; and installation of more security technology. 

Nuclear power critics say plants still suffer from several
weaknesses, said David Lochbaum, a nuclear expert with the Union
of Concerned Scientists. 

They want spent fuel assemblies removed from storage pools after
five years and placed in dry casks to reduce the likelihood of a
pool fire. The NRC does not require this and no nuclear plant
plans on accelerating the transfer of spent fuel out of the
pools in that manner. 

They also want the NRC to require that additional steps be taken
to prevent employees from sabotaging the plant or stealing
radioactive material. This could be done by requiring employees
to work in pairs in some parts of the plant and installing
surveillance cameras in others. 

"That wouldn’t eliminate the threat of sabotage and theft, but
it limits it to a conspiracy," Lochbaum said. 

Lewis said that level of detail about plant security is
classified but the utility will implement whatever security
upgrades are required of it. 

"It’s really not up to us to determine those things," he said.
"The NRC regulates us." 

David Sneed can be reached at 781-7930. 
*****************************************************************
 23 AP Wire: Leaks from Exelon nuclear plant worry nearby residents, prompt 
debate on notification

| 04/05/2006 | 

 KAREN HAWKINS Associated Press 

GODLEY, Ill. - Terry and Colleen Chastain don't want anything to
do with their tap water - not since hearing that millions of
gallons of radioactive water have leaked from an Exelon Nuclear
plant nearby. 

The couple and their children use bottled water to brush their
teeth and make coffee. Colleen wishes they could afford to use
bottled water for bathing, too. 

"It makes me sick every time I have to bathe my 4-year-old," she
said. "It makes me want to puke." 

Their tiny Will County village of 600 shares a border with the
Braidwood Generating Station, a plant 60 miles southwest of
Chicago that has sent tritium-tainted water into the ground in
several leaks dating back to 1996. 

Exelon officials have assured residents that the levels of
tritium are not a health or safety threat. The utility company
says it plans to remove tritium from groundwater near the
Braidwood station, which it will discuss Thursday night at a
community meeting in nearby Wilmington. 

The company said it is also providing up to 20 gallons of
bottled water a week to about 420 Godley homes until tests
confirm no detectable tritium exists in their wells. 

Still, about two dozen families have sued Exelon Corp. over the
leaks, while the Illinois attorney general's office and the Will
County state's attorney filed a lawsuit against the company last
month seeking $36.5 million in fines and damages. 

Tritium is a radioactive form of hydrogen commonly found in
ground water but more concentrated in water used in nuclear
reactors. 

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, exposure
to tritium increases the risk of developing cancer. But the
agency also calls tritium one of the least dangerous of the
so-called radioactive nuclides (other examples are uranium and
radon) because it emits weak radiation and leaves the body
relatively quickly. 

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the
tritium levels around Braidwood are well below what federal
guidelines allow for drinking water. "Right now, there is not a
concern about health effects," said health department
spokeswoman Melanie Arnold. 

But a group critical of the nuclear industry, the Nuclear
Information and Resource Service, accuses Exelon of trivializing
potential health consequences, saying "there is no safe dose -
however low - of radiation." 

Godley is not the only community grappling with the issue.
Several nuclear power plants nationwide have recently reported
tritium leaks, including the country's largest nuclear power
plant - the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of
Phoenix. 

Test wells dug near the Indian Point nuclear complex, about 30
miles north of New York City, also yielded tritium. A total of
three of Illinois' 11 nuclear plants have had tritium leaks. 

Spills dating back to 1996 at Braidwood were disclosed after the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency pressured Exelon
Nuclear to test for contamination. 

The spills resulted from malfunctioning valves on an underground
pipe that carries water with tritium to the Kankakee River,
where it is legally dumped. 

During two separate leaks in 1998 and 2000, the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission estimates at least three million gallons
of tritium-laced water were released from Braidwood each time. 

Yet it wasn't until December 2005 that Exelon made public the
details of the Braidwood leaks. The company has subsequently
revealed tritium also has leaked from plants in Dresden and
Byron. 

The Exelon leaks prompted the NRC to investigate all the state's
plants. Illinois' 11 nuclear plants - all operated by Exelon -
are the most of any state. 

Federal law does not require state and local officials to be
notified of any accidental radioactive substance releases that
may occur if those releases do not immediately rise to the level
of public health or safety emergency. 

But that could change. 

U.S. Sens. Richard Durbin and Barack Obama and U.S. Rep. Jerry
Weller, all of Illinois, have introduced federal legislation
that would require nuclear companies to inform state and local
officials about such leaks. 

And state lawmakers have sent legislation to Gov. Rod
Blagojevich requiring owners of Illinois nuclear power plants to
report radioactive substance leaks to state agencies. A
Blagojevich spokeswoman said the governor plans to sign it into
law. 

Exelon officials admit the company should have handled news of
the spills better, but point to a Web site detailing
developments, private-wells testing and meetings with homeowners
as new signs of openness. 

The company has plans under way to clean up groundwater
containing radioactive tritium, which will be discussed at the
community forum. The cleanup, which could begin in the next
month, could take a year or longer to complete. 

Exelon officials acknowledge that Godley has poor water quality,
but insist that a low table and sandy soil, not the company, are
to blame. Previous well testing has revealed no tritium but
instead found contaminants including bacteria and fertilizers,
said Exelon Nuclear spokesman Craig Nesbit. 

"We are not to blame for that water quality, it predates the
plant. The bottom line is no one has dealt with it," Nesbit
said. "But these people live right besides the plant, and when
it's a problem for them, it's a problem for us." 

Therefore, the company has offered to help government agencies
pay for a public water system for Godley, Nesbit said. 

Godley Village President Michael Valeriano says that offer
doesn't go far enough. 

"No state and federal funds, at all, should be used to support a
clean water drinking system for us," he said. "Our good
neighbors need to ensure that we have a clean, safe environment
to live in, which is why we live in a rural community, a nice
quiet place." 

And while some residents are too afraid of contamination to even
brush their teeth with tap water, others are so sure the
facility is safe they're catching and eating fish from
Braidwood's cooling lake. 

The 2,536-acre man-made lake was formed to provide water to cool
the plant. The company leases the lake to the Illinois
Department of Natural Resources. 

Lynette Thomas, of Bolingbrook, was one of dozens of anglers
patiently waiting recently for tugs on their lines. 

She said she takes the catfish she catches and gives it to her
friends and family and she isn't worried about potential
contamination from the lake - or its fish. 

"If they thought we were really in danger, they'd close the
whole place down," she said of Exelon. "At least, I hope they
would." 

--- 

Exelon: 

Exelon's Braidwood site: 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission: 

Will County: 

Nuclear Information and Resource Service:
*****************************************************************
 24 Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Concerns about nuclear reactors

Today: April 05, 2006 at 7:57:17 PDT 
 
Federal auditors say changes in security policies needed to
better protect plants

A report released by government auditors Tuesday says the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission - after consulting with those who
work in the nuclear industry Â­- diluted its revisions to
anti-terrorism security measures for reactors. 

The Government Accountability Office, which investigates federal
programs for Congress, said the regulatory commission's staff
made the changes "after obtaining feedback from stakeholders,
including the nuclear industry, which objected to certain
proposed changes such as the inclusion of certain weapons." 

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks had prompted the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to upgrade security measures at its 103
reactors in April 2003. Those revisions were made using a
"generally logical and well-defined process" that drew
recommendations from those who are trained in assessing
terrorist threats. The resulting policy required nuclear power
plants to plan for defending themselves against larger numbers
of attackers, larger vehicle bombs and an expanded list of
weapons. 

The GAO says some security improvements were made, such as
adding security officers and upgrading detection equipment. But
other elements - such as the inclusion of certain weapons - were
altered after consulting stakeholders that included nuclear
industry officials. And that has "created the appearance that
changes were made based on what the industry considered
reasonable and feasible to defend against rather than on an
assessment of the terrorist threat itself," the GAO says. 

The GAO has recommended - correctly, in our view - that the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission improve its process for revising
security measures. Making it easier on the nuclear industry is
not the objective. The primary goal should be taking all
possible precautions to prevent terrorists from unleashing
radioactive material into nearby communities. 

All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 25 JOURNAL NEWS: Lawmakers don't like nuke review plans, will push for more

By GREG CLARY gclary@lohud.com

(Original publication: April 5, 2006)

A federal regulator's promise to conduct an in-depth review of
Indian Point falls short of what Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and
other lawmakers want, so they will continue pushing for a more
comprehensive evaluation.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Nils Diaz told Clinton at
a Senate hearing last month that the agency would conduct a
"thorough, independent review" of the nuclear plants.

In a recent letter to Clinton, he outlined the details of that
review, which includes separate seven-week inspections of Indian
Point 2 and 3 next year. Diaz said a more in-depth review is not
warranted.

Indian Point has had problems in the past year from emergency
siren network failure and plant shutdowns to the discovery of
tritium and strontium 90, two radioactive isotopes leaking
underneath the Buchanan site.

Clinton, D-N.Y., disagreed with Diaz in a letter she sent him,
released yesterday by her office.

"In my view the engineering safety assessment you have proposed
is a step forward, but it does not fully address the range of
concerns that prompted the calls for an (independent safety
assessment)," Clinton wrote, adding that she is introducing a
Senate bill that would require that, as detailed in similar
legislation already under consideration by the House of
Representatives.

Those involved in the House bill welcomed Clinton's help.

"I'm pleased that Sen. Clinton will be carrying our bill in the
Senate," said Rep. Sue Kelly, R-Katonah, who joined with
Democrats Nita Lowey, Eliot Engel and Maurice Hinchey last month
in sponsoring the bill. "A more prompt and more thorough
inspection of the plant than what the NRC is proposing will
better assure safe operations."

Neil Sheehan of the commission said his agency had committed to
700 extra hours of inspection for each reactor and state
agencies are welcome to observe or participate in the inspection.

"We intend to perform separate engineering team inspections at
Indian Point 2 and 3 next year," Sheehan said. "We will also
continue to devote considerable time and effort to emergency
planning."

Indian Point officials said the company would let regulators and
lawmakers sort out what would be required of the plants' owners.

"Whatever is ultimately decided, we're prepared to meet or
exceed our regulatory obligations," Indian Point spokesman Jim
Steets said.

Copyright 2006 The Journal News, a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper
serving Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties in New York.
Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms 
*****************************************************************
 26 NRC: NRC to Discuss 2005 Performance at Crystal River Nuclear Plant
 
News Release - Region II - 2006-01
 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

Office of Public Affairs, Region II
  No. II-06-012   		        April 4, 2006   
  CONTACT:     Ken Clark (404) 562-4416
 Roger D. Hannah (404) 562-4417     E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov  
  

the agencys assessment of safety performance last year at the
Crystal River nuclear power plant, located on the west coast of
Florida about 80 miles north of Tampa. 

The meeting, which is open to the public, is scheduled to begin
at 1:00 p.m. at the Crystal River Nuclear Operations Training
Facility, 8200 West Venable Street. The NRC staff will present
the results of the assessment and be available to respond to
questions or comments from the public before the close of the
meeting. 

The NRC continually reviews the performance of the Crystal River
plant and the nations other commercial nuclear power facilities,
NRC Region II Administrator William Travers said. This meeting
is a chance for us to discuss that safety performance with the
company, with local officials and with people living near the
plant. 

A letter sent from the NRC Region II Office to plant officials
addresses the performance of the plant during the period and
will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is
available on the NRC web site at
www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/cr_2005q4.pdf [PDF
Icon] . 

The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance
indicators to assess nuclear plant performance. The colors start
with green and then increase to white, yellow or red, depending
on the safety significance of the issues involved. 

The NRC said the Crystal River plant operated safely during 2005
with all inspection findings being green, or very low safety
significance, and all performance indicators also indicating
performance at levels requiring no additional NRC oversight
during the first, second and fourth quarters. However, during
the third quarter of 2005, the NRC identified a white fire
protection issue involving cables and manual operator actions to
deal with certain scenarios that were found to be unfeasible.
Progress Energy took corrective actions and a supplemental
inspection in January of this year found no further significant
issues. 

As a result, the NRC plans to conduct only routine baseline
inspections at the plant during 2006. The NRC staff will also
perform a non-routine inspection of a generic concern at
pressurized water reactors related to possible blockage of
containment building sumps. 

Routine inspections are performed by NRC Resident Inspectors
assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the
Region II Office in Atlanta, and the agencys headquarters in
Rockville, Md. 

Current information for the Crystal River plant is available on
the NRC web site at:
www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/CR3/cr3_chart.html.   



  


 	Last revised Tuesday, April 04, 2006 	   
*****************************************************************
 27 Belfast Telegraph: Life returns to Chernobyl

 The world's worst nuclear accident created a radiation-soaked
wasteland. But nature has pushed its way through the cracked
concrete, as Andrew Osborn reports.
 
by Steve Connor 05 April 2006 	

 Less than a mile from what is left of Chernobyl's ill-fated
fourth reactor, a pair of elks is grazing nonchalantly on land
irradiated by the world's worst nuclear accident. In nearby
Pripyat, an eerie husk of a town where 50,000 people used to
live before they were forced to flee on a terrifying afternoon
in 1986, a Soviet urban landscape is rapidly giving way to wild
European woodland. 

Radiation levels remain far too high for human habitation but
the abandoned town is filled with birdsong and the gurgling of
streams forged by melting snow. Nobody thought it possible at
the time but 20 years after the reactor exploded on 26 April
1986, during an ill-conceived "routine" Soviet experiment,
Chernobyl's radiation-soaked "dead zone" is not looking so dead
after all. 

The zone - an area with a radius of 18 miles in modern-day
Ukraine - lives on in the popular imagination as a
post-apocalyptic wasteland irreparably poisoned with strontium
and caesium that would make a perfect setting for the next Mad
Max movie. It is a corner of Europe associated with death and
alarming yet nebulous stories of genetic mutation, a
post-nuclear badland that shows what happens when mankind gets
atomic energy wrong. 

The reality, at least on the surface, is starkly different from
the mythology, however. The almost complete absence of human
activity in large swaths of the zone during the past two decades
has given the area's flora and fauna a chance to first recover
and then - against all the odds - to flourish. It is a paradox
that has disturbed opponents of nuclear power who point to the
appalling, still unknown, human cost of the tragedy and the
terrifying invisible pollution that looks likely to blight the
area for centuries. 

That something remotely good could come of something so
obviously awful does not fit with orthodox thinking about
nuclear power and its all too apparent risks. The picture is
further complicated by the fact that the true human cost of the
tragedy and the damage wreaked on people's health by the
radioactive cloud emitted after the explosion may never be fully
known. 

Estimates of human fatalities, both direct and indirect, vary
wildly, from 41 in the immediate aftermath to tens of thousands
in the years that followed. It is estimated that five million
people were exposed to radiation in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia
and that the radiation fallout - equivalent to 400 Hiroshimas -
triggered an epidemic of thyroid cancer that has yet to abate. 

Doctors claim convincingly that cancer rates are far higher than
they were before 1986 and that thousands of Ukrainians and
people in neighbouring Belarus (worse affected than Ukraine
because of the wind direction at the time) may have died
prematurely as a result. 

In the dead zone's so-called Red Forest, a pine forest that took
the brunt of the radioactive explosion, radiation levels today
can be as high as one roentgen, more than 50,000 times normal
background levels. 

Elsewhere, however, levels are much lower - to the point where
large animals such as elks, wild horses and wild boars appear to
be enjoying normal life spans. It is an unlikely scenario that
has begotten another improbable development - the arrival of a
trickle of intrepid eco-tourists who come to marvel at an area
that some, controversially, claim is one of Europe's most
promising wildlife havens. 

Astonishingly, most of the animals, with the exception of the
herds of wild Przewalski's horses brought in to gnaw on
radioactive grass to guard against forest fires, appear to have
returned to the zone of their own accord. The most recent count
by the authorities showed that the zone (including a larger
contaminated area in neighbouring Belarus) is home to 66
different species of mammals, including 7,000 wild boar, 600
wolves, 3,000 deer, 1,500 beavers, 1,200 foxes, 15 lynx and
several thousand elks. 

The area was also estimated to be home to 280 species of birds,
many of them rare and endangered. Breeding birds include the
rare green crane, black stork, white-tailed sea eagle and fish
hawk. Wild dogs are also in evidence, though they are prime
targets for wolves, a detail that prompted the American thriller
writer Martin Cruz Smith to call his latest novel, which is
partly set in the zone, Wolves Eat Dogs. 

The only animal that appears not to have made a comeback is the
bear. But ecologists say the return of large predators such as
wolves is a sure sign that things are moving in the right
direction. 

Sergey Franchuk, a guide and local expert who has been
associated with the area since 1982, says he believes the
radiation has purified the soil in an inexplicable way. "We
think that the land has been cleansed," he says, pointing up a
long, straight road flanked with pine forests that later give
way to silver birch forests straight from the pages of Boris
Pasternak's Dr Zhivago. 

"Nature is flourishing here, even more so than it was before the
accident. When Viktor Yushchenko [the Ukrainian President] came
here last year, he even suggested turning the area into a nature
reserve. That gives you an idea of what is happening here." What
Sergey doesn't mention is that Mr Yushchenko simultaneously
floated the idea of turning the exclusion zone into a dump for
foreign nuclear waste. 

Anywhere else, such a plan would have ecologists up in arms but
here some nature-lovers - who seem to regard radiation much in
the same way as keen gardeners in the West regard manure - think
it is nothing to fret about. "(If it happened) it would not take
up a huge amount of territory," says Mary Mycio, author of
Wormwood Forest, a book that describes itself as a natural
history of Chernobyl. 

Ms Mycio, an American foreign correspondent in the area, and a
biologist, was one of the first people to begin cataloguing
nature's unlikely comeback in Chernobyl and has made 24
different trips to the dead zone. 

"On the surface," she says, "radiation is very good for wildlife
because it forces people to leave the contaminated area. They
removed 135,000 people from an area twice the size of
Luxembourg. The people there now carry out very localised
activities and in vast regions of the zone there are no people.
It is a radioactive wilderness and it is thriving." 

Hunting and fishing in the dead zone is prohibited for obvious
reasons and according to Mr Franchuk there are only 337
squatters - people who obstinately refused to be resettled -
living in the zone. The vast majority of these settlers are
elderly and though many of them talk about radiation as if it
were about as harmful as rain, none of them lives in the heart
of the dead zone, a six-mile exclusion area that even they dare
not inhabit. 

A small army of about 6,500 nuclear workers comes in and out of
the zone on temporary assignments to try to patch up the cracked
sarcophagus that covers the stricken reactor, but none of them
is a permanent resident. Their impact on the environment is so
minimal that even the cooling ponds of the power station are
said to teem with fish. 

Ms Mycio argues that something good has come out of something
bad. "The sight of wild horses here is moving. I saw a wolf in
broad daylight once, and the bird-watching is excellent." She
admits, however, that some scientists question what is happening
to flora and fauna at a cellular and genetic level. 

The few studies that have been done have exposed minor genetic
changes in small animals and birds such as mice and barn
swallows, including depressed fertility. But Ms Mycio argues
that animals are adapting to living with radiation and are even
building up a resistance to it. She insists there is no serious
evidence of animals mutating in the zone. 

"Nature's law is the survival of the fittest. In the wild,
mutants die. And if they do survive, they are like the partly
albino swallows that appeared in the early years after the
disaster. They were not considered attractive and found it hard
to mate, so their mutations didn't pass on to future
generations." 

Sergey Franchuk, a self-confessed optimist, is among the many
who believe that animals sense whether the land they live on is
poisoned or not. He sees their return to Chernobyl as evidence
that the eco-system is rapidly cleansing itself, a state of
affairs he believes could see people moving back to parts of the
zone within 15 years. 

Others think that it will be centuries and warn that if humans
do return to the zone in significant numbers, the area's unique
flora and fauna will be put at risk. 

In the aftermath of the accident, many trees and plants were
killed outright by radiation and it seemed as if nothing would
grow again in their place. But the abandoned settlements of
Chernobyl appear to have become the site of an unlikely
renaissance. 

The town of Pripyat, just two miles from reactor number four, is
a case in point. Before the accident it was a model Soviet town
populated by power-station workers, its shiny concrete tower
blocks, crowned by giant steel Soviet emblems, symbolic of a
bright atomic future. Its creches, shops, and apartments were
regarded as the best the USSR could offer. Now its central Lenin
Square is a shadow of its former self. 

Trees encroach on its public spaces, steps are carpeted in grass
and moss. As the winter snow melts, the paving stones become a
shallow river bed, as water runs into a drainage system that has
long since ceased to be serviced. And as the concrete cracks,
nature advances. In one of the eerie children's play areas, the
only sound is cheerful birdsong. Branches spread across what
used to be an enclosure for bumper cars, a giant Ferris wheel
stands idle, and trees and weeds press in on every side. In
another 20 years it may be hard to discern the town's features
at all. 

In the village of Illintsi, Maria Shaparenko, 82, one of the
stubborn resettlers, claims Chernobyl was always a beautiful
area and that nothing has really changed. "It's very nice here
in summer, everything blooms. In fact nothing is wrong here,
it's just that people have been scared off by the radiation."
Outside in her yard a cockerel crows, and for a minute, it seems
like Chernobyl really is like anywhere else. 

But a few doors away, Roman Yushchenko, an old man riddled with
cancer, is turning black beside a chamber pot of his own
blood-red urine. 

Chernobyl may have turned into a sanctuary for flora and fauna.
For human beings it remains less welcoming. 

Scientists divided over radiation and regeneration 

When top predators such as wolves and eagles return to a damaged
habitat, it is a sure sign that the ecosystem is once again
healthy and vibrant. For several years, ecologists have reported
many sightings of rare species within the Chernobyl exclusion
zone which are hardly ever seen in other parts of Europe. 

Robert Baker, a biologist at Texas Tech University who has made
more than a dozen scientific excursions into the zone, said the
diversity of wildlife around the stricken plant was what might
be expected in a nature park dedicated to conservation. 

"The benefit of excluding humans from this highly contaminated
ecosystem appears to outweigh significantly any negative cost
associated with Chernobyl radiation," Dr Baker said. 

In a comprehensive assessment of the damage caused by the
Chernobyl accident, the British ecologists Jim Smith and Nick
Beresford point out that radiation levels considered potentially
dangerous to humans have little if any effect on wildlife. 

"Nearly 20 years after the accident there is some (often
contradictory) evidence of continuing radiation damage to
organisms, but this appears to be relatively minor (although
poorly understood)," they say in their book, Chernobyl -
Catastrophe and Consequences. 

"Radiation is considered to be a risk to humans when there is a
small, but significant, probability of cancer induction in later
life. Though cancer induction in animals is possible, a small
additional cancer risk does not affect wild populations as a
whole. Animals in the wild are less prone to cancer than human
populations. They are most likely to be killed by natural
predators or starvation before they reach an age at which cancer
risk increases," they say. 

Not all scientists accept this assessment. Anders Moller and
Timothy Mousseau studied swallows in the exclusion zone and
found they carry a significantly higher level of "germline"
mutations in their sperm and eggs compared to swallows
elsewhere. 

"Our work indicates that the worst is yet to come in the human
population. The consequences for generations down the line could
be greater than we've seen so far," said Dr Mousseau, a biology
professor at the University of South Carolina. 	  Back  | Return
           
© 2006 Independent News and Media (NI) 
*****************************************************************
 28 Irish Examiner: Energy crisis may force State nuclear 
 
  [Martin Cronin - Forfas] 05/04/06 

By Brian O’Mahony, Chief Business Correspondent

IRELAND may be forced to consider the nuclear energy option to
meet growing energy demands for electricity, a major report by
Forfás concludes. 

While not official policy, the revived interest in Britain in
nuclear energy would “provide an important context for Ireland’s
electricity options in the next five to 15 years”, said the
report. 

However, a Department of Marine, Communications and Natural
Resources spokesperson said nuclear energy is not on the agenda.

This could only happen if Ireland’s interconnection with Britain
increased substantially. 

The report, entitled A Baseline Assessment of Ireland’s Oil
Dependence, pointed out the Economic and Social Research
Institute, in an earlier report, dismissed the nuclear option on
the grounds of cost. 

If however, we had greater supply channels to Britain, the
building of a nuclear plant could be justified in that context,
the Forfás report concludes. 

It also noted our dependence on oil was higher than any other EU
country and warned we were highly vulnerable to oil shock
triggered by rising prices or oil shortages. 

One of the key findings was: “Ireland is more dependent on
imported oil for our transport and energy requirements than
almost every other European country and it will take up to 10
years to significantly reduce this dependence.” 

It warns also that our ability to continue attracting high
levels of foreign direct investment will depend on the country’s
capacity to deliver a secure and uninterrupted energy supply at
competitive prices. 

Speaking on the launch of the report, Forfás chief executive,
Martin Cronin, said: “The high probability that a supply of
cheap oil will peak over the next 10 to 15 years, poses a
serious challenge for the global economy.” 

An environment is emerging where “liquid fuel prices could
increase dramatically and governments, businesses and economies
could face significant economic and social change”, he said. 

“It is essential that we now begin to prepare for such a
challenge”. 

Mr Cronin said the only realistic option to prepare was “a
national strategy” to include new policies on energy, transport,
enterprise and spatial strategy. 

Sweden has taken a proactive approach to this challenge and
Ireland needed to start to take a long-term view of the issues
involved, he said. 

Fine Gael Environment spokesman Fergus O’Dowd said the proposal
to develop nuclear power as an energy solution in Ireland must
be opposed. 

In the short run it is not possible and, in the long run, it
will not be needed, he claimed.   

© Irish Examiner, 2005, Thomas Crosbie Media, TCH 
*****************************************************************
 29 NRC: NRC to Discuss 2005 Performance Assessment for Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant
 
News Release - Region I - 2006-01
 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

Office of Public Affairs, Region I
  No. I-06-019   		        April 5, 2006   
  CONTACT:     Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330
 		Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331   		   E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov  
  

representatives of PPL Susquehanna, LLC, on Wednesday, April 12,
to discuss the agencys annual assessment of safety performance
at the Susquehanna nuclear power plant. The period of
performance to be discussed is Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2005. 

PPL operates the twin-reactor plant, located in Berwick, Pa. 

The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation,
is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the Susquehanna Energy
Information Center, 634 Salem Blvd., Berwick. The NRC staff will
present the results of the assessment and be available to
respond to questions or comments from the public before the
close of the meeting. 

As we do every year, we have carefully reviewed the safety
performance of the Susquehanna nuclear power plant during the
previous calendar year, NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J.
Collins said. The meeting on April 12th will afford the public a
chance to learn more about the results of our assessment and to
pose any questions they might have regarding plant performance
or our oversight activities. 

A letter sent from the NRC Region I Office to plant officials
addresses the performance of the plant during the period and
will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is
available on the NRC web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/susq_2005q4.pdf
[PDF Icon] . The meeting notice, with the meeting agenda
attached, is available in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number
ML060860026. The NRC slides will be available in ADAMS at least
three days before the meeting; they will be provided in a
revision to the meeting notice. ADAMS is accessible via the
agencys web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
Help in using ADAMS is available by contacting the NRCs Public
Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at
PDR@NRC.GOV. 

Overall, the Susquehanna plant operated safely during the
period. The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and
performance indicators to assess nuclear power plant
performance. The colors start with green and then increase to
white, yellow or red, commensurate with the safety significance
of the issues involved. Because all of the inspection findings
and performance indicators for the plant during 2005 were
determined to be green, Susquehanna will receive a baseline (or
routine) level of inspections during the upcoming assessment
period. 

Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors
assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the
Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa. Among the areas of plant
operations to be inspected during the next year by NRC
specialists are radiological safety, problem identification and
resolution, and operator license initial exams. 

Current performance information for Susquehanna 1 is available
on the NRC web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SUSQ1/susq1_chart.html. 

Current performance information for Susquehanna 2 is available
on the NRC web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SUSQ2/susq2_chart.html. 
 



  


 	Last revised Wednesday, April 05, 2006 	   
*****************************************************************
 30 Kyiv Post: Government pledges $4 million for events, aid to mark
Chernobyl's 20th anniversary
 
Apr 05 2006, 19:00 

(AP) Ukraine's Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov on Wednesday
pledged Hr 20 million ($4 million) to mark the 20th anniversary
of the deadly explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant,
the world's worst ever nuclear accident. 

The money would be spent on awards for those involved in
combating the consequences of the explosion, buying 1,000 cars
for Chernobyl invalids, to build two health centers and to
increase pensions for those who helped respond to the disaster,
government spokesman Valery Olefir said. 

The money will also be used to fund requiems on the anniversary
of the explosion, print commemorative coins, publish books,
organize exhibitions and upgrade the Chernobyl museum in the
capital, Kyiv. 

On April 26, Ukraine will mark 20 years after the deadly
explosion in Reactor No. 4, which released a radioactive cloud.
About 600,000 people were mobilized to fight the effects of the
explosion, and more than 116,000 evacuated from their homes. 

The ex-Soviet republics of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia are
stilling coping with the aftermath of the accident today, from
skyrocketing rates of thyroid cancer to a marked increase in
health concerns among the 5 million people whose land was dusted
with radioactive particles. 

Also Wednesday, Ukrainian artists performed a concert to honor
Chernobyl victims in the village of Illintsi in the so-called
exclusion zone, a high-contaminated area surrounding the plant.
Pripyat, a town of 47,000 and home to the Chernobyl workers, was
evacuated three days after the explosion, and followed by dozens
of villages later. 

Residents of some of the villages, like Illintsi, returned soon,
ignoring official warnings not to return. Chernobyl's last
operating reactor was closed forever in 2000. 

Contact Kyiv Post         
*****************************************************************
 31 Lincoln County News: Maine Yankee Decries Nuke Disposal Inertia - 

Greg Foster

April 06, 2006                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                    
A Maine Yankee and a state official minced no words last Thursday 
in criticizing federal delays that could cause postponement of 
the a 2012 opening of a national spent nuclear fuel repository in 
Nevada.

 Company Spokesman Eric Howes reported that there is uncertainty
about the future of Yucca Mt. in Nevada, period. He also said
there is no clarity on the federal government’s overall plans
for the removal and disposal of spent nuclear fuel in giving an
overview of the current state of the national repository
proposal to the Community Advisory Panel.

 “Unfortunately, tonight we are not able to report any progress
in spent nuclear fuel removal/disposal since last October,” he
said.

 The short of it is that the federal Dept. of Energy (DOE) is
continuing its plans to license a repository at Yucca Mt. but
has no date for its opening and has no date when it will submit
a license application to the federal Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. However, the DOE has indicated it will be submitting
the application by summer, Howes said.

 That is not the only thing Maine Yankee faces. Now a
multi-billion dollar proposal, the Global Nuclear Energy
Partnership, for a future model plant for reprocessing of high
level nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel has the possibility
of taking too much of the focus away from the national
repository project, they fear. 

The proposal is the brainchild of the President George Bush’s
Administration, the stated purpose of which is a comprehensive
strategy to increase the United States and global energy
security, encourage clean development around the world, reduce
the risk of nuclear proliferation, and improve the environment.

 Howes reported that the Administration has budgeted $243
million this year for the program. “It will cost billions of
dollars and is decades away from being commercially viable,” he
said.

 Besides that issue that affects Maine Yankee, the DOE has made
it official that Yucca Mountain is to accept only fuel that is
in canisters for permanent storage there rather then having the
fuel removed and placed in the other storage containers, company
spokesman Eric Howes reported.

 That presents a problem for Maine Yankee, since its steel
canisters in the concrete storage towers at the Wiscasset site
are the transportable kind for storage in the dry casks and not
for permanent storage unless somehow they can be placed in
larger more permanent ones.

 “They’ve gone back to where they were at 10 years ago,” Howes
said. “They believe it is simply a safer approach.”

 Critics of the plan say that the shift could cause further
delays in the project. Thus a timeline for Maine Yankee’s waste
will be pushed further ahead in the future, they fear. 

For the past several years, Maine Yankee has had a suit
settlement pending for $160 million sought in damages through
2010 that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims tried in 2004. 

Both Howes and the state’s nuclear safety advisor Charles Pray
strongly called for some kind of interim disposal so that the
company can get rid of hot fuel stacked up in 64 concrete dry
casks at its storage facility at the former plant site. 

Addressing the company’s Community Advisory Panel mainly
concerned now with the disposal installation, the two men shared
concerns about the new Bush Administration proposal for future
reprocessing of spent fuel for use at new or currently operating
nuclear power plants. 

That is a distraction for what they see as a priority – the
proposed national repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, they
argued.

 Pray is co-chair of the national Yucca Mountain task force and
has attended several sessions regarding the issue in Washington,
D.C. on the issue with the federal Dept. of Energy. 

The DOE has applied for Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
permit to move ahead with plans for the repository, but the
state and Maine Yankee want the DOE to look into a temporary
measure for transporting the spent fuel on the former plant site
in Wiscasset.

 Maine Yankee has been for some time been looking at the
prospects of spent fuel disposal at Private Fuel Storage, LLC in
Skull Valley, Ut., which is a consortium of nuclear power
utilities that has plans to build a storage facility there on a
Goshute Indian reservation there. 

The NRC issued a license for it Feb. 21 effective then, but it
does not authorize the consortium to begin immediate
construction until adequate funding is obtained. It also must
obtain necessary approvals from other agencies.

 In the meantime, there is a site in Savannah, Ga., which so far
has been available for only nuclear waste and ironically for
spent nuclear waste and fuel from power plant outside the United
States.

 “It does make sense to take it to Savannah and open it up to
storing the fuel there,” said Mike Meisner of Maine Yankee.

 Why not there, say Maine Yankee officials, and they are pushing
for some kind of federal action through the Congressional
delegation to make that happen. Pray said all four members of
the delegation have been very cooperative toward that end.

 The company awaits word on the Bush Administration’s bill that
is expected to contain something on the Yucca Mountain
repository, but it was unknown at last week’s CAP meeting what
specifically it would address and what related funds it would
seek, Howes said.

 For the fiscal year 2007, it is known that the DOE is
requesting $544.5 million for the nuclear waste disposal
program. The figure is $100 million more than the current $450
million budget but a decrease from the fiscal year 2005 $577
million budget.

 Politically, Howes said that the state, Yankee companies
including Maine Yankee and others are working on a letter from
New England senators to Secretary Bodman urging the DOE to
fulfill its obligations for removal and disposal of spent
nuclear fuel. He said the letter also asks Bodman how the DOE
intends to hand the spent nuclear fuel at plants like Maine
Yankee with dry cask storage. 

Howes also gave the CAP an update on its suit against the
federal government. In 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit ruled that plaintiffs could not recover future
damages and limited recovery to those damages that have actually
been incurred.

 As a result, Maine Yankee in December 2005 filed a pleading
with the trial court seeking damages of $79 million it is
claiming it incurred through 2002.

 Maine Yankee expects that it will need to file a separate claim
or claims for damages incurred after 2002, Howes said.

 Storage facility update

 In other business, John Niles, manager of the storage
installation, reported on the status of the facility. He said
that there has been 120 days since the last lost time accident
and that the current focus is on record retrieval and storage.

 As manager, Niles said he continues to meet regularly with
local public safety and state office regarding security and
emergency planning matters.

 The new gatehouse is now complete and functioning well, and the
last of the decommissioning soil pile was shipped from the site
in November as well as the area having been radiologically
surveyed and free released. That area remains under the NRC
license and will undergo a final status survey when the
installation is decommissioned after removal of the spent fuel,
he said.

 Niles also reported that the company expects to close soon on
the sale to Central Maine Power Co. (CMP) of the microwave tower
near Eaton Farm. CMP is in the planning stages of adding a new
substation at the site of the previous Maine Yankee’s 115
kilovolt switchyard as part of its local transmission service 

The next meeting of the CAP, which now mainly concerns the
storage facility, will be sometime in late fall depending on new
developments and/or issues current to Maine Yankee.
																			   																		 																	

 																	 																	   																
															

 														   													 												

 												 											   										 									

 								   							 						

 					   				 			

				 			 		   		 		 		   			 			

 				
 					  Vol. 131 - No. 14   				 				 				
 					  [ border=]    				 				
 					   						

 							
 								   								

 									 									 									 									 									
 										  [ border=]    									 									
 									 										   											 												 											
										   									 									 									 									 									
									
 										  [ border=]    									 									
 									 										   											 												 											
										   									 									 									 										 										
  [ border=]    										
 											   												 													 												
											   										 										 										 										
  [ border=]    										
 											   												 													 												
											   										 										 										 										
  [ border=]    										
 											   												 													[0]  												
											   										 										 										 										
  [ border=]    										
 											   												 													 												
											   										 										 									 																		
									
 										  [ border=]    									 								

 								   							 						

 					   				 				 			

 		   	 



	
 		  This site is owned by Lincoln County News © 2002   	 	
 		  [ border=]    	 	
 		  <img src="images/website_footer_logo.gif" alt=""
border="0">   	 	
 		  [ border=]    	 


*****************************************************************
 32 Boston Globe: Vermont Yankee given green light to continue power increase -
                           
Boston.com

[The Associated Press] 
 
By David Gram, Associated Press Writer  |  April 5, 2006 

MONTPELIER, Vt. --Federal regulators on Wednesday gave Vermont
Yankee the go-ahead to increase its power output from 110 to 115
percent of historic levels, as the plant continued on a
phased-in power increase of 20 percent.

"We've reviewed all the information they gathered at the 110
percent power level and have not identified any anomalies or
reasons to prevent them from going to the next higher power
level," said Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission's regional office for the Northeast.

Vermont Yankee won permission in late February to increase its
power output by 20 percent, from a rated capacity of 540
megawatts to 650 megawatts of electricity.

The plant's plan, approved by the NRC, called on it to achieve
the increase in increments of 5 percent of its original output,
pausing at 105, 110 and 115 percent, and then taking four days
at each level to check plant systems and run tests to assure all
was going well.

The plant brought its power level up to 105 percent on March 4,
but instruments designed to measure pressure on reactor
components picked up a new vibration. That caused a pause in the
power increase process not of four days, but four weeks, as
plant engineers ran computer models that they and the NRC said
ended up providing assurance that the vibrations were not a
cause for worry.

Vermont Yankee got clearance from the NRC to increase its power
level to 110 percent last Friday and did so over the weekend.
"The plant is performing well," Robert Williams, spokesman for
plant owner Entergy Nuclear, said Wednesday.

Sheehan said the vibration picked up at 105 percent had not
become a larger issue at 110 percent.

"The acoustic signal that resulted in the extended hold at the
105-percent plateau remained at approximately the same level as
power was increased to 110 percent," he said in an e-mail. "The
current magnitude of the signal is not expected to have any
significant impact on steam dryer integrity. In other words, the
reviews indicate the signal won't pose any problems during the
rest of the power ascension."

Williams said preparations would take place Wednesday night and
into Thursday, with the next stage of the power increase
scheduled to start Thursday.

He said the preparations for the next increase would involve
"ensuring that the operators are briefed and that the ... power
ascension test program is fully in place."

Sheehan said the plant was given permission to go from 110
percent to 115 percent of original power after several
benchmarks were met, including:

-- The plant has been monitoring its steam dryer, a key
component that removes moisture before steam is sent to the
generating turbines, and had to assure that test criteria were
met.

-- There had to be minimal changes in gages designed to measure
strain on plant components.

-- There were no new significant adverse trends in plant
operations.[ /]  © Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,

*****************************************************************
 33 NJPIRG: GAO/NJ DEP Find Fault With Nuclear Plant Security 

  For Immediate Release: April 4, 2006
 
    For More Information: Suzanne Leta (609) 394-8155 x310   

The U.S. Congressional Subcommittee on National Security,
Emerging Threats and International Relations held a hearing at
2:00 pm today on Nuclear Regulatory Commission efforts to define
and meet physical security standards at commercial nuclear power
plants, and to release a Government Accountability Office report
entitled, “Efforts Made to Upgrade Security, But the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission’s Design Basis Threat Process Should Be
Improved.” This hearing is particularly important in light of
the fact that nuclear power plants are clear security risks,
especially the Oyster Creek plant on the Jersey shore. 

Oyster Creek is the oldest operating nuclear power plant in the
country that is scheduled to close at the end of its current
license in 2009. The plant’s owner, Exelon Corporation, applied
to the NRC to extend the plant’s license by 20 years in July
2005. Oyster Creek is one of 24 GE Mark I Boiling Water Reactors
located in the U.S. that are the most vulnerable to terrorist
attack because the spent fuel pool is located directly above the
reactor and does not have the robust protection or design to
withstand a major aircraft attack. 

New Jersey Public Interest Research Group is part of a coalition
of environmental, religious and public safety organizations that
are calling on Governor Corzine to publicly call for the plant’s
timely closure at the end of its current license and have also
intervened in the license extension proceeding. 

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has filed
to intervene in the proceeding. The NJ DEP recently submitted an
appeal brief to the Atomic Safety Licensing Board regarding
state intervention in the Oyster Creek license extension
proceeding, which specifically refers to the vulnerability of
Oyster Creek’s spent fuel pool to aircraft attack, noting that
“Oyster Creek presents a prime target for terrorist attack
because it is the most centrally located nuclear facility on the
Atlantic seaboard comprised of the comparatively unreliable and
vulnerable Mark I design.” The NJ DEP brief, attached to this
email, also notes that, “Oyster Creek’s re-licensing proceeding
has begun while it still awaits parts of the three-phase
assessment of plant safety and security measures the Commission
ordered after the events of 9/11.” 

Considering the catastrophic consequences of a terrorist attack
on a nuclear plant, it is simply irresponsible for the NRC not
include aircraft attack in the Design Basis Threat for nuclear
plants and to ignore the site-specific security risks of nuclear
plants across the country. 

And since nuclear plant owners applying for license extensions
are required to submit a Severe Accident Mitigation Analysis
(SAMA) as part of their application, it is doubly negligent that
the NRC does not require a DBT analysis of an aircraft attack
within the SAMA. 

And finally, the GAO study found that the NRC, pressured by the
nuclear industry, overruled staff recommendations in the draft
DBT that required a full range of weapons that could be expected
to be used in an attack on a nuclear facility. This is another
chapter in the NRC’s history of putting profits before safety,
and another reason for our state leaders, especially Governor
Corzine, to stand up and speak out on behalf of New Jersey
citizens. 

NJ Department of Environmental Protection Appeal Brief to the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (PDF) 

  THE NEW JERSEY PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP Citizen Lobby and 
Law & Policy Center 11 North Willow Street • Trenton, NJ 08608 • 
609-394-8155   
*****************************************************************
 34 Mos News: Atomic Energy Agency Head Denies Privatization of Russian Nuclear Facilities - 

 MOSNEWS.COM
	 		
Photo from www.narod.ru                 
 	 	
Created: 05.04.2006 11:11 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 11:19 MSK 	
 	
MosNews
 	 	 	 	 
Rosatom Federal Atomic Energy Agency head Sergey Kiriyenko has
denied rumors that Russia is going to allow the privatization of
its nuclear facilities, RIA Novosti reported.

“Any talk of privatization…is either deliberate disinformation
or incompetence, or a combination of the two. We have not
discussed, are not discussing and will not discuss any options
for a handover of Russian nuclear facilities into private
hands,” Kiriyenko said.

All 100 per cent of the nuclear industry will be managed by the
state, which has already started the process of regaining
control over some key assets that were lost earlier, he added.

Addressing the “World Nuclear Fuel Cycle 2006” international
conference held in Hong Kong by the U.S. Nuclear Energy
Institute and the London-based World Nuclear Association,
Kiriyenko also said that Rosatom and the Russian Foreign
Ministry would tackle the issue of removing U.S. and EU
restrictions on the import of nuclear fuel from Russia “based on
market principles”, and described India as a “serious export
market” for the Russian nuclear industry. 	 	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	     
Copyright © 2004 MOSNEWS.COM
*****************************************************************
 35 NRC: NRC Increases the Amount of Security-Related Information Released as Part of its Reactor
Oversight Process

News Release - 2006-04 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office 
of Public Affairs     Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 
20555-0001     E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 06-046     April 4, 2006   
  

recommendation to make more security-related information public
as part of the agencys Reactor Oversight Process (ROP).
Previously, selected information concerning security reviews of
commercial nuclear power plants was considered sensitive
information and not released. 

This initiative improves the balance between the agencys goal to
be open in carrying out our regulatory responsibilities while
also protecting sensitive information that could aid those with
malevolent intentions, said Luis Reyes, the agencys executive
director for operations. Further, the staff continues to explore
options to make more security-related information public under
programs other than the Reactor Oversight Process. 

The ROP monitors performance at nuclear power plants in three
areas: reactor safety, radiation safety and safeguards, which
includes security. NRC plant performance reviews in these areas
use both objective performance indicators obtained from
licensees and NRC inspection results to determine if plants are
meeting safety and security requirements. Those plants with
problems receive greater scrutiny from the NRC to ensure that
problems are corrected. 

According to a directive from the Commission, the cover letters
for future security inspection reports would be made publically
available. The cover letter would contain a summary statement of
the security inspection and indicate whether security findings
were identified at the plant. The statement would also indicate
that the identified deficiencies had been promptly corrected or
actions had been taken to compensate for the problem. The
statement would not, however, describe specific security issues
that had been identified, as that information may be detrimental
to the security of the facility. 

The results of the ROP can be found at the NRC Web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/index.html.   



  


 	Last revised Tuesday, April 04, 2006 	   
*****************************************************************
 36 WOODTV.com & WOOD TV8: Public comments on nuclear power plant

(Update: Van Buren County, April 5, 2006, 7:06 p.m.) 

Some Van Buren County residents got the chance Wednesday to 
comment on the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township. 
It is the same plant that has had some problems in the past. 

Officials at the facility are trying to get their license
renewed, valid until 2031. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission
held two public meetings to discuss the issue. 

Supporters include many local governments. They say the plant is
important for the regions economy. 

Critics say the plant’s safety is in question. They say the
reactor pressure vessels are deteriorating, and a meltdown could
claim tens of the thousands of lives. They add the NRC is in too
tight with the plants it regulates. 

“The thing is, these plants were originally licensed for 40
years, and only in recent years have they dared to get these
20-year license extensions that the NRC hands out like candy.
It's a rubber stamp process,” said Kevin Kamps, who opposes the
license renewal. 

“It's not a rubber stamp. It's a very rigorous process, and the
NRC staff works very hard to make sure we understand what the
safety and environmental implications are,” said Rani Franovich
of the NRC. 

No decision on the renewal will be made until January 2007.   

by.gif">    All content © Copyright 2000 - 2006 WorldNow and
WOODTV. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 37 WIStv.com: Environmental group announces campaign to prevent new nuclear plants

Columbia, SC: 


(Columbia-AP) April 5, 2006 - An environmental group is
launching a campaign on Wednesday it hopes will prevent new
nuclear plants from being built.

 The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League outlined a strategy
to oppose nuclear plants in Oconee and Cherokee counties.

 The plan includes mounting challenges during the licensing
process and informing residents about nuclear accidents.

 League spokesman Lou Zeller says new nuclear plant designs are
no safer than previous ones..

 Posted 3:33pm by Bryce Mursch  

All content © Copyright 2000 - 2006 WorldNow and


WISTV, a Raycom Media Station.
*****************************************************************
 38 SMN: British Nuclear Group Eyes Bulgaria's Energy Sector

Thu 6 April 2006
			 			 			 			 						 		 		   		   			 			 			 		   		   			
Sofia Morning News 

Business: 5 April 2006, Wednesday.

British Nuclear Group is interested in Bulgaria's nuclear energy
sector, Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister Rumen Ovcharov
announced after a meeting with the company's representatives in
London.
 
We discussed the company's direct involvement in Bulgaria's
energy sector through the establishment of a Bulgarian
subsidiary, Ovcharov explained. He added that Bulgaria and the
British company have discussed partnership for construction of
new units and the closure of old one as the UK will have to
close 6 nuclear units, whereas Bulgaria has gained experience in
that field.
 
At present British Nuclear Group is consultant for some of the
projects connected to the closure of first and second unit of
Bulgaria's only nuclear plant in Kozloduy. British Nuclear Group
is a specialist site management and nuclear clean-up business.

novinite.com

 All Rights Reserved © Novinite Ltd., 2001-2006 - Copyright
 
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency -
www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news
provider in English that informs its readers about the latest
Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily
*****************************************************************
 39 Guardian Unlimited: Ky. Nuclear Facility Boosts Security
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Wednesday April 5, 2006 5:16 PM

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) - Guards increased patrols at the Paducah
Gaseous Diffusion Plant, where uranium is enriched for nuclear
fuel, after a 3-foot cut was discovered in security fence, a
spokeswoman said Wednesday. 

The cut appeared to be only a few hours old when it was found
Monday night, said Elizabeth Stuckle, a spokeswoman for USEC
Inc., which leases plant from the federal government. 

There was no indication that anyone was trying to take nuclear
material, Stuckle said. She said the cut was in an open area and
not close to process or storage buildings. 

``We have no idea who did it or why,'' she said. 

A check inside the fence turned up nothing amiss, but an
investigation is continuing, she said. Security guards also
increased patrols along the approximately five miles of
perimeter fencing. 	 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 40 AP Wire: Cut discovered in security fence

04/05/2006 | 

 Associated Press 

PADUCAH, Ky. - Guards were increasing patrols and on alert at
the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, where a security fence was
found cut, a plant spokeswoman said today. 

The 3-foot cut appeared to be only a few hours old when it was
discovered Monday night, USEC Inc. spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuckle
said. USEC leases the plant from the federal government and
enriches uranium into nuclear fuel. 

The cut was in an open area and not close to process or storage
buildings, Stuckle said. There was no indication that anyone was
trying to take nuclear material, she said. 

"We have no idea who did it or why," she said. 

A check inside the fence turned up nothing amiss, but an
investigation is continuing, she said. 

Security was heightened, meaning guards will increase patrols
along the approximately five miles of perimeter fencing and be
extra alert in looking for unusual activity.
*****************************************************************
 41 Bradenton Herald: Judge returns Tallevast case

| 04/05/2006 | 

Suit will be heard in Manatee

 DONNA WRIGHT Herald Staff Writer 

TALLEVAST - Tallevast residents got their wish. 

A federal judge returned their lawsuit against Lockheed Martin
Corp. from federal court in Tampa to 12th Judicial Circuit Court
in Manatee County. 

U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich in Tampa ruled
Friday that the federal court has no jurisdiction in residents'
lawsuits against Lockheed over property damage from pollution
leaked from a plant Lockheed once owned. 

"I'm pleased," said Laura Ward, president of FOCUS, a Tallevast
advocacy group and the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit filed
against Lockheed and others Sept. 1. "It's not that we were
afraid of federal court. Our attorneys were prepared for either
federal or state court. This just means it will be more
convenient for us." 

Lockheed indicated it will abide by Kovachevich's decision. 

"We accept the judge's ruling and will proceed to defend the
case in state court," said Gail Rymer, Lockheed spokeswoman. 

Lockheed's acceptance ends a volley of motions and
counter-motions between the company's legal team and attorneys
representing 254 Tallevast residents in one of two lawsuits
filed against the defense giant. 

"This is a great order," said Ed Cottingham, of Charleston,
S.C., lead counsel for the Tallevast residents. "This order
moves the case back to where the plaintiffs thought it should be
all along." 

Bruce H. Denson, a St. Petersburg attorney and member of the
Tallevast legal team, expects to move quickly to the discovery
phase and to go to trial within a year. 

Denson expects to meet soon with the 12th Judicial Circuit judge
assigned to the case to write an outline of rules for the
discovery process. 

Tallevast residents are suing Lockheed Martin Corp. and others
for property damage related to a 131-acre plume of underground
pollution that leaked from the former Loral American Beryllium
Co. sometime during the plant's operation from 1961-1996. 

Lockheed acquired the plant in 1996 in a corporate buyout of
Loral. Lockheed owned the facility in 2000, when the leak was
discovered. 

Although Lockheed reported the spill to county and state
authorities, as required by law, the company was not legally
obligated to inform the community. Tallevast residents learned
on their own about the poisons in their community in October
2003 when they questioned why monitoring wells were being
installed throughout the community. 

Several residents living close to the plant were using private
drinking water wells at the time. Those wells were found to be
contaminated with chemicals leaking from the plant. Lockheed and
Manatee County officials have since switched all of the known
households using private wells to county water. 

The Tallevast lawsuit was filed by Denson in the 12th Judicial
Circuit Court against Lockheed, Loral Corp., WirePro Inc. and
BECSD LLC, which now owns the former beryllium plant. WirePro
and BECSD LLC are located outside Florida. 

Lockheed then filed a motion Oct. 6 to move the case to federal
court on the grounds that WirePro Inc. and its local subsidiary,
WPI Sarasota Division Inc., had nothing to do with the
contamination and were included by Tallevast's attorneys simply
to qualify the suit for state court. 

In a response filed Nov. 10, Denson asked the federal judge to
send the case back to state court, claiming that Lockheed's
arguments did not meet the test of case law. 

Denson argued that WPI Sarasota Division, as the current
operator of the site, is a Florida entity. 

Moreover, Denson argued, the hazardous chemicals and substances
historically used and disposed of at the site continue to
spread, according to independent tests run by geologist Michael
Graves. 

Lockheed filed another counter-motion to keep the case in
federal court on Dec. 6, arguing that because of its many
contracts with the federal departments of Defense and Energy,
Loral effectively worked as an agent of the U.S. government, as
well as the U.S. military. 

In her ruling, Kovachevich stated that WPI Sarasota was rightly
named in the state lawsuit because there is a possibility that
the chemicals continued to migrate off site from the plant after
its purchase of the property. 

Moreover, Kovachevich stated, "Lockheed has not offered any
evidence supporting its claim that the federal government
exercised control over the disposal of hazardous substances." 

The second lawsuit against Lockheed was filed in November in
state court by attorneys E. Keith DeBose of Sarasota and Emerson
Carey of Atlanta. Complaints in the second suit echoed those
filed in the first. 

Lockheed's attorneys did not file a motion to move the second
lawsuit to federal court. 

Donna Wright, health and social services reporter, can be
reached at 745-7049 or at . 

Go to our Web site for an archive of stories on the Tallevast
plume. 

*****************************************************************
 42 AU ABC: Govt hits back at uranium stance criticism
 
 Thursday, 6 April 2006. 06:26 (AEDT)Thursday, 6 April 2006.

 The Western Australia Government has gone on the front foot
over its opposition to uranium mining in the state, attacking a
senior Liberal for advocating exports to developing countries
such as Ethiopia. 

Opposition Leader Colin Barnett says the state Government's
attitude to uranium mining is straight out of the 1970s. 

He told Parliament last night that Labor has turned its back on
the mining industry and poorer countries. 

"Why should we in the developed world deny developing nations
for example Africa, Ethiopia, as nations, access to nuclear
energy?" he said. 

Environment Minister Mark McGowan says he is frightened by the
prospect of uranium being exported to strife-torn countries like
Ethiopia. 

"It is dangerous, irresponsible and in years to come would be
very much regretted by the rest of the world," he said. 

Prime Minister John Howard yesterday labelled Labor's
anti-uranium policy short-sighted. 

Mr McGowan says the Government does not need to be lectured to
by anybody. 

*****************************************************************
 43 PR: PORTER REACTS TO PROPOSED YUCCA MOUNTAIN LEGISLATION

Congressman Jon Porter (NV03) - Press Release - 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 4, 2006       

      WASHINGTON, D.C. - Third District Congressman Jon Porter
issued the following statement in response to proposed
legislation designed to hasten the opening of the Yucca Mountain
nuclear waste repository, which will be sent to Congress
tomorrow: 
  
“Since evidence of possible falsified science at Yucca Mountain
surfaced last year, plans to turn the site into a nuclear dump
have been stalled due to mounting safety concerns.  How does the
Department of Energy react?  Instead of doing the responsible
thing and rethinking their priorities, they push forward with
legislation to expedite the Yucca Mountain Project.  This, weeks
after Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman himself deemed the Project
‘broken.’  This legislation is a desperate attempt by DOE
officials to move the Project forward before more problems can
be uncovered.” 
  
# # #       

  


*****************************************************************
 44 Las Vegas SUN: Tom Gorman on the sheer lunacy of adding 55,000
tons of nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain when the first 77,000
tons are already called unsafe 

Today: April 05, 2006 at 7:57:17 PDT 

As if it wasn't bad enough that Washington and the nuclear power
industry want to plug Yucca Mountain with 77,000 tons of spent
fuel rods, the Bush administration had the gall to announce
Tuesday that it wants to throw another 55,000 tons or so into
its bowels. 

I mean, the administration can't assure our safety with its
current plan to deposit 77,000 tons of nuclear power plant fuel
rods at Yucca Mountain. And now it wants to stuff Yucca Mountain
to the gills with high-level radioactive material? 

But then, I know better than to expect logic from the
president's people. 

The proposal unveiled Tuesday calls for allowing Yucca Mountain
to be filled to capacity. Federal scientists estimate the
capacity at about 132,000 tons. 

And the reason? So the government won't have to go out and find
another site as the inventory of spent fuel rods builds up. 

Well, you can't blame them for that. They know nowhere else in
the country would allow a repeat of this Yucca Mountain fiasco.
This is their only game in town, and their way of defending the
indefensible is to thump their chest and try to bully us even
more. 

"This proposed legislation will help provide stability, clarity
and predictability to the Yucca Mountain project," Energy
Secretary Samuel Bodman said Tuesday. 

Huh? That makes no sense whatsoever. It was a prepared
statement, which tells me that he needs to hire some better PR
people. 

Seriously, this is scary, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
If we were a child, this would be the case of an abusive parent
who has been slapping and kicking us for years who, even as we
complain, pummels us for good measure. 

With this latest move, Yucca Johnny is going to have a lot of
explaining to do to the kids who visit his Web site. Yucca yucca
this, Johnny! 

The Nuclear Energy Institute, the trade organization that fronts
for the nuclear power plant operators, hired former Nevada
governor Robert List a few years ago to extoll the potential
economic benefits of storing their nuclear waste at Yucca
Mountain. 

His mission: explain how Nevada can make lemonade out of
radioactive lemons. 

As recently as Monday, over a lunch of shrimp, pasta and carrot
cake, he tried to sell about 50 members of the Rotary Club on
the merits of working with the government on allowing the use of
Yucca Mountain. 

There's no point fighting it, he said; let's use it as a
bargaining chip to get some money for Nevada. 

Well, that's like letting your spouse cheat on you because he'll
buy you nice jewelry and take you on that cruise to make up for
it. And now, despite all that contrition, you learn that your
spouse isn't just cheating on you, but wants to line up more
mistresses. 

At Lawry's, when List asked the Rotary Club members if they
believed that Yucca Mountain's development as a radioactive
graveyard was inevitable, almost everyone raised their hands.
Should we take the money and run, he asked? Yes, the Rotarians
said. 

Well, no we shouldn't. 

I've got full confidence that our congressional delegation, led
by Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign, will put a halt to this
nonsense. 

Yucca Mountain is wrong at 77,000 tons, at 132,000 tons and at
any number of tons. The administration's increasing assault on
Yucca Mountain will rekindle the fire in our belly to fight
back. Tom Gorman's column runs Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. He
can be reached at 259-2310 or at tom.gorman@lasvegassun.com. 

All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 45 reviewjournal.com: Administration bill aims to expedite nuclear 
waste repository
 
Apr. 05, 2006

By STEVE TETREAULT <br/>STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
	
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration set out in a plan unveiled
Tuesday to clear away potential obstacles in Nevada while
speeding licensing and other groundwork for a nuclear waste
repository at Yucca Mountain. 

A bill being sent to Congress today seeks to strengthen the
Department of Energy's authority over aspects of repository
planning while expediting hearings the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission would conduct to allow nuclear waste to be sent to
the site, DOE officials said. 

It would bolster DOE claims for precious water to operate a
desert repository over objections written into Nevada law,
according to officials. 

It also seeks a head start to build a railroad across Nevada to
the repository and to prepare other, non-nuclear features at the
site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, according to DOE
officials and others who reviewed the measure. 

A handful of other provisions -- some new and some old -- are
contained in a "fix Yucca" bill that supporters said was part of
an overhaul to get the repository back on track after years of
setbacks and delays. 

"Our proposal seeks to provide stability, clarity and
predictability in moving the Yucca Mountain Project forward as
quickly as possible," said Clay Sell, Energy Department deputy
secretary. "It is good for national security, it is good for the
environment, it is good for the economy, and we think it is very
good for America." 

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman is planning his first trip to
Nevada in the next few weeks to visit Yucca Mountain and to meet
with repository workers, according to DOE spokesman Craig
Stevens. 

Critics had been bracing for the bill. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.,
said it contained little that was original and that it would be
"dead when it gets here" to Congress. 

"This bill will go nowhere," added Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.,
contending the Yucca project will be unable to shake questions
about health, safety and the quality of its science work. 

The bill's prospects in Congress this year are unclear. Senate
Energy Committee chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., has said time
is running short to tackle such a comprehensive measure although
he promised to introduce the Bush administration bill to get the
ball rolling. 

"We believe it is very important to get Yucca Mountain open so
we can start moving waste from communities around the country,
and it is our view that is a widely held position," Sell said.
"We can make the case to get the legislation passed." 

The measure contains most of what the nuclear power industry and
other repository proponents had sought. But it does not contain
two key elements that could have moved the project faster,
according to DOE officials and others. 

It does not address radiation health standards that are being
rewritten at the Environmental Protection Agency. 

It also does not authorize the movement of nuclear waste away
from power plants and into temporary storage while work
continues at Yucca Mountain. 

Bob Loux, Nevada nuclear waste director, said the DOE bill if
passed would "begin to move things along a little bit" for the
project. 

He added it also might make it more difficult for the state to
wield lawsuits as a weapon against the project in the areas of
water rights, hazardous waste regulation and land management. 

"It doesn't eliminate all the possibilities of stopping the
project but it would close a few loopholes," said Loux, who
coordinates Nevada's official opposition to the Yucca Mountain
Project. 

Among other provisions, the "fix Yucca" bill would: 

• Authorize infrastructure activities at the site before DOE
obtains a repository building license, such as construction of a
Nevada rail line. 

• Declare the use of water for the repository to be "beneficial
to interstate commerce" and "not detrimental to the public
interest," contrary to a state law that Nevada officials have
cited to deny permits. 

"This provision would result in non-discriminatory treatment of
the department," according to an analysis of a bill draft. 

• Exempt nuclear waste containers and other packing material
from regulation under federal hazardous waste law. DOE
maintained the change would simplify regulations "without
compromising environmental protection or safety," according to a
bill summary. 

• Repeal the 70,000 metric ton limit on Yucca Mountain capacity
set by law. 

With more than 60,000 tons of commercial and government nuclear
waste already in storage and piling up at a rate of 2,000 tons a
year, the material would fill the repository almost as soon as
it is built. 

The change would allow planners to contemplate storing up to
120,000 metric tons, which has been identified as the mountain's
physical limit. 

• Change accounting practices to enable Congress to allocate as
much as $750 million to $800 million to the project each year
without running afoul of congressional budget restrictions. The
Bush administration proposed similar reclassification bills in
earlier sessions of Congress but it failed to gain support. 

• Formally designate 147,000 acres of land surrounding Yucca
Mountain to be in the Energy Department's control. The land
variously is managed by BLM, the Air Force and the Nevada Test
Site. 

• Require the NRC to deem that there will be enough nuclear
waste storage available to accommodate the construction of new
power plants or license renewals for existing plants. 

The nuclear industry lobbied for the change in the NRC's "waste
confidence rule" so further delays would not snag efforts to
build new plants. 	   

Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2006
 Stephens Media GroupPrivacy Statement
*****************************************************************
 46 Hanford News: DOE seeks to lift cap on Yucca waste storage
 
This story was published Wednesday, April 5th, 2006 

By The Associated Press and the Herald staff 

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration wants to bury tens of
thousands more tons of nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain dump
in Nevada than is now allowed - part of a package of new
proposals meant to spur development of the long-delayed dump. 

Legislation unveiled by Energy Department officials Tuesday
proposes lifting the 77,000-ton storage cap on the dump 90 miles
northwest of Las Vegas and allowing as much waste as the
mountain can safely hold. 

That figure has been estimated by federal environmental impact
studies at 132,000 tons, but Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said
in a letter to the Senate that it could rise even higher. 

Some 55,000 tons of nuclear waste are already waiting at utility
sites around the country. High-level radioactive waste from
Hanford would also be sent to Yucca Mountain. Lifting the waste
cap would postpone indefinitely the need for the Energy
Department to find a site for a second nuclear waste dump, the
department said. 

The department also proposed dedicating money in a special
nuclear waste fund, which is paid for by utilities, to the dump
to try to ensure adequate funding. The bill also would allow
federal officials, who hope to ship nuclear waste to the dump by
rail, to pre-empt state and local transportation regulations. 

"This proposed legislation will help provide stability, clarity
and predictability to the Yucca Mountain project," Bodman said
in a statement. 

The bill will be introduced in the Senate by Energy Committee
Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M. With time running out on the
legislative calendar, it faces a fight from ardent Yucca
Mountain dump opponent Harry Reid, D-Nev., the Senate minority
leader. 

Reid said Tuesday that the bill was "not even on life support.
It's dead when it gets here." 

The bill does not propose moving nuclear waste to interim
storage sites while the Yucca Mountain dump is completed -
something key lawmakers, including Domenici, want the department
to consider. Domenici said Tuesday that he has to review the
administration's legislation but may introduce his own bill as
well. 

Paul Golan, acting director of the Office of Civilian
Radioactive Waste Management, told reporters on a conference
call that the department wanted to focus the legislation on
measures to speed Yucca to completion.

 
© 2006 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 47 Salt Lake Tribune: Rolly: I-80 depot proposed for nuke transfer 

Article Last Updated: 04/05/2006 1:33 AM MDT 

By Paul Rolly Tribune Columnist 

The latest proposal by Private Fuel Storage to make possible its 
temporary nuclear waste facility at Skull Valley is to store, 
albeit briefly, nuclear waste in large cannisters near 
Interstate 80 on the way to Wendover. 

Perhaps they can put an amusement park ride next to it for 
the kids. 

Sen. Orrin Hatch says the wilderness area recently passed by 
Congress may have seemed on the surface to kill the possibility 
of the PFS facility, because it blocked most modes of 
transportation into Skull Valley. But the issue has not been 
settled. 

Hatch, you might recall, was the lone member of the Utah 
delegation who remained supportive of the Bush administration's 
plan to build a permanent nuclear waste facility at Nevada's 
Yucca Mountain. Sen. Bob Bennett, Reps. Chris Cannon, Jim 
Matheson and Rob Bishop, and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. all 
supported, instead, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid's plan to scrap that 
idea and work toward reprocessing the spent fuel at the nuclear 
plant sites. In exchange, Reid, the powerful Senate minority 
leader, did not oppose the Utahns' plan to create a wilderness 
area around Skull Valley. 

But Hatch says an existing road into Skull Valley could 
still be used to truck the waste from a rail line built up to 
the edge of the wilderness area. PFS has applied for a permit 
with the Bureau of Land Management to bring the waste by rail to 
Rowley Junction on I-80 along the way to Wendover. There, it 
would be kept temporarily in huge cannisters before being 
trucked on the existing road to Skull Valley. 

The BLM, in deference to Hatch's loyalty to the 
administration, has granted an extra 90-day comment period, 
which ends May 8. Hatch aides urge a flurry of communication in 
opposition be sent to Pam, BLM Salt Lake City field office, 2370 
S. 2300 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84119; e-mail: pam 
schuller@blm.gov; fax: (801) 977-4397. 

Too much stress: Motorists commuting to downtown Salt Lake 
City the past several weeks undoubtedly have noticed the hired 
hands dressed in costume, holding signs and waving at the cars 
promoting Liberty Tax Service during the tax return season. 

So with all the divisiveness in this country over Iraq, 
illegal immigration, job outsourcing, the deficit, abortion, gay 
marriage, etc., it seemed appropriate the other morning to see 
the Statue of Liberty on State Street taking a smoke break. 

Timing is everything? The Salt Lake City Downtown Alliance 
hired the Summit Group several months ago to develop an 
identifiable mark for businesses and others involved in the 
downtown area. 

After conducting focus groups and other tests, the alliance 
folks chose a star, a grid of downtown and the words, "It's 
Still The Place." They recently sent invitations to the mark's 
big unveiling Thursday at 4 p.m. at the Salt Lake City Library. 

So they were not amused when, after their invitations were 
sent, the State Tourism Board sent out e-mail invitations to its 
unveiling of the state's "Life Elevated" slogan one day before, 
which is today at 11 a.m. at the Wells Fargo Center. 

--- 

Paul Rolly welcomes e-mail at prolly@sltrib.com. 

Â© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 48 Newsday: Cotter mulls appeal of judge's decision on NJ material --

Newsday.com
 
April 5, 2006, 1:41 PM EDT

CANON CITY, Colo. (AP) _ A judge has upheld the state health 
department's decision to bar Cotter Corp. from accepting 
radioactive waste from a Superfund site in New Jersey at its 
uranium mill. 

Cotter attorney John Watson called it "a big disappointment" and 
said the company was deciding whether it would appeal. 

Administrative law judge Richard Dana released his ruling Tuesday 
following public hearings last fall. Cotter had requested the 
hearings to appeal conditions the health department imposed 
before renewing Cotter's license to process uranium and vanadium 
ore in Canon City. The conditions kept Cotter from accepting 
waste from a Superfund site in Maywood, N.J., that had an 
estimated 470,000 tons of waste. 

The Maywood Chemical Company site is made up of three connected
areas, including portions of Maywood, Lodi and Rochelle Park,
N.J. The company processed radioactive thorium ore between 1916
and 1955, according to the federal Environmental Protection
Agency's Web site. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in charge of cleaning the
site, had sought the deal with Cotter to reduce waste disposal
costs by bringing in an additional company. 

Dana said in his ruling that the health department's decision
was based on evidence of possible social and economic impacts
upon the community and was supported by rules regarding
radiation control. 

Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste, which was formed four
years ago to protest Cotter's proposal to take on the Maywood
waste, was pleased with the ruling. Steve Tarlton of the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment called it a
victory for the department and residents. 

Dana ruled favorably for Cotter on air monitoring issues and
gave Cotter 90 days to form a plan for dry placement of tailings
and dewatering of its impoundment ponds. 

Dana also ruled that Cotter could store 660,000 cubic yards of
tailings in its impoundments during the life of the company's
five-year state license. The state had wanted to limit the
volume to half that amount. 

Cotter spokesman Jerry Powers said the company would continue
searching for ways to use the mill. 

"We are on standby mode and have ceased processing ore. We have
laid off all but 40 workers," Powers said. 

Company officials were studying how they might resume processing
ore to make the venture more profitable and efficient. Cotter
also was re-examining the processing of zirconium ore in a joint
venture, Powers said. 

http://www.newsday.com.
*****************************************************************
 49 AU ABC: ALP president wants debate on uranium mining. 

05/04/2006. 

ABC News Online
 	
Update: Wednesday, April 5, 2006. 1:00pm (AEST) 	 
 
National president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) Warren
Mundine says it is probably time for a debate about the
organisation's policy of no new uranium mines.

 Sections of the ALP are lobbying the federal leader to stand by
the policy while others want it abandoned.

 The Treasurer is demanding that Kim Beazley take a position on
the issue.

 On the Gold Coast this morning, Mr Mundine said the policy has
been in place since the 1970s.

 "I think Kim's doing a great job as leader of the Labor Party
and I think he's shown courage and strength in moving us forward
and don't underestimate him," he said.

 "There is debate going on internally in the party already so I
don't see a hassle in discussing it publicly but it has to be
done in a constructive way not in a divisive way.

 "It has to be done in a way that is going to to have good
policy that is going to work for the Australian people." 



*****************************************************************
 50 AU ABC: Martin urged to declare uranium mining stance. 

06/04/2006. ABC News Online

Federal Member for Solomon Dave Tollner says Chief Minister
Clare Martin needs to declare whether or not she supports
changing the ALP's policy on uranium mining. 
The party's policy is that no new mines should be opened but
some including South Australian Premier Mike Rann say that is
outdated.

 Mr Tollner says the Northern Territory is set to benefit from a
uranium deal signed between China and Australia.

 He says despite uranium mining falling under the Federal
Government's jurisdiction, it is vitally important that
Territorians and the mining industry know exactly where Ms
Martin stands on this issue. 

"At this point in time nobody knows exactly where the Territory
Government sits and it's interesting to note that back in August
1994, Syd Stirling, the current Treasurer, supported a motion to
scrap the ALP's three mine policy," he said. 

On Tuesday Ms Martin says that as a Labor Party member she
supports the status quo.

 "What I have to say very clearly is my position that I support
the Labor Party's no new mines policy," she said.

 "That I am aware of the current discussion that it will be up
for debate, I can't say for certain, at the next Labor Party
federal conference and certainly I hope I'll be part of that
debate." 

*****************************************************************
 51 KRNV.com: Trailer that once held radioactive material found in Henderson; 
material missing


Channel 4 
        
Authorities are investigating how a trailer that once contained
radioactive material ended up behind a Target store in
Henderson. 

Employees were evacuated overnight from the store (near
Stephanie Street and Sunset Road), before a hazardous materials
team determined there was no radioactive material still in the
trailer. 

Now, they're trying to determine where it went. 

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)   

  

    All content © Copyright 2001 - 2006 WorldNow and KRNV.
All Rights Reserved.


*****************************************************************
 52 The Hill: Reid vows to block new push for Yucca Mountain nuke site
 
April 6, 2006   
    
By Jim Snyder
  
The Bush administration has sent Congress a new Yucca Mountain
bill, but it seems it will run into old political problems. 

The Energy Departments plan would expedite the licensing
process for Yucca, which Congress approved in 2002 as the site
of the permanent repository for the nations nuclear waste. 

The measure also removes the current limit on waste of 70,000
metric tons. Originally scheduled to open in 2010, the project
is years behind in development. 

There are more than 50,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel
that are now kept on site at more than 100 nuclear plants,
according to the Energy Department. Every year, the nuclear
industry, which accounts for around 20 percent of the
electricity used in this country, produces roughly 2,000 more
tons of waste. 

The nuclear industry welcomed Energys effort, which is similar
to administration efforts in past years that were blocked on
Capitol Hill. 

It includes a number of industrys expressed priorities, said
Trish Conrad, a spokeswoman for the Nuclear Energy Institute,
the trade association representing the nuclear power industry. 

Like most legislative efforts affecting the nuclear industry,
this one could be a tough slog. 

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) declared the bill
dead on arrival earlier this week, the day before the White
House sent the proposal to Congress. 

This bill has no future, Reid said. 

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) gave it similarly bleak prospects.
This bill will go nowhere, he predicted. 

A spokeswoman for Reid said the senator still believes that the
site is unsafe. 

But energy officials said the bill is needed to ensure that
nuclear power remains a component of the nations fuel mix. The
industry hopes to capitalize on new pressures to regulate
emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, as it
develops new technologies for new nuclear plants. Nuclear power
plants do not release carbon dioxide. 

A new license for a nuclear plant hasnt been issued in more
than two decades. 

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said the bill would help provide
stability, clarity and predictability to the Yucca Mountain
project. 

In a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Bodman
added: Expanded use of nuclear power can reduce carbon
emissions while also making the nation more energy independent. 

One industry priority the bill would address deals with waste
confidence. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has ruled
that it is confident that the problem of nuclear waste will be
solved. Such a ruling is important in the license-application
reviews of new plants. 

The industry believes the waste-confidence standard opens
so-called next generation nuclear plants to lawsuits that
would delay their completion. Public Citizen and other groups
have, in fact, challenged the NRC declaration of confidence. 

The bill submitted to Congress by the Energy Department asks
lawmakers to find that sufficient capacity will be available in
a timely manner to dispose of the spent nuclear fuel and
high-level radioactive waste resulting from the operation of the
reactor and any related facilities even though the Yucca
Mountain site has faced funding shortfalls and determined
congressional opposition. 

The mesure would effectively remove the NRC from the
decisionmaking process on whether the government is confident
that nuclear waste will be disposed of appropriately. 

That is going to be a political decision, not a scientific
decision, said Michele Boyd, a legislative director for energy
issues at Public Citizen. It is very disconcerting, to say the
least. 

Boyd also criticized the bill for its push to expedite the
licensing process for Yucca, which includes overriding some
environmental reviews that would now be required. 

Another hot-button issue is likely to be the administrations
latest call that the Nuclear Waste Fund, a money pot established
in 1982 to pay for disposal of spent reactor fuel, not be
subjected to budget spending caps. 

The fund, paid for by a small fee added to bills for
nuclear-generated electricity, is expected to reach $19 billion
this year, according to the NEI. 

But congressional spending caps have meant that Congress has
appropriated around $1 billion less than the Energy Department
had requested for Yucca Mountain in recent years. 

The legislative proposal would remove the amount of money the
fund earns each year, around $750 million, from spending-cap
considerations. Any amount appropriated over that for Yucca
would still be included in the budget cap applied by Congress. 

Critics have said removing a portion of the fund from
congressional spending caps would undermine lawmakers oversight
over the project. 

  
© 2006 The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington, DC 20006 
202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax 
*****************************************************************
 53 NEWS.com.au: Beattie 'wants uranium change' 

Breaking News 24/7 - 

From: AAP                       
April 05, 2006   		 		 		 

PRIME Minister John Howard said today Queensland Premier Peter
Beattie wants federal Labor to change its uranium mines policy,
which restricts the number of mines in Australia to three.
Newspaper reports say Mr Beattie is moving away from his
"outright hostility" to uranium mining, and has asked public
servants to investigate whether it would damage Queensland's
coal industry.

 Labor has been under increasing pressure over its mines policy
since Australia signed a deal to sell uranium to China.

 Mr Beattie has refused to state his position publicly, but Mr
Howard said today he had no doubt where the Queensland premier
stands following their meeting on Monday.

 "I got the impression that Mr Beattie was taking the realistic,
Martin Ferguson view, rather than the neanderthal, Anthony
Albanese view," Mr Howard said.

 Mr Ferguson has acknowledged the internal debate over the
uranium policy within Labor and says the party's position will
be determined at the ALP national conference in 2007.

Mr Albanese is strongly opposed to any change in Labor's 
position. 

"I thought Peter Beattie was exercising great common sense in 
relation to this issue," Mr Howard said.

 "I hope the states are sensible about this, and it's in the 
national interest that we drop this absurd three mines policy, or 
no new mines policy – given that we have three it's the same 
thing.

 "I think it's absurd and I think we should drop it." Search for 
more stories on this topic on Newstext, our news archive service. 

*****************************************************************
 54 KnoxNews: Munger: Oak Ridge cache of U-233 may end up in New Mexico                                  

By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com 

April 5, 2006

Based on a preliminary report, it appears most likely that Oak 
Ridge National Laboratory's stockpile of uranium-233 -- a fissile 
material of potential use in nuclear weapons -- will be processed 
to eliminate the bomb capability and sent to the Waste Isolation 
Pilot Plant in New Mexico for disposal. 

The U.S. Department of Energy previously planned to have a 
contractor extract useful medical isotopes before getting rid of 
more than 1,000 packages of U-233, but Congress last year 
directed DOE to proceed with disposal -- apparently because of 
concerns about the security of the strategic nuclear material. 

In a mandated report to Congress, DOE outlined potential options 
and said a "path forward," with cost and schedule impacts, would 
be available later this year. 

Before the processed U-233 could be sent to the underground salt 
formations at WIPP, the material would have to be certified as 
transuranic waste -- resulting from defense-related activities -- 
in order to meet the facility's disposal criteria. 

Dealing with the material as transuranic waste "appears to be the 
likely option," but DOE said it is exploring alternative disposal 
paths. 

** 

Winston S. Churchill, grandson of Great Britain's late, great
prime minister, took a side trip to Oak Ridge during last week's
visit to Knoxville for the two-day conference, "United States
and Great Britain: The Legacy of Churchill's Atlantic Alliance,"
at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. 

Billy Stair, communications chief at Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, was among those who accompanied Churchill on a tour
of the World War II-era Graphite Reactor, the Spallation Neutron
Source (a $1.4 billion research complex nearing completion) and
the lab's Center for Computational Sciences -- where Churchill
added his autograph to one of the supercomputers. 

"I have to admit it was a kick to discuss politics with Winston
Churchill," Stair, very much a political being, said of the car
ride back to Knoxville. 

*** 

Norbert Holtkamp, a 44-year-old physicist who's played a key
role in development of the Spallation Neutron Source, apparently
is on his way to even bigger things in his career. 

Holtkamp has been nominated to be principal deputy director
general of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor
-- a multi-billion-dollar fusion reactor project to be built in
France. 

If his appointment is OK'd by the partner nations of ITER
(European Union, India, Japan, Korea, China, Russia and USA),
Holtkamp will take on the technical leadership of the world's
biggest fusion energy project. It's a huge deal. 

Holtkamp will be missed in Oak Ridge, where his leadership, wit
and intellect have been an inspiration over the past five years. 

"If I was responsible for delivering ITER, I would want Norbert
to do the job," Thom Mason, the SNS boss, said of his friend and
colleague. "He's played a key role in our success." 

If Holtkamp's appointment to ITER is approved, he will stay in
Oak Ridge until the SNS is completed in late spring or early
summer, Mason said. 

"We've discussed having a transition period where he would be
around part of the time while we brought someone new into the
position," the SNS chief said. "So, actually, the timing works
out really well." 

Mason said an international search for Holtkamp's successor
would take place at about the time the $1.4 billion project is
transitioning from construction to operations. 

Meanwhile, Holtkamp's selection adds to the Oak Ridge ties on
ITER. 

ORNL already is co-managing the U.S. office for the
international project and will oversee the procurement of key
components for the experimental reactor. 

Stan Milora, the lab's fusion research director, said Holtkamp
was a good choice for the leadership role at ITER, having had
experience in bringing a big project to fruition within the
rigorous U.S. system.

Copyright 2006, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
*****************************************************************
 55 Guardian Unlimited: Energy Dept. to Consolidate Plutonium
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Thursday April 6, 2006 12:31 AM

By H. JOSEF HEBERT 

Associated Press Writer 

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Energy Department announced plans
Wednesday to consolidate virtually all of the government's
weapons research and development involving plutonium at a single
site to enhance security. 

The plan, which is part of a broader overhaul of the weapons
program over the next two decades, calls for removing plutonium
stocks now at the Livermore National Laboratory in California by
2014 and from all current facilities by 2022. 

Plutonium is now kept at seven facilities within the
government's weapons production and research complex, posing
difficult and expensive security issues at some of them. 

Community activists at Livermore have complained that the
plutonium poses too high a risk at the government weapons lab,
located in a heavily populated suburban area 40 miles from
downtown San Francisco. 

The actual amount of plutonium at the lab's ``Superblock,''
where weapons research is conducted, is classified. The official
inventory is 880 pounds, said Livermore spokesman David
Schwoegler. 

The radioactive material, which is deadly if inhaled or
ingested, is used at Livermore for research into weapons
components and the reliability of existing warheads. Schwoegler
said ``80 percent of the plutonium on site we don't need.'' 

Thomas D'Agostino, deputy administrator of the National Nuclear
Security Administration, told a House hearing that the
department wants to create a central plutonium research center
as part of the weapons complex overhaul. 

``We will improve the security posture of our national
laboratories by phasing out (plutonium) operations'' at those
facilities, he said. 

Weapons research involving substantial amounts of plutonium is
conducted at seven locations across the country, including the
Livermore lab and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New
Mexico. 

D'Agostino said the Livermore and Los Alamos labs would continue
to be centers for nuclear weapons design and development, but
plutonium research and development ``would be relocated to a
single site'' elsewhere. 

No decision has been made on the location of the plutonium
research facility. Department officials said it is envisioned
the site also would include a new plant to manufacture plutonium
``pits'' - the softball-size core of a nuclear weapon. 

The NNSA, the semiautonomous agency within the Energy Department
that oversees nuclear weapons research and production, has had
difficulty getting some of the facilities to meet new, more
stringent security requirements imposed since the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks. 

Energy Department officials have acknowledged that meeting some
of those requirements will be extremely expensive and may not be
possible at some of the sites, such as Livermore, if the
plutonium remains there. 

Peter Stockton, a former Energy Department official who is now
an investigator for the Project on Government Oversight, a
private advocacy group, told the hearing that consolidation of
weapons material should be completed faster than the Energy
Department is planning. 

Putting the material at fewer places would make it easier to
defend and ``could save the government billions of dollars ...
while better protecting the public from nuclear terrorism,''
said Stockton. 

An Energy Department senior advisory board recently recommended
that all the government's sensitive nuclear materials - highly
enriched uranium and plutonium - be consolidated by 2015. 

D'Agostino said the department agreed with much of the board's
recommendations, but not its recommendation on consolidation.
Under the Energy plan, activities using highly enriched uranium
would be conducted at the Y-12 weapons facility at Oak Ridge,
Tenn. 

      Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 56 Tracy Press: A radioactive problem 

April 5, 2006 Tracy, CA       

Phil Hayworth

The federal government wants to know how best to clean up Pit 7,
a radioactive waste site at the Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratorys Site 300, which sits just 15 miles southwest of
Tracy. 

A public hearing will begin at 6 p.m. tonight at the Tracy
Community Center, 300 E. 10th St., to discuss the waste at the
labs bomb-testing site. Its sponsored by the Department of
Energy, the lab and the U.S Environmental Protection Agency.
Members and staff of the Livermore-based environmental advocacy
group, Tri-Valley CAREs, will present testimony at the meeting. 

We want to make sure that they have a good cleanup plan, said
Tri-Valley spokeswoman Marylia Kelley. 

Pit 7 at Site 300 contains several unlined waste pits where
various radioactive materials were stored, Kelley said. But
water is leaching through the radioactive soil and down into the
water table, Kelley said. That radioactive water plume is
inching its way toward Tracy, she said. 

We want to make certain that the DOE commits to controlling the
forward migration of the plumes, not just cleaning up the site,
Kelley said. 

They want their concerns written into the governments final
cleanup plan, titled the Decision of Record. 

Some of the (proposed) tract homes in the Tracy Hills area come
right up to the fence of Site 300, Kelley said. 

The site has been undergoing cleanup since it was placed on the
Superfund site list in 1990. Superfund sites are considered the
most polluted in the country. 

 To reach reporter Phil Hayworth, call 830-4221 or e-mail
phayworth@tracypress.com.   

	   
Copyright © 2006 Tracy Press Inc, All Rights Reserved   

*****************************************************************
 57 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Cost of new plant at Hanford keeps rising

[seattlepi.com]     

Wednesday, April 5, 2006 

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RICHLAND -- The estimated cost to build a waste-treatment plant
at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has grown by nearly an
additional $1 billion, according to a new review by a team of
experts. 

The new cost estimate stands at $11.3 billion, up from the
previous estimate of $10.5 billion and nearly double the $5.8
billion estimated at the start of 2005. 

The review, presented to Congress, was prepared by a team of 16
independent experts hired to assess the credibility of the most
recent cost and schedule estimates prepared by Bechtel National,
the company hired to build the plant for the U.S. Department of
Energy. 

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman ordered the review last year to
restore confidence in the project as management, budget and
technical problems came to light. The new review also extended
the projected start of operations to July 2018 -- more than
seven years past the legally required start date of 2011. 

The so-called vitrification plant is being built to treat highly
radioactive waste left from decades of plutonium production for
the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal. The waste is currently
being stored in 177 underground tanks, with plans to eventually
run it through pipes to the plant. 

The Energy Department ordered construction be slowed on the
plant last fall amid skyrocketing costs and construction
problems. In February, Bechtel released its latest cost and
schedule estimate for the plant in a 44,000-page report. That
estimate put the cost for the plant at $10.5 billion, although
the figure did not include Bechtel's fee. 

Bechtel's estimate is solid for the costs it covered, said Ike
Zeringue, the retired chief operating officer of the Tennessee
Valley Authority and a member of the latest study team. 

The number covered the costs for work in Bechtel's contract.
However, there are certain to be problems that come up that were
not predicted, Zeringue said. An additional roughly $1 billion
should be added to the plant budget for those "unknown
unknowns," the report said. They could include new regulations,
new technical concerns raised by an oversight board or budget
cuts that delay and extend construction. 

The Energy Department expects to release a final cost and
schedule estimate late this summer after a review.              
  
[Seattle Post-Intelligencer] 101 Elliott Ave. W. Seattle, WA 
98119 (206) 448-8000
 
*****************************************************************
 58 Las Vegas SUN: Scientists say planned blast a part of nuclear testing 

Today: April 05, 2006 at 7:57:17 PDT 

By Launce Rake <lrake@lasvegassun.com> Las Vegas Sun

The Defense Department's plan to detonate 700 tons of explosives
at the Nevada Test Site is intended to simulate a nuclear blast
as part of Pentagon research into development of low-yield
nuclear weapons, a science advisory group charged Tuesday. 

The Pentagon refused to confirm or deny the claim, made by the
Federation of American Scientists, a Washington, D.C.-based
liberal policy group opposed to development of nuclear weapons. 

But if the charge is verified, debate over the blast seems
certain to shift beyond environmental effects on Nevada to
international concerns over nuclear weapons proliferation. 

The federation said it based its statement on a review of
Pentagon budget requests since 2002 showing that the blast,
scheduled for June 2, would serve as a "low-yield nuclear weapon
simulation." Hans Kristensen, an analyst for the federation,
said the Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency has
carefully ducked the issue of whether the test was
nuclear-related. 

Policy analysts in and out of the Bush administration have
suggested that the United States develop low-yield nuclear
weapons. In 2001, the National Institute for Public Policy, a
conservative nonprofit think tank, said new nuclear warheads
should be developed for "bunker busting." 

The Bush administration followed in 2002 with its Nuclear
Posture Review, which made a similar argument. One of the
veterans of the National Institute for Public Policy report,
Linton Brooks, became the head of the National Nuclear Security
Administration, which directs nuclear weapons research. 

According to the Washington Post, a year ago Brooks told
Congress that the United States lacked a nuclear warhead capable
of destroying "hardened, deeply buried targets." 

Despite the enthusiasm for the weapons research, Congress since
2001 has denied funding for such nuclear programs. Last year
Congress cut $4 million from the administration's request to
study a nuclear bunker buster, instead supporting study of a
conventional weapon that could be used against buried targets. 

Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, chairman of a key House subcommittee
on the weapons issue, said in December that Congress would not
back a ground-penetrating nuclear warhead. The Nuclear Threat
Initiative, a nonprofit group working to reduce the likelihood
of the use of nuclear weapons, said in November that the Bush
administration would go ahead with a test of a mock
earth-penetrating nuclear warhead, but with a different name and
using Defense rather than Energy Department funding. 

Kristensen said the test, while non-nuclear, could be used to
further development of a nuclear bunker-busting warhead. 

The test "is about fine-tuning tools for fighting nuclear wars,
Kristensen said. The nuclear war fighters are trying to
calibrate a low-yield nuclear weapon against a relatively
shallow target in limestone." 

Kristensen said the goal of the test program was to find the
weakest nuclear weapon that would still achieve the goal of
knocking out hardened, underground structures. Lower-yield
weapons would spread less radiation and fallout that would
affect civilians and troops. 

Kristensen's comments came less than a week after James
Tegnelia, director of the Threat Reduction Agency, told
reporters that the test would send "a mushroom cloud over Las
Vegas." Although the agency quickly disavowed the comment and
stressed that the test would be non-nuclear, the comment alarmed
political leaders and residents who remember decades of atomic
bomb tests at the Nevada Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las
Vegas. 

Agency spokesmen said the explosion, although large, would not
be seen, heard or felt in Las Vegas and would not produce any
radioactive dust to blow downwind. 

Asked Tuesday about the federation's comments, agency spokesman
David Rigby said, "I don't confirm them. I don't deny them. I
don't discuss the quality of their information. 

"This is a test to have better predictive tools to defeating
hardened and underground targets," Rigby said. "It is not a
precursor to a nuclear test. It is not a nuclear test." 

The June blast "has been redefined over the past several years,"
and the goal now is to provide data on how such massive
explosions and their ground shocks affect structures in
different geologic situations, he said. 

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada is scheduled to meet
with Tegnelia on Thursday. Sharyn Stein, a Reid spokeswoman,
said the goal of the test would be discussed. 

"Nevadans have heard a lot of frightening rumors about this
planned test," Reid said in a prepared statement. "I look
forward to talking with Director Tegnelia and getting accurate
information. I'm pleased the director is able to meet with me so
quickly, and I hope we'll be able to settle any concerns about
the safety of Divine Strake," referring to the test. 

State Sen. Dina Titus, a Democratic candidate for governor and a
UNLV professor who has written extensively on Nevada's history
with nuclear weapons testing, said people were concerned about a
return of the atomic tests. 

Past statements from the Bush administration on the need to
resume such testing or develop new tactical nuclear weapons
don't reassure people, she said. 

"All the saber-rattling leads me to fear that they might try to
resume testing," she said. "We won the arms race, so why are we
starting it again? 

"This is a more visceral issue even than Yucca Mountain because
of the history of weapons testing. We have to have a strong
defense, but I don't know why we would want to start the arms
race again." Launce Rake can be reached at 259-4127 or at
lrake@lasvegssun.com. 

All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 59 Hanford News: Study: DOE faces problems removing nuke waste from buried tanks
 
This story was published Wednesday, April 5th, 2006 

By Christopher Smith, Associated Press Writer 

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The U.S. Department of Energy is making good
progress removing highly radioactive waste from storage tanks at
the Idaho National Laboratory, but an independent panel of
scientists reported Tuesday to Congress it has "serious
reservations" about similar cleanup efforts at Savannah River in
South Carolina and Hanford in Washington state. 

The government-sponsored study found DOE has cleaned out only
two of the 246 radioactive waste storage tanks at the three
federal nuclear compounds and none has been permanently sealed. 

The agency has been studying ways to immobilize the liquefied
radioactive waste stored in underground tanks and surface silos
at the three sites for 50 years. In 2004 Congress directed the
National Research Council, an arm of the National Academies of
Science, to assess progress and recommend improvements. 

The millions of gallons of highly toxic sludge were created by
chemical processing of spent nuclear fuel from plutonium
production for atomic weapons during World War II and the Cold
War. 

The panel was most concerned about cleanup efforts at Savannah
River, said study director Micah Lowenthal in Washington, D.C. 

"There are a lot of pressures to do things in the near-term at
Savannah River and to a lesser extent at Hanford," he said. "The
committee is concerned the schedule-oriented approach can
sometimes lead to decisions that you wouldn't make under more
ideal circumstances." 

Nuclear cleanup watchdogs praised the findings and said DOE
cannot be trusted to properly remove the waste. 

"Congress should heed the academies' recommendations and bring
radioactive tank cleanup under external regulation by the
Environmental Protection Agency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
and the affected states," said Geoffrey Fettus of the Natural
Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C. 

But the DOE said immobilizing some of the sludge in place is a
more prudent approach than waiting for new advances in
technology to retrieve tank waste. 

"We believe that cleaning and closing tanks now through
protective waste disposal processes outweighs the risk
associated with waiting for incremental improvements in waste
removal technology," said Megan Barnett, a DOE spokeswoman in
Washington, D.C. 

The panel's report found it is not practical to remove all the
nuclear waste from the storage tanks because of the potential
danger to workers and the prohibitive cost of exhuming the
tanks, which vary widely in design, size and condition. 

But the 21-member committee of scientists did not specify how
much of the waste DOE should retrieve from the vats, encase in
glass and bury in an underground repository or how much it
should leave behind in the tanks, which would then be filled
with a cement-like grout and remain on site. 

Much of the Idaho waste is in a granular form, which the panel
found to be much more stable. 

"Because of treatment decisions INL made over the years to get
it into a granular form, they chemically made it easier to deal
with and we don't have the problems faced by the other two
sites," said Kathleen Trever, the state of Idaho's oversight
officer for INL. 

Federal law requires the DOE to retrieve highly radioactive
material from the tank sludge and encapsulate it in a solid
form, such as glass logs, for permanent disposal. 

In 2003, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill in Boise ruled that
the regulatory attempt by the Energy Department to reclassify
the waste so it would not have to be removed from the tanks
violated the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act. 

In response, Congress added language to the 2005 defense
spending bill giving DOE authority to reclassify some of the
tank waste as "incidental" waste in the Savannah River and Idaho
tanks so they could be grouted and sealed. 

The study panel said it was concerned over DOE's plans for tank
closure at Savannah River, questioning the accuracy of
assumptions the agency had made about potential exposure and the
amount of radioactive material to be disposed of on site. 

"This is a technical indictment of DOE's use of that authority
at Savannah River," said Fettus. 

The study also raised questions about DOE's plan to use a
process known as bulk vitrification for treating low-level
radioactive waste for disposal on site at Hanford. The panel
called for an independent technical review of the process to
determine its safety and performance, something that Barnett
said DOE is planning to do and something that Hanford watchdogs
say is long overdue. 

"Our own analysis shows there are major problems with safety,
worker exposure and environmental contamination," said Tom
Carpenter of the Government Accountability Project's nuclear
oversight campaign in Seattle "This was just a quick and dirty
attempt to deal with high-level nuclear waste."

© 2006 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 60 Hanford News: Technology should be focus of cleanup
 
This story was published Wednesday, April 5th, 2006 

By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer 

The nation should spend up to $500 million over 10 years on
research to better empty and close underground tanks holding
millions of gallons of radioactive waste at Hanford and
elsewhere, according to a report released Tuesday. 

Technology, not schedules, should drive Department of Energy
efforts to empty and close underground tanks, the National
Academies' National Research Council urged. 

The report looked at efforts to empty Hanford tanks and treat
the waste, but reserved its harshest criticism for tank closure
work at the Savannah River, S.C., site. 

At Hanford, the report raised concerns about whether enough is
known about bulk vitrification, a proposed method to treat some
of the low-activity radioactive waste now in underground tanks. 

The difficult question on tank closure - "How clean is clean?" -
remained without a specific answer in the report. 

"Ideally, all wastes would be removed from the tanks," the
report said. "However, it is widely recognized that it is
prohibitive in terms of worker risk and economic cost to exhume
the tanks or remove all the wastes from all the tanks." 

The report recommended developing and using multiple
technologies, if needed, to remove waste from each underground
tank. It's an approach DOE's Hanford Office of River Protection
already has said will be needed on some of its tanks. 

The report encourages DOE not rush to close individual tanks
while existing technology cannot remove hard heels of waste that
remain in the tanks' bottoms. Drained tanks may be filled with
grout for closure, but that action cannot be reversed if better
technology to retrieve remaining waste is later developed, the
study said. 

"DOE should not make decisions based solely on schedule
conformance," the report said. 

Good planning should allow tanks with difficult waste heels to
remain open to see if new technology can be developed and still
allow cleanup deadlines to be met, the report said. 

But Megan Barnett, a DOE spokeswoman in Washington, D.C.,
responded, "We believe that cleaning and closing tanks now
through protective waste disposal processes outweighs the risk
associated with waiting for incremental improvements in waste
removal technology." 

She added, "Rather than putting closures on hold for years
awaiting new technologies to be developed, new technologies
should be matured and integrated in the closure program as they
become available." 

At Hanford, four of the 177 underground tanks have been emptied,
but none has been closed. An environmental study on closing the
tanks is not expected to be completed until 2008 and the
deadline to close the oldest 149 tanks is not until 2024. 

The legally binding Tri-Party Agreement covering Hanford waste
cleanup requires 99 percent of waste to be emptied from the
tanks or the tanks to be emptied to the practical limits of
technology. After Washington state leaders objected, Hanford was
not included in federal legislation that allows DOE to
reclassify tank waste, determining how much remains in the
tanks. 

The new report found that at Savannah River, which is covered by
that federal legislation, there appears to be a
"milestone-driven rush to grout a tank essentially permanently
and irrevocably even if much more radioactive material remains
than is expected." 

The report proposed more research on both technologies to empty
the tanks and on using grout to fill the emptied tanks to keep
them from eventually collapsing. 

The report agreed that grout appears to be the best material for
filling the tanks, but said DOE needs to understand more about
the long-term ability of grout to inhibit water flow and
immobilize waste in the closed tanks. 

It also called for an independent technical review of bulk
vitrification to look at its performance and safety. 

DOE already is taking preliminary steps for an independent
review of a planned bulk vitrification pilot plant. It has
stopped construction on the plant until more is known about its
technology and its cost and schedule is verified. 

Construction on the pilot plant could resume late this year if
money is available. Bulk vitrification is proposed to turn
low-activity radioactive waste from the tanks into blocks of
glass the size of land-sea shipping containers for permanent
burial at Hanford. 

The report called for the bulk vitrification technology to be
compared to other technologies in an independent report. 

A method called cast stone that would incorporate waste into a
cement-based material was rejected for treating low-activity
waste at Hanford because it did not meet Washington state's
ground water protection standards. 

Steam reforming also is being considered to treat the Hanford
waste but could be more expensive, the report said. 

The report also pointed out concerns raised by an oversight
board, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, about the
proposed design of the bulk vitrification pilot plant and
whether it would adequately contain radioactive materials in an
emergency. The work would largely be done on outdoor pads. 

The Office of River Protection has said it believes it has
resolved the safety concerns. 

© 2006 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 61 kgw.com: Study: DOE faces problems removing nuke waste from buried tanks 

News for Oregon and SW Washington | AP Wire
 
04/05/2006 

By CHRISTOPHER SMITH  / Associated Press 

The U.S. Department of Energy is making good progress removing
highly radioactive waste from storage tanks at the Idaho
National Laboratory, but an independent panel of scientists
reported Tuesday to Congress it has "serious reservations" about
similar cleanup efforts at Savannah River in South Carolina and
Hanford in Washington state. 

The government-sponsored study found DOE has cleaned out only
two of the 246 radioactive waste storage tanks at the three
federal nuclear compounds and none has been permanently sealed. 

The agency has been studying ways to immobilize the liquefied
radioactive waste stored in underground tanks and surface silos
at the three sites for 50 years. In 2004 Congress directed the
National Research Council, an arm of the National Academies of
Science, to assess progress and recommend improvements. 

The millions of gallons of highly toxic sludge were created by
chemical processing of spent nuclear fuel from plutonium
production for atomic weapons during World War II and the Cold
War. 

The panel was most concerned about cleanup efforts at Savannah
River, said study director Micah Lowenthal in Washington, D.C. 

"There are a lot of pressures to do things in the near-term at
Savannah River and to a lesser extent at Hanford," he said. "The
committee is concerned the schedule-oriented approach can
sometimes lead to decisions that you wouldn't make under more
ideal circumstances." 

Nuclear cleanup watchdogs praised the findings and said DOE
cannot be trusted to properly remove the waste. 

"Congress should heed the academies' recommendations and bring
radioactive tank cleanup under external regulation by the
Environmental Protection Agency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
and the affected states," said Geoffrey Fettus of the Natural
Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C. 

But the DOE said immobilizing some of the sludge in place is a
more prudent approach than waiting for new advances in
technology to retrieve tank waste. 

"We believe that cleaning and closing tanks now through
protective waste disposal processes outweighs the risk
associated with waiting for incremental improvements in waste
removal technology," said Megan Barnett, a DOE spokeswoman in
Washington, D.C. 

The panel's report found it is not practical to remove all the
nuclear waste from the storage tanks because of the potential
danger to workers and the prohibitive cost of exhuming the
tanks, which vary widely in design, size and condition. 

But the 21-member committee of scientists did not specify how
much of the waste DOE should retrieve from the vats, encase in
glass and bury in an underground repository or how much it
should leave behind in the tanks, which would then be filled
with a cement-like grout and remain on site. 

Much of the Idaho waste is in a granular form, which the panel
found to be much more stable. 

"Because of treatment decisions INL made over the years to get
it into a granular form, they chemically made it easier to deal
with and we don't have the problems faced by the other two
sites," said Kathleen Trever, the state of Idaho's oversight
officer for INL. 

Federal law requires the DOE to retrieve highly radioactive
material from the tank sludge and encapsulate it in a solid
form, such as glass logs, for permanent disposal. 

In 2003, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill in Boise ruled that
the regulatory attempt by the Energy Department to reclassify
the waste so it would not have to be removed from the tanks
violated the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act. 

In response, Congress added language to the 2005 defense
spending bill giving DOE authority to reclassify some of the
tank waste as "incidental" waste in the Savannah River and Idaho
tanks so they could be grouted and sealed. 

The study panel said it was concerned over DOE's plans for tank
closure at Savannah River, questioning the accuracy of
assumptions the agency had made about potential exposure and the
amount of radioactive material to be disposed of on site. 

"This is a technical indictment of DOE's use of that authority
at Savannah River," said Fettus. 

The study also raised questions about DOE's plan to use a
process known as bulk vitrification for treating low-level
radioactive waste for disposal on site at Hanford. The panel
called for an independent technical review of the process to
determine its safety and performance, something that Barnett
said DOE is planning to do and something that Hanford watchdogs
say is long overdue. 

"Our own analysis shows there are major problems with safety,
worker exposure and environmental contamination," said Tom
Carpenter of the Government Accountability Project's nuclear
oversight campaign in Seattle "This was just a quick and dirty
attempt to deal with high-level nuclear waste." 

This text is invisible on the page, but this text is affected by
the invisible item's flow. This text is invisible on the page,
but this text is affected by the invisible item's flow.     

 2006, KGW-TV  
*****************************************************************
 62 lamonitor.com: LANL transition affecting many's financial future 

The Online News Source for Los Alamos
 
SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR (Sunday 4/2)

As LANL moves toward a new regime, many changes face current and
retired employees. Some of those topic are: 

+ Defined benefit or defined contribution? It's more than a
financial choice.

In the transition to LANS, you have two options. If you choose
to stay employed and transfer, you keep your defined benefit
plan, Option A. If you retire and hope to be re-hired, your
pension option will now be a defined contribution plan, Option
B. 

Option A specifies that you will receive a set monthly amount-a
defined benefit-until your death, with no cost-of-living
adjustments. The employer is responsible for the investment risk.

Option B specifies that a contribution will be made to your
retirement plan account but makes no promises to a future
monthly retirement income. The employee is responsible for the
investment risk. 

At first blush, Option A sounds like real peace of mind, but it
should be balanced against other factors and conditions. You
surrender your lump sum to the plan-and with it your chance at
capital preservation. Income-wise, you lose your spending power
as inflation erodes your fixed income. And, once you go with
Option A, you can't back out of it.

From a purely financial view, Option B is good because you keep
your lump sum and have the control to pick your own investments
based on your risk tolerance and actual needs. You-or your
financial advisor-can set up your own reliable income stream in
an IRA and preserve the capital at the same time. And, you can
protect your retirement income against inflation. 

+ If Option B is a good deal financially, why should I consider
Option A?

Remember that the employer, like others around the country,
would prefer to keep your lump sum distribution in the new plan.
Accordingly, the employer has structured the deal so that
serious health issues or job security issues could compel you to
choose Option A. With Option A, you are automatically rehired.
Under Option B, you must retire and hope for rehire. With Option
A, your benefits are transferred, including health insurance.
Under Option B, your benefits, which are subject to rehire,
start from scratch-and your health insurance costs-co-pay and
premium-could rise. So, there may be situations where
surrendering your lump sum could make sense.


+  If I choose Option A, am I required to make my pension
benefit an annuity?

Yes, you are-by the employer's plan. Some people believe the
requirement is a federal rule. This isn't true. Neither the
Department of Labor nor Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation
impose the requirement. It is at the discretion of the employer,
and while most defined benefit plans allow you to take a lump
sum option, ERISA does not require an employer to offer the
option.


+  Under Option A, what happens to my 403b money?

It converts to a 401k, the vehicle for a for-profit plan. The
employer's plan provides a 401k, but you are free to direct the
403b money to other plans. Ask your financial advisor to compare
the employer's 401k with others that conform to your needs. Some
variables that could influence your choice include returns, fees
and other costs.


+  Is my monthly benefit under the Option A annuity guaranteed
100 percent?

It depends on the amount of your monthly benefit. Many people
believe the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation insures 100
percent of their benefit if the employer files bankruptcy. In
fact, the PBGC guarantees a maximum monthly benefit of $3971.59
per month for someone age 65 taking the straight life annuity in
a plan terminating in 2006. This is fine, if you are at or below
that level. If your monthly benefit was supposed to be, say,
$7,000, you will simply lose the difference.


+  How can they specify a set monthly benefit under Option A?

An employer carefully considers the interest rate in a defined
benefit plan. It has to be high enough to meet at least some
employees' expectations, but low enough that the employer's plan
has a good chance of making money on the deal. When the
employee/retiree dies, the employer's plan keeps their capital.

This report is from Stephen Ciepiela, principal, and Kelly
Garcia, of Charles Stephen and Company, Inc., in Albuquerque.   

  © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.   
    
*****************************************************************

NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this 
material is distributed without profit or payment to those who 
have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for 
non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more 
information go to: 
<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml> 
    
*****************************************************************