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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 UN Atomic Watchdog Agency Helps Iraq Clean Up Contaminated Nuclear H
2 Guardian Unlimited: 1,000 Iraqis at risk of nuclear contamination, s
3 Reuters: IAEA acts to clean up Iraq atom site, 1,000 at risk
4 AFP: Rumsfeld say Iraq, Afghan missions key to containing Iran -
5 [NYTr] British Experts Warn Govt: Attack on Iran Illegal
6 Nuke Iran, Watch Pakistan and Turkey Fall
7 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Hints at Exiting Nuclear Treaty
8 AFP: Rice "concerned" over Iranian diplomat in United States
9 AFP: Iran's Ahmadinejad defies UN on nuclear drive
10 AFP: Iran president threatens to quit NPT
11 AFP: Israel fears Iran may spark nuclear arms race
12 IRNA: Military strike on Iran unlikely to get UNSC approval - Nasral
13 Guardian Unlimited: Rice Pushes Security Council on Iran
14 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear Program 'Irreversible,' Iran Says
15 [NYTr] N Korea says no to nuclear talks
16 Guardian Unlimited: North, S. Korea Agree to Push for Accord
17 US: [NYTr] Physicists: Take the Nuclear Option Off the Table!
18 US: ICT: EPA honors tribes as environmental heroes
19 RIA Novosti: Russian ballistic missiles to be equipped with new warh
20 Xinhua: Pakistan, India to hold nuclear talks on Tuesday
21 IEA: IEA calls for more investment, more energy efficiency and more
NUCLEAR REACTORS
22 US: [southnews] Physicists: Take the Nuclear Option Off the Table!
23 [NYTr] Reviving Nuclear Power: Chernobyl's Chill Warning
24 US: [NukeNet] 426 Chernobyl Press Conference, Trenton NJ
25 [du-list] Chernobyl 'still causing cancer in British children'
26 [du-list] Dud torch review - true picture of chernobyl
27 US: [du-list] PAR NEWS - May
28 Moscow Times: Belarus Revives Nuclear Villages
29 Guardian Unlimited: Ukraine Asks Help for Chernobyl Region
30 Helsingin Sanomat: Sharp rise in support for sixth nuclear reactor i
31 Helsingin Sanomat: Construction of reactor in Olkiluoto is nine mont
32 US: San Luis Obispo Tribune: How Diablo could be safer
33 RIA Novosti: Chernobyl-area food major source of radiation - chief d
34 Moscow Times: Specters of Chernobyl Disaster Linger in Ukraine
35 RIA Novosti: Court postpones ruling on ex-nuclear power minister's r
36 AFP: Thyroid cancer to double locally after Chernobyl
37 AFP: Ukraine conference starts Chernobyl 20th anniversary commemorat
38 Reuters: Ukraine leader seeks cash for new Chernobyl shelter
39 Norway Post: Chernobyl-effect lingers
40 Kyiv Post: Ukrainian president appeals for help to return life
41 ITAR-TASS: Kiev hosts conference on 20th anniversary of Chernobyl
42 NewsRoom Finland: Nuclear power gains popularity in Finland
43 UPI: Ukrainian nuke reactor disconnected
44 SNA: IAEA Silent on Bulgaria Nuke Fault
45 NEWS.com.au: Pressure to open nuke debate -
NUCLEAR SECURITY
46 GREENPEACE UK: Terrorist targets on wheels
NUCLEAR SAFETY
47 US: [du-list] Dr. Rosalie Bertell as eco-hero at alternet
48 US: [du-list] uranium trioxide gas is an ignored combustion
49 [NukeNet] Scotland: Revealed: fears over 'r adioactive' food
50 Irish Examiner: Firefighters ill-equipped to handle nuclear fallout
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
51 [NYTr] Sellafield drama-documentary captivates Irish TV
52 US: APP.COM: Report: Review may have missed toxic sites |
53 Salt Lake Tribune: A waste proposal: DOE should not have sole say ov
54 Las Vegas SUN: Protesters gear up for Bush arrival in Las Vegas
55 Scotsman.com News: Decision due soon on nuclear waste management
PEACE
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
56 DOE: Secretary Bodman Meets with Global Energy Ministers at the
57 lamonitor.com: Fixing a hole where nuclear materials could get in
58 UPI: Rocky Flats radiation to be reviewed
59 Rocky Mountain News: Ill workers take pleas to panel
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 UN Atomic Watchdog Agency Helps Iraq Clean Up Contaminated Nuclear Hotspots
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 12:00:39 -0400
UN ATOMIC WATCHDOG AGENCY HELPS IRAQ CLEAN UP CONTAMINATED NUCLEAR HOTSPOTS
New York, Apr 24 2006 12:00PM
Cleaning up contaminated sites once at the heart of Iraq's nuclear
programme could take years, according to a senior United Nations
official invited by the Iraqi Government to help it with the task.
The project's groundwork was set at a meeting of UN International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna in February attended by the
Iraqi Minister for Science and Technology, representatives from
16 countries, including the United States, and the European Commission.
"This is a huge task, one that could take many years," the IAEA
safety expert in charge of the effort said in an update, noting that
among the first steps is the need to identify, cordon off and
prioritize contaminated areas that pose the most risk to the public.
Some of the challenges include determining now unknown locations
where contaminated equipment and materials might be buried, and recovering
lost records about the contents of radioactive materials
stored in waste containers.
"Given the magnitude of the task ahead, the project needs to be carried
out through a combined effort between Iraq organizations and
the IAEA's Member States," Mr. Reisenweaver said.
One of the major known sites is the Tuwaitha complex that was inspected
and largely dismantled during IAEA-led weapons inspections
in the 1990s and subsequently bombed in the 2003 United States-led
war, after which it was looted, making media headlines when barrels
containing low-level uranium ore concentrate known as 'yellowcake'
were stolen.
The barrels were emptied and sold to local people who used them for
storing water or food, or to wash clothes. Under its nuclear safeguards
agreement with Iraq, the IAEA inspected the site, noting
that the missing material posed no proliferation concern and that
efforts were required to recover the dispersed material.
At present 1,000 Iraqi men, women and children in the village of
Ishtar near the site, 20 kilometres south of Baghdad, are livin
contaminated by radioactive residues and ruins, where levels of radiation
are known to be higher than normal and prolonged exposure
could prove risky over time.
During the project's first phase, it is expected the IAEA will assist
with training, equipment and analysis of data to prioritize
sites and facilities that need to be decommissioned first on radiation
safety grounds.
The agency is also aiding Iraq in several areas related to radiation
safety and waste management. They include regional technical
cooperation projects to upgrade capabilities for controlling radiation
sources and responding to radiation emergencies.
2006-04-24 00:00:00.000
________________
For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
To change your profile or unsubscribe go to:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/email/
*****************************************************************
2 Guardian Unlimited: 1,000 Iraqis at risk of nuclear contamination, says IAEA
[UP]
Ian Traynor
Tuesday April 25, 2006
The Guardian
More than 1,000 Iraqis who live south of Baghdad within the
bombed and looted complex that was once the centre of Saddam
Hussein's nuclear programme are at acute risk of radioactive
poisoning, the UN's nuclear authority said yesterday.
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said it was
launching a clean-up operation at the Tuwaitha plant, 14 miles
south of Baghdad, and appealed for international involvement in
what it said would be a long-term challenge.
"This is a huge task, one that could take many years," said
Dennis Reisenweaver, the IAEA safety expert in charge of the
clean-up. The priority was to identify and cordon off the most
hazardous areas of radioactive contamination.
The Tuwaitha complex was at the centre of Saddam's illicit
nuclear projects, although it was thoroughly investigated and
largely dismantled during the UN inspections in the 1990s.
The Americans, citing the threat of Saddam's weapons of mass
destruction as grounds for their invasion and occupation in
2003, came under severe criticism for failing to secure the
complex and standing by while it was ransacked.
Tuwaitha was bombed by the invaders, and then looted by Iraqis.
Uranium drums were emptied and sold, with the empty barrels used
to hold water.
Around 1,000 people are now living in a village within the
perimeters of the nuclear complex, according to the IAEA.
"Levels of radiation are known to be higher than normal and
prolonged exposure could prove risky over time."
The agency said there was no risk of the proliferation of
nuclear weapons from the materials at Tuwaitha, but that action
was needed to trace missing materials and render them safe.
The Iraqi government has asked the IAEA to organise a programme
at Tuwaitha and other sites to examine the problem of
radioactive contamination. They are also concerned about
radioactive material and equipment that has vanished from Iraq's
nuclear sites.
"Some of the challenges facing the clean-up effort include
determining now unknown locations where contaminated equipment
and materials might be buried, and recovering lost records about
the contents of radioactive materials stored in waste
containers," the IAEA said.
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
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3 Reuters: IAEA acts to clean up Iraq atom site, 1,000 at risk
Mon 24 Apr 2006 2:06 PM ET
VIENNA, April 24 (Reuters) - The International Atomic Energy
Agency has begun a drive to clean up the former Tuwaitha nuclear
site in Iraq where radioactive residue poses a health risk to
1,000 nearby inhabitants, the nuclear watchdog said on Monday.
Residents of Ishtar village near Tuwaitha, 20 km (12 miles) south
of Baghdad, are exposed to contaminated rubble left by aerial
bombing and looting during and after the U.S.-led invasion in
2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein, the IAEA said.
It said a project to clean up Tuwaitha and other nuclear
facilities in Iraq was launched earlier this year at agency
headquarters in Vienna and Washington had given the IAEA
photographs to assist the campaign.
Iraqi and U.S. teams had begun to collect environmental and
radiological data and launched studies on health effects among
people living near the 56-sq-km (22-sq-mile) Tuwaitha complex.
"This is a huge task, one that could take many years," said
Dennis Reisenweaver, the IAEA official in charge of the nuclear
clean-up drive in Iraq.
Radiation levels around Tuwaitha register higher than normal and
could be a health hazard over time, the IAEA said, attaching
photos showing wrecked facades spray-painted with warnings like
"radioactive" and "HOT", with children playing nearby.
The IAEA said Iraq's government, plagued by an insurgency
against the U.S.-led occupation and reconstruction efforts, had
sought the agency's help to prepare plans to decontaminate sites
where radioactive material was used or waste was buried.
The project's groundwork was laid at an IAEA meeting in Vienna
in February attended by Iraq's science and technology minister
and officials from 16 countries, including the United States,
and the European Union.
Initial steps would include pinpointing and cordoning off
contaminated areas posing the biggest risk to inhabitants.
Some locations remained unknown and a major challenge lay in
recovering missing records about the contents of radioactive
materials stored in waste containers, the IAEA said.
Armed chaos from militant groups fighting U.S. forces and
U.S.-backed Iraqi authorities could pose another serious
obstacle as Tuwaitha lies within the "Sunni Triangle" around
Baghdad hardest hit by the bloodshed.
Tuwaitha hit the headlines in April 2003 during the war when
some 3,000 barrels containing low-level uranium ore concentrate
known as "yellow cake" were stolen from the unsecured site.
The barrels were emptied and sold to local people who used them
for storing water or food or to wash clothes.
The U.N. Environmental Programme's task force chief told
Reuters last year that Iraq's environmental problems were among
the world's worst and attempts to address them were being
crippled by the lack of public security.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved. [ border=]
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4 AFP: Rumsfeld say Iraq, Afghan missions key to containing Iran -
Mon Apr 24, 7:20 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said
that the United States must persevere in Iraq" /> Iraqand
Afghanistan" /> Afghanistanto contain "the extreme impulses that
we see emanating from Iran" /> Iran."
Rumsfeld linked the costly and unpopular US efforts to
stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan to US concerns about Iran's
nuclear program and its regional might, in an interview with the
Pentagon" /> Pentagon's in-house television channel.
He said those who believe that US efforts in Iraq and
Afghanistan are too costly or are taking too long need to
understand that "success in Afghanistan and success in Iraq is
critical to containing the extreme impulses that we see
emanating from Iran."
His comments came amid a sharpening diplomatic confrontation
over Iran's nuclear program, which Washington insists is aimed
at developing atomic weapons.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier refused calls for a
halt to its uranium enrichment program and warned Iran could
withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The United States, meanwhile, said the UN Security Council would
consider a draft resolution that would oblige Iran to comply or
face possible military action.
Rumsfeld did not allude to military options in the interview,
instead portraying US efforts in neighboring Iraq and
Afghanistan as a bulwark against Iranian extremism.
"The last thing Iran wants is to have successful regimes,
representative systems, free people in Afghanistan and Iraq," he
said. "It is harmful to their view of the world, to their
extreme view of the world."
"So most people who suggest that the cost is too great or it's
taking too long, and we should not stay the course, it seems to
me you have to think what it would mean to Iran and how it would
advance their cause, and their cause is a cause that is
dangerous to the world."
Rumsfeld hailed the end of a four month political impasse over
who should be Iraq's next prime minister as "a thrilling
accomplishment."
At the same time, he said it was reasonable to expect that
insurgents would try to sabotage the seating of a new government
under Shiite leader Jawad al-Maliki, who has 30 days to form a
cabinet.
"The new ministries named, and then approved by the parliament,
will have to begin that difficult task of governing," he said.
"It's a difficult assignment and it won't be easy for them."
If Iraq's interior and defense ministers are competent and
govern from the center, Rumsfeld said, Iraqi forces will
continue to take over responsibility for security.
"As we are able to pass over more responsibility, one would
think we would be able to continue reducing down our forces," he
said.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
5 [NYTr] British Experts Warn Govt: Attack on Iran Illegal
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 17:06:29 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba
http://www.radiohc.cu
British Exports Warn Govt: Military Action Against Iran Illegal
London, April 24 (RHC)-- British lawyers have reportedly warned
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that it would be illegal under
international law for London to support any U.S.-led military action
against Iran. In preparations for the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Straw
received similar private advice from senior lawyers who had also
advised the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, on the illegality of an
invasion without the express authority of the United Nations Security
Council.
According to a story in yesterday morning's edition of the Sunday
Herald, published in Scotland, the British Foreign Office's lawyers
have gone further than merely advising on the legality of military
assistance. It is believed that their advice stretched to the use of
British military advisers, UK airspace and even the dangers of Prime
Minister Tony Blair expressing support that could be taken as
legitimizing a U.S.-led attack.
The Sunday Herald says that the lawyers have urged the British
government to await the full report on Iran by the International
Atomic Energy Authority's head, Mohamed ElBaradei. His report will be
handed to the United Nations Security Council in New York this week.
British newspapers today are also adding pressure on Blair to not
become entangled in a military action against Iran. The officer in
charge of army recruitment in Scotland has warned that the shortage of
troops is so severe that another overseas conflict -- or the
mobilization of more troops in Northern Ireland -- would lead to the
UK having to pull troops out of Iraq or Afghanistan.
In an interview with the Sunday Herald, Lieutenant Colonel David
Steele warned that although the UK armed forces can currently cope
with its domestic and overseas duties, any additional strain would be
too much. Steele said that his troops are stretched thin and that "if
there was one more operation," they would have to look at it very
carefully. He noted that if the Northern Ireland situation flared up
again, British forces "would have to examine all commitments."
*
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6 Nuke Iran, Watch Pakistan and Turkey Fall
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 22:47:37 -0500 (CDT)
April 22, 2006
The Centre for Research on Globalization
www.GlobalResearch.ca
Nuke Iran, Watch Pakistan and Turkey Fall
What are the consequences of such an action?
by
John Stanton
Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're
being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away
as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it. John Lennon
Just when it seemed unlikely that domestic and international events would
unfold to test an already incompetent US government, along comes the
acceleration of the movement to destroy Iran. That effort has been well
documented over the past few years in scores of articles and position papers
from the usual suspects in the media, think-tanks, and the Net. Whats
missing in that coverage, though, is an understanding of the consequences of
such an action, or consequence management in Pentagon parlance. Mores the
pity in this discussion, comes the knowledge that the majority of Americans
who are calling for military actionfrom all strata of society--do so as if
they were casually ordering a pizza from Dominoes. Just pick-up the
cellphone and, while salivating, order the Iranian War Special. Sit back and
enjoy the pizza while watching the war coverage on television and gruesome
videos on the Net. Oooo..Ahhh, look at that Specter Gunship at work! Whoa!
Look at those body parts flying around. Pass me another piece of pizza!
That attitude is indicative of an intellectually bankrupt society. Does
anyone in the USA think anymore? An attack on Iran would result in thousands
of casualties for both US and Iranian military personnel, most of whom are
youngsters. Civilian casualties would be in the many thousands. The ripple
effect from such an action would cause a chain reaction of events that would
spiral out of control. With no country, or group of countries, capable of
de-escalating such a conflict--save for Russia and China--a world war could
ensue. Certainly, the US government is no position to cope with the fallout,
particularly if it deploys and uses tactical nuclear weapons. For some sane
commentary on the matter, one has to rely on the lucid commentary of Martin
Van Crevald over in Israel. His piece in Forward titled, Knowing Why Not to
Bomb Iran is Half the Battle (www.forward.com) should be force-fed to
supporters of an Iranian invasion.
Hello United Free Kurdistan
According to a Reuters bulletin dated April 20th, Turkey has increased its
troop presence in Kurdish dominated Southeastern Turkey by 40,000bringing
the total to 290,000. The Turkish government made that move because the
American-backed Kurdish government in Northern Iraq/Kurdistan is likely to
supply the Kurdistan Workers Party (PPK) with arms and intelligence on
Turkish military movements in Hakkari, Van, Sirnak and other major cities in
the country. It is likely that insurgents in Iraq have been training the PPK
in the tactics that have been wildly successful against US forces in Iraq.
Turkey has been ruthless in its oppression of the Kurds, as Saddam Hussein
was, and that practice, according to the Kurdish National Congress
(kncna.org), continues to this day with the Turkish Armys secret police,
Jitem, terrorizing the Kurdish population. Reliefweb.net, reports that the
Kurdish language was not legalized until 1991 and the Turkish government had
engaged in forced displacements as late as 2002 to break-up concentrations
of the 20 million Kurds who reside in Turkey. Separatist statements by Kurds
or talk of recognizing the Armenian Genocide results in doing some hard time
in a Turkish jail.
The Turkish government has frequently complained about the duplicity of the
US government as it plays its Kurdish cards. The US has largely stayed away
from Turkeys battle with its Kurds while actively supporting Kurdish groups
in Iran and Syria with funds and arms. The creation of Kurdistan in Northern
Iraq has infuriated Turkish leaders. When Condolezza Rice visits with
Turkish officials in late April, these matters are sure to be topics of
discussion.
Meanwhile in Iran, there are approximately four million Kurds who have
suffered a similar fate as their Turkish compatriots. The Kurds in Iran are
split on the type of revolt they want to run. One group formed in January
2006, the Kurdish United Front, wants to work within the Iranian system to
gain equal rights. They likely receive funds from the US government via the
KNC and other outlets. A Kurdish insurgent group known as Pejak--supported
by the US government and working with US Special Forces and intelligence
agencies on the ground--advocates the violent overthrow of the Islamic
government in Iran.
Back in Turkey, the Kurds are not the only problem. There are accusations by
opponents of Turkish President Recep Ergodan that Turkey is becoming a
theocracy. Facing an election in 2007, the last thing Ergodan needs is to be
perceived as an Islamic radical and incur the wrath of opponents supported
by the Turkish military, which is to say the US military. The World Peace
Herald, wpherald.com, carried a story titled, Turkish PM Tied to Islamic
Forces. In increasingly bitter verbal exchanges with President Ahmet Necdet
Sezer, Mr. Erdogan rejected charges that he is leading Turkey away from its
secular system toward Islamic fundamentalism. Mr. Sezer's latest broadside
was a statement to the War Academy that 'religious fundamentalism has
reached dramatic proportions. Islamic fundamentalism is trying to infiltrate
politics, education and the state, it is systematically eroding values'
So, as the bombs fly over Iran, the Kurds would be likely to seize the day
and fight for the recognition of a Kurdish state that deletes portions of
present-day Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq
(http://www.kncna.org/docs/map.asp ) from the map. This is no idle dream.
The American based KNC openly advocates a United Free Kurdistan. One day,
there will be a Kurdish state. That could be done in a non-violent fashion
rather than as a consequence of a misguided military adventure against Iran.
Finally, an invasion of that country would likely involve Turkish assets of
some kind. As a member of NATO, Turkey houses tactical nuclear weapons and,
as reported by Ramin Jahanbegloo in the Daily Star, Participation by Turkey
in a US/Israeli military operation is also a factor [concerning Iran],
following an agreement reached between the Turks and Israelis.
Central Asia and the Middle East would become a bloodbath one minute after
an attack on Iran.
Bye Bye Pakistan
In Pakistan, the US is having its cake and eating too. US weapons and
technology are being used by the Pakistani dictatorship of President
Musharraf to suppress a revolt for independence by the people of Balochistan
(http://www.bdd.sdnpk.org ), also home to Pakistan nuclear tests in 1998 and
a energy- rich province. The USA is also funding anti-Pakistani insurgent
groups in Bolochistan in order to infiltrate drug operations, the black
market for nuclear weaponry, Taliban remnants, and assorted Islamic
resistance groups like Al Qada that have taken up residence in the
hinterlands of Balochistan. The US State Departments 2004 country report on
Pakistan was effusive in its praise for Pakistan indicating that it was the
key ally in the Long War on Terror and that Pakistan has its internal
affairs under control. Yet the situation on the ground is quite different.
A February 2006 piece carried by sindhtoday.net/bs.htm has the following
headline: Chemical Gas, Gunship Copters Used Against Baloch People.
Balochistan, the areas largest and resource-rich province of Islamic
Republic of Pakistan, has recently taken another blood bath where many
innocent people have been killed in an [Pakistani] army action. [Pakistani]
Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao has claimed that no children or woman have
been killed in the recent operation but photographs released show that many
innocent children were brutally killed in bombardment, as they can not be
termed as terrorists.
Pakistan is suppressing news on the seriousness of its fight against the
Baloch. The number of killed-in action (KIA) its Army has incurred combating
the Boloch revolt is well over 100 with thousands wounded. These troopers
are portrayed by Musharraf as casualties in the fight against foreign terror
when, in fact, its akin to a civil war: the Baloch are fighting for
independence.
India Monitor reported in January 2006 that Senator Sanaullah Baloch, a
vocal and influential member of the Balochistan National Partysaid that if
conditions continued to be as oppressive for the people of his home
province, we will have no option but to exercise our national right for
self-determination for a separate state...Today every Baloch knows that
Pakistan is a viable state only because of Balochistan...Pointing to the
natural resources and the strategic importance of the province in the
region, he said that the information revolution had made the world very
small and today the Baloch people could not be fooled, and wanted their
rights. (The dynamics of Kashmir, which threaten Pakistans stability, are
beyond the scope of this piece).
As Iran is pummeled by US air strikes, and the Kurds make their move, What
will the Baloch do? How will rebel groups like Al Qada respond? Will they
rally to their Iranian comrades? Would the Pakistani military use a tactical
nuke to wipe out all its problems in Balochistan? What about India's
reaction? What will Turkmenistan and the rest of the Stans do? Would Armenia
side with the Turkish Kurds? How will the US troops in Iraq handle the
fallout?
In another stellar example of incompetence, the USA-Indo nuclear deal struck
by President Bush with Prime Minister Singh this past March was suppose to
be a signal to Russia and China that the US is almighty. The USA seemingly
gave no thought to what the deal with a country that refused to sign the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty might create. Pakistan has vowed to
increase its nuclear weapons capability. China has offered to build reactors
for Pakistan and can tinker with America's prosperity via currency
manipulation. Russian nuclear forces are being upgraded. Saudi Arabia is
alleged to have purchased tactical nukes and is starting its own commercial
and military nuclear capability. In South America, Brazil has ramped up
production of its nuclear capabilities and will not allow inspectors into
certain nuke facilities. And there can be no question that Venezuela will
develop a nuke program or, like Saudi Arabia, just buy the weapons outright
on the black market.
You Say You Want a Revolution
Domestic factors in the USA have to be added to this already volatile brew.
The Red, White and Blue Revolt of retired US military generals such as
Gregory Newbold and Anthony Zinni carried out in the US mainstream media is
fascinating. Their call for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfelds
resignation is unprecedented in American wartime history and indicates that
the only credible opposition to a civilian leadership gone mad is the
military and big corporations. That other party called the Democrats are
part of the problem and not the solution. As for President Bush; he
dutifully does what he's told by Cheney and Rumsfeld.
Take note that the generals are key players in investment companies like
Globesecnine (Newbold is co-founder of globesecnine.com) and Anthony Zinni
is a board member of Veritas Capital (along with a who's who of former US
military leaders). Wall Street helps fund these groups and they may have
figured, finally, that Rumsfeld is bad for the military and business (read
Jeffrey St. Clair of counterpunch.org for more on that relationship). US
intelligence agencies like the CIA are always involved overtly or covertly
in the investment/stock trading business, and likely have involvement in
these investment firms. They are saying something too: revenge is sweet.
With rebellion in the military and corporate ranks, and the potential for
more indictments of Bush Administration's insiders (Karl Rove?) in the
Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson CIA case, one has to wonder how this group of
people could possibly manage the day-after realities of an Iranian assault.
The USA is operating as if it really is an unchallenged superpower. What
kind of superpower has increasing poverty, homelessness, unemployment and
can't even rebuild one of its premier citiesNew Orleansafter a hurricane?
What kind of superpower refuses to make concessions, to negotiate and treats
other nations like China and Russia as inferior entities? What nation is the
Paper Tiger now? It never had to be this way.
So what about Iran? The simple answer, in two parts, to all this madness is
to turn the Iranian matter over the the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
(SCO), a NATO-like security coalition led by China and Russia. Iran is soon
to become a member of that group anyway. Let the SCO monitor Iran as it
builds its nuclear commercial and military capability. Iran wants to be a
key energy player in a region it knows is dominated by Russia and China. The
USA wants that black gold to come West and have geopolitical control over
Central Asia. It's never going to happen. It is inevitable that the Kurds
and Baloch will have their independent states, the Iranians and Brazilians
will have their nuclear power/weapons, the Chinese will have their
ascendancy, the Russians will return to the world stage, and the
Palestinians will get a fair shake one day.
Secondly, negotiate. More than ever, the USA needs to get back to the
negotiating table. Maybe some grand brain out there should read NSC-68, Sec
IX, authored in 1950 and designed to deal with the former Soviet Union. The
free countries must always, therefore, be prepared to negotiate and must be
ready to take the initiative at times in seeking negotiation. They must
develop a negotiating position which defines the issues and the terms on
which they would be prepared--and at what stages--to accept agreements...
The terms must be fair in the view of popular opinion... This means that
they must be consistent with a positive program for peace--in harmony with
the United Nations' Charter and providing, at a minimum, for the effective
control of all armaments by the United Nations or a successor organization.
Talking? Negotiating? Why not the SCO?
What an insane thought.
John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security
and political matters. He is the author of A Power But Not Super and
co-author of America's Nightmare. Reach him at cioran123@yahoo.com
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http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=STA20060422&
articleId=2319
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7 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Hints at Exiting Nuclear Treaty
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday April 24, 2006 4:16 PM
AP Photo XHS101
By NASSER KARIMI
Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hinted Monday
that Iran was considering withdrawing from the worldwide Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty and said he did not think the U.N.
Security Council would impose sanctions on Iran.
``Those who speak about sanctions would be damaged more'' than
Iran, he told a news conference. ``But no particular event will
happen, don't worry.''
He also renewed his criticism of Israel, calling it a ``fake
regime'' that cannot continue to exist. Israel has long
identified Iran as its biggest threat, and these concerns have
grown amid repeated calls by Ahmadinejad for Israel's
destruction.
``Some 60 years has passed since the end of World War II, why
should the people of Germany and Palestine pay now for a war in
which the current generation was not involved,'' he said.
Ahmadinejad also questioned the need for talks with the United
States about neighboring Iraq.
He said Iran would reconsider its compliance with the treaty and
membership in the International Atomic Energy Agency if they
continued to be of no benefit to the country.
His comments came four days before Friday's expiration of a
Security Council deadline for Iran to suspend its enrichment of
uranium, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear reactors
material for nuclear warheads.
Iran has rejected the demand, arguing it is entitled to the
peaceful use of enrichment as a signatory to the treaty.
The IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, has accused Iran of
failing to answer all questions about its nuclear program and
reported the country to the Security Council for noncompliance
with its demands.
``What has more than 30 years of membership in the agency given
us?'' Ahmadinejad asked.
``Working in the framework of the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty and the agency is our concrete policy,'' he added.
``(But) if we see that they are violating our rights, or they
don't want to accept (our rights), well, we will reconsider.''
The United States says Iran is using a civilian nuclear program
as a cover for producing weapons. Iran denies that, saying its
program is designed only to generate electrical power.
Earlier this month, Iran announced that for the first time it
had enriched uranium with the use of 164 centrifuges, a step
toward large-scale enrichment - which would be necessary to for
making nuclear fuel or weapons.
Ahmadinejad also raised the issue of talks with Washington about
Iraq.
In March, the United States said it was ready for talks with
Iran about its help with quelling the chaos in Iraq, where a
Shiite Muslim majority with close ties to Tehran has a majority
share in the government.
``Many times they (Americans) sent messages asking for help on
security in Iraq. Iraqi leaders also asked the same.
Unfortunately, they did not have a good attitude in this regard.
We believe that with the formation of new government, there is
no need,'' Ahmadinejad said.
In other remarks, Ahmadinejad again focused on Israel.
``We say that this fake regime (Israel) cannot not logically
continue to live,'' he said.
The Iranian president has long campaigned against Israel, saying
in October that the Jewish state should be ``wiped off the
map.'' He has said Europe should find a home for Israelis, who
should not live on Palestinian land.
``Open the doors (of Europe) and let the Jews go back to their
own countries,'' he said Monday.
He added that Europeans should jettison their ``anti-Semitism''
to enable Israelis to ``return'' to their continent, and ``allow
Palestinians to decide their own fate and live freely.''
His remarks came a day after interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert urged the international community to work against Iran's
nuclear program, saying Tehran's ambitions threaten not only
Israel but all of Western civilization.
Israel has long identified Iran as its biggest threat, and these
concerns have grown amid repeated calls by Ahmadinejad for
Israel's destruction.
``From the point of view of seriousness, this tops the state of
Israel's list, it is potentially an existential threat,'' a
government statement quoted Olmert telling the weekly Cabinet
meeting.
``The Iranian nuclear program should concern many countries,
especially those with global responsibility,'' Olmert said,
adding that the international front against Iran should include
the United States, Europe and other Western countries.
An Israeli commission said in a partially declassified report
that Israel is concerned that Iran's nuclear ambitions could
tempt other, unidentified, Mideast countries to seek to develop
atomic weapons. The report recommends that Israel maintain its
policy of ``nuclear ambiguity'' - neither denying nor
acknowledging whether it has atomic weapons.
Earlier, a top Iranian official said Tehran is prepared to
freeze its uranium enrichment for a short time, but this should
not be construed as a readiness to abandon it.
``Iran would not have a problem with a short-term suspension (of
uranium enrichment). But the difficulty is that the West and the
United States would use that as an excuse for extending'' the
suspension, said Hasan Rowhani, a member of the Supreme National
Security Council.
Rowhani's statement was not immediately endorsed by other
officials and it was unclear if he spoke for the government.
``Our red line in Iran's nuclear case is that Iran's rights must
be guaranteed and we must be able to enrich (uranium),'' Rowhani
said.
Ahmadinejad often gives long, rambling speeches but Monday was
one of the rare occasions when he allowed foreign journalists to
question him. He seemed to enjoy the encounter, joking and
bantering with reporters.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
8 AFP: Rice "concerned" over Iranian diplomat in United States
Mon Apr 24, 4:16 PM ET
SHANNON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" /> said
that she was worried because the United States had granted a
residence permit to a senior official from the Iranian foreign
ministry.
"It is concerning and I think we were very concerned when we
learned about it," Rice said, speaking to journalists in an
airplane heading to Europe, ahead of a stopover in Shannon,
Ireland.
"We are going to try to make certain that we understand the
fact, that we understand the legal basis and we'll take the
appropriate action," she said, responding to questions about the
presence in Washington of Mohammad Nahavandian, who has a US
green card and is economic advisor to the head Iranian
negotiator on nuclear issues, Ali Larijani.
The US administration, which broke diplomatic relations with
Iran" /> in 1980, was alerted to situation by the media.
"You have someone with which the US does not actually have
diplomatic relations but is a diplomat, a very high ranking
diplomat in fact, inside the US," Rice said, calling the
situation "anomalous."
The US State Department last week confirmed that the senior
Iranian official was in Washington, but did not state how long
he had been there or what he was doing.
The UN Security Council has given the Islamic republic until
next Friday to halt its uranium enrichment activities, seen as
the cover for a weapons drive. Iran has refused to comply with
the demand.
The United States is pressing for UN sanctions such as freezes
on the assets of Iranian leaders or travel restrictions. US
President George W. Bush" /> has also not ruled out taking
military action.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
9 AFP: Iran's Ahmadinejad defies UN on nuclear drive
Mon Apr 24, 6:00 PM ET
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran" /> 's hardline President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad rejected a UN Security Council demand to halt
sensitive nuclear work and warned that the Islamic republic
could quit the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The United States, meanwhile, said the Council would consider a
draft resolution that would oblige Iran to comply or face
possible military action.
In a show of defiance just days away from Friday's deadline set
by the Security Council for Iran to freeze uranium enrichment,
Ahmadinejad confidently dismissed any threat of sanctions or
even a US attack.
And in his latest vitriolic attack against arch-enemy Israel" />
, the firebrand leader said the "fake" Jewish state "cannot
survive" and called on migrants to the country to go back to
where they came from.
"They shouldn't think they can baptise a wrong decision with the
help of the Security Council," he said of demands that Iran stop
enrichment, at the centre of fears that the Islamic regime could
acquire nuclear weapons.
Iran says it only wants to enrich uranium to make reactor fuel
to generate electricity, as is authorised by the
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) -- the cornerstone of efforts to
avert the spread of nuclear weapons.
But the Security Council wants a suspension of the work -- which
can be extended to make weapons -- pending the completion of a
now three year-old and still inconclusive probe by the UN's
International Atomic Energy Agency" /> (IAEA).
"Our policy is to work within the NPT and the Agency,"
Ahmadinejad told a news conference. "But if we see that they
don't want to accept our rights, we will reconsider."
The regime's increasingly defiant stance leaves it exposed to
the risk of UN sanctions. The United States has also not ruled
out the possibility of taking military action against the
oil-rich Islamic republic.
At the United Nations" /> in New York, US ambassador John Bolton
said the Security Council was to consider a draft resolution
that would legally require Iran to comply with demands that it
freeze all uranium enrichment activities.
"Our expectation would be that assuming no change of direction
by Iran and there's no reason to think there will be a change of
direction, we'll look at a 'Chapter 7' resolution to make
mandatory all the existing IAEA resolutions," he said.
Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which is invoked in case of threats
to international peace and security, can open the door to
sanctions or even military action.
But Ahmadinejad was unmoved by the warnings.
"I see it as unlikely that they would be so unwise to do such a
thing," he replied confidently when asked about the impact on
Iran's economy if sanctions are imposed.
"Those two or three countries who are so against us have enough
sense not to make that mistake. They cannot create limitations
for us. They will lose themselves. Our economic infrastructure
is strong," he asserted.
"A military attack does not make sense. Besides, our people are
powerful and can defend themselves," he argued, before firing
off a stiff warning to Washington.
"If they even talk about it, their situation will be very bad
... This is all psychological pressure and propaganda that they
use in the form of words in the media to try to make us back
down."
Iran's defence minister also warned the United States that it
risked a "disgraceful defeat".
"If the US chooses the military option, a disgraceful defeat
worse than the failure in Tabas desert awaits them," Mostafa
Mohammad Najar said, referring to a failed US attempt to rescue
American hostages seized at the US embassy in Tehran after the
1979 Islamic revolution.
In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair" /> called for the
world to send "a signal of strength" to Iran, but insisted
"nobody is talking about military invasion".
"So the real thing for me in respect of Iran is what are we
going to do about it? All I'm saying is ... it's not advisable
at this moment in time to send a signal of weakness. We want to
show a signal of strength," Blair said.
Ahmadinejad, who triggered international outrage last year with
his call for Israel to be "wiped off the map," also continued
his verbal barrage against the Jewish state.
"Logically, this fake regime cannot survive," he said, adding
that Jews who have settled in the former Palestine "will return
to their motherland."
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
10 AFP: Iran president threatens to quit NPT
Mon Apr 24, 12:27 PM ET
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran" /> Iranwill quit the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if Western powers want to prevent
the country from possessing nuclear technology, President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned.
"Our policy is to work within the NPT and the Agency," he said,
referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency" />
International Atomic Energy Agency.
"But if we see that they don't want to accept our rights we will
reconsider, and nothing important will happen," the hardline
president told a news conference on Monday.
"It is time for the agency to restore its reputation. They
haven't done anything but cause nuisance," he said of the IAEA,
the UN nuclear watchdog.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
11 AFP: Israel fears Iran may spark nuclear arms race
Mon Apr 24, 6:10 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - An Israeli government committee has warned
that Iran" /> 's nuclear programme is likely to encourage other
countries in the Middle East to develop atomic weapons.
The committee, headed by former finance minister Dan Meridor,
also recommended in a 250-page classified report that Israel" />
maintain its policy of nuclear ambiguity under which the Jewish
state refuses to confirm whether it possesses atomic weapons,
according to Monday's edition of the Haaretz daily.
Haaretz said that an entire chapter had been devoted to the
consequences of Tehran managing to develop nuclear weapons.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's hardline resident, announced earlier
this month that scientists had successfully enriched uranium to
make nuclear fuel although Tehran insists its programme is only
designed to meet energy needs.
Meridor's committee had concluded that "Iran is capable of
kindling the entire Middle East and constitutes an existential
threat to Israel," said Haaretz.
"The committee finds that if Iran gets nuclear weapons, other
Muslim, Middle Eastern countries, will try to follow suit."
Israel is believed to have its own nuclear arsenal of an
estimated 200 warheads, making it the only nuclear-armed power
in the Middle East.
The Jewish state has come to view Iran as an existential threat,
a point underlined by Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at a
cabinet meeting on Sunday.
"The Iranian issue is both central and substantive and tops the
state of Israel's list of priorities," Olmert told his
ministers.
"This a potential threat on the existential level. While other
issues are very important, this one is the most central
vis-a-vis the size of the threat and its significance."
Olmert reiterated his calls for a diplomatic resolution but he
added that Israel was "prepared for any eventuality and in order
to not make things easier for the Iranians."
In 1981, Israel bombed Iraq" /> 's French-built Osirak nuclear
reactor.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
12 IRNA: Military strike on Iran unlikely to get UNSC approval - Nasrallah
Beirut, April 24, IRNA
Lebanon-Iran-Nuclear
Lebanese Hezbollah Secretary-General Seyed Hassan Nasrallah here
said it was unlikely the UN Security Council would decide to
launch an attack on Iran vis-a-vis its nuclear case.
During a meeting with members of Hezbollah in eastern Lebanon,
Nasrallah said the United States may, on the other hand, resort
to other options outside the Security Council to pressure Iran
to abandon its nuclear acticities.
But, he pointed out, Iran is fully prepared to confront any
possible attack, adding that the Iranian government is
determined to continue its uranium enrichment activities and has
already planned the response to all possibilities and
consequences of its decision.
He said it was very unlikely any military attack would be
carried out on Iran or sanctions imposed as, he said, Iran would
in all probability come out victorious in either move.
Even if sanctions were imposed on Iran the country has the
potential to successfully confront its effects, Nasrallah said.
Any military attack on Iran will also be repelled, the
Hizbollah leader said, adding that the consequences of war will
not be limited to the country but will affect the entire region.
He said Iran's joining the world's nuclear countries turned a
new page in Middle East politics, but reminded that Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei had repeatedly declared
Iran's nuclear program to be for peaceful purposes.
Ayatollah Khamenei also declared Iran's readiness to carry out
all its nuclear activities under the surveillance of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Nasrallah added.
He said that Iran's commitment to international regulations is
its winning argument but that Washington ignores this and
continues its threats of sanctions or military attack on Iran.
He said that US policies have obviously reached a deadend in
Iraq and that the Middle East, on the other hand, is moving
towards a new frontier after the Iranian success in nuclear
energy.
He explicitly voiced the Lebanese Hezbollah's strategic
relations with Iran, Iraq and Palestine.
*****************************************************************
13 Guardian Unlimited: Rice Pushes Security Council on Iran
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday April 24, 2006 11:46 PM
AP Photo XHS112
By ANNE GEARAN
AP Diplomatic Writer
SHANNON, Ireland (AP) - The credibility of the U.N. Security
Council will be in doubt if it does not take clear-cut action
against Iran over Tehran's nuclear program, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said Monday.
Rice made her remarks four days before the expiration of a
United Nations deadline for Iran to stop uranium enrichment.
That process can produce fuel for nuclear energy or material for
nuclear weapons.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear
watchdog agency, has accused Iran of failing to answer questions
about its nuclear program. In late March, it reported Tehran to
the Security Council and gave it one month to address the
demands.
``When the international community reconvenes after the 30 days,
there has to be some message, clear message, that this kind of
behavior is not acceptable, or you will start to call into
question the credibility of what the Security Council says when
it says it,'' Rice said while flying to diplomatic visits to
Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria.
Though the United States has said it prefers decisive steps,
Security Council members Russia and China have opposed forceful
sanctions. As permanent members of the council, either of those
countries could veto any proposals.
``We'll continue to discuss this with the Russians and with
others, but I expect that we're going to have to have some kind
of action by the Security Council that demonstrates that this is
a serious matter,'' Rice said.
Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Konstantin Dolgov expressed hope
that before Friday, when IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei is
expected to report to the agency's board and the Security
Council on Iran, ``there will be some further moves and steps
taken which could, let's say, a little bit defuse the
situation.''
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said that ``assuming no change of
direction by Iran - and there's no reason to think there will be
a change in direction'' - the United States will prepare a
Security Council resolution under Chapter VII of the U.N.
Charter, which is militarily enforceable, to make all IAEA
resolutions mandatory.
Dolgov reiterated Russia's opposition to sanctions against Iran,
and adopting a resolution under Chapter VII.
Asked whether China remains opposed to sanctions against Iran,
China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya replied, ``Yes,
definitely.''
Would Beijing oppose a resolution under Chapter VII? ``I don't
think it will be a productive move,'' he said.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad indicated Monday that Iran
might withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty on
nuclear activities, and he predicted the Security Council would
not impose sanctions on his country.
Meanwhile, a leading German legislator said the United States
should delay ``for some time'' any U.N. Security Council action
on Iran and talk directly to Tehran about its security concerns.
``We have time to be patient,'' Ruprecht Polenz, chairman of the
international relations committee of the German Bundestag, said
before meetings in Washington with Undersecretary of State
Nichols Burns and Elliott Abrams of the National Security
Council.
In the meantime, Polenz said, Russia could explore expressions
of renewed interest by Iran in joint enrichment of uranium on
Russian territory. The Russian proposal has U.S. and European
support as a way to make sure Iran does not use enriched uranium
for weapons development.
Nor, he said, would it be ``a bad idea'' for the Board of
Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency to resume
its review of Iran's nuclear activities.
By contrast, a State Department spokesman was skeptical that
Iran really was interested in the Russian proposal.
``One day they will say there is a deal and the other day they
will say there is no deal, and then they will say there is one -
only on their terms,'' spokesman Adam Ereli said.
Iran contends that its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful
in purpose.
Next week, U.S., British, French, Chinese, Russian and German
officials will meet ``to consider the next steps that we should
take in response to what we expect to be a negative report,''
Ereli said.
AP Diplomatic Writer Barry Schweid in Washington contributed to
this report.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
14 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear Program 'Irreversible,' Iran Says
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday April 24, 2006 1:31 AM
AP Photo XHS101
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran said Sunday its nuclear program is
irreversible, issuing yet another rejection of a U.N. Security
Council deadline to cease enriching uranium that expires in five
days.
Earlier this month, Tehran announced for the first time that it
had enriched uranium using 164 centrifuges, a step toward
large-scale production of nuclear fuel that can be used either
in atomic weapons or in nuclear reactors for civilian
electricity generation.
``Nuclear research will continue. Suspension of (nuclear
activities including uranium enrichment) is not on our agenda.
This issue is irreversible,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid
Reza Asefi told reporters.
The United States and some allies charge Iran is using the
program as a cover for weapons production. Iran says it is
designed only for power generation.
The Security Council deadline of Friday is not binding, but the
United States and Britain said Iran must comply or the two
countries would seek a resolution to make the demand compulsory,
which would raise the possibility of sanctions.
``Iran won't give up its rights and has prepared plans for any
eventuality,'' Asefi said.
The spokesman said a Russian compromise plan for joint uranium
enrichment was still on the table.
Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to the International Atomic
Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Saturday spoke of a
``basic agreement'' between Iran and Russia to set up a joint
uranium enrichment firm on Russian soil.
The announcement was a repeat of a similar declaration by Iran
and Russia in February but details have never been worked out.
``Necessary grounds need to be prepared for its
implementation,'' Asefi said. It still remains unclear whether
Iran would entirely give up enrichment at home, a top demand of
the West, or if the joint venture would be complementary to the
existing enrichment inside Iran.
Asefi insisted Sunday that Iran has not used any advanced P-2
centrifuges in its enrichment of uranium.
Such a device would be a vast improvement over the current P-1
centrifuges, which Iran has said it used to enrich uranium.
Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed last week
that his country was conducting laboratory research on the
advanced P-2 centrifuge, which could be used to more speedily
create fuel for power plants or atomic weapons.
``We have not so far used P-2 centrifuges. What we have used has
been P-1,'' Asefi told reporters.
The spokesman, however, said Iran had the right to work on P-2
centrifuge.
``No one can deny us of such a work,'' he said.
Iran has vowed it would never give up its right under the
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium and produce
nuclear fuel.
In Jerusalem, interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert urged
the international community to work against the Iranian nuclear
program, saying Tehran's ambitions threaten not only Israel but
all of Western civilization.
Israel has long identified Iran as its biggest threat, and these
concerns have grown amid repeated calls by Ahmadinejad for
Israel's destruction.
``From the point of view of seriousness this tops the state of
Israel's list, it is potentially an existential threat,'' a
government statement quoted Olmert telling the weekly Cabinet
meeting on Sunday.
``The Iranian nuclear program should concern many countries,
especially those with global responsibility,'' Olmert said,
adding that the international front against Iran should include
the United States, Europe and other Western countries.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
15 [NYTr] N Korea says no to nuclear talks
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 11:37:57 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
sent by Simon McGuinness
[Remember North Korea? They can see the decline of the Bush presidency
and realise that now is their opportunity to extract concessions from
Washington, not to negotiate with a lame duck presidency. What's left
of US prestige requires that Bush be replaced, and quickly. On the
other hand, the enemies of the USA will rejoice at the advancing
disintegration of its foreign policy. - Simon McGuinness.]
UK Daily Telegraph - Apr 24, 2006
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=MT4OZBK4RISDDQFIQMFSFGGAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2006/04/24/ukorea.xml
N Korea says no to nuclear talks
North Korea has said it will not return to stalled six-party
talks on its nuclear programmes unless the United States ends
financial curbs.
Washington has accused Pyongyang of boycotting the talks and said its
crackdown on firms it suspects of aiding North Korean counterfeiting,
money laundering and drug trafficking is a separate issue.
The signed commentary was on the North's KCNA news agency and carried by
South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
"The US sanctions against us are the deterrent for the resumption of the
six-party talks," Yonhap reported KCNA as saying in a commentary.
An English-language version of the report was not immediately available.
The United States has repeatedly denied it has imposed sanctions on the
North.
Today's comment was the first significant statement from the North on
the financial measures since US President George W. Bush met Chinese
President Hu Jintao last week in Washington when they touched on the
nuclear stalemate.
China is North Korea's main benefactor and last remaining key ally. The
United States has asked China to use its influence to help persuade
North Korea to return to the table.
The participants in the nuclear talks - the two Koreas, the United
States, China, Japan and Russia - agreed in principle in September that
Pyongyang would dismantle its nuclear programmes in exchange for aid,
security assurances and improved diplomatic ties.
But the last session in November ended without progress.
*
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16 Guardian Unlimited: North, S. Korea Agree to Push for Accord
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday April 24, 2006 9:31 AM
AP Photo SEL804
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The two Koreas agreed Monday to push
for implementation of an accord under which Pyongyang would
abandon its nuclear weapons programs in exchange for security
guarantees and aid. But Seoul failed to persuade North Korea to
return to international disarmament talks.
South Korea had sought to coax the communist country back to the
stalled six-party talks during Cabinet-level discussions under
way since Friday.
But the sides agreed Monday only to ``actively cooperate for
quick resolution'' of the September accord, pool reports said.
The two Koreas issued similar statements after talks in December
but Pyongyang had continued to boycott the talks in anger at
U.S. financial restrictions imposed over the North's alleged
counterfeiting and other illicit financial activity.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
17 [NYTr] Physicists: Take the Nuclear Option Off the Table!
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 10:46:45 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
sent by Dave Muller (southnews)
Physicists: Take the Nuclear Option Off the Table!
Jorge Hirsch
UCSD Professor of Physics
"Together with 12 of the nation's most eminent physicists, I recently
wrote to President Bush to tell him that to plan for the use of nuclear
weapons against Iran is gravely irresponsible. We asked him to publicly
take the nuclear option off the table.
"President Bush has not responded. Perhaps he did not receive the
letter, so we will bring it to him in person.
"On Wednesday, April 26, 5 p.m., at Lafayette Park across from the White
House, I will read the letter in public, as well as a supporting
petition by over 1,900 physicists repudiating the new U.S. nuclear
weapons policies, and then deliver these documents to the White House.
"Please come and join us if you support this effort, and please help
spread the word."
http://physics.ucsd.edu/petition/physicistsletter.html
The letter will be read in public on April 26, 5:00 PM, at Lafayette
Park, across from the White House, and delivered in person to the White
House.
The letter is reproduced below.
April 17, 2006
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
Recent articles in the New Yorker and the Washington Post report
that the use of tactical nuclear weapons against Iran is being actively
considered by Pentagon planners and by the White House. As members of
the profession that brought nuclear weapons into existence, we urge you
to refrain from such an action that would have grave consequences for
America and for the world.
1800 of our fellow physicists have joined in a petition opposing
new U.S. nuclear weapons policies that open the door to the use of
nuclear weapons in situations such as Iran's. These policies represent a
"radical departure from the past," in the words of Linton Brooks,
National Nuclear Security Administration director. Indeed, since the end
of World War II, U.S. policy has considered nuclear weapons "weapons of
last resort," to be used only when the very survival of the nation or of
an allied nation was at stake, or at most in cases of extreme military
necessity. Instead, the new U.S. nuclear weapons policies have
significantly lowered the threshold for the potential use of nuclear
weapons, as clearly evidenced by the fact that they are being considered
as another tool in the toolbox to destroy underground installations that
are "too deep" to be destroyed by conventional weapons. This is a major
and dangerous shift in the rationale for nuclear weapons. In the words
of the late Joseph Rotblat, Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his efforts
to prevent nuclear war, "the danger of this policy can hardly be
overemphasized."
Nuclear weapons are unique among weapons of mass destruction:
they unleash the enormous energy stored in the tiny nucleus of an atom,
an energy that is a million times larger than that stored in the rest of
the atom. The nuclear explosion releases an immense amount of blast
energy and thermal and nuclear radiation, with deadly immediate and
delayed effects on the human body. Over 100,000 human beings died in the
Hiroshima blast, and nuclear weapons in today's arsenals have a total
yield of over 200,000 Hiroshima bombs.
Using or even merely threatening to use a nuclear weapon
preemptively against a non-nuclear adversary tells the 182
non-nuclear-weapon countries signatories of the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty that their adherence to the treaty offers them no protection
against a nuclear attack by a nuclear nation. Many are thus likely to
abandon the treaty, and the nuclear nonproliferation framework will be
damaged even further than it already has, with disastrous consequences
for the security of the United States and the world.
There are no sharp lines between small "tactical" nuclear weapons
and large ones, nor between nuclear weapons targeting facilities and
those targeting armies or cities. Nuclear weapons have not been used for
60 years. Once the U.S. uses a nuclear weapon again, it will heighten
the probability that others will too. In a world with many more nuclear
nations and no longer a "taboo" against the use of nuclear weapons,
there will be a greatly enhanced risk that regional conflicts could
expand into global nuclear war, with the potential to destroy our
civilization.
It is gravely irresponsible for the U.S. as the greatest
superpower to consider courses of action that could eventually lead to
the widespread destruction of life on the planet. We urge you to
announce publicly that the U.S. is taking the nuclear option off the
table in the case of all non-nuclear adversaries, present or future, and
we urge the American people to make their voices heard on this matter.
Sincerely,
Philip Anderson, Nobel Laureate, Physics
Michael Fisher, Wolf Laureate, Physics
David Gross, Nobel Laureate, Physics
Jorge Hirsch, Professor of Physics
Leo Kadanoff, National Medal of Science, Physical Sciences
Joel Lebowitz, Boltzmann Medalist
Anthony Leggett, Nobel Laureate, Physics
Eugen Merzbacher, President, American Physical Society, 1990
Douglas Osheroff, Nobel Laureate, Physics
Andrew Sessler, President, American Physical Society, 1998
George Trilling, President, American Physical Society, 2001
Frank Wilczek, Nobel Laureate, Physics
Edward Witten, Fields Medalist
The archives of South News can be found at
http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/
*
================================================================
.NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems
. Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us .
.339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org
.List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
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18 ICT: EPA honors tribes as environmental heroes
[2006/04/24]
by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today
SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
selected American Indian tribes in the West, along the border
and in Hawaii for environmental excellence, during the EPA's
eighth annual Environmental Awards ceremony.
EPA Regional Administrator Wayne Nastri presented plaques to
three dozen organizations and individuals throughout the Pacific
Southwest in recognition of their efforts to protect and
preserve the environment in 2005.
''These organizations and individuals have applied creativity,
teamwork and leadership in addressing many of the west's most
sensitive and complex environmental challenges,'' Nastri said at
the award ceremony April 18.
Among the environmental heroes: David Saddler, Tim Walls and
Cauy Washburn of the Tohono O'odham Utility Authority in Sells,
Ariz. They were honored for bringing water to the O'odham
community of Quitovac, a small village in Sonora, Mexico, with
no indoor plumbing or electricity.
The EPA said O'odham were using shallow, hand-dug wells
contaminated with total coliform and fecal coliform, and at
least one well was contaminated with high levels of lead,
arsenic, uranium and chromium.
The Tohono O'odham Nation used EPA funding to create the
community's first water distribution system, increased water
storage capacity and well improvements. The EPA recognized this
as a first on the border.
''This marks the first time a U.S. tribe has completed a water
infrastructure project to serve an indigenous community along
the Mexico border, and the collaboration with EPA and Mexico
provides additional long-term benefits such as basic sanitation
for the local boarding school, a health clinic and electricity
for the village.''
The EPA also selected Sandi Tripp and Susan Corum of the Karuk
Tribe of California, Department of Natural Resources, in
Orleans, Calif.
The Karuk Tribe played a key role in discovering and providing
a timely response to toxic algae blooms in the Klamath River.
Tribal members notified resource managers and public health
officials throughout the Klamath Basin and California, resulting
in a comprehensive monitoring program.
Karuk let others know of the algae bloom's dangers, which range
from mild skin conditions to permanent organ impairment and even
death depending upon exposure time and intensity. The Karuk
Tribe's data led the owner of two hydroelectric dams on the
Klamath to fund a three-year study of the cause, effect and
extent of blooms in the Klamath Basin.
The Ak Chin Indian Community in Maricopa, Ariz., was honored
for creating an effective environmental department. The
environmental benefits include cleaning up and preventing new
illegal dump sites; removing more than 90 vehicles and 184,000
pounds of auto, farm and truck tires; recycling 53,030 pounds of
scrap metal, 46,000 pounds of scrap appliances and 432
batteries; and removing all underground storage and septic tanks
from the community.
On the Navajo Nation, the EPA award went to the Surface and
Ground Water Protection Department of the Navajo Nation EPA in
Window Rock, Ariz. In 2005, the Surface and Ground Water
Protection Department under the Navajo Nation EPA was selected
for its environmental protection activities.
The tribe promulgated five new regulations; completed more than
1,000 environmental compliance assistance, monitoring and
enforcement activities; is now treated as its own state for
important sections of the Clean Water Act; and conducted more
than 100 environmental outreach activities.
Further, the tribe secured important EPA funding to address the
Black Falls Community of Arizona, where 100 percent of the
residents have no running water in their homes.
In Hawaii, Keikialoha Kekipi and Ho'oulu Lahui of Pahoa were
honored. Ho'oulu Lahui, an educational nonprofit organization,
preserves cultural traditions and practices of ancient
Hawaiians. By embracing traditional concepts and merging them
with the latest in technology, its goal is a sustainable
community living in harmony with the environment.
The organization's 600-acre coastal land base includes an
ancient Hawaiian village that serves as a cultural and
environmental learning center. Ho'oulu Lahui's partnership with
Kua oka La Public Charter school includes plans for the first
totally driven solar school in the state of Hawaii.
''Ho'oulu Lahui is an exemplary environmental model for
educational agencies,'' the EPA said. Among its activities, it
partners with college students on forest management and hosts
students, families and educators from across the world on its
solar program and other environmental practices.
By using this service, you accept the our Terms of Use and
Privacy Statement.
© 1998 - 2006 Indian Country Today. All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
19 RIA Novosti: Russian ballistic missiles to be equipped with new warhead
24/ 04/ 2006
MOSCOW, April 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's land and sea-based
ballistic missiles will be equipped with the same type of a new
warhead, the defense minister said Monday commenting on a
successful test launch conducted over the weekend.
"This launch allows us to not simply hope, but be certain that
all future missiles that will be put in service starting from
the end of this year will be equipped with this warhead," Sergei
Ivanov told a government meeting attended by President Vladimir
Putin.
The minister said both land and sea-based ballistic missiles
would be equipped with either a single warhead or MIRV (multiple
independently targetable re-entry vehicle) and deployed by the
Strategic Missile Forces and the Navy.
Ivanov also said that the test launch was conducted on April 22
from the Kapustin Yar site in southern Russia, and a dummy
warhead hit the target area located 2,000 kilometers (1,200
miles) away at the Balkhash site in Kazakhstan with a deviation
of only a few hundred meters.
A leading missile designer earlier said that Russia's sea- and
land-based missile groups would be re-equipped by 2015 and the
Strategic Missile Forces would have 2,000 warheads by 2020.
Russia has five missile regiments equipped with silo-based
Topol-M ballistic missiles and the first regiment equipped with
mobile Topol-M systems will be put on combat duty in 2006.
Bulava missiles, a sea-based version of the Topol-M, could be
deployed on Borey-class nuclear submarines as early as in 2008,
the designer said.
© 2005 RIA Novosti
*****************************************************************
20 Xinhua: Pakistan, India to hold nuclear talks on Tuesday
www.xinhuanet.com
www.chinaview.cn 2006-04-24 20:14:04
ISLAMABAD, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The fourth round of expert
level talks on nuclear Confidence Building Measures (CBMs)
between Pakistan and India will begin on Tuesday in Islamabad,
Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said on Monday.
Pakistan will approach the two-day talks in a very
constructive manner, Aslam said.
She said that Pakistan has already tabled several proposals
and would bring some more during the discussions.
"Pakistan would also propose a draft agreement on prevention
of incidents at sea in order to ensure safety of navigation,"
she added.
In line with the understanding arrived at during the third
round talks last August, the two countries have already signed
an agreement for pre-notification of flight-testing of ballistic
missiles and operationalized the hot line.
The two-day talks on nuclear CBMs would be followed by the
third round of talks on conventional CBMs on Thursday.
Aslam said that technical level discussions focused on
operational and logistic details of Muzaffarabad-Srinagar truck
service and Rawalakot-Poonchh bus service would be held in New
Delhi next month. Enditem
Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
21 IEA: IEA calls for more investment, more energy efficiency and more
transparency
(06)06
24/04/2006 Doha --- "Major investment, together with energy
efficiency improvements, is needed along the entire energy chain
to overcome the challenges we are confronting in today's energy
markets. Only through timely investment, can we build the energy
bridges needed for a sustainable future”, said Claude Mandil,
Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), in
his key note address to the 10th International Energy Forum
(IEF) in Doha, Qatar. His remarks were made at the opening
ceremony of this unique forum for policy dialogue between energy
producing and consuming countries, a meeting that gathers
Ministerial delegations from more than 60 key producing and
consuming countries for informal dialogue every two years. This
year’s event was preceded by a one day meeting with top
executives from the world’s leading energy companies.
Key IEA messages
Mr. Mandil stated that a prolonged pattern of under-investment
in the oil sector has created constraints in the system that
will take several years to resolve. Current oil price levels
reflect not only geopolitics but also bottlenecks in both
upstream and downstream capacities and are a risk to sustained
global economic growth. Because the investment cycle takes time
to bring new supplies on line, uncertainty will continue to
characterise the market.
Mr. Mandil called for more investment now to ensure adequate
supplies of all forms of energy. He told producers that if
current policies remain in place global energy demand will grow
by 25% by 2015, and by that time oil demand will reach 99.5
mb/d. This rapid growth will be driven by demand in developing
countries. Oil will remain dominant as the single largest fuel
in the global primary energy mix. Natural gas demand will
increase even more rapidly. As oil and gas production shifts
away from OECD countries, supplies will increasingly come from
major producers in the Middle East and Russia. Continued strong
demand for all fossil fuels seems a certainty at this time, even
taking into account stronger policies to mitigate global warming
risks, though sustained high prices may slow growth slightly.
In the meantime, what can consumer countries do if lagging
investment leads to constraints in energy supplies? “The best
option in the short term is to improve energy efficiency.
Increasing the diversity of the energy mix - in a cost-effective
way - will also help over time”, said Mr. Mandil.
Praising the progress made by the Joint Oil Data Initiative
(JODI), Mr. Mandil emphasised the importance of reliable and
transparent data in all energy markets. “All energy market
analysis -- including demand, supply and reserves -- reflects
the quality of the data.”
On a broader level, Mr. Mandil urged both producers and
consumers to work together to confront the challenges posed by
energy poverty and climate change. No energy system will be
sustainable without global access to modern energy services,
reliable and affordable supplies, and reduction of environmental
impact.
Public Information Office: (+33) 1 40 57 65 50 ; e-mail
Copyright © 2005 OECD/IEA | Terms and Conditions, Use and
*****************************************************************
22 [southnews] Physicists: Take the Nuclear Option Off the Table!
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 01:30:18 -0500 (CDT)
Physicists: Take the Nuclear Option Off the Table!
Jorge Hirsch UCSD Professor of Physics
"Together with 12 of the nation's most eminent physicists, I recently
wrote to President Bush to tell him that to plan for the use of nuclear
weapons against Iran is gravely irresponsible. We asked him to publicly
take the nuclear option off the table.
"President Bush has not responded. Perhaps he did not receive the
letter, so we will bring it to him in person.
"On Wednesday, April 26, 5 p.m., at Lafayette Park across from the White
House, I will read the letter in public, as well as a supporting
petition by over 1,900 physicists repudiating the new U.S. nuclear
weapons policies, and then deliver these documents to the White House.
"Please come and join us if you support this effort, and please help
spread the word."
http://physics.ucsd.edu/petition/physicistsletter.html
The letter will be read in public on April 26, 5:00 PM, at Lafayette
Park, across from the White House, and delivered in person to the White
House.
The letter is reproduced below.
April 17, 2006
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
Recent articles in the New Yorker and the Washington Post report
that the use of tactical nuclear weapons against Iran is being actively
considered by Pentagon planners and by the White House. As members of
the profession that brought nuclear weapons into existence, we urge you
to refrain from such an action that would have grave consequences for
America and for the world.
1800 of our fellow physicists have joined in a petition opposing
new U.S. nuclear weapons policies that open the door to the use of
nuclear weapons in situations such as Iran's. These policies represent a
"radical departure from the past," in the words of Linton Brooks,
National Nuclear Security Administration director. Indeed, since the end
of World War II, U.S. policy has considered nuclear weapons "weapons of
last resort," to be used only when the very survival of the nation or of
an allied nation was at stake, or at most in cases of extreme military
necessity. Instead, the new U.S. nuclear weapons policies have
significantly lowered the threshold for the potential use of nuclear
weapons, as clearly evidenced by the fact that they are being considered
as another tool in the toolbox to destroy underground installations that
are "too deep" to be destroyed by conventional weapons. This is a major
and dangerous shift in the rationale for nuclear weapons. In the words
of the late Joseph Rotblat, Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his efforts
to prevent nuclear war, "the danger of this policy can hardly be
overemphasized."
Nuclear weapons are unique among weapons of mass destruction:
they unleash the enormous energy stored in the tiny nucleus of an atom,
an energy that is a million times larger than that stored in the rest of
the atom. The nuclear explosion releases an immense amount of blast
energy and thermal and nuclear radiation, with deadly immediate and
delayed effects on the human body. Over 100,000 human beings died in the
Hiroshima blast, and nuclear weapons in today's arsenals have a total
yield of over 200,000 Hiroshima bombs.
Using or even merely threatening to use a nuclear weapon
preemptively against a non-nuclear adversary tells the 182
non-nuclear-weapon countries signatories of the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty that their adherence to the treaty offers them no protection
against a nuclear attack by a nuclear nation. Many are thus likely to
abandon the treaty, and the nuclear nonproliferation framework will be
damaged even further than it already has, with disastrous consequences
for the security of the United States and the world.
There are no sharp lines between small "tactical" nuclear weapons
and large ones, nor between nuclear weapons targeting facilities and
those targeting armies or cities. Nuclear weapons have not been used for
60 years. Once the U.S. uses a nuclear weapon again, it will heighten
the probability that others will too. In a world with many more nuclear
nations and no longer a "taboo" against the use of nuclear weapons,
there will be a greatly enhanced risk that regional conflicts could
expand into global nuclear war, with the potential to destroy our
civilization.
It is gravely irresponsible for the U.S. as the greatest
superpower to consider courses of action that could eventually lead to
the widespread destruction of life on the planet. We urge you to
announce publicly that the U.S. is taking the nuclear option off the
table in the case of all non-nuclear adversaries, present or future, and
we urge the American people to make their voices heard on this matter.
Sincerely,
Philip Anderson, Nobel Laureate, Physics
Michael Fisher, Wolf Laureate, Physics
David Gross, Nobel Laureate, Physics
Jorge Hirsch, Professor of Physics
Leo Kadanoff, National Medal of Science, Physical Sciences
Joel Lebowitz, Boltzmann Medalist
Anthony Leggett, Nobel Laureate, Physics
Eugen Merzbacher, President, American Physical Society, 1990
Douglas Osheroff, Nobel Laureate, Physics
Andrew Sessler, President, American Physical Society, 1998
George Trilling, President, American Physical Society, 2001
Frank Wilczek, Nobel Laureate, Physics
Edward Witten, Fields Medalist
The archives of South News can be found at
http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/
*****************************************************************
23 [NYTr] Reviving Nuclear Power: Chernobyl's Chill Warning
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 15:37:04 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
The Independent via Commond Dreams - Apr 23, 2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0423-03.htm
Chernobyl Twenty Years On
Twenty years ago this week, an unparalleled nuclear disaster struck.
Its effects are still felt across Europe. As the West seeks to revive
the technology, the anniversary sends a chill warning
by Andrew Osborn in Chernobyl and Geoffrey Lean
She is known as "Maria of Chernobyl" and - though she is not a saint -
many view her birth in the shadow of the infamous reactor as little
short of miraculous.
Now aged six, Maria Vedernikova is the first and only child to be born
in Chernobyl's post-catastrophe dead zone, a bleak and frightening
area 18 miles in radius, now in Ukraine.
Then five-year-old Alec Zhloba, suffering from leukemia, looks on in a
children cancer unit at a hospital in Gomel, Belarus, in this March
19, 1996 file photo. The deadly explosion in reactor No.4 in the
Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986, sent radioactive
clouds through Ukraine, Belarus and most of Europe, causing the
world's worst nuclear accident. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukstaky)
Indeed, if you ask a guide at Chernobyl whether anyone has been born
in the zone since 20 years ago this Wednesday, when the reactor
exploded, you will get an emphatic "net".
Officially nobody is allowed to live here and the several hundred
masochistic souls who insist on doing so are here illegally.
The soil is poisoned with caesium and strontium. Only temporary
workers and catastrophe tourists are allowed to enter for short
periods at their own risk. And "the zone" is associated in most
people's minds with only one thing: death.
Yet Maria's parents - canteen worker Lida Savenko and clean-up worker
Mikhail Vedernikov - insist that she did indeed take her first breaths
here, in a ramshackle peasant's cottage in Chernobyl village.
Maria's upbringing has been unconventional; her food is checked with a
Geiger counter and her home is regularly tested for radiation. She
swims in a "nuclear" river and has no other children to play with.
Since she has started going to school outside the zone, she has begun
to lead a more normal life. So far she has shown no signs of being
affected by radiation and appears healthy.
Long may she continue to be so. For the toll of the catastrophe that
erupted at four seconds past 1.23am on 26 April 1986 has spread all
over the surrounding area - and nearly half of Europe.
More than 200 times as much radioactivity was released as by the
Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. The reactor's operators switched off all
its safety systems while trying to carry out an officially authorised,
but dangerous, experiment.
Suddenly, as the official investigator of the accident put it, the
reactor "was free to do as it wished". Its power surged to several
hundred times its normal level in the very last second of its life,
and a massive explosion blew its 1,000-ton lid clean off, blasting
highly radioactive material more than 7km up into the atmosphere. Its
core then caught fire, pouring out yet more radioactivity.
The toll on health and lives was determined by a mixture of
happenstance and freak weather conditions, which spared the immediate
area an even greater catastrophe - but spread its effects out over the
continent.
First, the accident took place at night so there were just hundreds,
not the usual thousands, of people on duty at the plant. More
important, the people of the area were asleep indoors: their homes
shielded them from 90 per cent of the radiation.
Then, the very fierceness of the fire sent the radioactive emissions
high into the air, as if contained in an invisible chimney. It was a
still night, and so the radioactive plume was able to rise steadily
until it reached about 1km up where a high, gentle south-easterly
breeze wafted it over some relatively uninhabited marshes. Most
fortunate of all, it did not rain for days afterwards. This would have
brought down radioactive materials with it. Instead, the longer they
stayed up in the air the more the most virulent, short-lived ones
decayed.
The first result of this was that only 28 people died in the accident
and its immediate aftermath- and they were all people at the reactor
site at the time, or when fighting the blaze (another 19 of them have
died from their exposures since). This is extraordinarily few: studies
suggest that thousands would have died if conditions had been
different.
The second result is that the radioactivity spread far and wide.
Indeed the accident first became known the following afternoon when
radiation monitors in Sweden - set up to check compliance with the
1963 test ban treaty - detected high levels of radioactivity crossing
its borders.
For days the Chernobyl cloud wandered over Europe, blown by varying
winds, and shedding some of its radioactive cargo whenever it rained.
It reached Britain on 2 May.
European Union measurements show that, in all, 40 per cent of the
continent was contaminated. Areas with particularly high fallout -
apart from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, all near the plant in what was
then the Soviet Union - include Austria, Slovenia, northern Greece,
southern Finland, parts of Norway and Sweden, Cumbria, north Wales and
parts of Scotland. Even now some 375 sheep farms in Cumbria and Wales
suffer restrictions on marketing their meat because their pastures are
so radioactive. There are similar restrictions on reindeer in Sweden
and Finland and on wild boar and mushrooms, berries and some fish
across much of Europe.
Unexpectedly high levels of thyroid cancer, in people who were
children at the time of the accident, have emerged in Russia, Belarus
and Ukraine. And as we report today, rates of the same rare cancer in
children have risen twelvefold in Cumbria.
Nobody knows what the final toll from Chernobyl will be - not least
because the solid cancers that will be some of its main effects take
decades to develop, while genetic damage will take generations to
show.
Last year the International Atomic Energy Agency predicted 4,000
deaths, but this has been widely discredited as too low. Equally, a
Greenpeace estimate of 100,000 deaths published last week seems
overblown. The best estimates range between 16,000 deaths (the
International Agency for Research on Cancer, on Thursday) and 60,000,
most outside the old USSR.
The effect on nuclear power was more immediate - applying the coup de
grace to an already failing industry across much of the world - but
may now be fading as Tony Blair, George Bush and other leaders try to
revive the technology. But it still carries a warning, At the time Dr
Pierre Tanguy, a leader of the aggressive French nuclear industry,
confessed that the catastrophe was caused by "the kind of operator
error that we all experience in our plants, and is hard to eliminate".
Back in Chernobyl another disaster may be brewing. For the vast
concrete "sarcophagus" shielding the shattered reactor is listing to
one side, cracking and in danger of collapsing.
But Maria of Chernobyl is, illegally, staying put. "This child will
regenerate our land", insists her mother. "We won't let her be taken
away from here."
Additional reporting by Severin Carrell
***
Eyewitness: Natalia Manzurova
Natalia Manzurova, a radiation expert ,spent four and a half years
clearing up Chernobyl and the nearby town of Pripiat. She has written
a vivid memoir of her experiences. Here extracts are published for the
first time
When I arrived, Pripiat was a city of abandoned, sometimes looted,
multi-storeyed apartment houses, public squares, buildings, athletic
complexes and stores, greeting us with a stench leaking from
refrigerators that had not been turned on for over a year. Mice were
everywhere. Sometimes I wept at the things I saw: children's beds and
their toys and living room floors covered with photographs of people's
smiling faces which I could never ignore, or bring myself to walk on.
Photos in the kindergarten saddened me immensely and I hoped some
miracle had spared their young owners. In one of its rooms I found a
cage with the prickly skin of a hedgehog as wrinkled as an empty
plastic bag. A second cage held bird feathers, the bodies likely eaten
by mice.
A sick dog lay in a child's bed in one of the napping rooms. It was
the only bed that looked used so perhaps the child that slept there
had befriended her. She crawled towards me with difficulty. She had no
hair on her paws and lower legs, her flesh was bleeding, her eyes
clouded and saliva streamed from her mouth. She had external beta
radiation burns from hunting in contaminated grass .
I went to an abandoned hospital to find a container we could use for
water samples. I found a suitable large farm milk can, but inside it
was the saddest thing imaginable - four, six or eight months old
chocolate-coloured 'mummified' newborns with closed eyes and bowed
arms and legs.
Copyright ) 2006 Independent News and Media Limited
*
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. Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us .
.339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org
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24 [NukeNet] 426 Chernobyl Press Conference, Trenton NJ
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 19:33:56 -0700
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
Coalition for Peace and Justice; UNPLUG Salem Campaign, 321 Barr Ave,
Linwood; NJ08221; 609-601-8583
]
Press release updated to include IEEE officially awarding Dr Harvin the
Carl Barus award.
The UNPLUG Salem Campaign
321 Barr Ave, Linwood, NJ 08221
609-601-8583; ncohen12@comcast.net
www.unplugsalem.org
04/22/06; FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
NO CHERNOBYL IN NEW JERSEY PRESS CONFERENCE TO BE HELD WEDNESDAY, APRIL
26TH, 11 AM, TRENTON
PSEG WHISLTEBLOWER TO AWARDED CARL BARUS AWARD
The UNPLUG Salem Campaign, NJ PIRG, and the Jersey Shore Nuclear
Watch will hold a joint press conference on Wednesday, April 26th, at 11
AM, in room 109 of the NJ Statehouse to commemorate the 20th anniversary of
the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown and disaster.
Entitled No Chernobyl in New Jersey, the press conference will focus
on the similarities between the nuclear companies running Chernobyl twenty
years ago and the record of PSEG and Exelon, owners and operators of Oyster
Creek, Salem 1 and 2, and Hope Creek, today. Additionally, PSEG nuclear
safety whistleblower Dr Kymn Harvin will officially be awarded the Carl
Barus Award.
Journalist and author Marianne Barisonek will talk about the Chernobyl
meltdown and why it happened. In 1995, Barisonek was the assistant producer
of the radio documentary Facing the Fallout, Nuclear Weapons and the New
World Disorder.
After working on the documentary, she decided that she would like to
produce a similar project about Chernobyl. In 1995 Barisonek participated
in part of the 3,500-mile Walk Across Europe for a Nuclear Free World,
meeting the walkers in Kiev. She walked with them for several weeks and
conducted interviews along the way, including doctors at the local
hospitals. She realized that the contaminated area around Chernobyl would
be dangerous for thousands of years.
During the summer of 2004 she returned to Chernobyl, and wrote the book
Cause and Effect: Understanding Chernobyl.
Dr Kymn Harvin, former senior manager at PSEG Nuclear who blew the
whistle on safety culture issues at Salem and Hope Creek in 2003, will
officially be awarded the Carl Barus Award for Outstanding Service in the
Public Interest by the IEEE (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers). Dr Harvin will talk about similarities in management between
todays NJ nuclear companies and the Chernobyl operators.
Norm Cohen, Coordinator of the UNPLUG Salem Campaign, Suzanne Leta,
Energy Advocate for NJ PIRG, and Edith Gbur, chair of the Jersey Shore
Nuclear Watch will discuss the weaknesses and problems at all four of New
Jerseys nukes, and why there is too big a chance that a Chernobyl-type
problem could happen here.
CONTACTS: Norm Cohen-- 609-601-8583
Dr Harvin-- 267 312 1252
Marianne Barisonek-- 503-860-9394
Suzanne Leta -- 609-394-8155 x310 ph
Edith Gbur -- 732-540-5107
IEEE: Dr. Mal Benjamin -- 215 438 9729
Please note: pre-conference interviews available and additional information
on Salem/Hope Creek and Oyster Creek also available.
Coalition for Peace and Justice; UNPLUG Salem Campaign, 321 Barr Ave,
Linwood; NJ08221; 609-601-8583
----------
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25 [du-list] Chernobyl 'still causing cancer in British children'
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 19:33:59 -0700
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article359626.ece
More than a third of Britain is still contaminated by radioactivity from
the Chernobyl disaster two decades ago, and children are getting cancer as
a result, an Independent on Sunday investigation has established.
Official measurements - published in a report launched in London yesterday
- show that at least 34 per cent of the country will remain radioactive for
centuries as the result of the accident, which took place 20 years ago on
Wednesday.
And scientists have found rates of thyroid cancer in children in Cumbria,
the worst-affected part of England, rose 12-fold after the catastrophe -
and blame fallout from the radioactive cloud that spread from the stricken
reactor. This confounds government assurances at the time that the
radiation in Britain was "nowhere near the levels at which there is any
hazard to health".
The report - presented at a conference at the Royal College of Surgeons
organised by Medact, a health charity - cites official figures to show that
most of the highly radioactive caesium emitted in the disaster was blown
across Europe by winds.
In Britain, about 81,000 sq km (31,000 sq miles) - mainly in Northern
Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the west of England - were contaminated above
4,000 bequerels per square metre.
The report says the radioactive caesium - and the doses of radiation it
gives Britons - will only "decline slowly over the next few hundred years".
Scientists at Newcastle University examined rates of thyroid cancer in
children across northern England before and after the Chernobyl cloud
passed overhead.
They found slight increases across the region - and an abrupt 12-fold jump
in Cumbria, which received most fall-out. Professor Louise Palmer, who led
the study, said yesterday that the results were "consistent with a causal
association with the Chernobyl accident".
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26 [du-list] Dud torch review - true picture of chernobyl
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 19:34:01 -0700
Another Redundant Armchair Critique (ANORAC)
A Low Level Radiation Campaign review of
The Other Report on Chernobyl (TORCH)
6th April 2006 saw publication of The Other Report on Chernobyl, which
was commissioned by a German Green Member of the European Parliament,
Rebecca Harms.
The authors are Ian Fairlie and David Sumner.
SUMMARY
TORCH is a theoretical review of a small part of the evidence accrued in
twenty years since the Chernobyl disaster. It reveals consistent bias in
that it ignores or under-reports crucial developments in radio-biology and
the estimation of risks. Its principal finding — that between 30,000 and
60,000 fatal cancers will eventually result from the fallout exposure — is
far out of line with the reality already observed.
---------------------------------
Get the LLRC review as a PDF from
http://www.llrc.org/health/subtopic/anoracfinal.pdf
Click here to link to the Green/EFA page, which links to the report.
Chernobyl, 20 Years On - a new book from the European Committee on
Radiation Risk (ECRR) which shows the fact of what Chernobyl has done to
human health, as opposed to the armchair theorising of the TORCH report.
Link to LLRC's earlier summaries of papers from the ex-Soviet
territories affected.
If you need hard copy of the review contact LLRC.
Low Level Radiation Campaign
+44(0)1597 824771
bramhall@llrc.org
---------------------------------
24 FIFA World Cup tickets to be won with Yahoo! Mail. Learn more
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27 [du-list] PAR NEWS - May
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 19:41:12 -0700
DWC
A memorial will be held June 10, at Yale's Dwight Hall for Peter Bowman,
DWC coordinator, active member of CT Coalition Against Millstone, (CCAM)
www.mothballmillstone.org, PAR News Board, supporter of our community's
grassroots organizations, national and international groups fighting for
sustainable, renewable energy policy, an end to nuclear power and weapons
and wars for oil and world domination. See events calendar for details.
NRC-DOMINION COLLUSION
At the March 29th rally at Millstone and a following meeting with the NRC
and owner's Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, DWC and others challenged
Dominion to re-engineer its non-functioning external safety system and
re-hire the employee charged with transmitting such problems to Dominion
and NRC. He was fired for doing his job.
At the inquiry, in the name of DWC, I charged NRC with unethical and
immoral behavior because of their soft-pedaling of Dominion's violations.
Nancy Burton, CCAM's leader and member Cindy Besade exposed the company's
lies and demanded action. NRC prevented us from questioning Dominion.
DANGER TO THE PUBLIC
Attending the rally and meeting, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called
for Sham Mehta's reinstatement and warned of danger to Millstone from
Broadwater, proposed LNG (liquid natural gas) station to be located on Long
Island Sound near Millstone. Methane (natural gas), a powerful global
warming gas is extremely volatile, and could explode, destroying Millstone,
which would cause explosions and meltdown at 3 reactors all older and
containing far more radioactive materials than Chernobyl.
Nancy Burton is running for Mr. Blumenthal's job in November on the Green
Party ticket. Also present was Cliff Thornton, candidate for governor as a
Green.
Learn about the Bush administration's favorite danger to the public - its
program for more nuclear weapons and power plants. Visit DWC's resource
center in New Haven.
Look for our literature table at the May Day celebration on the New Haven
Green. See you there! Join us; we need your help!
(By the time this is read, DWC will have had its display at Peabody
Museum's Earth Day event.)
Mitzi Bowman, Coordinator
Don't Waste Connecticut
97 Longhill Terrace
New Haven, CT 06515
203-389-2067
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28 Moscow Times: Belarus Revives Nuclear Villages
Tuesday, April 25, 2006. Issue 3400. Page 17.
By Maria Danilova
The Associated Press
Sergei Grits / AP
A notice in the Gomel region warning that mushrooms and berries
gathered must be tested for radiation levels.
BARTOLOMEYEVKA, Belarus -- The map says Bartolomeyevka is
off-limits. A sign at the outskirts displays the international
radiation symbol and says "Do Not Enter." But smoke rises from
the chimneys of wooden houses, dogs bark, and villagers go about
their business.
Bartolomeyevka is one of scores of contaminated villages in
Belarus that are being revived 20 years after the Chernobyl
nuclear reactor explosion, nudged back to life by a government
that says the farmland is badly needed, that the radiation
threat is overblown, and that people claiming radiation-related
diseases may simply be seeking a government handout.
Bartolomeyevka suffered such high radiation levels that its
several dozen inhabitants were evacuated. However, over the past
decade 10 villagers have moved back, disregarding the radiation
warnings. In neighboring villages -- labeled contaminated but
still suitable for living -- many others are returning, along
with job-seeking migrants from impoverished former Soviet
republics.
On Bartolomeyevka's surface, it looks like renewal -- but
resignation is at the core.
"You cannot escape your death," said 70-year-old Ivan
Muzychenko. "It's better to die of radiation than of hunger."
As evacuees, he and his wife, Yelena, lived hand-to-mouth. Here,
along with a combined monthly pension worth about $200, their
vegetable garden, 10 geese, a cow and a pig add desperately
needed nutrition.
Muzychenko dismisses warnings that the vegetables and animals
are probably contaminated, and gathers berries and mushrooms in
the nearby woods.
One-fifth of Belarus' area was evacuated after the April 26,
1986, explosion in neighboring Ukraine, and health officials say
about 20 percent of the country's 10 million people suffer from
radiation-linked ailments, including thyroid and circulation
problems.
Official figures say 2,800 square kilometers, less than 1.5
percent of Belarus' territory, remains too irradiated for human
habitation.
The government of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko
-- the same government that put up the warning signs at
Bartolomeyevka -- is encouraging resettlement.
Activists and doctors complain that the country is ignoring
radiation dangers, cheating on illness statistics and refusing
to care for ailing children and adults.
Bartolomeyevka's neighboring village, Belyayevka, was recently
taken off the list of highly contaminated population centers,
stripping its villagers of a $20 monthly supplement for living
there. Mothers say the payment is still justified because most
of the village's 58 children have health problems and need
healthy food and vitamins.
Belarussian workers who participated in the cleanup at Chernobyl
have also seen their benefits sharply reduced.
Nineteen collective farms in the region have been revived to
grow crops that officials say can be rendered safe with special
fertilizers; another 39 farms are awaiting their turn.
Vladimir Tsalko, head of the State Chernobyl Committee, the
official agency for dealing with Chernobyl's consequences, says
the goal is "to teach people to earn money and invest it into
the region."
When asked if economics are more important than health, he is
frank: "Yes. We need those lands. ... Who will feed them?"
Activists say their independent studies find people in
contaminated areas still displaying high radiation doses from
locally made food. They say more should be done to warn
returnees of the dangers.
"To take advantage of people's lack of information and lull them
into believing that it is safe there is the biggest crime there
can be," said Valentina Smolnikova, of the Children of Chernobyl
group.
Smolnikova said the radiation effects had been devastating. She
said her group's study of one district in the contamination zone
showed that cases of congenital anomalies had increased
fourfold, the number of cancer cases had doubled and the number
of heart attacks was seven times higher than before the
accident.
She said she was struggling to get foreign funding to monitor
and treat children's contamination levels because the state
showed little interest and minimized the numbers. The government
denies that.
Victims also complain the government is reluctant to link
radiation to health problems such as heart disease, cancerous
growths and diabetes. Yakov Kenigsberg, the State Chernobyl
Committee's top medical expert, says only thyroid cancer is
internationally recognized as directly caused by radiation
contamination, and calls attempts to link other diseases with
the Chernobyl accident "stupidity," suggesting the motive often
is monetary compensation.
But Tamara Kurbatova, a 40-year-old unemployed mother of three
in the town of Buda-Koshelevo, sharply disagrees. Her 4-year-old
son, Pavel, is being treated for eye cancer, and after years of
struggle, she has won official recognition that it is the result
of his mother's radiation levels while he was in the womb. That
entitles the boy to financial aid.
"It is a miracle he is still alive," Kurbatova said. "But what
awaits him, I don't know."
© Copyright 2006 The Moscow Times. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
29 Guardian Unlimited: Ukraine Asks Help for Chernobyl Region
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday April 24, 2006 5:01 PM
AP Photo XEL107
By MARA D. BELLABY
Associated Press Writer
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - President Viktor Yushchenko appealed to the
international community for financial help Monday, two days
before the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, to aid
the region surrounding the nuclear plant.
``We need to get rid of the Chernobyl stereotype as an incurable
inflammation on the body of Ukraine,'' Yushchenko said, opening
an international conference of radiation and health experts in
the Ukrainian capital. ``This is land - land we should recover
and put back to life. ... A new day should come to the Chernobyl
area, a day of its recovery.''
That will require money - far more than this cash-strapped
former Soviet republic can afford, Yushchenko said, noting that
Ukraine had already spent $15 billion on Chernobyl-related
projects.
The April 26, 1986, explosion and fire at Chernobyl's No. 4
reactor spewed radiation across much of northern Europe over a
10-day period, resulting in the evacuation of more than 100,000
people and the contamination of more than 77,220 square miles of
European land.
Death tolls connected to the explosion, which released about 400
times more radiation than the U.S. atomic bomb dropped over
Hiroshima, remain hotly debated, although at least 31 people
died as a direct result of trying to contain the fire.
Thousands have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and the U.N.
health agency said about 9,300 people were likely to die of
cancers caused by radiation. Some groups, however, including
Greenpeace, have put the numbers 10 times higher.
``The toll of the accident was huge, that is clear. And we can
never forget the problems it caused, but there is a way
forward,'' said U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Kalman Mizsei,
defending last year's U.N. Chernobyl Forum report that found the
biggest obstacle to recovery was a sense of malaise and fear
among residents - rather than lingering radiation.
The U.N. report concluded that most of those affected received
such low doses of radiation that it was unlikely to have had any
significant health effects.
``The 5 million residents of contaminated areas need not live in
fear of radiation - and that is a hopeful finding,'' Mizsei
said.
The three-day conference in Kiev was co-hosted by U.N. agencies,
the European Commission and the governments of Russia and
Belarus. It was aimed at ``reviewing and better using the
experience gained from the accident and enabling the world to be
better prepared for a future accident of this magnitude,''
organizers said.
Yushchenko complained that even 20 years after the accident,
much remained unknown about the tragedy. He said people deserved
the truth more than anything, adding that while the accident was
horrific with almost unspeakable consequences, it should not be
used as a ``black spot on energy technology.''
``We have learned some lessons,'' said Yushchenko, who has
expressed his backing for nuclear energy as a way to reduce
Ukraine's energy dependence on Russian gas supplies.
Environmentalists protested outside the Ukrainian Opera House,
where the conference was held, carrying signs that read:
``Remember Chernobyl. No new Reactors.''
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
30 Helsingin Sanomat: Sharp rise in support for sixth nuclear reactor in past year
International Edition
Tuesday 25.4.2006
Supporters of large parties most open to more nuclear power
A majority of Finns appear to support the construction
of a sixth commercial nuclear reactor in Finland. Currently
there are four reactors in operation, and a fifth is being built
in Olkiliuoto, the location of two of the existing facilities.
According to a survey commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat
and conducted by Suomen Gallup, support for building more
nuclear power has significantly increased during the past year.
A year ago, when Suomen Gallup conducted a survey on the
possible construction of a sixth reactor, supporters numbered
just 42 percent of those questioned.
Respondents to the poll were asked the following question:
"A fifth nuclear power facility is being built in Finland,
which should produce electricity in about the year 2010. One
option for the further development of electricity production is
to increase the construction of nuclear power. How do you feel
about building a sixth nuclear installation in addition to the
fifth: do you support the idea, support it to some degree,
oppose it to some degree, or oppose it?"
Nuclear power was also an option in another question:
respondents were asked what sources of electric energy, if any,
should be increased in the future.
For the first question, 26 percent said that they
supported more nuclear construction, and 36 percent said that
they supported it to some degree. A year earlier the figures
were 20 and 22 percent. Opponents numbered 33 percent, down from
51 percent a year ago.
Supporters of the three largest parties, the Centre Party,
the Social Democratic Party, and the opposition National
Coalition Party, were all supportive of nuclear energy. The
greatest surge in favour of nuclear power was among supporters
of the Centre Party. Only supporters of the Green League had
remained largely opposed to a sixth nuclear power station.
The surge in support for nuclear energy was more moderate on the
basis of the second question. When there was a choice among
several options, 51 percent of respondents were in favour of
more nuclear energy.
The most popular options are wood, peat, and other
bio-energy, as well as wind, hydroelectric power, and natural
gas. The numbers of those who would increase the use of nuclear
power and bioenergy have grown, while those who would increase
wind power and natural gas have decreased in numbers.
At 30 percent, the proportion of those who would increase
imports of electricity remained unchanged from last year.
The respondents were also asked what they thought should be done
with the energy company Fortum, a state-owned enterprise, which
is also quoted on the stock exchange. Nearly half felt that the
companys status should not be changed.
Finally, respondents were asked which of a number of
factors they felt had the greatest impact on the price of
electricity. Two out of five felt that the main factor was the
desire for profits on the part of electric utilities.
24.4.2006 - TODAY
*****************************************************************
31 Helsingin Sanomat: Construction of reactor in Olkiluoto is nine months behind
schedule
International Edition
Sanoma Osakeyhtiö
Tuesday 25.4.2006
The construction project of power company Teollisuuden
Voima's (TVO) new commercial nuclear reactor in Olkiluoto is
currently already as much as nine months behind schedule.
Moreover, the supplier of the unit, a French-German
consortium comprising Areva and Siemens, is also disappointed in
the unexpectedly feeble interest shown in subcontracts by
Finnish companies.
According to TVO's Project Director Martin Landtman,, there are
several reasons for the delay. Due to non-conformities detected
in the quality of the concrete, the pouring work of the
reactor's 60-metre diameter base slab was suspended for a couple
of months.
At this point, TVO is unwilling to evaluate the size of
possible cost effects caused by the delay.
"We still have three years left of the planned
construction time", says Landtman. He also notes that the
quality problems have been taken care of.
Despite the delays, Landtman believes that the new
1,600-megawatt power plant will be switched on in the course of
2009 as planned.
Construction worker Markus Aalto from Pori has been working at
the Olkiluoto site for the French subcontractor Bouygues for
some three months. He has a three-year contract which extends
until the completion of the reactor building.
"The pay level is very low compared with that at the
Finnish construction companies. Moreover, the construction site
is stiff and hierarchical", Aalto observes.
Currently, around 1,100 subcontractors from 26 different
countries are involved in the Olkiluoto project. About half of
them are Finnish companies.
A total of around 500 workers are employed at the power
plant site, representing more than 20 different nationalities.
The supplier of the unit is a French-German consortium
comprising Areva - the former Framatome ANP - and Siemens. The
consortium's general project director for Olkiluoto 3 Ulrich
Giese admits to being disappointed in the lack of interest shown
by Finnish companies.
"In Finland, there is a current demand for subcontracts
and the building industry is enjoying a boom. In any event, the
majority of the construction work has to be carried out in
Finland, and there are still a large number of subcontracts
available. However, if there are not enough workers in the
country, they will be brought from abroad", Project Director
Giese reports.
The erection of the largest structure - the reactor
building - will start at the end of the upcoming sommer. By then
a large number of construction workers will be needed.
The total capacity of TVO's present two units in Olkiluoto
is 1,700 megawatts. They make the majority of the company's
annual turnover of approximately EUR 200 million.
A potential delay of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power
production would create further pressure on the price of Finnish
electricity.
*****************************************************************
32 San Luis Obispo Tribune: How Diablo could be safer
04/23/2006 |
For an estimated $50 million to $100 million, the nuclear plant
could move radioactive waste sooner
By David Sneed dsneed@thetribunenews.com
[During a refueling in April 2001, workers examine a new assembly
of uranium fuel rods at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.]
Tribune photo by Jayson Mellom During a refueling in April 2001,
workers examine a new assembly of uranium fuel rods at Diablo
Canyon nuclear power plant. More photos
+ What happens if the pools fail
+ What led to new guidelines (PDF)
+ POLL: Should Diablo be safer?
Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant could lower the amount of
highly radioactive waste stored in pools and reduce the
possibility of a fire that would release catastrophic amounts of
radiation into the county, respected scientists say.
But federal regulators and officials at Pacific Gas and Electric
Co., which owns Diablo, say the densely loaded pools are safe
and unloading them would be costly and unnecessary.
The disagreement puts the plant north of Avila Beach in the
midst of a long debate in the nuclear industry — what to do with
spent fuel.
Spent fuel is one of the most hazardous materials known to man.
Direct exposure to its intense radiation would kill a person
within minutes, and it stays dangerous for tens of thousands of
years.
Storage pools at Diablo Canyon and other plants across the
nation now contain five times the number of spent fuel
assemblies they were designed to handle.
Concerns about terrorism and uncertainty over the future of a
national facility to store nuclear waste have prompted a push by
experts, activists and some legislators to move spent fuel from
the pools after six years and place them in above-ground dry
casks, which many experts consider a safer storage method.
Dangerous stockpile
A 2005 study requested by Congress raised questions about the
vulnerability of the nation’s growing stockpile of highly
radioactive waste, which is scattered at 103 commercial nuclear
reactors in 31 states across the nation.
"The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks raised the possibility of
a new kind of threat to commercial power plants and spent fuel
storage: premeditated, carefully planned, high impact attacks by
terrorists to damage these facilities for the purpose of
releasing radiation into the environment and spreading fear and
panic among civilian populations," concluded the study by the
National Academy of Sciences’ Board of Radioactive Waste
Management, which advises Congress on nuclear waste matters.
The densely packed spent fuel pools are the result of repeated
delays in opening a national underground storage repository at
Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
Nuclear plants were built with the assumption that spent fuel
would be either reprocessed into fresh fuel or shipped off to
Yucca Mountain soon after it spent the mandatory five years
cooling in the pools.
Neither of those has come to fruition, and just two years after
Diablo opened, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission
approved PG’s request to replace the original in-pool fuel
storage racks, which can hold 270 assemblies, with ones that can
hold 1,324 assemblies.
The use of such high-density storage racks soon became an
industrywide trend, and some scientists and nuclear power
critics began to wonder what would happen if a powerful
earthquake or other catastrophic event caused the water —which
circulates around the spent fuel to keep it cool, blocks
radiation and protects plant workers — to drain out.
A frightening possibility emerged: Within several hours of
losing its cooling water, the newest and hottest assemblies in
the pool could heat up and begin to burn, spreading fire to the
rest of the assemblies.
Since spent fuel pools are outside of a nuclear plant’s
containment domes, there would be little to stop the spread of
the resulting clouds of radioactive steam and smoke. The
radiation could spread hundreds of miles, the National Academy
of Sciences report states.
The pools also contain much larger amounts of radioactive
material than a reactor, said David Lochbaum, a nuclear
scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, a
liberal-leaning organization often critical of the nuclear
industry.
"The reactor is better protected than the spent fuel pools,"
Lochbaum said. "It might be that spent fuel is a more attractive
target for our enemies than the reactor itself."
Assessing the risk
The NRC’s stance is that the possibility of a terrorist attack
or earthquake damaging the spent fuel pools to the point that
they would lose their water is so low that it does not justify
requiring utilities to go to the time and expense of reducing
them to their low- density loading.
Diablo’s pools are sunk below ground level and lined with six
feet of concrete and steel, which would make draining them very
difficult, said Jearl Strickland, Diablo Canyon’s spent fuel
manager. Plus, PG officials and federal regulators say, a fire
in a drained pool would take hours to develop, giving plant
workers time to take corrective action.
Four months ago, in response to the report, the NRC directed
plant operators to arrange the fuel assemblies into a safer
configuration, among other measures that remain secret for
security reasons.
The other factor is expense.
Along with many other plants, Diablo Canyon already is
constructing an aboveground dry cask storage facility in
anticipation of the day that the denser racks, too, become full.
The $118 million installation will hold as many as 138 casks,
with each cask containing 32 assemblies — enough to store all
the spent fuel Diablo Canyon will produce through 2025, when its
operating license ends.
But if plants were forced to accelerate the transfer from the
pools to the dry casks, Diablo and other plants with dry cask
facilities already under construction would have to go back and
redesign them.
The NRC estimates the cost to utilities of accelerating transfer
of spent fuel from the pools to dry casks at $3.5 billion to $7
billion nationwide. Estimates vary of how much it would cost
Diablo Canyon. Nuclear safety expert Gordon Thompson, who has
consulted for the nuclear watchdog group San Luis Obispo Mothers
for Peace, has put the price at $50 million. Strickland
estimates the cost would be closer to $100 million.
By comparison, the utility plans to spend more than $700 million
to replace the plant’s eight steam generators and $141 million
to replace the tops of the reactors, paid for through rate
increases.
That work coupled with the recent replacement of Diablo Canyon’s
low-pressure turbines brings the total price of equipment
replacements at the power plant to $1 billion over a decade.
What the critics think
The National Academy of Sciences report stops short of
recommending that spent fuel pools be returned to their
low-density configuration. Such decisions need to be based on
cost-benefit considerations by the NRC and the nuclear industry,
the report said.
But nuclear power watchdog groups — including the Union of
Concerned Scientists, San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace and the
San Luis Obispo-based Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility —
believe it is worth the expense.
"There is no excuse for failing to take this extremely feasible
and affordable step to protect the public from the potentially
disastrous effects of a successful attack on a spent fuel pool,"
said Morgan Rafferty, Mothers for Peace activist.
They consider dry casks to be a safer storage option because it
divides a plant’s spent fuel stockpile into smaller groups and
encases the assemblies individually in strong steel-and-concrete
cylinders.
The casks at Diablo will be bolted to an open-air concrete pad
behind the plant. Local environmental groups unsuccessfully
urged PG to disperse the casks at several locations and protect
them with earthen berms to make them a less attractive terrorist
target.
"Even if you go with the cheapest thing — which is a concrete
pad — that is a better solution than filled pools, by leaps and
bounds," Lochbaum said.
A long-term problem
One thing about storage of spent fuel at Diablo Canyon is
certain. It is a problem that will confront San Luis Obispo
County residents for decades to come.
Staunch opposition to the Yucca Mountain project by Nevada
lawmakers, coupled with questions about its safety and
scientific viability, leave the future of the facility in
serious doubt.
"The Yucca Mountain project is never going to open," Senate
Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has vowed.
Lawmakers in Utah similarly oppose a proposal to build a
temporary nuclear storage facility on an American Indian
reservation about 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
Congressmen and senators from those two states introduced a bill
in December that would require all spent-fuel assemblies to be
transferred to dry casks within six years.
The Spent Nuclear Fuel On-Site Storage Security Act of 2005 is
part of an overall effort to require the federal Department of
Energy to take ownership of and manage all of the on-site dry
cask storage facilities at individual nuclear plants. It also
calls for compensating utilities for transferring the fuel to
dry storage with money now earmarked for the Yucca Mountain
facility.
The bill has been referred for consideration to committees in
both the Senate and House of Representatives.
How spent fuel pools could be safer
Recommendations from a six-month review of the safety of spent
fuel pools at commercial nuclear power plants by a panel of
scientists with the National Academy of Sciences:
1. The NRC should do more analysis of vulnerabilities of spent
fuel pools and make recommendations to correct them.
NRC and nuclear industry officials say this is being done.
2. Two measures to improve spent fuel pool safety should be
promptly implemented. They are:
• Reconfiguring the fuel in the pools in a checkerboard fashion
so that newer, hotter fuel is surrounded by older, cooler fuel.
The NRC has adopted this recommendation and Diablo Canyon has
implemented it.
• Installing a water spray system that would be able to cool the
fuel even if the pool or overlying building is severely damaged.
NRC and nuclear industry officials say sprinklers are
unnecessary because there are other ways to refill the pools. No
such sprinklers have been installed at Diablo Canyon.
David Sneed can be reached at 781-7930.
*****************************************************************
33 RIA Novosti: Chernobyl-area food major source of radiation - chief doctor
24/ 04/ 2006
MOSCOW, April 24 (RIA Novosti) - Milk and meat produced by
private farms in areas affected by the Chernobyl disaster create
a major health risk to local residents, Russia's chief doctor
said Monday.
"Radionuclides in food products are the main contributors to
doses of internal radiation," Gennady Onishchenko told a press
conference ahead of the 20th anniversary of the world's worst
civilian nuclear disaster.
An examination of samples taken from private dairies in
contaminated areas of Russia's Bryansk Region, which borders
Ukraine, has shown that 13% of local privately produced milk has
a higher than normal radionuclide content, Onishchenko said.
He said produce from state-owned farms in affected areas was
safer to eat due to rigorous safety controls, but warned against
consuming wild berries and mushrooms.
Some 4,343 communities in 14 of Russia's regions - or about 1.5
million people - are still suffering from the consequences of
the Chernobyl disaster two decades on, Onishchenko said.
Vast areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, as well as northern
Europe, were contaminated by the fallout following the April 26,
1986, explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Last week, Greenpeace said in a report that up to 600,000 people
may die of cancers developed as a result of Chernobyl radiation
exposure, a huge increase on UN figures putting the excess
cancer death toll at 9,300.
© 2005 RIA Novosti
*****************************************************************
34 Moscow Times: Specters of Chernobyl Disaster Linger in Ukraine
Tuesday, April 25, 2006. Issue 3400. Page 16.
The Associated Press
Oded Balilty / AP
A boy trying on a gas mask Friday in a school in Slavutich,
Ukraine. The city was built after evacuations from Pripyat.
KIEV -- The first advice we got after the Chernobyl explosion
was to take a daily drop of iodine on a sugar cube. We heard it
on the Voice of America broadcasts we listened to clandestinely.
Local media, heavily under the Soviet thumb, told us there was
nothing to worry about.
A few days after the explosion, my friend Viktor Ivashchenko
called me and told me I should flee Kiev and never come back.
Viktor's words carried a lot of weight -- he was an engineer at
the Institute of Nuclear Physics.
But Kiev, the Ukrainian capital just 120 kilometers from the
destroyed, radiation-spewing reactor, was home. My parents lived
there, and leaving never occurred to me.
Staying meant that I was eventually able to go to Chernobyl
dozens of times since the world's worst nuclear disaster, whose
20th anniversary falls on Wednesday. There I would take
photographs and feed my hunger to learn all I could about the
catastrophe that had hit my country.
But staying also meant that I lived with gnawing anxieties and
saw good friends die mysteriously or grow thin and sallow.
Some frightened people went overboard on the Voice of America's
advice. They drank half-glasses of iodine and ended up
hospitalized with throat and stomach burns.
Later I would meet a biologist, Professor Vyacheslav Konovalov,
who wore a lead undergarment for years after the explosion. He
collected mutated plants, animals and human embryos, planning to
create a museum to the perils of radiation, but ended up storing
his specimens underground.
May Day, the biggest Soviet holiday, fell just five days after
the explosion and those who trusted the authorities'
reassurances took part in rallies and parades. I was one of
them, carrying a portrait of Mikhail Gorbachev, the man who had
taken the helm of the Soviet Union a year earlier, promising
reform.
Many of us felt a tickle in our throats that day -- apparently a
sign of radioactive iodine -- and decided not to linger outdoors
to watch the bicycle race.
News of the explosion didn't surprise me. Four years earlier I
had visited Pripyat, the city where most Chernobyl workers
lived, and had seen trucks spreading soapsuds on the asphalt.
There were rumors of a radiation leak.
But after the explosion we were worried enough to get hold of a
military radiation gauge and check ourselves, our homes and
loved ones. Some of the readings were high, especially aboard
city buses, which had been used to evacuate residents from
Pripyat and Chernobyl.
My neighbor, Bohdan Semenov, a bus driver, told me that since
his passengers didn't have protective masks, he wouldn't wear
one either. His wife told my mother that he ordered her to throw
out every stitch of clothing he wore on those trips. But she
refused -- they couldn't afford to replace them.
A week later, this athletic man in his 30s was dead of a heart
attack. At his funeral, shocked mourners whispered that it was
because of Chernobyl.
Kievans panicked. They jammed the railroad station trying to
send their children as far away as possible. Many refused to eat
dairy products and berries, relying instead on canned fish.
The health effects of the radiation that the blast spewed over a
wide stretch of the Soviet Union are still hard to assess 20
years later. A consortium of UN agencies said last year that
about 9,000 people eventually are likely to die from
Chernobyl-caused illnesses; Greenpeace International this month
said the death toll would be 10 times higher -- around 93,000.
Back in 1986, anybody's guess was good, and I was dying to know
the truth about what happened at Chernobyl. But at that time I
was working as an underwater welder at a scientific institute
and had no official justification for going to the power
station. I tried to meet with Volodymyr Shevchenko, who was
making a television documentary about Chernobyl, but he died --
another victim of a mysterious heart ailment.
A few months later, I managed to get into the "exclusion zone."
I was amazed by the dedication of the "liquidators" -- crews of
soldiers, workers and coal miners who had been drafted to cover
the destroyed reactor in a coffin of steel and concrete.
It was too hot to breathe, so, disregarding safety rules, they
tore masks off their faces and dug tunnels with shovels to pour
concrete under the reactor.
Hundreds of concrete mixers, trucks with sand, and excavators
crawled around the plant. Later, I saw them in a graveyard of
highly contaminated vehicles several kilometers away.
Sergei Chashchenko worked as an engineer on a diesel locomotive
that brought building materials to the sarcophagus under
construction. He picked up a wrench from the ground and burned
his palm. Four years later, he was suffering from leukemia.
People stole anything that might come in handy or make a
souvenir. Years later I saw the destroyed reactor's control
panel. The buttons were gone.
I met some of those souvenir-hunters in hospitals. They had
leukemia.
I made repeat visits to Chernobyl and took photographs. Some of
them appeared in the magazine Ogonyok, which at that time was in
the vanguard of the Soviet Union's newly assertive news media.
In 1989, The Associated Press hired me.
The nuclear specter lingered: I'm 49 and in good health, yet an
AP colleague who had never been to Chernobyl was operated on for
thyroid cancer, one of the diseases most closely tied to the
disaster.
Meanwhile, signs of big change were afoot. In the spring of
1989, the Soviet republic of Ukraine had its first-ever
protests. Thousands rallied in Kiev to demand the "truth about
Chernobyl," carrying handmade yellow radiation warning signs.
On the waves of Chernobyl rallies, a powerful national movement
grew stronger. Millions demanded independence.
In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, with some politicians
saying the Chernobyl accident speeded the breakup.
In 1992, Kiev, the capital of an independent Ukraine, saw the
first rallies of widows carrying portraits of their husbands and
sons who died after being exposed to radiation while
participating in the desperate cleanup effort at Chernobyl.
Chernobyl has always stayed with me -- a great tragedy
compounded by a shameful cover-up whose lesson was to always
seek the truth with my own eyes and camera.
Shortly before Chernobyl's last operating reactor was closed in
2000, I went there for AP and got a look into the sarcophagus
over the destroyed unit.
I put on two layers of thick white cotton clothes, protective
rubber boots, a special hat and a helmet, padded jackets, gloves
and a facemask.
I covered my camera with plastic as thoroughly as I could, and
followed the guide through high-security checkpoints into the
sarcophagus.
My guide's flashlight picked up the sparkle of dust slowly
whirling around us -- just a speck of radioactive dust could be
lethal if it enters the body. We tried not to take any deep
breaths as we wove our way through dark, wreckage-strewn
passages.
We reached the old control room, long and poorly lighted, with
its damaged machinery, the place where the Soviet engineers
threw a power switch for a routine test at 1:23 a.m. on April
26, 1986, and two explosions followed one after another
immediately.
We bent our heads to get through the dark, narrow labyrinth
leading to the center of the sarcophagus. The walls were covered
with lead plates intended to decrease radiation levels. There
were piles of lead and boron powder dropped by helicopters to
suppress the nuclear reaction.
My Geiger counter registered about 80,000 microroentgens an hour
--16,000 times the safe limit. It was time to leave.
The nearby city of Pripyat is now a ghostly ruin. The only signs
that anybody has been there recently are graffiti drawn by Dutch
artists, and compositions of dolls, gas masks and yellowed
newspapers placed in a deserted kindergarten to communicate how
tragedy still haunts the land 20 years later.
© Copyright 2006 The Moscow Times. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
35 RIA Novosti: Court postpones ruling on ex-nuclear power minister's release
24/ 04/ 2006
MOSCOW, April 24 (RIA Novosti) - The Moscow City Court has
postponed a ruling on possibly releasing from custody of a
former Russian nuclear power minister accused of embezzlement
and abuse of power until May 15.
The court hearing of an appeal by Yevgeny Adamov's lawyers
against extending the custody of their client was postponed
because the sides had been incorrectly informed about the date
of hearings.
The Basmanny court April 5 ruled that Adamov be remanded in
custody until June 8 following a request from prosecutors, who
said a preliminary investigation had not been completed. The
court said Adamov should remain in prison because he stood
accused of 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 of ruling in favor of
prosecutors and had earlier remanded him in custody.
The Prosecutor General's Office officially charged Adamov, 67,
with embezzlement and abuse of office December 31, 2005, 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 United States in May.
The U.S. accused Adamov, who served as nuclear power minister in
1998-2001, of misappropriating $9 million given to Russia for
nuclear safety projects. He would have faced 60 years in prison
if convicted in the U.S.
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
Adamov be extradited to Russia because the country submitted its
extradition request first.
© 2005 RIA Novosti
*****************************************************************
36 AFP: Thyroid cancer to double locally after Chernobyl
Mon Apr 24, 11:06 AM ET
MOSCOW (AFP) - The number of thyroid cancer cases in the Briansk
region of western Russia will double between now and 2010,
largely as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 20 years
ago.
"We are forecasting that more than 500 cases of thyroid cancer
will be diagnosed between now and 2010 in Briansk, the area most
affected by Chernobyl, and more than 200 of those will be due to
the accident," Gennadi Onishchenko, head of Russia's health
service, said at a news conference in Moscow.
The number of thyroid cancers will double from the official
tally recorded in 2003, said Onishchenko, who reported that
there are currently "122 cases of this type of cancer in the
Briansk region alone".
Onishchenko said almost 1.5 million people still live in the
4,343 small towns and villages polluted by Chernobyl. This is in
addition to the 186,395 Russian workers who helped build a huge
sarcophagus around the damaged plant following the accident.
In September 2005 the United Nations" /> published a report
estimating that 4,000 people had died or would eventually die as
a result of radiation exposure from Chernobyl.
But many NGOs contest the UN's claims and Greenpeace puts the
number of potential deaths from cancer at 93,000.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
37 AFP: Ukraine conference starts Chernobyl 20th anniversary commemorations -
Mon Apr 24, 12:24 PM ET
KIEV (AFP) - President Viktor Yushchenko was to open an
international conference on the Chernobyl disaster in Kiev, two
days before Ukraine and its neighbors mark the 20th anniversary
of the world's worst civilian nuclear accident.
The Ukrainian leader was expected to call on the international
community to continue help funding the clean-up from the
accident, which had the most impact on Belarus, Russia and
Ukraine but effects from which were felt in much of Europe.
"This misfortune has wide-reaching international consequences"
and is not "an exclusively Ukrainian problem," Markiyan
Lubkivsky, a top official in the presidential administration,
said last week.
The European Union" /> European Union's External Relations
Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner was to attend the opening of
the three-day conference, along with officials from several UN
bodies, including its nuclear agency and the World Health
Organization" /> World Health Organization.
Several dozen protestors from environmental groups picketed
Kiev's opera building where the meeting was to take place.
"Remember Chernobyl, No New Reactors," read one sign held by the
activists.
Two decades after a series of explosions ripped through a
reactor at a Soviet power plant in northern Ukraine at 1:23 a.m.
on April 26, 1986, the accident remains a grim reminder of
potential hazards of atomic energy.
The consequences of the disaster are heatedly debated, with the
eventual death toll generating the most bitter exchanges.
In a report released last September, the United Nations" />
United Nationssaid that nearly 60 people had already died and
another 4,000 would die as a direct consequence of the accident
-- a much lower estimate than previously believed.
The Greenpeace environmental group attacked the findings as a
"whitewash" and in a recent report of its own, said that the
death toll could reach nearly 100,000. Other anti-nuclear groups
have come up with higher estimates.
Ukraine says that some five million people were affected by the
accident overall, including the 600,000 "liquidators" deployed
over the next four years in clean-up works.
Nearly 800,000 hectares (20,000 acres) of prime agricultural
land and 700,000 hectares of forest remain ruined in Belarus,
Russia and Ukraine as a result of the accident.
The economic costs of the disaster have been staggering, with
Ukrainian officials estimating that Kiev alone will have spent
170 billion dollars (138 billion euros) as a result of the
disaster.
A new protective 20,000-ton steel case over the entire plant, an
international project to which 28 countries have contributed
funds so far, is expected to cost between one and two billion
dollars.
The covering, to be completed by 2012, is due to replace the
concrete sarcophagus that was hastily built over the damaged
reactor immediately after the accident and is showing serious
signs of wear.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
38 Reuters: Ukraine leader seeks cash for new Chernobyl shelter
Mon 24 Apr 2006 12:33 PM ET
By Yuri Kulikov
KIEV, April 24 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor
Yushchenko urged donors on Monday to help tackle the enduring
aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, especially the
completion of a new cover for the plant's devastated reactor.
Addressing a conference opening several days of events to mark
the 20th anniversary of the world's worst civil nuclear
accident, Yushchenko called for an international conference to
come up with funds that no single country could raise.
The explosion and fire at the Chernobyl power station on April
26, 1986 sent radiation across Europe and contaminated large
swathes of territory in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
Feverish efforts culminated in the construction of a building
to enclose the shattered fourth reactor, but officials have long
said a new "sarcophagus" is needed to replace the leaking
structure.
"I am calling for the convening of a new conference of donors
in Ukraine on Chernobyl's problems to set out a new stage of
cooperation," Yushchenko told gathered dignitaries.
"I am asking the European Union, United Nations and UNESCO to
back this idea and jointly organise it. It is clear that the
resources needed to overcome the consequences of a catastrophe
of this magnitude are far beyond the means of a single country.
They require joint efforts by the international community."
Building a new shelter, he said, was among the priorities --
with a price tag estimated at $800 million to $1.4 billion. The
effects of Chernobyl swallowed up to 10 percent of Ukraine's
national budget for many years after the catastrophe, he said.
"Need I remind you of the threat posed by this structure? We
need to expend all our efforts to turn the Chernobyl station
into an ecologically safe site," Yushchenko said.
"It must be clearly understood that putting off effective
measures on this any longer could come at a very high price for
our entire continent."
CATALYST FOR CHANGE
He said the accident, and the secrecy in which Soviet
authorities shrouded it, was one of a long series of calamities
endured by Ukrainians and propelled the former Soviet state
towards independence in 1991 and democratic change.
"The pain caused by Chernobyl served as a catalyst in the
rebirth of national and human dignity in our society," he said.
Yushchenko will join other officials this week at events
honouring the dead and those who fought the conflagration.
A candlelit procession will pass through the new town of
Slavutych -- where all Chernobyl personnel were moved -- at 1.24
a.m. (2124 GMT Tuesday), the time of the accident.
Estimates of the number of deaths linked to the accident vary
widely. The World Health Organisation puts the number at 9,000,
while the environmental group Greenpeace predicts an eventual
death toll of 93,000.
Some 200,000 residents were evacuated from Ukraine alone.
Experts are still studying the long-term effects on health,
particularly the incidence of thyroid cancer.
Tens of thousands of soldiers and experts -- dubbed
"liquidators" -- rushed materials to the site at huge risk to
their lives to erect the initial steel and concrete structure.
Experts see construction of a new "sarcophagus" as part of a
plan to decommission the station -- which stopped producing
electricity in 2000 at the insistence of the international
community, but still contains some 200 tonnes of nuclear fuel.
Leading Western nations last year pledged an additional $200
million towards construction, bringing to about $800 million the
total raised since the project was launched in the mid-1990s.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved. [ border=]
*****************************************************************
39 Norway Post: Chernobyl-effect lingers
Tue, 25.04.2006 Path: / The Norway Post / News /
Chernobyl-effect lingers The after-effects of the nuclear
disaster in Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union are still
evident in parts of Central Norway, 20 years after the nuclear
reactor exploded on April 26th 1986.
Due to the wind and weather conditions at the time, parts of
Central Norway received a considerable amount of radioactive
fallout.
Both sheep farms and reindeer herds were affected, and animals
feeding on grass are still given special food additives in order
to bring the level of cesium down to normal.
Up to now, the Norwegian authorities have spent more than NOK
400 million in various efforts to remedy the after-effects of
the explosion at the nuclear power plant.
(NRK)
Rolleiv Solholm
*****************************************************************
40 Kyiv Post: Ukrainian president appeals for help to return life
to Chernobyl-affected region
Apr 24 2006, 18:22
(AP) Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko appealed to the
international community for financial help Monday, days before
the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, to help
regenerate the surrounding region.
"We need to get rid of the Chernobyl stereotype as an incurable
inflammation on the body of Ukraine," Yushchenko said, opening
an international conference of radiation and health experts in
the Ukrainian capital. "This is land - land we should recover
and put back to life ... A new day should come to the Chernobyl
area, a day of its recovery."
That will require money - far more than this cash-strapped
ex-Soviet republic can afford, Yushchenko said, noting that
Ukraine had already spent $15 billion on Chernobyl-related
projects.
The April 26, 1986, explosion at Chernobyl's reactor No. 4
spewed radiation across much of northern Europe over a 10-day
period, resulting in the evacuation of more than 100,000 people
and the contamination of more than 200,000 square kilometers
(77,220 sq. miles) of European land.
Death tolls connected to the explosion, which released about 400
times more radiation than the U.S. atom bomb dropped over
Hiroshima, remain hotly debated, though at least 31 people died
as a direct result of trying to contain the fire.
Thousands have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and the U.N.
health agency said that about 9,300 people were likely to die of
cancers caused by radiation. Some groups, however, including
Greenpeace, have put the numbers 10 times higher.
"The toll of the accident was huge, that is clear. And we can
never forget the problems it caused, but there is a way
forward," said U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Kalman Mizsei,
defending last year's U.N. Chernobyl Forum report that found the
biggest obstacle to recovery was a sense of malaise and fear
among residents - rather than lingering radiation.
The U.N. report concluded that most of those affected received
such low doses of radiation that it was unlikely to have had any
significant health effects.
"The 5 million residents of contaminated areas need not live in
fear of radiation - and that is a hopeful finding," Mizsei said.
The three-day conference in Kyiv, titled "Twenty Years after The
Chernobyl Accident. Future Outlook," was being co-hosted by
numerous U.N. agencies, the European Commission and the
governments of Russia and Belarus. It was aimed at "reviewing
and better using the experience gained from the accident and
enabling the world to be better prepared for a future accident
of this magnitude," conference organizers said.
Yushchenko complained that even 20 years after the accident,
much still remained unknown about the tragedy, saying that
people deserved truth more than anything. He said that while the
accident was horrific with almost unspeakable consequences, it
should not be used as a "black spot on energy technology."
"We have learned some lessons," said Yushchenko, who has
expressed his backing for nuclear energy as a way to reduce
Ukraine's energy dependence on Russian gas supplies.
Environmentalists protested outside the Ukrainian Opera House,
where the conference was held, carrying signs that read:
"Remember Chernobyl. No new Reactors."
© 2004 - 2006, SputnikMedia.net.
*****************************************************************
41 ITAR-TASS: Kiev hosts conference on 20th anniversary of Chernobyl
n-disaster.
24.04.2006, 19.59
KIEV, April 24 (Itar-Tass) - Kiev has hosted an international
conference devoted to the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl
nuclear plant disaster.
Taking part in the conference are UN high officials, UNESCO
Director-General Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of the
International Atomic Energy Agency Mohammed ElBaradei,
Director-General of the World Health Organization Lee Jong-wook
and other senior officials from all over the world.
The conference will be a step forward to pooling efforts in
reducing the disaster’s effects and increasing nuclear and
radiation level safety, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
© ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy,
*****************************************************************
42 NewsRoom Finland: Nuclear power gains popularity in Finland
24.4.2006 at 13:57
Popular support for a sixth nuclear power station has increased
markedly over the past year.
According to a Gallup Finland survey printed in the Sunday
edition of Helsingin Sanomat, three-fifths of Finns support, at
least to some extent, the construction of a sixth nuclear power
station in addition to the fifth, which has still not been
completed.
Never before has surveyed support for further nuclear power been
as high as this. A year ago, a clear minority - 42 per cent -
were for building a sixth nuclear power station.
Also the Minister of Justice Leena Luhtanen (soc dem) is in
favour of constructing a sixths nuclear power station. In the
Sunday edition of Keskisuomalainen, a provincial daily, Ms
Luhtanen said that the government should send a clear message
that it supports building new nuclear power capacity.
Ms Luhtanen considered it important that self sufficiency was
looked after in electricity and energy production. Increasing
dependence on Russian electricity was something to be avoided,
according to Ms Luhtanen, as Russia needs all its electricity
capacity itself.
Tarja Cronberg, the chairman of the Green League, was also
worried about depending too much on energy from Russia. Ms
Cronberg, interviewed in the Saturday edition of Kaleva, stated
her opposition to the much debated undersea power cable from
Russia to Finland as it would make Finland too reliant on
Russian electricity.
Ms Cronberg also said that nuclear power issue will no longer be
an absolute obstacle for the Greens entering the government.
However, Ms Cronberg said that in government negotiations her
party would try to minimise the adoption of nuclear power.
Instead, the Greens want to focus on promoting renewable energy
sources and bioenergy.
/STT/
© Copyright STT 2006
*****************************************************************
43 UPI: Ukrainian nuke reactor disconnected
United Press International - Energy -
4/24/2006 2:23:00 PM -0400
KIEV, Ukraine, April 24 (UPI) -- A Ukrainian nuclear reactor has
been disconnected due to overproduction, the ITAR-TASS news
agency reported Monday.
Generating set No 5 at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant,
Europe's largest, has been disconnected from the power grid and
transferred to the reserve, the report said.
The plant now has three out of the six VVER-1000 generating sets
operating with a total capacity of 3,015 MW, the agency said.
"The reactors of generating set No 3, which was transferred to
the reserve two weeks ago, and generating set No 5, which was
disconnected from the grid (Sunday), are being kept in a hot
state, which would allow them to be switched on at any time,"
the report said.
© Copyright 2006 United Press
International, Inc. All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
44 SNA: IAEA Silent on Bulgaria Nuke Fault
www.novinite.com Sofia News Agency
24 April 2006, Monday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has been unofficially
informed about the accident in Bulgaria's Kozloduy Nuclear Power
Plant that took place in the beginning of March, but still
hasn't commented the case.
There was no need to inform the Agency officially, as the
problem in Bulgaria only rated as level one (seven being the
most dangerous) according to the International Nuclear Events
Scale (INES). Countries have to officially alert IAEA for events
of level two or higher, Ivan Ivanov, Kozloduy Nuclear Power
Plant's manager, said.
Ivanov added that there had been no real threat to the people of
Bulgaria and refuted the reports of German weekly Spiegel that
claimed the plant's management had covered up a dangerous
failure.
Spiegel's information came from Bulgarian physicist Georgi
Kaschiev, who once served as the head of the country's Committee
for nuclear power usage for peaceful aims. Ivanov said that
Kaschiev had exaggerated in his claims of a serious technical
problem as the failure was only rated level one according to
INES. Saying that Kozloduy NPP was a step away from Chernobyl is
an insinuation, Ivanov said, because it is technologically
impossible for a failure like that in the Ukrainian plant to
take place in Kozloduy.
Bulgaria holds the world record for operating a nuclear power
plant the longest time without an emergency shutdown of a
reactor - nine years and four months.
In the meantime, Ruscho Yankov, member of Bulgaria's Nuclear
Society denied a cover-up saying that the information for the
accident had been published on the web site of the Nuclear
Regulatory Agency immediately after it took place - March 1,
2006.
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
*****************************************************************
45 NEWS.com.au: Pressure to open nuke debate -
From: AAP
By Nikki Todd
April 24, 2006
A COALITION of anti-nuclear community groups has called on
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie to open the debate on uranium.
Mr Beattie has steadfastly refused to discuss uranium, striking
the issue off the agenda for Labor's state conference in June.
Instead, he favours that uranium be debated at next April's
national ALP conference.
This is despite a national push to relax Labor's 22-year-old,
three-mines policy as international demand for the commodity
rises, and public discussion by several state Labor MPs and
union heavyweights in Queensland.
The Queensland Nuclear Free Alliance (QNFA), which held a
summit in Brisbane over the weekend, demanded Mr Beattie allow
debate.
"While Premier Beattie would like to see the prospect of
opening uranium mines in Queensland vetoed in his own party, we
in the community are calling for an open debate," said QNFA
spokeswoman Dr Rachel Darken.
"This week is the 20-year anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster
and it is wise to reflect on the possibility of such an incident
in our own region."
Dr Darken said Australians were concerned about uranium mining
and associated problems of waste storage, transport and security
and the use of uranium waste in depleted-uranium weapons.
"We want this issue debated at the Queensland ALP conference
and not swept under the carpet," she said.
Dr Darken, who is also the vice-president of the Medical
Association for the Prevention of War (MAPW), applauded Deputy
Premier Anna Bligh for her comments in parliament last week that
expressed opposition to uranium mining. He also welcomed the
Queensland Greens' threat to withhold preferences from Labor at
the next state election should the ALP support a relaxation on
uranium mining.
"Nuclear power is neither clean nor green and is economically a
disaster," Dr Darken said.
"Contrary to the propaganda of the nuclear industry, it is not
a solution to global warming. Leave it in the ground Mr Beattie."
The QNFA represents a range of environmental, peace, and
justice organisations in Queensland. Search for
*****************************************************************
46 GREENPEACE UK: Terrorist targets on wheels
[Map of nuclear waste train transport routes]
Last edited: 24-04-2006
A terrorist attack on a train carrying waste nuclear materials
across Britain could spread lethal radioactivity across an area
of 100 sq kilometres, and result in the deaths of up to 8000
people.
Spent nuclear fuel is routinely transported by train from nine
nuclear power stations around the country for reprocessing or
storage at Sellafield in Cumbria. Typically these journeys take
place once a week from each reactor - at the same time and on
the same lines as regular passenger and freight trains.
There is no local authority emergency plan in place to deal with
an emergency for an incident involving a nuclear waste train.
There are no police or security personnel on board the trains,
just the driver and train guard. The flasks containing the
nuclear waste are not designed to withstand a terrorist attack
and the consequences of a radioactive release could be
devastating in a built-up area - requiring the evacuation of
large areas and thousands of people could be exposed to
cancer-causing radiation. With nuclear power firmly back on the
political agenda here, and in light of the heightened terrorist
threat in the UK, we think you have a right to know this
information.
People who live along the affected routes have a small window of
opportunity right now to stop the possibility of spent fuel
trains trundling past the end of their back gardens for the next
150 years by stopping Tony Blair from giving the green light to
another generation of nuclear power plants.
The government isn't taking people's safety seriously so we feel
that it's our duty to highlight this irresponsible and dangerous
practice. It has been reported that terrorist groups already
have their sights set on our nuclear installations and the
technology and resources needed to mount a successful attack are
well within the capabilities of determined terrorists:
+ the rail network along which the spent fuel flasks travel is
virtually impossible to defend with absolute certainty;
+ nuclear trains carry no apparent extra security, and they
travel regular, timetabled routes;
+ the transportation flasks could easily be punctured by an
armoured piercing explosive round. This kind of attack,
especially if followed by a fierce fire within the confines of a
tunnel, would cause a very significant radioactive release to
the environment;
+ numerous portable anti-tank weapons, capable of being
handled by one or two individuals, are capable of breaching
flask walls.
What to do with the waste?
The waste spent fuel is transported to Sellafield for
'reprocessing', an exercise that recovers the plutonium in the
spent fuel for supposed re-use in nuclear reactors. In actual
fact none of this plutonium, which is also weapons-usable, is
re-used for electricity generation. So, we currently have a
stockpile of 102 tonnes of plutonium and have absolutely no
plans for what to do with it.
Reprocessing is a particularly pointless activity, which creates
160 times the volume of nuclear waste that you began with and
results in massive discharges of radioactive substances into the
sea and air. Reprocessing has made the Irish sea the most
radioactively contaminated sea in the world.
First we need to stop making any more. Existing British nuclear
power stations will leave a legacy of half a million tonnes of
nuclear waste that the government has no idea how to dispose of
safely. Tony Blair's plans to build 10 new nuclear power
stations would increase the UK's spent fuel stockpile by an
additional 400% - and obviously lead to many more transports
around the country.
The waste spent fuel that we do have should not be transported
around the country, but should be stored at the power stations
where it's produced and kept in stores where it can be
continually monitored.
A safe alternative already exists
Nuclear power is a dangerous and expensive distraction from the
real solutions to climate change. The most effective and
cheapest solution to secure our energy supply and reduce
emissions is by investing in energy efficiency and renewable
energy and stopping the massive waste we have today by switching
to a decentralised energy system.
We need to generate power closer to where it is needed, allowing
us to use both the heat and electricity locally. This is known
as a decentralised energy system. The result is cleaner,
cheaper, more efficient energy than nuclear power - better for
the environment and for all of us.
Take action
Stop the trains before someone else does. Write to your MP to
say no to nuclear and yes to efficiency and renewables!
Find out more
Download the report published by nuclear engineers John Large
&Associates, which investigates the potential threat that a
terrorist attack or serious accident might pose.
Note
The map of the train routes in the ad has been compiled from
information from various sources: trainspotters manuals, maps
that Greenpeace and other groups have previously published and
from our own observations.
*****************************************************************
47 [du-list] Dr. Rosalie Bertell as eco-hero at alternet
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 19:33:52 -0700
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/35290/
Dr. Rosalie Bertell, Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart
In the mid-1980s, two catastrophes rocked the world in quick succession:
the 1984 Union Carbide explosion in Bhopal, India, which killed more than
15,000 people and sickened as many as 600,000; and the 1986 Chernobyl
nuclear reactor meltdown that sickened and killed thousands, and
graphically revealed the dangers of nuclear power. Both of these disasters
continue to wreak havoc on people in the affected areas.
Dr. Rosalie Bertell, a mathematician, a nun in the order of the Grey Nuns
of the Sacred Heart, and renowned human rights activist, helped raise
awareness of not only the immediate destruction caused by these tragedies,
but their ongoing effects. To this day, thousands of people in Russia and
India are suffering from their exposure to these accidents.
But this was neither the beginning nor the end of Bertell's work. She has
devoted her life to documenting and fighting the threats posed to human
health and the planet by nuclear power, rampant militarism and unchecked
corporate pollution. Bertell is an outspoken opponent to the use of
depleted uranium and successfully fought for the first moratorium on a
nuclear power plant in upstate New York.
Bertell founded the International Institute of Concern for Public Health in
1984 and has authored several books about the threats to the planet, most
recently 2001's Planet Earth: The Newest Weapon of War. But as a 2005
biography of Bertell puts it, she is a scientist, eco-feminist and
visionary. A 1998 profile in the Toronto Star says Bertell "believes that
if women had more decision-making power, the world would be a better place.
If all women were like her, that seems a safe bet.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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*****************************************************************
48 [du-list] uranium trioxide gas is an ignored combustion
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 19:33:54 -0700
Currently, the hazard of depleted uranium combustion exposure is
assumed to involve only inhalation of the mostly insoluble
particulate dusts, but not uranyl oxide gas. The toxicology,
appropriate treatments, and dispersion patterns are very
different between the two, as are reliable methods of detecting
exposure. But so far, the gas products have been almost
completely ignored as health hazards of DU munitions.
I recently sent the message below to Dr. Carl Alexander, who
has been active in uranium physical chemistry for more than half a
century, and is a famous scientist in other fields, participating
in the Voyager space probe program and currently working on
missile defense systems. He published a paper last year on the
vapor pressure of uranium trioxide gas in the Journal of Nuclear
Materials, vol. 346, pp. 312-318:
http://www.bovik.org/du/Alexander2005.pdf
Finally, someone in a position of authority has confirmed my
long-standing suspicions. His reply follows.
Sincerely,
James Salsman
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: RE: uranium combustion produces how much UO3(g)?
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 16:31:15 -0400
From: Alexander, Carl A
To: James Salsman
... I would expect that gaseous UO3 would be the major product of
such "burning" in air. I consulted and reviewed Wendell Wilson's
paper prior to publication so I am familiar with it although I
haven't seen it in a good many years. I don't know the health hazard
of gaseous UO3 but chemically it behaves a lot like WO3 and WO3 is
certainly a bad actor. Gaseous UO3 is quite stable and you are
correct that upon condensing it would likely become U3O8.
-----Original Message-----
From: James Salsman [mailto:james@bovik.org]
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 4:11 PM
To: Alexander, Carl A
Subject: uranium combustion produces how much UO3(g)?
Dear Dr. Alexander:
Thank you for publishing your paper, "Volatilization of urania
under strongly oxidizing conditions," which I recently read
with great interest. I have been trying to determine the amount
of UO3(g) produced from combustion of uranium. I have recently
been corresponding with the famous coordination chemist Prof.
Simon Cotton, who suggested that I contact you with my question.
Depleted uranium munitions such as those used for 20-30 mm and
larger antitank ordnance are incendiary due to the pyrophoric
nature of uranium. More than 30% of such bullets' uranium metal
burns in air when they are fired against hard targets. It
seems that the burning temperature should usually be above 2500
Kelvin, because the bullets are described as fragmenting into a
spray of tiny particles as they pass through armor. (Mouradian
and Baker (1963) "Burning Temperatures of Uranium and Zirconium
in Air," Nuclear Science and Engineering, vol. 15, pp. 388-394.)
Inhalation of uranium combustion fumes is suspected in major
illnesses reported in veterans and civilians of the February,
1991 Gulf War. However, none of the people responsible for
determining the health hazards has yet reported measurements of
the gas vapors produced, only the particulate aerosol fumes,
which are described as 25% UO2 and 75% U3O8 (Gilchrist R.L.,
et al. (1979) "Characterization of Airborne Uranium from Test
Firings of XM774 Ammunition," Technical report no. PNL-2944
Richland, WA: Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory.) Based on
the thermodynamic formation energy data I have been able to
find (H. Wanner and I. Forest, eds. (2004) Chemical
Thermodynamics of Uranium (Paris: OECD and French Nuclear
Energy Agency) http://www.nea.fr/html/dbtdb/pubs/uranium.pdf
-- see table V.4 on p. 98) it seems like production of UO3
would be much more likely than UO2 or U3O8. Moreover,
condensation and subsequent decomposition of UO3(g) can
explain the U3O8(s) product: see Wilson, W.B. (1961)
"High-Pressure High-Temperature Investigation of the
Uranium-Oxygen System," Journal of Inorganic Nuclear Chemistry,
vol. 19, pp. 212-222, at the bottom of p. 213.
If there are substantial amounts of UO3(g) produced in uranium
fires, that could explain discrepancies in both troop exposure
patterns and the solubility and resulting pharmokinetics of
those exposed. Most people have been assuming that only the
particulate aerosols present any exposure risk. But those
settle out of the atmosphere much more quickly than gas, which
is absorbed immediately if inhaled in contrast to the great
length of time which it takes for UO2 and U3O8 particles to
dissolve in the lungs. Urine tests intended to determine
exposure which measure the ratio of uranium 238 and 235
isotopes assume that only particulate aerosols and not quickly
absorbed and dissolving gas have been encountered. Those urine
tests have been negative for exposure in patients who have the
symptoms of uranyl poisoning.
Can you please help shed any light on the amount of UO3(g)
produced when uranium burns in air? Thank you.
Sincerely,
James Salsman
-------- Earlier Message --------
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Sen Cantwell's Letter on Depleted Uranium Aerosols!
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 12:39:11 -0700
From: James Salsman
To: rhelbig@california.com, radsafe@radlab.nl
Roger Helbig wrote:
> I hope that some of you choose to let the good Senator know that
> DU aerosols really do not exist! At least not outside of the
> kill zone inside the tank that is hit by the projectile.
Even those who completely ignore the production of uranyl oxide
gas are careful to explain that the aerosols can and do travel
several kilometers from uranium combustion sites. E.g., see
Mitsakou et al. (2003) "Modeling the Dispersion of Depleted
Uranium Aerosol," Health Physics, vol. 84, pp. 538-544:
http://www.bovik.org/du/aerosol.pdf
Furthermore, implying that tanks are hit by "the projectile" is
disingenuous because most of the DU ammunition used has been as
20, 25, and 30 mm rounds from rapid-fire machine guns, not as
single-shot antitank ordnance.
And what about uranyl oxide gas? Does anyone still think I'm
wrong to say it gets produced in quantity? If so, please see:
Alexander, C.A. (2005) "Volatilization of urania under strongly
oxidizing conditions," Journal of Nuclear Materials, vol. 346,
pp. 312-318: http://www.bovik.org/du/Alexander2005.pdf
In particular, the vapor pressures reported in Table 6, in light
of the fact that the burning temperature usually exceeds 2500
Kelvin for the small particles involved in munitions fires.
(Mouradian and Baker (1963) "Burning Temperatures of Uranium and
Zirconium in Air," Nuclear Science and Engineering, vol. 15, pp.
388-394.)
It's clear that large quantities of UO3 gas are produced. Of
course much of it quickly condenses and decomposes to U3O8 --
so much so that UO3(g) may be the sole source of the U3O8 which
comprises 75% of the particulate combustion product. (Wilson,
W.B. (1961) "High-Pressure High-Temperature Investigation of the
Uranium-Oxygen System," Journal Inorganic Nuclear Chemistry,
vol. 19, pp. 212-222.)
But the portion of UO3 which doesn't condense disperses further
and faster than the aerosols, and are absorbed directly into the
bloodstream if inhaled, dissolving immediately to uranyl ions
which cause chromosome damage leading to immunological disorders
and congenital malformations in the children of the exposed.
Again I ask: Why have the authorities responsible for
determining the toxicological profile for uranium munition fume
inhalation never measured the gases produced; only the particulates?
Sincerely,
James Salsman
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49 [NukeNet] Scotland: Revealed: fears over 'r adioactive' food
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 19:33:58 -0700
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
http://www.sundayherald.com/55327
Sunday Herald - 23 April 2006
Revealed: fears over ‘radioactive’ food threat
By Rob Edwards
Environment Editor
----------
PLANS to increase emissions of radioactive waste from Scotland’s two
nuclear power stations would contaminate food in breach of safety limits,
the government’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) has warned.
The Sunday Herald can reveal that any escalation of releases of radioactive
gases from the Hunterston nuclear station in North Ayrshire would be
“unacceptable” to the food safety watchdog. Children who eat locally
produced food could receive radiation doses above the recommended limit, it
said.
The FSA also pointed out that proposed new aerial emissions from the
Torness nuclear plant in East Lothian could cause a problem to crops. Peas,
beans and other vegetables grown nearby could be polluted in excess of
European radiation safety levels, it said.
The revelations come amidst a rising crescendo of arguments over the Prime
Minister Tony Blair’s desire to build new nuclear power stations. A flurry
of pro and anti-nuclear campaigns are being launched this week to coincide
with the 20th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear accident, at
Chernobyl in Ukraine.
The international consensus among scientists is that exposure to even the
tiniest amounts of radioactivity can increase the risk of cancer. Radiation
can damage human DNA and trigger changes that lead over years to the growth
of tumours.
That is why health and regulatory agencies worldwide are now working to
minimise public exposure to radiation. Despite this, the company that runs
Hunterston and Torness, British Energy, submitted plans for major increases
in some of its emissions.
The company applied to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa)
for a 50% increase in the amount of the radioactive gas, carbon-14, that
Hunterston is allowed to discharge into the atmosphere.
This is necessary, British Energy said, because carbon-14 builds up in
reactors as they age. The gas is created as radiation bombards the blocks
of graphite that surround the reactor core.
But in a letter obtained by the Sunday Herald, the increase has been
rejected by the FSA. “We have considered the proposed limits that British
Energy has requested and believe that these will lead to unacceptable
levels of radioactivity in food,” wrote the agency’s scientific advisor
Neil Leitch.
This is because, an FSA spokeswoman explained, it may be possible for an
infant consuming locally produced foods to receive a radiation dose more
than 20% above the “constraint” recommended by government radiation
scientists.
Dr Ian Fairlie, an independent radiation consultant who used to advise
Sepa, argued that a close watch had to be kept on carbon-14, which would
persist for thousands of years and had the ability to bind organically with
cells and organs in the human body.
He said: “Any advice by the FSA that emissions could lead to radiation dose
limits being breached must be viewed with concern. No matter how small the
doses are there is always some level of risk.”
At Torness, the FSA said that releases during maintenance twice every three
years under the new proposals could contaminate legumes and leafy green
vegetables planted nearby. On the worst assumptions, contamination by
another radioactive gas, sulphur-35, could exceed the “intervention levels”
adopted by the European Union for nuclear accidents.
“The prospect of children eating food contaminated in breach of radiation
safety limits is unthinkable,” said Pete Roche, a consultant to Greenpeace.
“It is not something that any regulator or any government should tolerate.”
British Energy’s proposed emission limits for Torness have also been
criticised by another government watchdog, the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE). The limits for carbon-14 and sulphur-35 leave “little or no
headroom” above projected emissions, according to the HSE’s principal
nuclear inspector, Ron Cooper.
“HSE considers that this lack of headroom may have safety implications by
putting the power station operators under unnecessary pressure,” he said.
“It may also lead to the additional accumulation of radioactive wastes on
the site.”
The Scottish Executive drew attention to “issues” concerning the proposed
treatment of waste resins from Torness. Their early disposal could lead to
discharges to the environment which raised a “fundamental principle” for
Sepa to consider, it said.
British Energy is also seeking permission for large increases in the amount
of contaminated solvents, paints and batteries it is permitted to send to
be burnt in an incinerator at Hythe, near Southampton. And the company
wants similar hikes in the amounts of radioactive waste it’s allowed to
disposed at the Drigg disposal site near Sellafield in Cumbria.
British Energy claimed that most of its discharge authorisations would be
reduced. “We share Sepa’s aims to seek the best environmental outcomes,”
said a company spokeswoman.
“We are also carrying out our own consultation with community stakeholders
at both sites to outline why and by how much we are requesting to decrease
– and in a minority of cases to increase – authorisation limits.”
Byron Tilly, from Sepa’s radioactive team, said: “We will not consider how
to deal with British Energy’s request until we have received the response
to the consultation.” The consultation is due to end on June 2.
This week, the Scottish Greens and Friends of the Earth Scotland will be
separately launching new campaigns against nuclear power. On Monday, the
CBI business lobby will be calling for a programme of new nuclear stations.
On Thursday, the government’s Committee on Radioactive Waste Management is
expected to issue its long-awaited draft recommendations on how to deal
with Britain’s nuclear waste. It is likely to suggest that the waste be
buried in a hole, but it will not say where the hole should be.
Among a welter of other initiatives is a new website aimed at providing
details of pro-nuclear campaigners. Called nuclearspin.org, it details the
affiliations of prominent nuclear enthusiasts.
----------
Copyright © 2006 smg sunday newspapers ltd. no.176088
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50 Irish Examiner: Firefighters ill-equipped to handle nuclear fallout
25/04/06
By Evelyn Ring
FIREFIGHTERS are ill-equipped and insufficiently trained to deal
with a major nuclear disaster, the National Firefighters
Committee said yesterday.
Chair of the committee Brian Murray was commenting on Ireland’s
emergency planning after the screening by RTÉ of Fallout, a
docudrama about a nuclear disaster at Sellafield.
“There have been no exercises carried out in the middle of a
major urban centre in this country to see exactly how the fire
services could deal with such an accident,” he stressed.
And while Britain has 80 instant response units capable of
dealing with mass contamination, Ireland has none.
Mr Murray said attempts were being made to have a
decontamination system available round the clock in Dublin but
it had yet to be put in place.
The two-part drama series, which concluded last night, shows how
Ireland might react to a radioactive cloud reaching the east
coast after an explosion and fire at Sellafield.
Mr Murray said Ireland is not ready to deal with an accident or
terrorist attack on Sellafield because the country’s
firefighters have neither the equipment nor sufficient training
to cope with such a situation.
“There is an obligation on the local authorities to have a major
accident plan prepared but there is no obligation on the
Government to audit those plans to see if they are capable of
functioning in the event of a disaster,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland
(RPI) has described the nuclear disaster depicted in the
docudrama as “not realistic”. After analysing the scenario as
depicted in the programme, the institute found it also
exaggerated the amount of radioactivity that could reach
Ireland. RPI chief executive Dr Ann McGarry said the institute
had long been concerned about the possibility of an accident at
Sellafield and had conducted extensive studies to predict how
such an accident could affect Ireland.
“The scenario envisaged in the programme is not realistic and
exaggerates the amount of radioactivity that could reach
Ireland,” she said.
She was also concerned that the programme appeared to suggest
that evacuation would be the appropriate response.
International best practice indicates that evacuation is only
ever recommended to prevent people suffering immediate health
effects.
“In Ireland, due to our distance, radiation levels arising from
an accident would never be sufficiently nigh to give rise to
these effects,” she said.
© Irish Examiner, 2005, Thomas Crosbie Media, TCH
*****************************************************************
51 [NYTr] Sellafield drama-documentary captivates Irish TV
Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 10:46:18 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
sent by Simon McGuinness
[In last night's drama documentary we got the explosion at Sellafield and
the panic which ensued in Ireland (35 miles away, downwind). In part 2
tonight we will learn just how many of us died as a result. If it
wasn't such a ham-fisted piece of film making it would be worthy of sale
abroad, but it will concentrate minds wonderfully here in Ireland.
The Irish government is already taking the Brits to court over the
existence of the plant and its 2400kG of Caesium-137 stored on-site in
cooled tanks (Chernobyl discharged a total of "only" 27kG of Caesium-137
and this is what did all the damage there).
It is interesting to see the individual responses depicted by the drama
to a danger that is, by its very nature, completely invisible. Two
reactions predominated - blind panic and complete disbelief. Both were
constantly reinforced by official statements and policy reactions by the
Irish and British governments, the media and the various emergency
response groups. Both reactions resulted in completely irrational
individual decisions likely to have endangered the lives of hundreds of
thousands of people.
The Soviets were, by comparison, coordinated, logical and effective in
their response. Headless chickens appear to be the inevitable result of
historic mistrust of politicians, ignorance of matters of science and
high levels of personal wealth. In the 1980s, the people of Belarus had
only one of these traits and even then it was relatively transitory.
We'll find out tonight how many of us died (or for real when one of GW
Bush's 'Bin Laden-spawn' sees the film). - Simon McGuinness, Dublin.]
April 24, 2006: The Irish Times News
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/0424/1209990171HM4FALLOUTRTE.html
Radiation experts disagree over accuracy of RTI's 'Fallout' drama
by Aine Kerr
The nuclear disaster scenario as depicted in RTI's new docu-drama is not
realistic and exaggerates the amount of radioactivity that could reach
Ireland, according to the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland
(RPII).
Following the first part of the docu-drama Fallout on RTI last night, Dr
Ann McGarry, chief executive of RPII, said the Sellafield accident
scenario as portrayed by the drama series could not realistically occur.
Having viewed an advance screening of the two-part programme last week
and since analysed the scenario, Dr McGarry said the RPII was confident
it is not possible for such an accident to occur.
"The institute has long been concerned at the possibility of an accident
at Sellafield involving the highly active storage tanks and has
conducted extensive studies to predict how such an accident could affect
Ireland," said Dr McGarry.
She added the RPII is particularly concerned the programme appears to
suggest that evacuation would be the appropriate response to an accident
at Sellafield, when international best practice indicates evacuation is
only ever recommended to prevent people suffering immediate health
effects.
"In Ireland, due to our distance from any nuclear facilities and the
type of accident that could possibly occur, radiation levels arising
from an accident would never be sufficiently high to give rise to these
effects," she said.
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche has previously supported the
RPII's contention the programme overlooked and failed to acknowledge
some "basic facts".
"In particular, the fact that the Government has in place a National
Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents has not received the attention it
deserves. This is a matter of major importance to every citizen of this
country," said Minister Roche.
He added that expert advice and the experiences of New York, London and
Madrid showed that the possibilities of massive and immediate health
impacts, rioting and extreme societal breakdown - as portrayed by the
programme - was extreme.
Last week, however, Fallout director David Caffrey insisted the drama
was heavily researched and the events depicted "absolutely possible".
British nuclear expert John Large, a technical consultant, added that
the Irish emergency services would struggle to cope with such a disaster
and that the drama was a "very accurate portrayal of what could happen".
) The Irish Times
*
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52 APP.COM: Report: Review may have missed toxic sites |
Asbury Park Press Online
Back Issues:Monday, April 24, 2006
STATE: Says kids not at risk, denies "fast-track" politically
expedient
04/24/06 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRENTON — A fast-track environmental review process allowed the
state agency in charge of building schools to pick sites with
potential contamination problems, according to a published
report.
A review of state documents showed that in one case the New
Jersey Schools Construction Corp., spent millions on an old
industrial site in Union City, even though it was contaminated
with radioactive uranium, The Record of Bergen County reported
in Sunday newspapers.
Across the state, hundreds of school projects are scheduled to
move forward under an unpublicized fast-track review forged
between the SCC and the state Department of Environmental
Protection in 2003.
Critics say the truncated review process was approved for
political expediency, needlessly jeopardizing children.
The heads of the DEP and SCC now plan a review of the process,
with the potential for substantial changes, said DEP spokeswoman
Elaine Makatura.
The state Attorney General's Office is also investigating the
SCC's land acquisition program, according to Paul Loriquet, a
spokesman for the office said.
State investigators are looking into three land deals for
potential wrongdoing by state and local officials. Loriquet
would not disclose whether environmental issues were part of the
investigation. He said criminal prosecutions are a possibility.
When contacted Sunday by The Associated Press, SCC spokesman
Kevin McElroy denied that the fast-track process was instituted
for political benefit.
"We have a site assessment process, and we certainly don't put
children at risk," McElroy said.
McElroy was unaware of a state Attorney General's Office
investigation, but said that if there was an investigation the
SCC would be "100 percent cooperative."
With the Union City site — an industrial site used by the Army
Corps of Engineers during World War II for efforts to develop
the atomic bomb — only a small trace amount of uranium was
found, McElroy said.
Further tests were not conducted because the SCC suspended the
project in 2005 when it ran out of money to acquire more land,
according to McElroy.
A DEP review found "no significant environmental impacts" at the
site, but Makatura cautioned that the review was preliminary.
The SCC was established in 2002 to streamline school
construction in 31 poor communities.
Copyright © 2006 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
53 Salt Lake Tribune: A waste proposal: DOE should not have sole say over Yucca
shipments
Article Last Updated: 04/23/2006 11:13:10 PM MDT
It is a ploy as old as representative government: If you can't
do what you want to do by playing by the accepted rules, you try
to change the rules.
That is what the U.S. Department of Energy is attempting to
do with legislation pending in Congress that would streamline
the government's stalled and increasingly iffy plan to establish
a permanent nuclear waste repository at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.
Among several troubling provisions of the proposed Nuclear
Fuel Management and Disposal Act is one that would free the
Energy Department from existing federal and state health and
safety regulations governing transport of hazardous materials.
In essence, the bill sponsored by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.,
would allow the Energy Department to make its own rules and
conduct its own oversight over cross-country shipments by truck
and by rail of tens of thousands of tons of high-level nuclear
waste, many of which would pass through Utah.
Federal laws aimed at protecting public health and safety,
such as the Hazarous Materials Transportation Authorization Act,
would be trumped by whatever plan the DOE came up with. So, too,
would all state, local, and tribal laws and regulations that are
accommodated under existing federal guidelines.
Energy Department officials argue that since the shipments
would pass through as many as 45 states and 700 counties,
they need "consistent treatment" by the DOE under a single "safe
and responsible method of transportation."
Like the Western Governors' Association, we view the
DOE-written legislation with skepticism. We fail to see the
wisdom of abandoning precedent and giving a single federal
agency absolute control over the health and safety of the
estimated eight million to 11 million people nationwide who live
within a half-mile of the proposed shipping routes.
The concerns of state and local jurisdictions must continue
to be taken into account if, as seems increasingly unlikely,
given the political and scientific hurdles it has yet to clear,
a Yucca Mountain repository is ever built and the DOE's trucks
and trains begin to roll.
Congress should classify this legislation as hazardous waste.
© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune.
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54 Las Vegas SUN: Protesters gear up for Bush arrival in Las Vegas
Today: April 24, 2006 at 14:7:14 PDT
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS (AP) - President Bush has landed in Las Vegas for a
state Republican fundraiser and the presentation of a volunteer
award to a nurse who helped Hurricane Katrina evacuees.
About 100 demonstrators have gathered at a corner near The
Venetian hotel resort, chanting and waving signs like, "Drop
Bush, Not Bombs; No Blood for Oil," as they hope for a glimpse
of the presidential motorcade.
Bush's luncheon at The Venetian casino hotel is a joint
fundraiser for the state Republican party and U.S. Rep. Jon
Porter, R-Nev. Luncheon guests were charged $500 to $2,100.
Porter is facing a challenge from Democrat Tessa Hafen, former
press secretary to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Hafen has reported raising almost $370,000 during six weeks of
campaigning.
Nevada's five-member congressional delegation opposes
administration plans for opening and expanding the Yucca
Mountain nuclear waste repository about 90 miles northwest of
Las Vegas.
Bush was due to give the President's Volunteer Service Award to
Patty Murphy, a volunteer with the Medical Reserve Corps of
Clark County.
In September 2005, Murphy deployed to Mobile, Ala., to work on
the M.S. Holiday, a cruise ship that temporarily housed evacuees
following Hurricane Katrina.
All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
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55 Scotsman.com News: Decision due soon on nuclear waste management
[Scotsman.com News] Tuesday, 25th April 2006
By Jeremy Lovell
LONDON (Reuters) - A special committee set up to decide how to
deal with nuclear waste in the long-term will finalise its draft
recommendations to the government this week, ahead of a final
report in July.
The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management, better known by
its acronym CoRWM, said on Tuesday it would agree its final
recommendations, from a shortlist of four options, at a meeting
in the southern town of Brighton this week.
"They will be taking the decision on the recommendations on
Thursday morning," a spokesman told Reuters. "It will then go
for one final round of consultations. But we don't expect any
rabbits to be pulled from hats."
The report will come the day after the 20th anniversary of the
explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine that spewed
radioactive dust across much of northern Europe.
CoRWM has been working for two years assessing how best to deal
with high and intermediate level waste from Britain's civil
nuclear programme that remains toxic for thousands of years.
It will be eagerly awaited by the government as it decides
whether to go ahead with a new generation of nuclear power
plants to plug the country's looming electricity gap as it has
to shut down many of the ageing nuclear and coal-fired stations.
A report by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs in 2001 put the total volume from all sources of nuclear
waste in Britain at 1.75 million cubic metres.
But CoRWM said this would rise sharply as all but one of the
country's ageing nuclear power plants were closed, dismantled
and disposed of over the next decade.
In August last year CoRWM cut down its initial long list of
waste disposal options to just four: long-term interim storage,
deep geological disposal, phased deep geological disposal and
near-surface disposal.
It comes down to deciding whether to bury the waste but make
some or all of it accessible for future generations as
technology advances, or and put it forever beyond reach.
The CoRWM meeting, which starts on Tuesday and ends on Thursday,
will whittle this down to one preferred option or combination of
options to satisfy the key criteria of security, risks to health
and the environment and costs.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, set up in 2005 to oversee
the dismantling of old nuclear power stations, calculated this
year that the cleanup costs of all the civil nuclear sites would
be up to 70 billion pounds.
The government has insisted that if it gives the green light to
new nuclear power plants the money will have to come from the
private sector.
(c) Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or
redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing
or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior
written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo
are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of
companies around the world.
This article: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=616212006
Last updated: 24-Apr-06 13:51
©2006 Scotsman.com| contact
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56 DOE: Secretary Bodman Meets with Global Energy Ministers at the
International Energy Forum in Qatar
April 24, 2006
Bodman emphasizes the need for international cooperation to
improve global energy security
DOHA, QATAR - U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman attended
the 10th International Energy Forum (IEF) in Doha, Qatar, today
to discuss the need for international efforts to increase
individual and global energy security and encourage market
stability. Energy Ministers from the worlds major producing
and consuming nations were in attendance at the meeting taking
place April 23-24, 2006.
In order to sustain the strong global economic growth weve seen
in recent years, consumers and producers must work together to
encourage transparency and stability in the market and ensure the
availability of reliable and affordable energy supplies now and
in the future, Secretary Bodman said. "By being responsible
market participants, enacting sound policies and fostering
greater coordination through the sharing of data and information,
we will serve our people and the world economy well.
During the ministerial, Secretary Bodman delivered remarks that
stressed that it is the responsibility of all market participants
to be transparent and forthright in their discussion about
policies and actions particularly in times of high volatility.
He also stressed that as responsible market participants all
nations should enhance the physical security of their energy
infrastructure and work together to mitigate the impacts of any
future supply disruptions.
Secretary Bodman also discussed the need for both consuming and
producing nations to enact policies that will encourage growth
and encourage long term market stability. Such policies include
new investment and infrastructure expansion by producers to meet
growing world demand. These policies must foster positive
investment climates that preserve the sanctity of contracts and
ensure regulatory certainty and stable tax regimes.
The secretary also stressed that it was in the mutual interest of
both consumers and producers for all nations to diversify their
energy portfolios to include more renewable and alternative
energy sources. To highlight the efforts of the U.S., Secretary
Bodman discussed the Advanced Energy Initiative, announced by
President Bush earlier this year. Secretary Bodman emphasized
that the diversification of energy sources would inherently
improve individual and global energy security, reduce pressure on
energy markets and help to improve the sustainability valuable
natural resources.
Lastly, Secretary Bodman discussed the importance of enhanced
cooperation and coordination by producers and consumers. The
secretary emphasized the need for all nations to help make the
Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI) sponsored by IEF, a success.
JODI is a critical part of the effort to ensure market
transparency and the availability of reliable data on which
investors can base sound decisions. He also emphasized that
consumers and producers must work together to facilitate open
access to markets, encourage investment and development and
foster international trade.
Media contact(s): Craig Stevens, (202) 586-4940 [ ]
U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW |
Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 |
*****************************************************************
57 lamonitor.com: Fixing a hole where nuclear materials could get in
The Online News Source for Los Alamos
ROGER SNODGRASS, , Monitor Assistant Editor
Since 9/11, the public has become more aware of the country's
vulnerability to unlikely but highly consequential risks.
Two common scenarios project the possibility of nuclear material
or a nuclear weapon arriving by sea, lost in a pile of sneakers
or bananas at a U.S. port of entry.
A Los Alamos nuclear engineering company announced this week
that it had developed, created and tested a sophisticated
monitoring device designed to detect radioactive materials
traveling by sea in large-scale containers, the basic units of
international commerce.
Called M-PONDS, for Mobile Point-of-Need Detection System, the
machines are said to be suitable for shoring up security
vulnerabilities in the international trans-shipping arena, where
only a fraction of cargo containers are currently inspected.
The equipment was developed by Technology Management Consulting
Services with offices on Central Avenue in Los Alamos, and will
be manufactured and marketed by its subsidiary, Global
Transhipment Monitoring Co., based in Albuquerque.
The companies have estimated that as many as 3,000 jobs may be
created in New Mexico over the next 10 years to meet
international demand.
The units weigh 40,000 pounds, measure 23 feet by 23 feet and
will cost about $1.5 million each.
They are mobile, nimble and designed to work effectively with
existing and other deployable systems at sea ports around the
world.
Last June in a congressional hearing, Vayle Oxford, who is now
director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office in the
Department of Homeland Security, described a common
misconception about detection devices.
"Contrary to public perception that detection equipment is not
sensitive enough, the actual primary limitation of today's
systems is one of discrimination," he said.
In fact, he continued, the real problem was too many false
alarms resulting in time wasted on additional inspections.
TCM Services said M-PONDS is equipped with the latest
Radioisotope Identification Detector, which is capable of
detecting not only illicit nuclear materials, but also
industrial, medical and Normally Occurring Radioactive Materials
(NORM).
Thermo Electron Corporation produces the detection instrument.
In announcing the demo, TCM Services President Linda Majors
called it, "(t)he best threat deterrent solution we have seen
anywhere."
In an interview Friday, Glen Loveland, a spokesperson for TCM
Services, said, "The M-PONDS system will go off on a bunch of
bananas, but it will say this is a normal amount of
radioactivity, not a dirty bomb."
On Thursday, at the Double Eagle airport in Albuquerque, Sen.
Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, and Rep. Heather Wilson, R-NM, joined
officials of the U.S. Departments of Energy and Homeland
Security to view a demonstration of the system.
Loveland said they watched tests that involved the false
positive problem as well as more serious materials. The system
detected some sources about the size of a pearl buried under
other material in a container, he said.
Both officials issued statements after the demonstration.
"This is another example of our state's science and technology
community meeting the homeland security needs of our nation,"
Bingaman said "In my view, we have not yet done enough to
properly inspect the cargo coming into our country."
The senator has requested funding in the FY 2007 Energy and
Water Appropriations bill to launch a pilot demonstration of
multiple M-PONDS units. Action on that measure is scheduled to
be completed in the fall.
Wilson said she has requested $2,600,000 for Phase I of the
M-PONDS pilot program in the FY 2007 Department of Homeland
Security Appropriations Act.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-NM, and Rep. Tom Udall, D-NM, have both
followed developments on the large mobile detector and expressed
their support as well.
In an endorsement, Domenici said, "We've done a lot of work to
control radiological materials but the world remains at risk."
He said the M-PONDS device provided another defense against the
threat that materials of weapons of mass destruction could be
used against us or our allies.
As the flap in Washington, D.C, earlier this year over the Dubai
Ports World contracts illustrated, global ports and their
security have become highly sensitive. Critics continue to
complain that the government has been throwing money at an
obvious problem with little to show for it.
The New York Times reported in January that only one out of six
ports involved in the Dubai deal was able to subject every cargo
container to an effective radiation-detection system.
A fact sheet prepared by TMC Services Inc. noted that nearly
nine million containers enter the U.S. by ship each year. The
U.S. maritime system encompasses 300 sea and river ports with
upward of 3,700 cargo and passenger terminals.
© 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
58 UPI: Rocky Flats radiation to be reviewed
United Press International - NewsTrack -
4/24/2006 2:04:00 PM -0400
DENVER, April 24 (UPI) -- A National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health advisory panel begins a three-day meeting in
Denver Tuesday, focusing on the Rocky Flats.
The officials are to discuss a petition filed by United
Steelworkers Local 8031, seeking compensation for former workers
who were exposed to radiation and were diagnosed with one of 22
cancers while working at the Department of Energy's facility
that was formerly used to process plutonium.
Rocky Flats workers have filed 2,866 radiation claims with the
U.S. Labor Department, but about half the claims were
transferred to NIOSH for dose determinations, The Denver Post
reported Monday. The petition claims NIOSH is unable to
accurately calculate radiation exposures.
The union's past president, Tony DeMaiori, told the newspaper
missing records, workers who didn't wear their radiation
measuring badges and exposure to a unique form of plutonium are
among the reasons workers can't get a fair assessment.
"We don't think the records are adequate or accurate," DeMaiori
said. "And the auditors agreed with us."
In December, a Virginia- based auditing firm determined poor
record-keeping at Rocky Flats could skew radiation calculations.
© Copyright 2006 United Press
International, Inc. All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
59 Rocky Mountain News: Ill workers take pleas to panel
Board will review if Flats employees qualify for benefits
STORY
April 24, 2006
People who believe that working at the former Rocky Flats nuclear
weapons complex northwest of Denver made them ill have a chance
to plead their case Wednesday.
The stakes are high for the ill workers.
Five years ago, the federal government said nuclear weapons
workers who had been made ill by on-the-job exposure to toxic
material deserved compensation.
Earlier this month, a government agency recommended that Rocky
Flats workers must prove the level and degree of their exposure
to be considered for financial help. That has been difficult for
those former workers, half of whom so far have been denied
compensation.
"The records don't exist to prove what happened," said Terrie
Barrie, of Grand Junction, who founded the Grassroots
Organization of Sick Workers after her husband, George, fell ill
with myriad ailments that they believe are related to his work
at the nuclear weapons plant.
But workers at some other sites have had less difficulty getting
compensation. The government has determined that worker-exposure
records at those places were so poor that radiation doses could
not be reconstructed. In those cases, any worker who suffered
from one of 22 cancers linked to radiation exposure was
automatically accepted into a compensation program, which
provides $150,000 to workers or their survivors.
In February 2005, the union that represented many of the Rocky
Flats workers asked the government to include Flats workers in
such a "special cohort."
The federal agency overseeing the compensation program, the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health or NIOSH,
recommended that the Rocky Flats petition be denied.
But a board of scientists, physicians and workers appointed by
the president to advise the government on which groups of
workers deserve to be included in these special cohorts has
agreed to review the Rocky Flats petition this week.
Barrie said she expects the board to hear testimony about lost
records, an undetectable form of plutonium, and workers who were
instructed to tamper with their radiation monitors, among other
examples of why workers believe that their radiation doses
cannot be accurately estimated.
Richard Miller, senior policy analyst for the worker advocacy
group, Government Accountability Project, helped workers push
for the original compensation legislation.
"This is a critical point in time as the advisory board is now
focused on the flaws in the site's radiation dosimetry
(monitoring) program - and it is timely for workers to testify
or bring forward documents and other information on corrupted,
misrecorded or unmonitored worker exposures to radiation,"
Miller said. "Data integrity is the overriding issue in play."
Workers, public can be heard
• For the workers: People who worked at Rocky Flats from 1952
through 2005 can address the Advisory Board on Radiation and
Worker Health from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Sheraton
Four Points Hotel, 600 S. Colorado Blvd.
• For the public: The public comment period comes in the middle
of a three-day board meeting, which also is open to the public
and starts Tuesday. --> Subscribe | | Electronic
| | 2006 © The E.W. Scripps Co.
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