***************************************************************** 05/15/06 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 14.115 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 AFP: No sign yet of "Iraq War Syndrome," says study 2 [southnews] Rice trades barbs with Russian before Iran meet 3 [NYTr] Russian View on Iran "Crisis" 4 AFP: EU pledges 'bold' nuclear offer for Iran 5 AFP: EU pledges 'bold' nuclear offer for Iran 6 AFP: Iran FM tells EU envoys enrichment halt unacceptable 7 Guardian Unlimited: EU Prepared to Back Civilian Iran Program 8 Korea Herald: 'Korea's role in U.N. magnified' 9 Korea Herald: Contact between Koreas grows 10 Korea Times: Annan Prioritizes Nuke Issue Over Human Rights in NK 11 US: [du-list] Centrifuge Environmental Impact Statement Issued 12 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Orders Ban of Arms Sales to Venezuela 13 [NukeNet] Scotland: Big businesses named 'dir tiest' in Europe 14 [du-list] Announcement: ICBUW Hiroshima Conference (August 15 BBC: India's unlikely nuclear recruits NUCLEAR REACTORS 16 [du-list] The Other Chernobyl Report 17 US: [NukeNet] Gloucester County Times Article on UNPLUG Salem 18 Moscow: Russia Grapples With an Atomic Dilemma 19 RIA Novosti: Russian, Kazakh govts. to consider nuclear integration 20 RIA Novosti: Nuclear agency head to discuss nuclear cooperation on U 21 US: Register-Guard: NUCLEAR POWER Safety Drills In Progress 22 Independent: Areva urges Government to give go-ahead for nuclear rea 23 Mos News: Britain Alarmed by Russian Nuclear Reactors - 24 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Meeting Notice 25 US: Boston Globe: Nuclear should be a part of our energy future - 26 ANTARA News: Indonesia to go ahead with nuclear power development pl 27 US: NRC: NRC to Discuss 2005 Performance Assessment for Palisades Nu 28 Viet Nam News: Nuclear power exhibition planned tomorrow in capital 29 Blackpool Today: Planting marks 60 nuclear years 30 US: NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meeting on Emergency Preparedness for Nu NUCLEAR SECURITY 31 [NukeNet] Scotland: Revealed: plan to tackle nuclear terrorists 32 RIA Novosti: Moscow court says ex-nuclear minister's custody extensi 33 US: Concord Monitor: Nukes: dirty, dangerous and expensive 34 ITAR-TASS: Moscow court leaves ex-nuclear energy minister in custody NUCLEAR SAFETY 35 US: [du-list] Gis, Beware Radioactive Showers! 36 Guardian Unlimited: Study sheds new light on Gulf war syndrome NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 37 US: Sydney Morning Herald: Govt must 'come clean on nuclear plans' 38 US: AU ABC: NT politicians debate nuclear fuel 'leasing' 39 NRC: USEC Inc.'s Proposed American Centrifuge Plant; Notice of 40 AU ABC: Premier sounds warning over nuclear waste dump. 41 AU ABC: WA Govt rules out uranium mining, waste dump 42 NEWS.com.au: Howard dumps nuclear waste plan - PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY 43 cbs4denver.com: Attorneys Advise Patience For Rocky Flats Verdict 44 lamonitor.com: State replies to plan for chromium 45 lamonitor.com: Lab's new tech, talents go to market 46 Knox News: Full construction resumes at Y-12 uranium complex ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 AFP: No sign yet of "Iraq War Syndrome," says study Mon May 15, 7:12 PM ET PARIS (AFP) - Doctors monitoring British troops in the Iraq" /> IraqWar report that so far they see no repeat of the notorious yet elusive condition known as Gulf War Syndrome" /> Gulf War Syndrome, which surfaced after the 1991 conflict. In a study published online by the British journal The Lancet, health experts from King's College, London asked a cross-section of male British military personnel deployed to Iraq, and counterparts who were not sent to the conflict, to fill in questionnaires. The 50-question checklist asked if the respondent had suffered from fatigue, sleeping problems, joint stiffness, night sweats, forgetfulness, dizziness, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting or other symptoms. The researchers found there was only a slight increase in common symptoms of ill-health among the troops who were sent to Iraq as compared to similar personnel who were not deployed there. These findings contrast sharply with an identical survey conducted after the 1991 Gulf War" /> Gulf War, where tiredness and irritability, cognitive problems and musculoskeletal pain were widely reported among frontline troops. These and other symptoms have been reported to greater or less degrees by tens of thousands of American, British, Canadian and French troops who took part in the campaign to oust Iraq out of Kuwait. The term coined for the complaint has been Gulf War Syndrome. Doctors acknowledge that it can be debilitating but are at a loss to explain its cause. Explanations have included combat stress, reactions to vaccinations to protect personnel against feared bioweapons and nervegas, pollution from oilwell fires, contamination from dust from depleted US uranium munitions and poor adjustment to civilian life after a military career. Last December, a team from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, determined that the syndrome was still widespread among US troops 10 years after the Gulf War, and suggested it might surface among troops currently serving in Iraq. In the latest paper, the authors tentatively point a finger at the pattern of vaccinations given to troops before the 1991 conflict. In 1991, British military personnel were given a triple vaccination for anthrax, plague and whooping cough. In 2003, they were vaccinated for anthrax and plague -- but there was a space of time between the jabs, and there was no vaccination for whooping cough. In both conflicts, personnel were given pyridostigmine bromide to protect against the nerve agent Soman. "All we can say at this stage is that our new data add to the evidence that there was some relation between the specific pattern of medical countermeasures used in 1991 and ill-health," says the study, lead-authored by Simon Wessley, of King's Centre for Military Health Research. But it also suggests that better health surveillance and information to troops involved in the 2003 war helped stop a rumour mill that amplified concerns about ill-health. In a separate study, also published by The Lancet, British specialists found that regular British troops sent to Iraq have not, so far, suffered from ill health three years after the conflict began. It cautions, though, that further monitoring is needed and warns that deployed reserve personnel reported more symptoms of ill-health. This could be due to stresses that particularly face reservists, who may lack a supportive role from relatives or employers, whereas regular troops are backed by an established network of support through the regimental system, the study says. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 2 [southnews] Rice trades barbs with Russian before Iran meet Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 11:11:27 -0500 (CDT) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Protect your PC from spy ware with award winning anti spy technology. It's free. http://us.click.yahoo.com/97bhrC/LGxNAA/yQLSAA/7gSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, traded barbs during bad- tempered talks at a foreign ministers' summit in New York on Iran's nuclear program a week ago. Rice trades barbs with Russian before Iran meet Philip Sherwell The Standard - Hong Kong Monday, May 15, 2006 US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, traded barbs during bad- tempered talks at a foreign ministers' summit in New York on Iran's nuclear program a week ago. The exchanges provided a candid introduction to diplomacy for Margaret Beckett, Britain's new foreign secretary, who attended the tetchy session at the end of her first full day in the job. The row, which further undermines hopes of a diplomatic solution to the Iran crisis, reflects deepening rifts between the United States and Russia. Tension surfaced at a private meeting hosted by Rice in the Waldorf Hotel for the Russian, British, French, German and Chinese foreign ministers, and spilt over into a much-delayed dinner. One official in Washington said: "It was a pretty extraordinary session and everyone's been talking about it in private since. It was certainly quite an introduction to the rough and tumble of the new job for Mrs Beckett." Lavrov arrived at the Waldorf for the meeting seething about a speech on Kremlin policies delivered by Dick Cheney, the US vice president, the previous week in Lithuania. The Russian repeatedly complained about the comments and then threatened to veto a Security Council resolution, drafted by Britain and France and backed by the United States, that would force Iran to abandon enrichment of uranium. Although Moscow has made clear that it opposes any use of mandatory powers, the other ministers were left in no doubt that Lavrov's approach reflected fury over the Cheney speech. As the mood worsened, Lavrov accused the Americans of seeking to undermine efforts by Britain, France and Germany to solve the crisis. He singled out Nicholas Burns, the State Department's No3, for particular flak, complaining about his criticism of Russian involvement in Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant. Already frustrated, Rice, a Russia expert, took exception to his remarks about Burns and curtly told her guest: "This meeting isn't going anywhere." The gathering in Rice's suite had been intended as a 30-minute chat before dinner but turned into a two-hour session. By the time the foreign ministers sat down to eat at 10.30pm, their sea bass was shriveled and the bickering continued in front of senior officials. The next day, foreign ministry officials from the six nations worked to smooth over the row, coming up with a proposal for incentives on trade deals, security guarantees and civilian nuclear if Iran halts enrichment. The offer represented a major tactical shift by the United States, as Washington had previously refused to back rewards for Iran. Privately, American and European officials doubt it will alter Iran's behavior but believe that it may be the only hope of securing Russian and Chinese backing for stiffer diplomatic measures, including sanctions. Last week's developments also underscore tensions between Rice and the men who effectively ran US foreign policy during George WBush's first term - Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, the defense secretary. Rice was annoyed that talks on Iran with Lavrov were complicated by the vice president's remarks but Cheney and other hardliners want to send a tough message to Russia and also oppose US overtures to Iran and North Korea. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday he considers "invalid" any European proposals that ask Iran to halt uranium enrichment. THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, ASSOCIATED PRESS http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=17&art_id=18714&sid= 7958967&con_type=1 The archives of South News can be found at http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/ ***************************************************************** 3 [NYTr] Russian View on Iran "Crisis" Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 16:04:49 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit UPI via Post Chronicle - May 13, 2006 http://www.postchronicle.com/news/security/printer_21218558.shtml Outside View: Russian View on Iran Crisis By Gennady Yevstafyev MOSCOW, May 12, 2006 (UPI) -- First of two parts. It is important to keep in mind several facts when analyzing the debates on the Iranian nuclear file in the United Nations Security Council on May 9. To start with, on April 28 the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, presented a new report on the Iranian nuclear program. IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei reported on some additional Iranian explanations. He also said that some of his previous concerns and suspicions had not been allayed. Moreover, the IAEA has not yet analyzed some of Iran's replies. The main news so far is that the Iranians are successfully carrying out a pilot uranium-enrichment project, just as they have declared. As of May 1, enrichment reached 4.8 percent. By so doing, they are displaying total disregard for the wishes of the world community. Tehran has irritated even those who were eager to help it avoid the dangerous confrontation. But these were merely "wishes." Under the Nonproliferation Treaty, Iran has the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, while readiness to implement voluntary confidence-building measures is not a legal commitment, and their duration cannot be indefinite. As usual, the IAEA report displayed the unparalleled skills of UN bureaucrats to quote enough arguments to substantiate any position. But the conclusion is obvious -- there is no definite evidence of Iran's military nuclear program, and, hence, no reason to submit a resolution on sanctions to the Security Council. As before, its five permanent members are not unanimous on settling the situation. Continue reading this article below In his report ElBaradei used a politically correct term "suspension of all enrichment." This is what the European Union Three, or EU3 of Britain, france and Germany suggested in its initial compromise proposal, which was logical and left much room for maneuver at the talks. But once U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice came into play, this potential carrot disappeared from the EU3 proposal, and was replaced with the term "cessation." In effect, this has frustrated EU3 mediation. Moreover, it seems that neither the United States, nor Iran were too unhappy about this failure. Many analysts believe that for all the public statements of U.S. high-rankers, by and large Washington was neither interested in the success of the Moscow proposal to set up for Iran a joint uranium-enrichment center on Russian territory. Iran's contradictory and dubious attitude to this proposal shows that it has its own plans on settling the situation around its nuclear program. We know little about decision-makers in Tehran -- merely that they belong to a very narrow circle of the ruling elite, the dowreh. But it is abundantly clear that many of them are convinced that U.S. help is indispensable for a comprehensive solution, also involving bilateral relations. Apparently, the recent unexpected U.S.-Indian nuclear deal has made a great impression on the Iranian top leaders and convinced them that in principle it is possible to strike a deal with President George W. Bush without go-betweens. This is exactly what Washington wants to achieve tacitly. It does not want to allow other countries, even its NATO allies, not to mention the reviving Russia, to take part in solving any major geopolitical problems, particularly when it comes to a former strategic ally and key player on the oil market. This explains the obvious deadlock of the problem. The clandestine forces are subverting the visible negotiating process. [Lt. Gen. Gennady Yevstafyev, Ret., is a former senior officer of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, also known as the SVR. Now he is a senior adviser at the Center for Policy Studies in Russia or PIR Center. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. Gennady Yevstafyev is a UPI Outside View Commentator United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International or the Post Chronicle. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.] Copyright 2006 by United Press International * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 4 AFP: EU pledges 'bold' nuclear offer for Iran by Leon Bruneau Mon May 15, 5:59 PM ET BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Union" /> European Unionpledged to make a "bold" offer to persuade Iran" /> Iranto curb its atomic ambitions, including possible security guarantees and hi-tech help to develop peaceful nuclear power. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the 25-nation bloc, tasked with trying to defuse the West's diplomatic standoff with the Islamic state, could offer Tehran "the most sophisticated" technology to help its power needs. "We want to prove to the Iranians that we have nothing against ... Iran to use nuclear power for peaceful means," he told reporters, adding that: "We are going to present a plan to them, a cooperative project to them." "If they want to construct nuclear energy power plants they will have, in cooperation with the European union and other members of the international community, the best and most sophisticated technology. The West fears that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon behind the screen of a civilian atomic energy programme. Tehran says it only wants to generate energy. The United States is seeking sanctions from the UN Security Council but it has failed to win support for the move and has given its European allies "a couple of weeks" to draft a fresh approach. The EU, whose package must also satisfy Russia and China, has until Friday -- when negotiators from the Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany meet in London -- to complete its work. Solana played down comments by Iran's hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, rejecting any new EU offer that might demand that the Islamic republic halt uranium enrichment activities. "Any offer which requires us to halt our peaceful nuclear activities will be invalid," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying on Sunday by the state news agency IRNA. "I am surprised that a group of people holds meetings without us being present there and makes decisions for us," he said. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the ambassadors of Britain, France and Germany on Monday that "any call for a suspension or pause (in uranium enrichment) is illogical and unacceptable". "The Europeans have shown that they don't pay the slightest attention to our rights and are not sincere when they say they want to reach a peaceful settlement," Mottaki said. Solana said the Iranians had yet to see the EU offer, but vowed: "It will be a generous package, a bold package, that will contain issues relating to nuclear, economic matters, and maybe, if necessary, security matters." "We are preparing a package (so) that it will be difficult for them to say no if what they really want is energy," he added. As a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has the right to build a civilian nuclear programme, but must submit to inspections by the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency" /> International Atomic Energy Agency. It has refused to fully cooperate with the agency and Ahmadinejad has pledged to forge ahead as international pressure to give up enrichment has increased. "This is one of the last chances to resolve this conflict from a diplomatic point of view," Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn told reporters. "I think the Iranians are going to understand that the Europeans are courageous and are proposing something very important," he said. A top White House official insisted Sunday that the United Nations" /> United Nationswas the "right forum" to address Iran's nuclear program, and shrugged off suggestions for direct talks between Washington and Tehran. "We think the framework we have is even better (than direct talks)," National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley" /> Stephen Hadleytold CNN's Late Edition. "We have a number of countries that are engaged with Iran on this issue." Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 5 AFP: EU pledges 'bold' nuclear offer for Iran Mon May 15, 4:36 AM ET BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Union" /> European Unionis preparing to make a "bold" offer to Iran" /> Iran, including possible security guarantees, to persuade it to curb its atomic plans, the bloc's foreign policy chief said. Javier Solana made the comment ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers including the so-called EU-3 -- Britain, France and Germany -- tasked with trying to defuse the West's diplomatic standoff with the Islamic state. "It will be a generous package, a bold package, that will contain issues relating to nuclear, economic matters, and maybe, if necessary, security matters," Solana said. "We are preparing a package (so) that it will be difficult for them to say no if what they really want is energy," he said. The West fears that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon behind the screen of a civilian atomic energy programme. Tehran says it only wants to generate energy. The United States is seeking sanctions from the UN Security Council but it has failed to win support for the move and has given its European allies "a couple of weeks" to draft a fresh approach. The EU, whose package must also satisfy Russia and China, has until May 19 -- when negotiators from the Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany meet in London -- to complete its work. Solana played down comments by Iran's hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, rejecting any new EU offer that might demand that the Islamic republic halt uranium enrichment activities. "Any offer which requires us to halt our peaceful nuclear activities will be invalid," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying on Sunday by the state news agency IRNA. "I am surprised that a group of people hold meetings without us being present there and make decisions for us," he said. Solana pointed out that the Iranians had yet to see the Union's offer. As a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran has the right to build a civilian nuclear programme, but it must submit to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency" /> International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA), the UN watchdog body. It has refused to fully cooperate with the agency and Ahmadinejad has pledged to forge ahead as international pressure to give up enrichment has increased. "This is one of the last chances to resolve this conflict from a diplomatic point of view," Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn told reporters. "We are ready to cooperate in the civilian nuclear domain and in trade and political areas," he said, before the meeting with his EU counterparts started. "I think the Iranians are going to understand that the Europeans are courageous and are proposing something very important," he said. A top White House official insisted Sunday that the United Nations" /> United Nationsis the "right forum" to address Iran's nuclear program, and shrugged off suggestions for direct talks between Washington and Tehran. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley" /> Stephen Hadleysaid Washington would prefer to continue backing European countries holding direct talks with Iran, while pursuing the issue through the UN Security Council. "We think the framework we have is even better (than direct talks)," Hadley told CNN's Late Edition. "We have a number of countries that are engaged with Iran on this issue." Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 6 AFP: Iran FM tells EU envoys enrichment halt unacceptable by Siavosh Ghazi Mon May 15, 3:27 PM ET TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the ambassadors of Britain, France and Germany that any halt to uranium enrichment was "unacceptable," the official IRNA news agency reported. "Any call for a suspension or pause (in uranium enrichment) is illogical and unacceptable and will without any doubt be rejected," the ministry quoted Mottaki as saying. "Tehran is ready to negotiate and would welcome any constructive proposal which both guarantees Iran" /> 's legitimate rights and helps settle the nuclear issue." The minister said any new package of incentives offered by the European Union" /> in return for allaying Western concerns needed to "recognize Iran's absolute right to master nuclear technology and the means of achieving it." "The Europeans have shown that they don't pay the slightest attention to our rights and are not sincere when they say they want to reach a peaceful settlement," Mottaki said. Earlier Monday, the European Union pledged to make a "bold" offer to persuade Iran to curb its atomic ambitions, including possible security guarantees and hi-tech help to develop peaceful nuclear power. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the 25-nation bloc, tasked with trying to defuse the West's diplomatic standoff with the Islamic republic, could offer Tehran "the most sophisticated" technology to help its energy needs. "We want to prove to the Iranians that we have nothing against ... Iran to use nuclear power for peaceful means," Solana told reporters. "We are going to present a plan to them, a cooperative project to them." The West fears that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon behind the screen of its civil atomic energy programme. Tehran says it only wants to generate energy. "Iran's latest achievements in uranium enrichment are an irreversible reality," Mottaki stressed, referring to the process that when extended had produce the fissile core of an atomic bomb. Iran announced earlier this month that it had successfully enriched uranium to 4.8 percent purity, comfortably sufficient for producing fuel for civil reactors, but far short of the more than 90 percent purity needed for a weapon. During the day Mottaki also received the ambassadors of China and Russia, which like Britain, France and the United States wield a veto on the UN Security Council. The United States, which has had no ambassador in Tehran since shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution, has been seeking sanctions from the UN Security Council. But it has failed to win support for the move and has given its European allies "a couple of weeks" to draft a fresh approach. The EU, whose package must also satisfy Russia and China, has until Friday -- when negotiators from the Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany meet in London -- to complete its work. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 7 Guardian Unlimited: EU Prepared to Back Civilian Iran Program From the Associated Press [UP] Tuesday May 16, 2006 12:16 AM AP Photo VM118 By SLOBODAN LEKIC Associated Press Writer BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Union will support an Iranian nuclear program that cannot be put to military use and will boost political and economic cooperation if Tehran accepts international oversight, a top official said Monday. EU foreign ministers meeting Monday considered a package of enhanced incentives to induce Tehran to stop uranium enrichment, which many experts see as a first step toward producing nuclear weapons. ``We are prepared to work on a cooperation package and support Iran's development of a proliferation-proof civilian nuclear program,'' Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said after the meeting. She said the EU's new plan would contain three elements - economic assistance, political cooperation, and support for the civilian nuclear program. The EU remains deeply concerned by Iran's failure to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, she said. ``We remain committed to finding a diplomatic solution ... The intention is not to push Iran into further isolation but to find a way to bring Iran back to a negotiating track,'' Plassnik said. ``But we will also look at measures to be taken should Iran continue to reject this course.'' The foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels came just a day after hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected any incentive package that would require Tehran to stop enriching uranium. Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told British, French and German envoys to Tehran Monday that Iran welcomes any proposal recognizing Iran's rights under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty but was quick to say Tehran will reject any demand to suspend its peaceful nuclear program, state-run television reported. ``Pay attention that your proposals include the two basic conditions, that is recognizing Iran's definite rights and exercing these rights otherwise its fate will be like that of August package,'' television quoted Mottaki as saying. Later, Mottaki told Russian and Chinese ambassadors to Tehran that Iran won't give up its right to enrich uranium, state-run television quoted him as saying. The EU said Monday it supports a possible Security Council resolution that would require Iran to comply with demands to halt enrichment activities and to suspend construction of a heavy water research reactor that could be the source of plutonium used in nuclear weapons. Tehran has repeatedly asserted that its nuclear program, which includes uranium enrichment, is aimed only at generating power. But the United States, Israel and the EU fear it is a cover for the development of nuclear weapons. Iran has already rejected a package of economic and political incentives offered by the EU last August in return for a permanent end to uranium enrichment. But EU governments have continued to offer sweeteners while at the same time pushing the United Nations for measures that could lead to sanctions if it refuses. The EU hopes an enhanced offer could help persuade Iran to comply with the demands, even as Russia and China resist European and American efforts to draft a Security Council resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter - which would make it enforceable by sanctions or, if necessary, military action. EU officials have said a final proposal could be hammered out in time for a meeting of nonproliferation officials from the five permanent Security Council nations next Friday in London. After Monday's talks in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Iran had to put a ``complete stop'' to uranium enrichment activities. ``But ... if they want to construct a nuclear energy power plant, they would have, in cooperation with the European Union and other members of the international community, the best and most sophisticated technology,'' he said. ``If they reject that, it would mean that what they want is something different.'' Other ministers echoed that sentiment. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he counts on the fact that ``there remains common sense in the government in Tehran'' to accept the offer. ``If they are prepared to (comply with IAEA recommendations), there could be real advantages in tackling the problems that Iran itself says that it is seeking to address,'' British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 8 Korea Herald: 'Korea's role in U.N. magnified' Visiting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon yesterday agreed that Korea's role in the international arena has expanded extensively and they discussed ways for better cooperation in various international programs. "Secretary-general Annan and I agreed the United Nations must fortify its role even further to successfully meet with the new demands of the international community in this 21st century," Ban said during a joint press conference. Annan, accompanied by his wife Nane, arrived in Seoul on Sunday on the first leg of a five-nation Asian tour. The world's top diplomat will also visit Japan, China, Thailand and Vietnam. Annan delivered a speech at Seoul National University, met National Assembly Speaker Kim One-ki and held a 40-minute meeting with Ban on his second day in Seoul. Annan's Asia trip is part of the secretary-general's customary visit around the member states, but is also aimed at earning regional support for reforms at the United Nations. Ban and Annan's meeting focused on these subjects. "We talked about Korea's own efforts to innovate the government and (Korea) offered a constructive contribution to the United Nations in its move to reform the headquarters," Ban said. Aside from Korea's attempt at a bigger international standing, Ban himself has thrown his hat into the ring to compete for Annan's job, who will end his second and final 5-year term on Dec. 31 this year. Ban faces at least three other rivals including Surakiart Sathirathai, Thailand's deputy prime minister, Jayantha Dhananpala, Sri Lanka's former secretary-general of the peace process and Jose Ramos-Horta, East Timor's foreign minister. Annan also encouraged Seoul to continue playing an active role in trying to solve North Korea's nuclear standoff and hoped for prosperity and peace in Northeast Asia. Ban offered Annan an explanation into Korea's initiative for Africa's development, a grandiose aid plan to triple the official development assistance to the destitute continent by 2008. The plan was unveiled by President Roh Moo-hyun during his African tour in March. Annan will be paying a courtesy call on Roh today. Annan last visited Korea in 1998. Annan, a Ghanaian, has been openly saying that an Asian candidate could replace him based on the geographical rotation rule. Annan has been pushing for an overhaul of the United Nations but is facing difficulties as the 191 member countries remain divided over the method. Expansion of the 15-nation U.N. Security Council is one of several key reforms of the world body. (angiely@heraldm.com) By Lee Joo-hee 2006.05.16 ***************************************************************** 9 Korea Herald: Contact between Koreas grows A flurry of inter-Korean contacts began yesterday, despite the gloom surrounding multilateral negotiations on North Korea's nuclear ambitions which have been stalled for six months. A representative of former President Kim Dae-jung left for Mount Geumgang yesterday afternoon to discuss his upcoming visit to Pyongyang in June with North Korean officials. Meanwhile, a shipment of South Korean fertilizer aid to North Korea left yesterday from Yeosu Port in South Jeolla Province. The two Koreas are poised to hold defense ministerial-talks this week, and in addition there will be a test-run of trains along the cross-border railway link next week, the first locomotives to make journey in five decades. These events come amid a gloomy international situation as multilateral efforts to solve North Korea's nuclear problem have been bogged down since the end of last year. Pyongyang has been boycotting the six-party talks since November after the United States accused the North of various illegal activities, and imposed a ban on dealing with a Macau-based bank, allegedly a key channel for laundering Pyongyang's dirty money. The tension between the United States and North Korea increased, but South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun vowed stronger relations with Pyongyang last week and once again offered to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Former president Kim Dae-jung is scheduled to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il next month, and there will also be Red Cross talks and a joint celebration of June 15, the anniversary of the first inter-Korean summit in 2000. The contacts will continue in July through ministerial-level talks, followed by a joint Liberation Day celebration and another real-time video reunion of separated families in August. Delegations of the two Koreas will meet today in Mount Geumgang to discuss details of the second meeting between Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il. The first, historic summit opened the gate for active inter-Korean exchanges. Kim Dae-jung received the Nobel Peace Prize the same year to mark his accomplishment. Leading the South Korean delegation is former Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun. He will be meeting with Ri Jong-hyuk, vice chairman of the North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee. During the 18th ministerial-level talks in April, Pyongyang requested Seoul send an additional 300,000 tons of fertilizer this year. Seoul agreed to sending 200,000 tons. It will cost around 77 billion for the addition shipment that will be completed by May 27. A South Korean vessel, BJ Ace, left Yeosu Port for North Korea's Nampo Port yesterday, carrying 7,000 tons of mixed fertilizer. (angiely@heraldm.com) By Lee Joo-hee 2006.05.16 ***************************************************************** 10 Korea Times: Annan Prioritizes Nuke Issue Over Human Rights in NK Hankooki.com > The Korea Times By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Kofi Annan U.N. Secretary-General Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs should be tackled first among other North Korean issues, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said at a joint news conference in Seoul on Monday. His remarks came as the United States is intensifying its pressure against North Korea for its poor human rights record and the counterfeiting of U.S. currencies amid no signs of progress in the six-party denuclearization talks. ``I think, in terms of priority, the nuclear issue is by far the most important and should be given a separate category and priority as compared with human rights and other activities,'' Annan told reporters, following talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon. Annan urged the six participating countries in the nuclear talks not to slow down their efforts. ``I would urge them to preserve and press ahead and get everyone back to the table to continue the discussions, because it's only at the table where we are going to find a solution,'' he said. Seoul is the first destination for Annan's Asian tour that will also take him to Japan, China, Vietnam and Thailand. During the 40-minute meeting with Annan, Ban pledged to contribute to reforming the United Nations by drawing on South Korea's experiences in streamlining its government structure. ``We exchanged opinions about reforming the United Nations,'' said Ban, a candidate seeking to become the next U.N. leader when Annan's second five-year term ends on Dec. 31. ``I emphasized that Seoul is willing to contribute to the process of reforming the U.N. Secretariat in a constructive way by making use of Seoul's experiences in innovating the South Korean government structure.'' In an interview with YTN, a 24-hour South Korean news channel, Annan said he believes the next U.N. chief should come from Asia, following a traditional rule of regional rotation. The late U Thant of Myanmar was the only Asian to lead the United Nations from 1961 to 1971. As for the regional conflicts between Japan and its neighbors, Annan expressed his hope that Asia could reconcile as Europe did after World War II. He is visiting Asia amid rising tensions over Tokyo's distortion of history and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's continuing visits to a shrine where war criminals are honored. The Ghanaian diplomat, who arrived in Seoul on Sunday, will depart for Japan on Tuesday after holding a meeting with President Roh Moo-hyun. It is Annan's second visit to Seoul after one in October 1998. His predecessor, Boutros Boutros Ghali of Egypt, visited Seoul in December 1993. Annan was selected by the U.N. Security Council to be secretary-general in December 1996. He began his first term on Jan. 1, 1997, and was reelected on Jan. 1, 2002. In December 2001, Annan and the United Nations jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize ``for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world.'' It was the first time that an incumbent U.N. secretary-general received the award. im@koreatimes.co.kr 05-15-2006 21:29 ***************************************************************** 11 [du-list] Centrifuge Environmental Impact Statement Issued Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 16:30:03 -0700 Centrifuge Environmental Impact Statement IssuedBad news for a community and workforce that is ill Site Search Search for: Search options HOME ARCHIVES FORMS -------------------------------------------------------------- Announcements Employment Legal Notices Merchandise Personals Real Estate/for sale Real Estate/Rental Seasonal Services Transportation -------------------------------------------------------------- Monday May 15, 2006 home : news Centrifuge Environmental Impact Statement Issued BETHESDA, Md.--The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for USEC Inc.'s American Centrifuge Plant to be built in Piketon, Ohio. The NRC found that the plant would create no significant adverse environmental or socioeconomic impacts during its construction or operations. The issuance of the EIS is the most recent achievement in USEC's licensing of its American Centrifuge Plant, which began in August 2004. As part of the public's participation in the environmental review process, the NRC held a public hearing in September 2005 in Piketon and took comments from 17 individuals and groups on the draft EIS. An additional 15 individuals or groups submitted written comments to the NRC. Over the past seven months, nearly 300 comments were reviewed in compiling the document. NRC regulations require the issuance of an EIS to license all new uranium enrichment plants. The next step in USEC's licensing of the American Centrifuge Plant will be the issuance of the Safety Evaluation Report, which is expected shortly, followed by a required hearing held by the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board in Piketon. USEC expects to receive the license in early 2007 and begin constructing the facility later that year. "Receiving the final EIS is a major step forward in the licensing of the American Centrifuge Plant," said Philip G. Sewell, USEC senior vice president. "We are working closely with NRC to complete the remaining actions required to have the license in hand in 2007." USEC's license application for the American Centrifuge Plant encompasses an initial annual production capacity of 3.5 million SWU (separative work units) and authorization to enrich uranium to an assay level of up to 10 percent. The Company's environmental report submitted with the license application also evaluated the modular expansion of the plant to a maximum annual production capacity of 7 million SWU. The final EIS issued by the NRC included an evaluation of the impacts of a plant with this larger capacity. A copy of the EIS can be downloaded from NRC's website at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1834/ index.html#intro. -------------------------------------------------------------- < May > S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 "Ads published on this site are not for republication in print or web media without the expressed written consent of both the advertiser and The Brown Publishing Company." Software © 1998-2006 1up! Software, All Rights Reserved [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> You can search right from your browser? It's easy and it's free. See how. http://us.click.yahoo.com/_7bhrC/NGxNAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. ***************************************************************** 12 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Orders Ban of Arms Sales to Venezuela From the Associated Press [UP] Tuesday May 16, 2006 12:16 AM By GEORGE GEDDA Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is banning arms sales from the U.S. to Venezuela, America's fifth-largest source for oil imports, because of what it says is a lack of support by President Hugo Chavez's government for counterterrorism activities. The U.S. action signals a further deterioration in relations with Venezuela, though Chavez shrugged it off and said he did not plan retaliation. The U.S. sold Venezuela less than $34 million worth of military equipment last year, a relatively tiny amount, mostly for spare parts for cargo planes. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday the United States was concerned about Venezuela's close relations with Iran and Cuba, both of which are on the department's list of state sponsors of terror. ``If you have a reasonable or rational expectation that somehow information that you share with them might make its way to just the groups that you're trying to combat, that's certainly negative,'' McCormack said. He said the United States is also concerned about Venezuela's ties with two leftist guerrilla groups in Colombia: the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and the National Liberation Army, or ELN. Both have been designated foreign terrorist organizations by the United States. Chavez, on a visit to London, dismissed the U.S. move as irrelevant. ``This doesn't matter to us at all,'' he told The Associated Press. He pledged efforts to find a solution to the problem. Labeling the United States an ``irrational empire,'' Chavez said it has a ``great capacity to do harm to the countries of the world.'' Chavez previously has called President Bush a terrorist and has accused the United States of plotting to overthrow him. Earlier, at a London news conference, Chavez rejected U.S. claims that Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing a nuclear bomb. ``I don't believe that the United States or anyone else has the right ... to prohibit that a country have nuclear energy,'' he said. The arms sale ban affects U.S. sales and licensing for the export of defense articles and services to Venezuela, including the transfer of defense items, said Darla Jordan, a State Department spokeswoman. State Department figures show Venezuelan purchases of U.S. defense equipment in 2005 came to $33.9 million, of which $30.5 million was for C-130 cargo plane spare parts. John Pike, director of the defense think tank globalsecurity.org of Alexandria, Va., said the primary impact of the new U.S. ban would be in cutting off spare parts for Venezuela's American-made aircraft, which include F-5 Freedom Fighters, F-16 Falcons, cargo planes and helicopters. Venezuela's air force has 277 aircraft, of which 177 are U.S.-made, he said. There also are significant numbers of U.S.-made aircraft in Venezuela's army and navy, he said, adding that navy aircraft are almost entirely U.S.-made. ``It would ground a significant fraction of their air force,'' Pike said. The State Department has expressed concern in the past about what it contends is an arms buildup by Venezuela, including the purchase of 100,000 rifles from Russia. The department took note Monday Venezuela's ``multibillion-dollar arms acquisition program.'' Venezuela has accused the United States of pursuing a double standard on the terrorism issue. It points to the U.S. refusal to extradite Luis Posada Carriles, who is wanted in Venezuela for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban passenger plane. Posada, an anti-Castro Cuban, has denied involvement in the bombing, which killed 73 people. He has been detained for the past year in Texas for illegally entering the country. Thomas Shannon, who heads the State Department's Latin America bureau, said the administration had concluded that it could not tell Congress that Venezuela was cooperating in counterterrorism activities in any meaningful way. ``This was a step we took with great reluctance,'' Shannon said in response to a question during an appearance at George Washington University. He also noted that the administration already had ``decertified'' Venezuela for lack of cooperation in combating drug trafficking. ``We are now at the same point concerning terrorism,'' Shannon said. Antoine Halff, an oil analyst at Fimat USA in New York, said it was too soon to determine how the oil market would react, though he anticipated a possible short-term increase in oil prices. He added that the U.S. has ample supplies right now and that any potential retaliatory action by Venezuela would be tempered by the fact that global demand appears to be weakening. Indeed, crude-oil futures declined more than 3 percent Monday, falling below $70 a barrel, amid signs that high prices were slowing consumption in the United States. --- AP Diplomatic Writer Barry Schweid and AP Business Writer Brad Foss contributed to this story. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 13 [NukeNet] Scotland: Big businesses named 'dir tiest' in Europe Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 16:29:39 -0700 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) http://www.sundayherald.com/55681 Sunday Herald - 14 May 2006 Big businesses named ‘dirtiest’ in Europe By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor ---------- SOME of Britain’s biggest corporations are among the dirtiest in Europe. Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), Shell and BP have all been outed for poor environmental performances by an authoritative new study. The vast amounts of pollution and waste the firms create put them all near the bottom of the European green league, the study says. This has prompted fierce criticism from environmentalists, which has been rejected by the companies. Researchers from Scotland and Germany analysed the emissions, waste and water usage of 65 major companies in 16 countries. They compared this with financial performance to give each company a “sustainable value” in euros. This is the first time, they say, that it has been possible to measure corporate environmental performance in monetary terms. The study was made by the University of St Andrews, the Sustainable Development Research Centre in Forres and Berlin’s Institute for Future Studies. Of the eight UK companies studied, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) comes out worst. It is ranked 55th out of 65, with a negative sustainable value of €12.3 billion, set to rise to €20.5bn by 2010. Oil giants Shell and BP are ranked 49th and 47th. Their negative sustainable values – €181bn and €134bn – are higher because they are larger companies. “The oil and gas industry as a whole is very polluting, inefficient and wasteful,” said one of the study’s authors, Frank Figge, a professor of corporate responsibility at St Andrews University. “It will have to radically improve if it is ever to achieve sustainable development.” He added that BP had a particular problem as it was trying to improve its environmental image: “Despite trying to brand itself as ‘beyond petroleum’, BP is a long way from achieving environmental sustainability. BP uses its environmental resources five times less efficiently than average in the European economy.” The European Union-funded study shows the British Gas firm Centrica is environmentally 3.5 times more efficient than SSE. Chemical firms such as AstraZeneca and ICI also have relatively good environmental performances. SSE accepted it faced “major environmental challenges”. But a spokesman added: “Anyone who knows our business well understands the company’s long-standing track record of real progress in sustainable development. One academic exercise can’t gainsay that.” Anglo-Dutch firm Shell argued that the narrow focus of the study meant the oil and gas industry was bound to do badly. “Shell is convinced its short and long-term success depend on finding environmentally and socially responsible ways to help meet the world’s future energy needs,” said a spokeswoman. BP pointed out that it was ranked second after the British Gas group among the nine oil and gas firms in the study. “We work hard to minimise the impact of our activities on the environment, continuing to reduce emissions from our operations and further improve the quality of our products,” said a spokesman. However, the study was welcomed by the Corporate Responsibility Coalition (Core), which includes Friends of the Earth and Oxfam. “Almost every big company claims green credentials these days,” said Core Scotland chairman Duncan McLaren. “This exposes where those claims are just greenwash.” McLaren pointed out that the environmental performance of 39 of the 65 companies seemed to be getting worse. “Many other s could not even provide the basic data to make an evaluation. Core is calling for mandatory environmental and social reporting, and corporate accountability for environmental and social impacts. This research adds to the urgent case for such reforms.” ---------- Copyright © 2006 smg sunday newspapers ltd. no.176088 Back to previous page _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings or access the archives at: http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net ***************************************************************** 14 [du-list] Announcement: ICBUW Hiroshima Conference (August Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 16:30:07 -0700 May 15, 2006 ---Announcement--- The 3rd ICBUW International Conference Hiroshima, August 3-6, 2006 $B!!!!!!(B---Raising Our Voices with the Victims $B!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(B for the Abolition of DU Weapons--- ICBUW (=International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons) will hold its 3rd Annual Conference this August in Hiroshima, Japan. We are planning to invite victims from the DU-affected areas, veterans exposed to DU on the battlefield, as well as scientists, politicians and journalists, who will present their latest findings and views. Our goal is to shine a brighter light on toxic, radioactive DU weapons and highlight the urgent, global nature of this danger that threatens us all. We extend this invitation to all concerned. Please come to Hiroshima and unite your voice with ours to strengthen our demand for immediate measures for the victims and a total, explicit, and effective ban on the DU weapons. Let$B!G(Bs send a powerful message from Hiroshima, the symbol of radiological disaster. Planning for the sessions is still underway, and we will keep you informed as the program takes shape. Also concerning the registration procedures, we will let you know when they are finalized. [Please refer to the updated information on the ICBUW homepage: http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/] However, if you are interested in participating in the Conference, please let us know as soon as possible since it is extremely difficult to secure accommodation at this time of the year because of the August 6th Peace Memorial Ceremony and many meetings and events associated with it. [contact: info@nodu-hiroshima.org] *** 1. Objectives of the conference (1) To show our solidarity with the DU victims and raise a stronger voice for an effective ban (2) To clarify the scientific and legal issues on which the campaign depends (3) To map out further campaign strategies toward an effective ban on and total abolition of uranium weapons (including research and compensation issues) 2. Dates and places August 3rd: plenary meeting (Hiroshima International Conference Center: simultaneous interpretation) August 4th: plenary meeting (same) August 5th: workshops and meetings co-organized with allied organizations (venues TBA) August 6th morning : Hiroshima Day Ceremony (Peace Memorial Park) afternoon: closing session evening: Lantern Floating (by the Motoyasu River) and Farewell party 3. Participants from abroad Among about 30 people who have already agreed to come from abroad are: >From Iraq--- (1) Dr. Jawad Al-Ali: Director of the Cancer Center, Basra Teaching Hospital. ICBUW science counselor. (2) Dr. Souad Al-Azzawi: Vice-President of Mamoun University of Scientific Affaires; former professor of environmental engineering at Baghdad Univ., recipient of the 2003 Nuclear-Free Future Award for her work on environmental contamination after the Gulf War in Iraq. (3) Mr. Khajak Vartanian: Environmental radiation measuring specialist, Basrah Environmental Department, engaged in measuring the DU contamination in Basra, and now involved in a NGO concerned about environmental contaminations caused by wars. >From USA (4) Dr. Rosalie Bertell: founder of IICPH=International Institute of Concern for Public Health; recipient of the Right Livelihood Award 1986. ICBUW science counselor. (5) Dr. Thomas Fasy: Mt. Sinai Hospital (New York). One of the initiators of the Iraq Tooth Project. (6) Mr. Herbert Reed: an Iraq War Veteran suing the US ministry of the Army with eight other veterans. (7) Mr. Dennis Kyne: a Gulf-War veteran and one of the most committed anti-DU campaigners in America. (8) Sister Eileen White: long-time campaigner against nuclear weapons: Dr. Bertell$B!G(Bs companion. (9) Ms. Sunny Miller: Traprock Peace Center (tentative). (10) Ms. Charles Jenks: Traprock Peace Center (tentative). (11) Mr. Steve Leeper: Global Peacemakers Association-Atlanta. (12) Ms. Elisabeth Baldwin: Global Peacemakers Association-Atlanta. >From Latin America (13) Mr. Damacio Lopez (Costa Rica): IDUST=International DU Study Team. Used to live near the exercising range in New Mexico, USA. One of the founders of the ICBUW campaign. >From Europe (14) Dr. Keith Baverstock (Finland): Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of Kuopio; Former Senior Research Adviser, WHO$B!G(Bs Radiation Section. (15) Ms. Paola Melone (Italy): widow of the Italian veteran, Stefano Melone. (16) Mr. Filippo Montaperto (Italy): Osservatorio Militare. DU victim. (17) Dr. Antonietta Gatti (Italy): Modina Univ. nanodiagnostic. Examined some of the sick veterans who served in Balkan. (18) Dr. Stefano Montanari (Italy): Modina Univ. nanodiagnostic. (19) Ms. Stefania Divertito (Italy): journalist, news editor for the national daily METRO and winner of the 2004 $B!H(BJournalist of The Year$B!I(B Award in Italy for her articles on depleted uranium. (20) Ms. Yukari Saito (Italy): translator. Italy-Japan Information Center in Pisa. >From Asia-Pacific Area (21) Dr. Rachel Darken (Australia): Vice President. MAPW=Medical Association for the Prevention of War; IPPNW$B!G(Bs International Councillor Some more participants are being sought from other countries and areas as well. Naturally, many Japanese specialists and campaigners will also participate. In addition, Mr. Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima, has agreed to give an opening address. Among the ICBUW members expected to participate are: Manfred Mohr (Germany: IALANA-Germany); Rae Street (Great Britain: CADU); Tara Thornton (USA: Maine Coalition for Endangered Species); Gretel Munroe (USA: Grassroots Actions for Peace); Ria Verjauw (Belgium: representative of the Belgian Coalition to Stop Uranium Weapons); Francesco Iannuzelli (Italy: Peace Link); Dr. Heike Schroeder (Germany: Social Medicine and Epidemiology, Univ. of Bremen); Doug Weir (Great Britain: CADU). 4. Conference Organizer: ICBUW=International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/) 5. Host groups: +NO DU Hiroshima Project (http://www.nodu-hiroshima.org/) +Campaign Against Radiation Exposure (CARE), and the Japanese groups in support of ICBUW 6. Contacts: +Nobuo Kazashi (ICBUW Coordinator of the Asian-Pacific region) email: horizons@cc22.ne.jp +Haruko Moritaki (Secretary-General, NO DU Hiroshima Project) email: haruko-m@f3.dion.ne.jp +Katsumi Furitsu (ICBUW Board Member) email: f-katsumi@titan.ocn.ne.jp +Doug Weir (CADU) email: office@cadu.org.uk $B!v(B $B!v!v(B On ICBUW$B!G(Bs mission--- In an "International Appeal to Ban the Use of Depleted Uranium Weapons" drafted in 1997 by Ramsey Clark, Former US Attorney General, it reads: "Depleted-uranium weapons are an unacceptable threat to life, a violation of international law and an assault on human dignity. To safeguard the future of humanity, we call for an unconditional international ban forbidding research, manufacture, testing, transportation, possession and use of DU for military purposes." (Depleted Uranium Metal of Dishonor, revised edition, 1999, p.21) This is a very concise, unambiguous text that shows the compatibility of "clearly recognizing the illegality of certain weapons," on the one hand, and "aiming for their ban," on the other; or, to put it more positively, the legitimacy of, and the need for, an explicit ban to abolish weapons considered "illegal." (Metal of Dishonor also includes Ramsey Clark's article entitled simply, "Ban Depleted Uranium Weapons.") It is precisely in such vein that, while confirming the illegality of the use of such weapons, ICBUW is striving for a ban treaty on DU weapons. This is the path that has been pursued also in attempts to ban other weapons such as B and C weapons, or landmines. Furthermore, a ban treaty would have an immense, legal and political significance even if certain countries would not sign it just as it has been shown by the case of the landmine ban treaty. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Protect your PC from spy ware with award winning anti spy technology. It's free. http://us.click.yahoo.com/97bhrC/LGxNAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. ***************************************************************** 15 BBC: India's unlikely nuclear recruits Last Updated: Monday, 15 May 2006 By Monica Chadha BBC news, Mumbai [Bhabha reactor] The Bhabha plant is at the forefront of India's nuclear research As one of India's premier nuclear research institutes, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is renowned for its research and development activities. Like other top Indian establishments, it strives to recruit the brightest and the best. But unlike other institutions, many staff employed by BARC come from some of the poorest and most backward parts of India. Situated in Trombay in eastern Mumbai (Bombay), the campus of BARC is a planned, unending stretch of laboratories, buildings and parks. It is within these laboratories that some of the country's best brains carry out research and development in nuclear power technology and its application in nuclear weapons, nuclear fuel fabrication, agriculture, medicine and food processing. [Gagan Gupta] I've alwa wanted to conduct research into the safety of nuclear reactors and this is the only place where I will get a chance to pursue it Engineering graduate Gagan Gupta The BARC workforce is a strong indicator that India's scientific expertise is not just restricted to the cities and to its elite academic institutions. SP Garg is the BARC's Associate Director of Knowledge Management and says there is too much talent in the country to be absorbed by elite institutions alone. In 2005, of the 10,028 science and engineering graduates who applied to BARC only 382 candidates were accepted. Mr Garg said BARC gets most of its trainees from small towns and some of its best engineers hail from Bihar, one of India's poorest states. [Infosys] There is intense competition to recruit the brightest and the best "You'd be surprised by this but it has been the case for the last 30 years." Bihar is perhaps better known for its lawlessness and high crime rate than the quality of its scientists. Mr Garg said that sometimes applicants to BARC cannot speak English, so interviews are conducted in regional languages such as Hindi and Gujarati. "But that has not hampered research at all. "If you look at our space research or atomic energy programme the progress profile has improved in the last 20 years in leaps and bounds," he says. Despite the optimism, there is little doubt Mr Garg would also like engineers from elite institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) to apply to BARC. 'Financial rewards' But few IIT students are interested in working for an organisation that is basically run by the government. The Dean of Research and Development at IIT Mumbai, Kartic Khilar, says government organisations will need to compete with private industries in terms of salary and work environment to attract their talent. [Deepa Thomas] I will get chance to help deal with the country's energy crisis, and I believe it's a good thing if we can do something for our nation Deepa Thomas "Most IIT engineering graduates look for a better professional career with full potential for financial rewards as well as a challenging work environment," he said. "An emerging trend is students opting to become entrepreneurs soon after their graduation." Luckily for BARC, of the 170,000 engineering degree graduates India produced last year, a significant number believed it was the best professional choice for them. Deepa Thomas is the daughter of a mechanical engineer father and teacher mother, and was brought up in the Kollam district in the southern state of Kerala. After completing her engineering course, she joined BARC in 2005 because she wanted to participate in the country's nuclear programme. High salary "I will get a chance to help deal with the country's energy crisis, and I believe it's a good thing if we can do something for our nation," she said. Engineering graduate Gagan Gupta joined BARC because he was always interested in research. Hailing from the small town of Alwar in the western state of Rajasthan, he says he knew from the start that this is where he would end up. "I was selected for a Master's programme in IIT but I gave it up when I got my acceptance letter from here," he says. "I've always wanted to conduct research into the safety of nuclear reactors and this is the only place where I will get a chance to pursue it." "My father deals in motor parts and does not have a science background, yet he is so proud that I am doing something that will help India. "Most importantly he wants to know when I will be able to do something about the severe power shortage we face in Alwar." ***************************************************************** 16 [du-list] The Other Chernobyl Report Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 16:29:32 -0700 http://www.greens-efa.org/cms/default/dok/118/118729.the_other_report_on_chernobyl_torch@en.htm The Other Report on Chernobyl (Torch) Greens launch new study on the malignant legacy of Chernobyl The European Greens have today launched a new report on the devastating and ongoing legacy of the disaster in Chernobyl. With the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl falling later this month, on 26 April, the report by two leading UK scientists, which was commissioned by German Green MEP Rebecca Harms, clearly sets out the continuing and predicted future noxious effects of Chernobyl, not just on the immediate area, but worldwide, particularly western Europe. Some key findings of The Other Report on Chernobyl (TORCH) (i) include: a.. Belarus, Ukraine and Russia were heavily contaminated, however more than half of Chernobyl's fallout was deposited outside these countries; b.. Fallout from Chernobyl contaminated about 40% of Europe's surface area; c.. About 2/3rds of Chernobyl's collective dose was distributed to populations outside Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, especially to western Europe d.. About 30,000 to 60,000 excess cancer deaths are predicted, 7 to 15 times greater than IAEA/WHO's published estimate of 4,000 Speaking at the launch of the report in Berlin, Rebecca Harms said: "We commissioned TORCH to counterbalance claims made by the IAEA in the media last year (ii), which both played down the lethal consequences of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl and failed to make a meaningful analysis of its wider effects on Europe and the world. The much-publicised IAEA estimate of a mere 4000 excess cancer deaths provoked an outcry among the scientific community and environmental NGOs, and was a dishonour to those who have and will suffer as a result of Chernobyl. This is one of a number of underestimates, which TORCH set out to rebut. There must be no mistaking the catastrophic dangers that are still very much associated with nuclear power." TORCH was prepared by two UK scientists, Ian Fairlie PhD and David Sumner DPhil. Ian Fairlie will take part in a wider Greens press conference on nuclear energy in advance of Chernobyl's 20th anniversary on 19 April in the European Parliament in Brussels. The Greens are also organising a conference in Kiev from 23-25 April (iii) to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster and present arguments as to why the deadly nuclear option must not be considered as an answer to Europe's current energy supply problems. On Saturday 22 April, there will be an excursion to the restricted access area around Chernobyl and the reactor. The Other Report on Chernobyl (TORCH) (pdf) http://www.greens-efa.org/cms/topics/dokbin/118/118499.the_other_report_on_chernobyl_torch@en.pdf TORCH - Executive summary (pdf) Read also the new paper of the Green's on nuclear energy: The nuclear endgame (pdf) and 'How many more lives will Chernobyl claim' - a New Scientist article. Editors note: (i) The report was financed by Rebecca Harms MEP, the Altner-Combecher Foundation and the Hatzfeldt Foundation. (ii) The claim was made following the publication of reports last year: IAEA/WHO 'Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident and Special Health Care Programmes'. Report of the UN Chernobyl Forum Expert Group "Health" (EGH) Working draft, July 26 2005. IAEA/WHO Environmental Consequences of the Chernobyl Accident and their Remediation. Report of the UN Chernobyl Forum Expert Group "Environment" (EGE) Working draft, August 2005. (iii) For more information on the conference click on the following link: Chernobyl + 20 Chernobyl article in New Scientist See also Fallout map at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7087/full/440982a.html [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Everything you need is one click away. Make Yahoo! your home page now. http://us.click.yahoo.com/AHchtC/4FxNAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. ***************************************************************** 17 [NukeNet] Gloucester County Times Article on UNPLUG Salem Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 16:29:46 -0700 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) Coalition for Peace and Justice; UNPLUG Salem Campaign, 321 Barr Ave, Linwood; NJ08221; 609-601-8583 ---------- From: Norm Cohen [mailto:ncohen12@comcast.net] Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2006 10:29 AM To: UnplugSalem@yahoogroups.com; unplugsalem-announce@yahoogroups.com Cc: ncohen12@comcast.net Subject: Gloucester County Times Article on UNPLUG Salem http://www.nj.com/news/gloucester/local/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1147601790228850.xml&coll=8 _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings or access the archives at: http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net ***************************************************************** 18 Moscow: Russia Grapples With an Atomic Dilemma Tuesday, May 16, 2006. Issue 3411. Page 1. By Yuriy Humber Staff Writer Boris Kavashkin / Itar-Tass A technician viewing a panel in the command center of the Smolensk nuclear power plant. Nuclear agency chief Sergei Kiriyenko has called for the building of 40 nuclear reactors in Russia and 60 abroad over the next two decades. For the last decade, the atom has been Russia's least-lauded, most-hush-hush energy export. But now, just as a global renaissance in atomic power offers the chance of billions of dollars' worth of contracts, the country's nuclear industry finds itself stuck with a dilemma. Without private funding, ambitious expansion plans may never be realized, but allowing in the private sector would open up the nation's most secretive industry to unprecedented scrutiny. President Vladimir Putin last week lent extra impetus to the drive to develop the industry, urging in his state-of-the-nation address that work on next-generation reactors be given high priority. Key to the industry's efforts to attract investment are officials such as Anna Belova, a corporate restructuring guru who is one of a team of reformers brought in by former Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko, the new head of the Federal Atomic Energy Agency. The stakes are high. Last year, it was disclosed that the industry earned over $2.4 billion from the sale of nuclear fuel alone. And that is just the tip of a very big iceberg, as Kiriyenko has announced plans to build up to 40 nuclear power plants in Russia over the next two decades in an effort to boost atomic power's share from one-sixth to one-quarter of national power generation. The major new plans come as world leaders fret over rising oil and gas prices and begin to turn back to nuclear energy as a power source. If the atomic energy expansion comes off, "Russia's whole economic picture changes," Belova said at an energy forum last month in Moscow, where atomic energy agency officials put forward plans to invite strategic private investors to help finance the new reactors. In her former role as deputy railways minister, Belova was applauded as being the driving force behind the successful consolidation of the country's dinosaur-like state railway enterprises into a single commercial entity, Russian Railways, or RZD. Now Belova is at the heart of a similar drive at the agency. Reforms could be even more difficult to implement than for the railways, however, as the country's nuclear industry is currently a collection of disparate enterprises, factories and institutes, some of which have already been turned into commercial entities with their capital divided into shares, while others have remained virtually unaltered since Soviet times. Vladimir Filonov / MT Belova, formerly of RZD, is now an adviser to the Federal Atomic Energy Agency. "The path for the sector's development and transformation is currently under consideration," said Belova, whom Kiriyenko has appointed as an adviser to the agency and as a deputy director of Tekhsnabexport, or Tenex, the country's state-owned nuclear fuel trader. The key decisions on the nuclear agency will be made in the second half of May, Belova said at the energy forum. The main step forward would be to make civilian nuclear power "much more market-driven," as the sector has in the past not been seen "as having the potential to be an efficient and competitive business that could operate internationally and transparently," Belova said. The nuclear industry "has several markets and several products to offer ... that Russia can offer on the domestic and global market," including uranium-ore mining, uranium enrichment for nuclear fuel and atomic power station construction, she said. "Russia is looking to transform its energy facilities into a market. Why shouldn't atomic power be a part of that?" Belova said. Strategic Investors Industry managers say that to boost the industry's share of domestic power generation and win contracts abroad, large investments will be required -- including, some say, given the limits on federal budget spending, from the private sector. "We need to base our thoughts on attracting investors," Valery Govorukhin, deputy head of Tenex, said at the energy forum. Ideas touted by the nuclear lobby include allowing a select number of companies to act as strategic investors in future projects -- an idea that would have been anathema in the past. A Federal Atomic Energy Agency presentation at the forum laid out a possible blueprint for public-private cooperation: The state would contribute about 55 percent of costs for new construction projects, while the nuclear agency would fund another 20 percent, leaving the remainder open to strategic private investors. "I think it would be acceptable to attract equity investment for individual projects, especially in the construction of atomic-power generation facilities," Belova said, adding that such a possibility could be some years down the line. Companies whose products are highly sensitive to electricity prices could potentially be strategic investors in atomic-power projects, equity analysts said, since they could thereby secure cheap, long-term energy deals. Kiriyenko's spokesman Sergei Novikov said in a recent interview that "several companies have expressed an interest in such projects," without elaborating. Aluminum producer SUAL has said it is interested in joint ventures with the nuclear agency, since electricity accounts for more than one-third of aluminum production costs. Another Kremlin-favored potential partner for the agnecy could be Gazprom, whose CEO Alexei Miller said last month was interested in getting involved in atomic energy "in the foreseeable future." A source at the Federal Atomic Energy Agency said Kiriyenko's team had proposed consolidating the industry into a single vertically integrated holding with six subdivisions: uranium mining; uranium enrichment into fuel; power station construction; management of atomic reactors; nuclear fuel reprocessing; and nuclear machinery manufacture. TVEL, the state-owned domestic nuclear fuel monopoly, would form the basis for the holding, said the source, who requested anonymity as the proposals have not yet received final approval. Once the nuclear industry is incorporated into registered companies with share capital, managers would have the chance to attract loans, apply for project financing and possibly raise capital through a share issue, said Victor Opekunov, chairman of the subcommittee for nuclear energy of the State Duma's Energy, Transport and Communications Committee, in a recent interview. Boris Kavashkin / Itar-Tass A view of Smolensk nuclear power station. Kiriyenko said that new reactors would only be built if local residents agreed. A Publicity-Shy Industry In an industry whose global image changed irrevocably with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, Russia's publicity-shy nuclear sector has steadily collected undisclosed profits by supplying about 40 percent of the world's nuclear fuel. Although the construction of nuclear power stations in Russia was effectively halted, the industry was able to keep engineering advances ticking over by scoring contracts to build reactors abroad in India and Iran. Yet today, as world uranium prices soar on supply shortages and power-hungry emerging-market economies lead the search for new ways to meet growing electricity demand, atomic energy is enjoying a renaissance. And as the atomic energy industry becomes more profitable, the curtain of secrecy that has shrouded the sector is gradually being lifted. Hopes that atomic energy could emerge as the state's next-biggest cash cow after oil and gas suffered a setback last year, however, when Russia lost out on a $3.5 billion contract to build a state-of-the-art nuclear reactor in Finland. Adding to Russia's disappointment was the fact that the Finnish reactor would also have provided a lucrative market for Russian nuclear fuel, as most builders of reactors also supply them with fuel. "It was a setback for us -- that was plain to everyone," said Gennady Pshakin, a nuclear industry expert at the Obninsk Institute of Physics and Power Engineering, near Moscow. "In fact, when Kiriyenko came in, it was the first thing he asked. 'Why did we lose that? Where do we have a project that we can sell abroad?' And it appeared that we didn't have one." After Putin tapped Kiriyenko, a reformist Yeltsin-era prime minister, to head the Federal Atomic Energy Agency, he also set for the agency the goal of raising atomic energy's share of national power generation from 16 percent to 25 percent by 2025. Kiriyenko's response was to unveil an ambitious program to build 40 nuclear reactors at home and 60 abroad over the next two decades. Vladimir Rodionov / Itar-Tass Putin, pictured at a Nizhny Novgorod research institute in February with Kiriyenko, backs the building of new reactors. Kiriyenko Welcomed Nuclear experts in the United States and Europe have welcomed Kiriyenko's appointment and expressed hopes that U.S.-Russian nuclear cooperation could be revived after years of stagnation. "The United States had a very positive experience with Kiriyenko when he was prime minister," said Jon Wolfsthal, a nuclear weapons nonproliferation expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank. "As someone not directly from the nuclear field, he's free to have new thoughts, which wasn't true of his predecessors," Wolfsthal said. New thinking in atomic energy is needed from governments globally, according to some industry executives. John Tramuto, a vice president of U.S. utilities firm Pacific Gas and Electric, told the Moscow energy forum that a key factor holding back the development of atomic power was uncertainty among governments about how much private-sector investment to allow into the industry. As well as being financially sound, Kiriyenko's plans for Russia's atomic industry will need to address environmental and safety concerns among local authorities and the wider public, which has been reluctant to accept nuclear power after the Chernobyl tragedy. In an interview with the Yuzhny Reporter newspaper in Volgodonsk, where the nuclear agency plans to build new reactors, Kiriyenko last month acknowledged that local feelings would have to be taken into account. "We need a major consensus -- we won't go against the regional authorities and the public. If I arrive to see a huge rally at the gate of the plant, it's clear" what public opinion will be, Kiriyenko said, the paper reported. Yet, with the power stations plowing tax rubles into the federal and regional budgets, and energy needs spiraling, Kiriyenko said he felt confident the expansion program would go ahead. Although the overall expansion plan is long-term, Kiriyenko may be under more immediate pressure to achieve results. According to an industry source familiar with the situation, Kiriyenko has been given one year to show that the nuclear industry can be turned around. Experts say Kiriyenko's plans depend on increasing uranium production and securing strong injections of private capital into the industry, which would require a change in federal law. Building as many as 100 reactors would require an overhaul of the entire industry, including in construction, manufacturing of nuclear reactor equipment and "picking a standard, commercial power station design that we can offer abroad," said Pshakin, the nuclear institute expert. "We have an idea of what can be done technically," Pshakin said. "But it all comes down to one thing -- money." © Copyright 2006 The Moscow Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 19 RIA Novosti: Russian, Kazakh govts. to consider nuclear integration plan 15/ 05/ 2006 MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - A report and draft timetable on collaboration between the Russian and Kazakh nuclear sectors was forwarded Monday to the two countries' governments for consideration, Russia's federal nuclear agency said. The plan covers Russian-Kazakh uranium production cooperation in 2006-2007, the development of a uranium ore deposit at Zarechnoye in south Kazakhstan that has estimated reserves of 19,000 metric tons, as well as new deposits, innovation projects and uranium supplies to world markets. "After the timetable is approved, the sides will begin practical implementation of uranium production projects," a statement from Techsnabexport, the Russian state-controlled uranium supplier and provider of uranium enrichment services, said. A Russian-Kazakh working group for cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear power was established in early 2006 and its first meeting took place in Moscow on March 16-17. Techsnabexport has a 49.33% stake in a joint venture set up in 2004 in the south of mineral-rich Kazakhstan. The company provides about 35% of global uranium supplies and plans to expand its operations into the Central Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. © 2005 RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 20 RIA Novosti: Nuclear agency head to discuss nuclear cooperation on U.S. visit 15/ 05/ 2006 MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - The head of Russia's nuclear agency will visit the United States May 19-23 to discuss civilian nuclear cooperation, the agency said Monday. Sergei Kiriyenko is scheduled to meet with U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, and other nuclear and security officials, as well as congressmen. Kiriyenko will also attend a session of a top-level group drafting a report to the Russian and U.S. presidents on bilateral nuclear cooperation following last February's Bratislava summit between the countries' presidents, and will deliver a report on the role of nuclear power in energy security and Russian-U.S. cooperation on civilian nuclear power to a session of the Council on Foreign Relations. © 2005 RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 21 Register-Guard: NUCLEAR POWER Safety Drills In Progress Eugene, Oregon, USA Jose Reyes Jr., head of the department of nuclear engineering at OSU, stands amid parts of a reactor model testing "passively safe" design. Chris Pietsch An OSU lab tests scale models of reactor designs for future viability By Greg Bolt The Register-Guard Published: Monday, May 15, 2006 CORVALLIS - It's a lead pipe cinch that the first new nuclear power plant in a generation won't be built in Oregon. Its design, though, may owe a lot to work being done here. In a nondescript lab building on the Oregon State University campus sits a confusion of pipes and tanks packed into a large room behind an imposing control panel. It is a one-quarter-scale working model of a new generation of nuclear power plants, based on what's called a "passively safe" design. It does not have a reactor core and does not generate electricity; instead, water is heated electrically to the same temperature it would reach in a nuclear core. From there, the model acts just like a full-sized version, moving the water along the same pathways and allowing every pump, valve and pipe joint to be subjected to a long script of simulated disasters. Oregon State has developed something of a specialty testing the safety of new reactor designs. With a second scale model built and plans for a third, OSU has staked out a national reputation as a leader in the field. "Our specialty is safety. We've kind of become the Consumer Products Safety Commission for the nuclear industry," said Jose Reyes Jr., head of the department of nuclear engineering at OSU. "That puts us in a very unique position relative to other universities." advertisement Thanks to the testing done at OSU, a plant design known as the Westinghouse AP-1000 and the smaller AP-600 have both received design certification from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. That will streamline the siting and licensing process for any utility that decides to build one, something that could happen sooner than many think. "It's not a question so much will they be built, but when," Reyes said. Indeed, applications already have been submitted that could result in more than a dozen new nuclear plants, most of which could use the AP-1000 design. Thanks to changes in the siting and licensing process meant to encourage new investment in nuclear energy, the coming decade could see hundreds of megawatts of electricity pouring into the grid from new nuclear plants to be built in the South and Midwest. "The upshot is that right now five utilities look to build 15 to 19 new (nuclear) facilities in the U.S. in the next five to 10 years," Reyes said. Environmental plus Nuclear energy has a couple of things going for it now that weren't much of an issue when the current generation of plants was built in the 1970s and '80s. For one thing, nuclear doesn't produce greenhouse gases, something that has caused even some environmental groups to speak cautiously about a nuclear future. And even though the Arab oil embargo still was on people's minds in that earlier era, the need for energy independence - not to mention relief from the skyrocketing cost of oil and natural gas - has given new urgency to the need for a clean and reliable domestic energy source. But it's unlikely that those factors alone would have re-opened the door for nuclear power. The new designs, which engineers tout as being "walk-away safe," have helped chip away at the lingering fears left by the accidents at Three Mile Island, Penn., and Chernobyl in the former Soviet republic of Ukraine. "Walk-away safe" means that even in an accident, a plant operator could walk off and the reactor would cool itself without human intervention. That's the idea behind passively safe design, which uses the natural forces of gravity and/or convection to ensure an adequate flow of water to cool the core should it overheat. And the new designs are much simpler. Even with the baffling maze of pipes in OSU's scale model, the system uses 80 percent less piping, 50 percent fewer valves and 35 percent fewer pumps than existing nuclear plants. "It's a major simplification of the design, which makes it less expensive, more reliable and safer than previous designs," Reyes said. "It's a much better way to do it." "Bad things can still happen" Still, it's not as though nuclear energy is being welcomed back with open arms. Many environmental organizations remain adamantly opposed to atomic energy, and even those who see it as a potential source of abundant electricity without the global warming pollution of coal and natural gas aren't sold on it yet. Long-lived radioactive waste remains a problem, and the future of the long-delayed national waste repository at Yucca Mountain remains in doubt. Possible terrorist attacks have added a new threat. Even so, those aren't the main worries for some scientists. David Lochbaum, a former nuclear plant engineer who now directs the Nuclear Safety Project for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the biggest problems come from just the day-to-day operation of a nuclear power plant. "The AP-600 and AP-1000 are safer than today's reactors, but they're not inherently safe," he said. "Even forgetting the security and waste issues, very bad things can still happen." That's because once a plant is built, it's up to the operator to ensure that the people who run it day in and day out have the skills and training to do it properly, and the owner has the commitment to maintain it properly. He likened it to comparing a Yugo to a Volvo: "It's not really the car that determines the safety; it's the driver," he said. "If you put a bad driver in the best car in the world, I don't necessarily want to be on the sidewalk when it goes by." Still, he acknowledged that the new designs are an improvement and said there's little doubt a safe reactor can be built. advertisement Lochbaum said he remains skeptical but not adamantly opposed to the new designs. "If somebody were to start building an AP-1000 tomorrow, we're not going to chain ourselves to the fence," he said. Pursuit of simplicity Reyes said passively safe design eliminates most of the chances for operator error. And he said new advances in fuel rod reprocessing could drastically reduce radioactive waste without creating pure plutonium as a byproduct. Such advances would eliminate the primary fear of reprocessing - that it would create large stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium that would be challenging to guard and eventually could find its way into nuclear weapons. And OSU is working on a new type of reactor that could be even safer and simpler. Working with the Idaho National Laboratory and Nextant-Bechtel Corp., OSU has built a one-third-scale model of a modular reactor called the Multi-Application Small Light Water Reactor. The reactor would be in a self-contained, sealed module about 60 feet long and 6 feet wide, capable of being built at a secure facility and then sent by rail to its destination. It would never be opened or refueled on site and could operate continuously for five years with each unit producing about 50 megawatts. The modules would be installed at a power plant in water-filled, below-ground silos that would provide built-in safety against accidents. When the reactor fuel is exhausted, they could be shipped back to the manufacturer for refueling or retirement. "It's going to be hard to beat this design," Reyes said. "It's absolutely awesome." All of this work at OSU has left the school in a position to be a major player in the next wave of nuclear development. Reyes said enrollment in the nuclear engineering program has doubled in the past four years to 150 students, and he expects it to reach 200 in another year or two. The United States has 104 operating nuclear plants, where the average age of engineers is 52. Not only will those engineers be retiring soon, Reyes said, but the NRC also is looking to hire 300 additional people in the next 18 months to handle all of the application reviews on its docket. "Every one of our graduating seniors and graduate students this year will get multiple job offers," he said. "There's a big demand right now." ***************************************************************** 22 Independent: Areva urges Government to give go-ahead for nuclear reactors By Michael Harrison, Business Editor Published: 15 May 2006 Areva, the state-owned French nuclear reactor company, will add its voice to calls for a new generation of nuclear power stations in Britain today, arguing that they could be built without any government subsidy. In its submission to the Department of Trade and Industry's energy review, Areva says what is needed instead is a signal of support from the Government for a nuclear programme and reform of the planning and regulatory system to reduce delays and streamline the licensing of new nuclear plants. The company also says there will need to be government policy on how to deal with nuclear waste and further investment in the high-voltage national electricity grid so that a range of different generating capacities, from large nuclear stations to small wind farms, can be connected. The submission says the economic case for nuclear power does not depend on government financial support for low-carbon technologies. However, it says that if other forms of energy, such as gas and coal, had to pay their own carbon costs, then it would enhance the attractions of nuclear power. The report quotes figures from a Royal Academy of Engineering study that estimated that new nuclear capacity would be broadly comparable in cost with combined cycle gas-fired stations at 22.6p a unit but cheaper than coal stations and up to a third less expensive if carbon pricing was introduced. Areva also claims that safety and terrorism is not an issue, arguing that studies in France and the US show that even a direct hit on a nuclear station by a jumbo jet would not lead to a radioactive leak. In its submission last month, the CBI called on the Government to set out a clear long-term framework for supporting low-carbon sources of energy. It said the lack of clarity from the Government about how electricity producers will be made to pay for carbon emissions after 2012 is holding back investors from committing the £50bn needed to construct nuclear power stations and other low-carbon generating capacities. The Government has three months to report back on the main points made in the 2,000-plus responses it received during the consultation period. It will make a statement on energy policy in early summer. © 2006 Independent News and Media Limited ***************************************************************** 23 Mos News: Britain Alarmed by Russian Nuclear Reactors - NEWS - MOSNEWS.COM Photo from www.gettyimages.com Created: 15.05.2006 11:28 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 11:38 MSK Britain needs to build nuclear reactors or be left at Russia’s mercy, Trade Secretary Alistair Darling has been warned by a group of MPs, to The Daily Record said Monday. Since Russia is building atomic plants despite its huge oil and gas reserves, experts fear it is in order that it can make other countries reliant on its fuel exports — and so influence their foreign policy. The threat is highlighted in a dossier by a Scots-led cross-party group of MPs and Peers. Chairman and Glasgow MP John Robertson said: “We could be in a position where if we didn’t agree with something a country did — war in Chechnya say — we’d have to shut up.” Copyright © 2004 MOSNEWS.COM ***************************************************************** 24 NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Meeting Notice FR Doc E6-7348 [Federal Register: May 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 93)] [Notices] [Page 28055-28056] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15my06-73] In accordance with the purposes of sections 29 and 182b of the Atomic Energy Act (42 U.S.C. 2039, 2232b), the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) will hold a meeting on May 31--June 1, 2006, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The date of this meeting was previously published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 (70 FR 70638). Wednesday, May 31, 2006, Conference Room T-2B3, Two White Flint North, Rockville, Maryland 8:30 a.m.-8:35 a.m.: Opening Remarks by the ACRS Chairman (Open)-- The ACRS Chairman will make opening remarks regarding the conduct of the meeting. 8:35 a.m.-11:30 a.m.: Draft Final Generic Letter, ``Post-Fire Safe- Shutdown Circuit Analysis Spurious Actuations'' (Open)--The Committee will hear presentations by and hold discussions with representatives of the NRC staff and Nuclear Energy Institute regarding the draft final Generic Letter, ``Post-Fire Safe-Shutdown Circuit Analysis Spurious Actuations.'' 1:30 p.m.-3 p.m.: Draft Final Generic Letter 2006-xx, ``Inaccessible or Underground Cable Failures that Disable Accident Mitigation Systems'' (Open)--The Committee will hear presentations by and hold discussions with representatives of the NRC staff regarding the draft final Generic Letter 2006-xx, ``Inaccessible or Underground Cable Failures that Disable Accident Mitigation Systems.'' 3:15 p.m.--4:15 p.m.: Interim Staff Guidance on Aging Management Program for Inaccessible Areas of Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Mark I Containment Drywell Shell (Open)--The Committee will hear presentations by and hold discussions with representatives of the NRC staff regarding the proposed Interim Staff Guidance on Aging Management Program for Inaccessible Areas of BWR Mark I Containment Drywell Shell. 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.: Preparation of ACRS Reports (Open)--The Committee will discuss proposed ACRS reports on matters considered during this meeting. Thursday, June 1, 2006, Conference Room T-2B3, Two White Flint North, Rockville, Maryland 8:30 a.m.-8:35 a.m.: Opening Remarks by the ACRS Chairman (Open)-- The ACRS Chairman will make opening remarks regarding the conduct of the meeting. 8:35 a.m.-11 a.m.: Overview of New Reactor Licensing Activities (Open)--The Committee will hear presentations by and hold discussions with representatives of the NRC staff regarding staff's activities associated with the licensing of new reactors; early site permits; and combined license applications, as well as the related schedule and milestones. 11:15 a.m.-11:45 a.m.: Subcommittee Report (Open)--The Committee will hear a report by and hold discussions with the cognizant Chairman of the ACRS Subcommittee on Plant License Renewal regarding interim review of the license renewal application for the Monticello Nuclear Power Plant. 12:45 p.m.-1:15 p.m.: Status Report on the Quality Assessment of Selected NRC Research Projects (Open)--The Committee will hear a report by and hold discussions with the cognizant Panel Chairman regarding the status of the quality assessment of selected NRC research projects. 1:15 p.m.-2 p.m.: Future ACRS Activities/Report of the Planning and Procedures Subcommittee (Open)--The Committee will discuss the recommendations of the Planning and Procedures Subcommittee regarding items proposed for consideration by the full Committee during future meetings. Also, it will hear a report of the Planning and Procedures Subcommittee on matters related to the conduct of ACRS business, including anticipated workload and member assignments. 2 p.m.-2:15 p.m.: Reconciliation of ACRS Comments and Recommendations (Open)--The Committee will discuss the responses from the NRC Executive Director for Operations to comments and recommendations included in recent ACRS reports and letters. 2:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.: Preparation of ACRS Reports (Open)--The Committee will discuss proposed ACRS reports. Procedures for the conduct of and participation in ACRS meetings were published in the Federal Register on September 29, 2005 (70 FR 56936). In accordance with those procedures, oral or written views may be presented by members of the public, including representatives of the nuclear industry. Electronic recordings will be permitted only during the open portions of the meeting. Persons desiring to make oral statements should notify the Cognizant ACRS staff named below five days before the meeting, if possible, so that appropriate arrangements can be made to allow necessary time during the [[Page 28056]] meeting for such statements. Use of still, motion picture, and television cameras during the meeting may be limited to selected portions of the meeting as determined by the Chairman. Information regarding the time to be set aside for this purpose may be obtained by contacting the Cognizant ACRS staff prior to the meeting. In view of the possibility that the schedule for ACRS meetings may be adjusted by the Chairman as necessary to facilitate the conduct of the meeting, persons planning to attend should check with the Cognizant ACRS staff if such rescheduling would result in major inconvenience. Further information regarding topics to be discussed, whether the meeting has been canceled or rescheduled, as well as the Chairman's ruling on requests for the opportunity to present oral statements and the time allotted therefor can be obtained by contacting Mr. Sam Duraiswamy, Cognizant ACRS staff (301-415-7364), between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., ET. ACRS meeting agenda, meeting transcripts, and letter reports are available through the NRC Public Document Room at pdr@nrc.gov, or by calling the PDR at 1-800-397-4209, or from the Publicly Available Records System (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS) which is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html or http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/ (ACRS & oc-collections/ (ACRS & ACNW Mtg schedules/agendas). Videoteleconferencing service is available for observing open sessions of ACRS meetings. Those wishing to use this service for observing ACRS meetings should contact Mr. Theron Brown, ACRS Audio Visual Technician (301-415-8066), between 7:30 a.m. and 3:45 p.m., ET, at least 10 days before the meeting to ensure the availability of this service. Individuals or organizations requesting this service will be responsible for telephone line charges and for providing the equipment and facilities that they use to establish the videoteleconferencing link. The availability of videoteleconferencing services is not guaranteed. Dated: May 9, 2006. Andrew L. Bates, Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. E6-7348 Filed 5-12-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 25 Boston Globe: Nuclear should be a part of our energy future - + Op-edNuclear should be a part of our energy future Boston Globe FROM THE minute the alarm clock goes off in the morning to the moment we adjust the thermostat before bed, our lives are fueled by electricity. Christine Todd Whitman and Patrick Moore By Christine Todd Whitman and Patrick Moore | May 15, 2006 FROM THE minute the alarm clock goes off in the morning to the moment we adjust the thermostat before bed, our lives are fueled by electricity. We are amazed at the seemingly endless parade of new, life-improving, and life-saving technologies, but too little attention is paid to the looming shortage of energy needed to power them. America takes for granted that the lights will come on or the air conditioning will comfort us at the flip of a switch. It's wonderful that we feel so confident in the reliability of our electricity supply. But there are concerns on the horizon. The US Department of Energy projects that the nation will need 45 percent more electricity by 2030. Where is this going to come from? Energy conservation, greater efficiencies in the production of natural gas, oil, coal, and hydro power, and a genuine commitment to renewables such as wind, solar, and geothermal power will be needed. Across America today companies are reducing their demands for power without slowing their growth, but those efforts won't be enough in and of themselves. We will continue to need a mix of power sources, and nuclear energy must play an increased role in supplying our nation's growing demand for electricity. Nuclear energy offers numerous benefits and advantages over other sources. It's cleaner. Nuclear energy has the lowest impact on the environment -- air, land, water, and wildlife -- of any major energy source. It produces no harmful greenhouse gases or controlled air pollutants, its waste byproducts are isolated from the environment, and it requires less land to produce the same amount of electricity than any other electricity sources. It's safe. Strict government regulations and continuous training by the industry ensure that the safety of operations and the security of facilities exceed the highest standards of any American industry. It's cheaper. Nuclear plants are the most efficient on the electricity grid, and nuclear power has the lowest production cost of all major sources of electricity other than hydropower. Public support for nuclear energy has never been stronger. A recent nationwide poll by Bisconti Research found that 86 percent of Americans see nuclear energy as an important part of meeting future electricity needs and 77 percent agree that utilities should prepare now to build new nuclear plants in the next decade. The business and manufacturing community is supportive, recognizing the value of a cost-effective, reliable, and predictable energy source, and the numerous indirect benefits nuclear energy offers, such as economic growth, job creation, and technology innovation. And nuclear energy has garnered solid backing from policymakers, evidenced by the desire to host new nuclear plants among state and county officials and bipartisan congressional support for new nuclear plants in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Americans don't pay much attention to energy issues beyond the cost. It still comes as a surprise to many Americans that nuclear energy already powers one of every five US homes and businesses, and that some states, including New Jersey, Illinois, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, rely on nuclear energy for more than half of their electricity. The world's finite supply of natural resources requires that we focus on a diverse energy portfolio that includes clean, affordable, and sustainable solutions. Nuclear energy, right here and right now, is one of those solutions. We have joined together to lead the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition to ensure the United States embraces nuclear energy as part of a diverse energy plan for our future. The CASEnergy Coalition will help raise awareness of the benefits of clean and safe nuclear energy and continue to build policymaker and public support for nuclear energy as a component of a comprehensive plan to meet America's future electricity needs. We must plan today to meet our energy needs of tomorrow in a manner that protects the environment. Building new nuclear plants and expanding existing facilities takes time. Working together, we must broaden and advance the national dialogue to include the issues of rising electricity demand, energy conservation, and efficiency. We must educate the public about the merits of nuclear energy, including both the benefits of nuclear plants and the challenges that remain, including a federal facility for managing spent nuclear fuel rods. We will have this dialogue with community leaders, academics, environmentalists, businesses, and policymakers at every level to set the stage for the next generation of nuclear energy. We must act now to secure our energy future. 2030 is closer than we think. Christine Todd Whitman is a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator and the former governor of New Jersey. Patrick Moore, a co-founder and former leader of Greenpeace, is now chairman and chief scientist at Greenspirit Strategies. They are co-chairs of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition. [ /] © Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company. More: The New York Times Company ***************************************************************** 26 ANTARA News: Indonesia to go ahead with nuclear power development plan May 15 18:46 Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia will go ahead with its plan to build a nuclear power plant with a capacity of 10,000 MW expected to be operational in 2015 or 2016, a cabinet minister said. "Although it will be operational only in 2015 or 2016, we must make preparations from now on," Research and Technology Minister Kusmayanto Kadiman said at the presidential office here on Monday. Speaking to the press after accompanying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a meeting with the executive board of the Indonesian Association of Technical Experts (PATI), Kadiman said to carry out the project nuclear reactors with a combined capacity of at least 1,000 - 1,500 MT would be needed. The government must seek a proper location for the project from now on, he said. In addition, it must also promote the people`s understanding of the need to build such a power plant in order to obtain support at home and abroad, he said. "The foreign minister will also be involved as a bumper in the caseof foreign disapproval or ridicule," he said. One of the problems impeding the development of a nuclear power plant was lack of nuclear experts, he said. The government had yet to determine the location for the nuclear power plant but former research and technology minister BJ Habibie once mentioned the slope of Mount Muria in Central Java as one of the proper locations for the project, he said. (*) Copyright © 2006 LKBN ANTARA ***************************************************************** 27 NRC: NRC to Discuss 2005 Performance Assessment for Palisades Nuclear Power Plant News Release - Region III - 2006-02 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region III No. III-06-023 May 15, 2006 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 E-mail: representatives of Nuclear Management Co. on Tuesday, May 23, to discuss the agencys assessment of safety performance for last year at the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant. The plant is located at Covert, Mich. The meeting, which will be open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at Holiday Inn Express, 1741 Phoenix Road, South Haven, Mich. The NRC staff will present the results of the assessment and be available to respond to questions or comments from the public before the close of the meeting. The NRC continually reviews the performance of the Palisades plant and the nations other commercial nuclear power facilities, NRC Region III Administrator James Caldwell said. This meeting will provide an opportunity for a discussion of our annual assessment of safety performance with the company and with local officials and residents who live near the plant. Our goal is to explain the NRC oversight process and make as much information as possible available to the public regarding our regulation of these facilities. A letter sent from the NRC Region III Office to plant officials addresses the performance of the plant during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/pali_2005q4.pdf [PDF Icon] . The NRCs assessment concluded that the Palisades plant operated safely during the period. The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess nuclear plant performance. The colors start with green and then increase to white, yellow or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. All of the inspection findings and performance indicators for Palisades during 2004 were determined to be green. As a result of this performance, the NRC will conduct the normal, baseline level of inspections during the upcoming year. Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the Region III Office in Lisle, Ill., and the agencys headquarters in Rockville, Md. Among the areas of plant operations to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are equipment inspection and testing, environmental monitoring, radiological protection, fire protection, and preparations for a 2007 outage to replace the reactor vessel head. Current performance information for Palisades is available on the NRCs web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PALI/pali_chart.html. Last revised Monday, May 15, 2006 ***************************************************************** 28 Viet Nam News: Nuclear power exhibition planned tomorrow in capital (15-05-2006) HA NOI — An international exhibition on nuclear power will be held in the capital city tomorrow. This was announced by Vuong Huu Tan, Director of the Viet Nam Atomic Energy Institute, at a press briefing last Friday. Russia, Japan, France and the Republic of Korea (RoK) will take part in the four-day exhibition entitled "Safety and economic competitiveness of nuclear power." Viet Nam hopes to learn from experiences of the four modern nuclear powers in these areas. Latest research results and preparations of Viet Nam for developing nuclear power will also be on show. During the exhibition, seminars will be organised by Japanese, Russian, and French experts for providing more information on nuclear power safety and efficiency. The strategy on applying nuclear power for peaceful purposes till 2020 was signed by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in January this year. As per the strategy, the first nuclear power plant will be built and put into operation, safely and effectively, during this period. The long-term plan is to develop a stable foundation for nuclear power, gradually increasing the nuclear power share to 11 per cent of the national electricity output in 2025 and 25-30 per cent in 2040-50. The pre-feasibility study of the first nuclear power plant and a research report on important issues relating to the development of nuclear power were submitted to the Prime Minister last August. The Atomic Energy Institute director said the first nuclear plant would have two generators, each with a capacity of 1000MW and might later double its capacity with four generators. It will be built in Phuoc Dinh village, Ninh Phuoc District in the central-coastal Ninh Thuan Province. — VNS Copyright by Viet Nam News, Vietnam News Agency 11 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hanoi, Vietnam Editor in Chief: Tran Mai Huong Tel. 84-4-9332316; Fax: 84-4-9332311 E-mail: vnnews@vnagency.com.vn Publication Permit: 599/GP-INTER Granted by the Ministry of Culture and Information on April 9, 1998. ***************************************************************** 29 Blackpool Today: Planting marks 60 nuclear years Tue May 16 2006 [Back to home page] THE seeds of a fruitful future have been planted as nuclear power in Lancashire celebrates 60 years.... "The AP-600 and AP-1000 are safer than today's reactors, but they're not inherently safe," he said. "Even forgetting the security and waste issues, very bad things can still happen." That's because once a plant is built, it's up to the operator to ensure that the people who run it day in and day out have the skills and training to do it properly, and the owner has the commitment to maintain it properly. He likened it to comparing a Yugo to a Volvo: "It's not really the car that determines the safety; it's the driver," he said. "If you put a bad driver in the best car in the world, I don't necessarily want to be on the sidewalk when it goes by." Still, he acknowledged that the new designs are an improvement and said there's little doubt a safe reactor can be built. advertisement Lochbaum said he remains skeptical but not adamantly opposed to the new designs. "If somebody were to start building an AP-1000 tomorrow, we're not going to chain ourselves to the fence," he said. Pursuit of simplicity Reyes said passively safe design eliminates most of the chances for operator error. And he said new advances in fuel rod reprocessing could drastically reduce radioactive waste without creating pure plutonium as a byproduct. Such advances would eliminate the primary fear of reprocessing - that it would create large stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium that would be challenging to guard and eventually could find its way into nuclear weapons. And OSU is working on a new type of reactor that could be even safer and simpler. Working with the Idaho National Laboratory and Nextant-Bechtel Corp., OSU has built a one-third-scale model of a modular reactor called the Multi-Application Small Light Water Reactor. The reactor would be in a self-contained, sealed module about 60 feet long and 6 feet wide, capable of being built at a secure facility and then sent by rail to its destination. It would never be opened or refueled on site and could operate continuously for five years with each unit producing about 50 megawatts. The modules would be installed at a power plant in water-filled, below-ground silos that would provide built-in safety against accidents. When the reactor fuel is exhausted, they could be shipped back to the manufacturer for refueling or retirement. "It's going to be hard to beat this design," Reyes said. "It's absolutely awesome." All of this work at OSU has left the school in a position to be a major player in the next wave of nuclear development. Reyes said enrollment in the nuclear engineering program has doubled in the past four years to 150 students, and he expects it to reach 200 in another year or two. The United States has 104 operating nuclear plants, where the average age of engineers is 52. Not only will those engineers be retiring soon, Reyes said, but the NRC also is looking to hire 300 additional people in the next 18 months to handle all of the application reviews on its docket. "Every one of our graduating seniors and graduate students this year will get multiple job offers," he said. "There's a big demand right now." All rights reserved © 2006 Johnston Press Digital Publishing. ***************************************************************** 30 NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meeting on Emergency Preparedness for Nuclear Power Plants on May 19th in Rockville, Maryland News Release - 2006-06 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 06-066 May 15, 2006 meeting May 19th, in Rockville, Md., to discuss enhancements to the agencys emergency preparedness guidance and regulations for nuclear power plants in a post-9/11 threat environment. The May meeting builds on a two-day meeting held on August 31st and September 1, 2005, during which senior management from the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response participated in roundtable discussions with local, state and tribal representatives, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), advocacy groups and nuclear industry staff. In an attempt to further understand the perspective of the non-governmental organizations, the May meeting will seek additional comments on how the NRC can both enhance emergency preparedness and ensure openness in the regulatory process. Among the topics to be covered are security-based emergency action levels, security-based drills and exercises, offsite protective actions and alternate ways to alert the public. The meeting will take place on Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It will be held at the Ramada Inn-Rockville at 1775 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md. A meeting notice and complete agenda is available on the NRCs Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm. For additional information on the meeting, contact Lisa Gibney at 301-415-8376 or send an e-mail to lag1@nrc.gov. Last revised Monday, May 15, 2006 ***************************************************************** 31 [NukeNet] Scotland: Revealed: plan to tackle nuclear terrorists Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 16:29:35 -0700 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) http://www.sundayherald.com/55684 Sunday Herald - 14 May 2006 Revealed: plan to tackle nuclear terrorists By Rob Edwards Environment Editor ---------- Secret plans to combat the threat of terrorists exploding a nuclear bomb have been in place for 30 years – despite official assurances that it could never happen. While insisting that nuclear terrorism was “unthinkable”, successive governments have run a series of high-level emergency exercises. But until now the programme has remained secret. Nuclear experts regard the revelation as “genuinely frightening” as it suggests nuclear security had not been as tight as was thought at the time, and the threat of a terrorist attack is even greater today. The confidential programme was known as the Criminal Improvised Nuclear Device Emergency Response (Cinder). It involved the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the police and scientists from the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire. “Cinder was established in the late 1970s to provide the UK government’s response to the possible threat of nuclear terrorism,” disclosed Nigel Maggs from the MoD’s Nuclear Weapons Integrated Project Team. “Cinder became defunct in the 1990s when the UK capability in this area gradually transformed into one more appropriate to the chemical, biological, radiobiological and nuclear threat we now face.” However, the MoD refused to reveal operational details of Cinder. “Knowledge of counter improvised nuclear device contingency planning must be kept on a need-to-know basis if hoaxes are to be avoided,” said one official. Frank Barnaby, a nuclear weapons expert who used to work at Aldermaston, said governments had always insisted terrorists didn’t pose a nuclear threat. “The fact that they thought it could happen is genuinely frightening,” he said. “It must mean that the nuclear arsenals were less well-guarded than we were led to believe.” Barnaby, now a nuclear consultant to the Oxford Research Group, argued that the risk of a terrorist nuclear bomb was greater today. Large amounts of plutonium have been created by nuclear reactors and separated at Sellafield in Cumbria. A new nuclear power programme would see more plutonium being made and moved around. “It is almost inevitable that a terrorist will get hold of some and make a bomb,” he claimed. In response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act, the MoD has released 20 pages of memos about Cinder, dated from 1989 to 1992, to the Sunday Herald. They reveal two problems encountered during the programme. The first was an article in the Mail on Sunday on January 8, 1989, which gave details of an exercise on a farm near Aldermaston. This led to fury at the MoD over “unauthorised disclosure of sensitive official information” and demands for a Home Office inquiry. And a 1989 memo reveals that civilians in Cinder were permitted to obtain life cover “without financial limit”. ---------- Copyright © 2006 smg sunday newspapers ltd. no.176088 Back to previous page _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings or access the archives at: http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net ***************************************************************** 32 RIA Novosti: Moscow court says ex-nuclear minister's custody extension legal 15/ 05/ 2006 MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow City Court ruled Monday that a decision by a district court to extend the detention of former nuclear minister Yevgeny Adamov until next month was legal. Lawyers acting for Adamov, currently facing charges of embezzlement and abuse of office, had argued that the decision handed down April 5 by the Basmanny court to extend custody until June 8 was illegal. The Prosecutor General's Office officially charged Adamov, 67, on December 31, 2005, after a long battle to secure his extradition from Switzerland, where he had been arrested at the request of the United States in May. He has been held in custody since his return to Russia. The U.S. accused Adamov, who served as nuclear power minister 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 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 ***************************************************************** 33 Concord Monitor: Nukes: dirty, dangerous and expensive Concord, NH 03301 May 15, 2006 Copyright 1997-2006 Concord Monitor and New Hampshire Patriot P.O. Box 1177 Concord NH 03302 603-224-5301 Privacy policy By DAN HAINES For the Monitor I write in response to William Klapproth's May 6 Monitor letter. He portrays construction of nuclear power plants as the answer to our growing need for electricity, an answer that will also satisfy the needs of a healthy and sustainable world. But he misrepresents the position of those opposed, as well as some important consequences of nuclear energy. Nuclear power is neither green nor affordable. It's an industry propped up by federal tax subsidies and rejected by private investment and insurance companies. It takes at least 10 years and billions of dollars to construct a plant. No other industry has come with such environmental and human harm as the nuclear industry. The nuclear industry is messy. Creating nuclear power is not a process free of carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases. One must mine uranium, the raw material of nuclear fuel, from the ground. This takes incredible amounts of diesel fuel and leaves vast stretches of land and water radioactive. Uranium is a finite, nonrenewable resource. According to the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, if the United States should run on nuclear energy alone, all the uranium in the world would be used up in 20 years. Uranium enrichment, turning the mined uranium into fuel for nuclear reactors, takes a tremendous amount of electricity. The first enrichment facility was built in Oak Ridge, Tenn., so that its appetite for electricity could be met by the many coal and hydroelectric plants in the area. Cooling the reactor in a nuclear plant releases tons of water into the atmosphere. H2O is a greenhouse, or heat-trapping, gas. Cooling also requires a coolant. In the United States, this coolant is cholorofluorocarbon-114, also known as Freon. Freon is a heat-trapping chemical that is to be phased out in accordance with the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act. National emissions of Freon fell 60 percent between 1991 and 2002. However, the emissions from nuclear power plants have hardly fallen at all. Then there is the nuclear waste: thousands of tons of poisonous, radioactive nuclear waste that will be here past our grandchildren's grandchildren's lifetimes. Uranium's half-life is measured in the millions of years. If the Yucca Mountain facility ever opens for business, we have enough spent fuel to fill it already. Nuclear waste is a huge problem for which we lack a humane or realistic solution. It is deceptive to portray nuclear energy as the only option apart from building more coal plants to satisfy our growing energy needs. A healthy and affordable solution to this and the impending oil crisis can start with harmless and immediate ways of generating electricity, such as wind turbines or photovoltaic energy, the direct transformation of sunlight into electricity. The energy solution of the future will certainly come with conservation and efficiency at its center, joined by a portfolio of energy sources, renewable and nonrenewable. Nuclear energy is not one of them. (Dan Haines lives in Contoocook.) By DAN HAINES Concord Monitor Online, P.O. Box 1177, Concord NH 03302 Phone: 603-224-5301 ***************************************************************** 34 ITAR-TASS: Moscow court leaves ex-nuclear energy minister in custody 15.05.2006, 14.33 MOSCOW, May 15 (Itar-Tass) - The Moscow City Court has left in custody the Nuclear Energy Ministry’s ex-chief Yevgeny Adamov, thus turning down a complaint from his lawyers. Adamov, who was the nuclear energy minister in 1998-2001, was arrested in Berne on May 2, 2005, at the request of the US Department of Justice. He is accused in the US of embezzling nine million dollars that had been issued to Russia for nuclear safety projects. Switzerland extradited Adamov to Moscow at the request of the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office on December 31, 2005. He was formally charged in Russia with fraud and abuse of office and placed in Moscow’s detention prison Matrosskaya Tishina. Adamov sent to the European court a complaint against Swiss law and order authorities. He appealed his “illegal detention and a violation of an article of the European convention guaranteeing that a witness summoned by an official subpoena cannot be arrested”. The Moscow City Court refused to release the ex-minister from custody on April 15 and recognised as legal the extension of his arrest until July 8. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, ***************************************************************** 35 [du-list] Gis, Beware Radioactive Showers! Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 16:29:48 -0700 http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12861.htm GIs, Beware Radioactive Showers! By Irving Wesley Hall Bush’s impending, insane nuclear attack on Iran has provoked an unprecedented rebellion within the top leadership of the United States military. At the same time, depleted uranium (DU) is steadily taking down our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s time for the soldiers to follow the lead of their commanders in order to end the war. Was Army Sgt. Michael Lee Tosto the first American victim of the Plain Text Attachment [ Download File | Save to Yahoo! Briefcase ] Bush administration’s March 2003 “Shock and Awe” attack on Iraq? The 24-year-old North Carolina tank operator died “mysteriously” in Baghdad on June 17, 2003. The Iraqi capital was saturated with radioactive dust from the initial explosions of 1,500 American bombs and missiles, many of them made from solid depleted uranium. After the saturation bombing, the city was the scene of street battles with M-1 Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, A-10 Warthog attack jets and Apache helicopters firing DU munitions. The army told Sgt. Tosto’s family that he died from pulmonary edema and pericardial effusion, or cardiac failure, after showing flu-like symptoms. Young Michael Tosto believed George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Condoleezza Rice. He believed he had been deployed to Iraq to stop Saddam Hussein from nuking the United States. Michael died before we all learned that Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld are nuking the world. Michael Tosto died, young and innocent, when they nuked him. After Michael’s funeral, a fellow soldier contacted Michael’s wife Stephanie and told her that his buddy started coughing up blood and his lips turned blue and was dead within 48 hours after the first symptoms. According to Tom Flocco, upon whose story this account is based, “. . . the Tostos say their GI was in excellent health — in his prime of life. And Stephanie Tosto told United Press International, ‘When my husband died, the casualty officer asked me, “Is it possible that Michael had heart problems?” Michael did not have heart problems. One other time they asked me if he had asthma. He was never sick.’ ” Inhaling depleted uranium causes pulmonary edema. Symptoms include bleeding lungs, bronchial pneumonia and vomited blood. Pericardial effusion is a common cause of death among leukemia patients. Michael’s mother, Janet Tosto, reported that military officials told her that her son Michael’s military autopsy exhibited elevated levels of white blood cells. Exposure to depleted uranium can cause lymphocytic leukemia. Tom Flocco consulted Dr. Garth Nicolson of the Institute for Molecular Medicine in Huntington Beach, California who said, “Just one microscopic particle — let alone thousands — trapped in a soldier’s pulmonary system for one year can result in 272 times the annual whole body radiation dose permitted U.S. radiation workers.” Gulf War Illness: the Sequel It is happening again to a new generation of veterans. Some of today’s soldiers were in day care centers in 1991 when Dick Cheney first authorized the wholesale use of radioactive munitions. It is happening again despite the fact that a large number of Gulf War I veterans are on medical disability 15 years after the end of the first war against Saddam Hussein. We are witnessing the same symptoms of radioactive poisoning today as 15 years ago. We are hearing the same denial of reality from Donald Rumsfeld’s Department of Defense (DoD). The government spokesman in Michael’s death claimed, “We don’t think depleted uranium has anything to do with it.” After the publication of “Depleted Uranium For Dummies” last month, a reader emailed me with a demand. “You claim that half million soldiers are sick because of the tons of depleted uranium used in 1991. I’d like to hear the government’s side of the story.” Well, the Department of Defense’s estimate, as you might expect, is lower. Much lower. According to the Pentagon, depleted uranium hasn’t caused even one GI’s illness or a single veteran’s death. If you still believe that the Bush Administration doesn’t lie to its citizens or Rumsfeld’s Department of Defense doesn’t lie to the troops, please click to another Web site. I don’t want to be the first to break the news to you. Soon you might begin to doubt Condoleezza Rice’s warning about Saddam Hussein’s imminent nuclear attack on America or Dick Cheney’s claim that Hussein was responsible for taking down the Twin Towers. You might question why on 9/11 acting Commander-in-Chief Dick Cheney couldn’t find one available U.S. fighter jet to send aloft during the hour that, allegedly, nineteen Saudis and Egyptians with box cutters were crisscrossing the East Coast in hijacked commercial airliners! These are the stories Sgt. Tosto took to his grave. But no one ever told him that the depleted uranium munitions packed into his tank could kill him. That’s right. As far as the Department of Defense is concerned, depleted uranium is “40 percent less radioactive than natural uranium,” is “not a serious external radiation hazard,” and thus is not considered dangerous. According to the military’s pamphlet, “Depleted Uranium Information for Clinicians” revised Sept. 17, 2004, a year and a half after Michael Tosto’s death, “Findings have shown no kidney damage, leukemia, bone or lung cancer, or other uranium-related adverse health outcomes.” The Pentagon commissioned several studies in the ’90s as hundreds of thousands of Gulf War vets were becoming “mysteriously” sick. One published in 2000, concluded that DU “could pose a chemical hazard” but that Gulf War veterans “did not experience intakes high enough to affect their health.” According to Pentagon spokesman Austin Camacho, the only soldiers meriting the military’s concern are those wounded by depleted uranium shrapnel or who were inside tanks during an explosion, and “studies of about 70 such cases from the first Gulf War showed no long-term health problems.” This stupefying — vets call it criminal — DoD denial helps explain the military’s reaction to Michael Tosto’s death. They would not allow Stephanie Tosto to see her husband’s body until after the autopsy in Germany and after he was packed in a casket for burial. Dan Tosto, the dead soldier’s father, wondered why Michael was wearing white gloves, appropriate for dress blues but not for Michael’s green burial uniform. At the funeral, Stephanie reached under a glove and found Michael’s wedding ring missing. The army later explained that the dead soldier’s belongings were possibly contaminated. Wedding Ring Contaminated With What? Perhaps the mysterious metal “contamination” explains why the Army sent the family brand-new dog tags, rather than Michael’s original set, and why they didn’t immediately call his wife at the emergency phone number he was carrying. After the tank driver was buried, Stephanie received her husband’s medical records. They described his arms as red and swollen, classic signs of exposure to depleted uranium dust. Dr. Rosalie Bertell, secretary general of the International Commission of Health Professionals, and president of the International Institute of Concern for Public Health, commented on Michael Tosto’s symptoms. She said that the armed services investigation was incomplete without a thorough “testing for potential depleted uranium [which] includes chemical analysis of uranium in urine, feces, blood and hair; tests of damage to kidneys, including analysis for protein, glucose and nonprotein nitrogen in urine; radioactivity counting; or more invasive tests such a surgical biopsy of lung or bone marrow.” As you will read in the next installment, according to the DoD’s own Regulation No. 700-48, such tests are mandatory. Surprised? Wait until you read next time how the government responds to living contaminated soldiers who request tests for radiation poisoning. We cited Dr. Doug Rokke in previous installments. He was the military’s top expert on all aspects of depleted uranium, until he was fired for telling the truth. He was the chief biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons safety officer in the first Gulf War, and he reports that many American deaths were from “friendly-fire” DU weapons. The Tosto family will never know if this was Michael’s fate. According to Gay Alcorn of The Age, “Rokke was ordered to decontaminate shot-up vehicles and tanks and to investigate health effects on troops. Dressed in protective gear and masks, he and his team crawled over tanks and other vehicles, sending some back to the U.S. Those considered too radioactive to move were buried in a giant hole in the ground. “The U.S. Army made me their expert,” Rokke told reporter Julie Flint. “I went into the project with the total intent to ensure they could use uranium munitions in war, because I’m a warrior. What I saw as director of the project led me to one conclusion: Uranium munitions must be banned from the planet, for eternity, and medical care must be provided for everyone — those on the firing end and those on the receiving end.” According to Flint, Rokke “suffers from serious health problems including brain lesions and lung and kidney damage. When government doctors finally agreed to test him in November 1994, three-and-a-half years after he fell ill, while he was director of the Pentagon’s Depleted Uranium Project, he was found to have 5,000 times the permissible level of radiation in his body — enough to light up a small village.” Rokke’s crew — 100 employees — was devastated by exposure to the fine dust. “When we went to the Gulf, we were all really healthy,” Rokke said. “However, after performing clean-up operations in the desert. . .30 staff members died, and most others — including Rokke himself — developed serious health problems. Rokke now has reactive airway disease, neurological damage, cataracts and kidney problems.” I conducted a telephone interview with Doug Rokke last month, after sending him “Dummies” to fact-check. He described the permanent rashes on his arms. “They’re weeping as we speak,” he said. I recalled Michael Tosto’s autopsy report. What was hidden under the white gloves? The papers Rokke wrote describing his findings are sobering. He recorded levels of contamination that were 15 times the Army’s permissible levels in tanks hit by DU, and up to 4.5 times such levels in clothing exposed to DU. Rokke told Alcorn, “After everything I’ve seen, everything I’ve done, it became very clear to me that you just can’t take radioactive wastes from one nation and just throw it into another nation. It’s wrong. It’s simply wrong. . . “One way or another, the Pentagon will pay a price. Using DU is a war crime. It’s that simple. Once you’ve scattered all this stuff around, and then refuse to clean it up, you’ve committed a war crime.” According to Denise Nichols, a Gulf War vet and retired Air Force major, there are many reasons why Rumsfeld’s Department of Defense won’t admit that DU is harmful. “They don’t want to assume responsibility for the astronomical health-care costs of so many poisoned veterans . . . and they don’t want the rest of the world to know that they have essentially poisoned two entire nations.” If They Admit It’s Killing Our Troops, They Can’t Use It Doug Rokke gave journalist Vince Guarisco another reason. “We warned the Department of Defense in 1991 after the Gulf War. Their arrogance is beyond comprehension. Once they acknowledge that there are actual health effects of depleted uranium munitions, then they can’t use them any more; the house of cards falls apart.” Now, can you understand the DoD’s secrecy about the details of Michael Tosto’s death? Can you understand the strange silence last month of Maj. Richard J. McNorton, the U.S. Central Command’s special officer in charge of helping bloggers obtain accurate information? He is still ignoring my requests to confirm or to allow me to disprove the following account in “Dummies”: “An official June 2005 United States Central Command communiqué reported that soldiers of the 62nd Quartermaster Company from Fort Hood, Texas were supplying Camp Forward Danger’s water from the Tigris River . . . it seems that it is not tested for radioactivity. “Our men and women of the New York State National Guard have just spent six months taking radioactive showers and washing small open wounds in a depleted uranium broth. They’ve eaten more than 500 meals with food, plates, and silverware washed with hot water, in two senses of the word . . . without knowing it.” Given the serious implications for my neighbors in the Rainbow Division, they expected a prompt response from McNorton. Not a word. Does it still seem strange to you that the Pentagon maintains that, from 1991 to 2005, only 7,035 Gulf War vets — were “wounded” in the conflict? In the opinion of those now responsible for defending our country, the discrepancy between 7,000 and 518,000 vets on disability (many with Gulf War Illness’ “ill-defined symptoms”) is just a “mystery.” What is no mystery is that, within the last month, seven high-ranking retired military officers have publicly called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Most are immediate retirees high in the chain of command in the Middle East deeply involved in Cheney and Rumsfeld’s war. On Democracy Now! April 17, 2006, retired Col. Sam Gardiner, respected lecturer at several United States military war colleges, called these denunciations “unprecedented in United States history.” Unprecedented Officers’ Revolt The military revolt against the Bush Administration’s catastrophic Middle East policies surfaced last November when previously hawkish Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha channeled the top brass’s opposition to the war. Col. Gardiner suggested that the seven recently retired officers were being encouraged to speak out by those still in service. The brass is horrified by the military consequences of bringing Iran into a war we’ve already lost. Nothing like this happened even during the military’s darkest days when Nixon secretly invaded neighboring Cambodia during the Vietnam War. In another first, a group of West Point graduates, has denounced the war. The graduates pledged to refuse to serve in Iraq. Additional reports suggest that the Joint Chiefs have made clear that they oppose an attack on Iran. Another group of officers has threatened to resign if the United States continues its plans to expand the war in the Middle East to a second major oil producer. Think about that next time you pump gas. It’s time for the troops to seize this brief opportunity to transform American history. Why? Let’s examine the price our brave citizen-soldiers are paying for the arrogance of the Bush Administration and Donald Rumsfeld’s DoD. In future installments we’ll show in detail what the troops in Iraq can do legally when we review the recent documentary, “Sir! No Sir!” It shows the critical role of Vietnam GIs in ending that earlier war of aggression against a people who posed no threat to the United States. Last February, Juan Gonzales of the New York Daily News reported that “nearly 120,000 veterans — more than one of every four who served in Iraq and Afghanistan — have already sought treatment at Veterans Health Administration hospitals for a wide range of illnesses, according to an internal study the VHA completed late last year. “An additional 35,000 — more than 29% of the total — were diagnosed with ‘ill-defined conditions, ’ according to the study, which was prepared in October by VHA epidemiologist Dr. Han Kang but has yet to be publicly released.” “‘Those numbers are way higher than during the Persian Gulf War for ‘ill-defined’ symptoms, ’” said one Department of Veterans Affairs official who asked not to be identified.” As we detailed in “Dummies,” depleted uranium contamination causes virtually every known illness from acute skin rashes, severe headaches, muscle and joint pain, and general fatigue, to major birth defects, liver infection, kidney failure, depression, cardiovascular disease, brain tumors, and almost every type of cancer. In fact, the figure of 35,000 sick vets coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with “ill-defined conditions” may be too low. Gonzalez reported that, “more than 30% of those sick veterans are afflicted with some type of mental disorder, mostly post-traumatic stress and depression . . . a far higher rate of mental problems among our troops than during the Persian Gulf War, and levels comparable to what was found among U.S. troops during the Vietnam War.” Two previous military studies of combat troops in Iraq found that 17% to 25% of U.S. soldiers suffer from major depression or combat stress.” Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is defined as a debilitating change in the brain’s chemistry that includes flashbacks, sleep disorders, panic attacks, acute anxiety, emotional numbness and violent outbursts. Dozens of soldiers have committed suicide or murdered their spouses. Can PTSD, in some cases, be another phrase for Gulf War Illness? Sara Flounders reported in August 2003, shortly after Michael Tosto’s death, “For years the government described Gulf War Syndrome as a post-traumatic stress disorder. It was labeled a psychological problem or simply dismissed as mysterious unrelated ailments. In this same way the Pentagon and the Veterans Administration treated the health problems of Vietnam vets suffering from Agent Orange poisoning.” Dr. Leuren Moret reports that a medical doctor in Northern California told her that he and other doctors, trained by the Pentagon before the 2003 war, were advised to diagnose and treat soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq for mental problems only. What’s Going To Happen To All These Sick Vets? How can so many get the specialized care they need? The half million Gulf War vets who are already on medical disability have never received adequate care from the VA. Paul Rieckhoff is a former lieutenant with the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq and founder and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Juan Gonzalez quoted him as saying, “With numbers this high, the problem is going to grow fast. We’re seeing systemwide there are major problems. Most local VAs [Veterans Administration centers] just aren’t prepared for the influx of sick veterans.” In February, the U.S. General Accountability Office reported that the Department of Veterans Affairs “does not have sufficient capacity to meet the needs of new combat veterans while still providing for veterans of past wars.” What’s worse is that, since 1998, veterans are eligible for free health care only for the first two years after being demobilized. After that, an ailing veteran has to prove his or her illness is service-connected. In the next installment we’ll describe what that burden has meant to ailing Iraq vets. Medical professionals in hospitals and facilities treating returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan have been threatened with $10,000 fines and jail if they talk about the soldiers or their medical problems. Reporters have been prevented access to more than 14,000 medically evacuated soldiers flown nightly from Germany to Walter Reed Hospital near Washington, D.C. What is the DoD hiding? As you know from reading “Depleted Uranium For Dummies,” all of us may eventually become victims of Bush’s “Shock and Awe” campaign against the Iraqi people, because the radioactive fallout has already permeated the world’s atmosphere. We reported the February findings of Dr. Chris Busby, scientific secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk, who was able to obtain official U.K. readings of the astounding spike in European radiation levels after the massive bombings in Iraq. Depleted uranium particles traveled 2,400 miles in nine days from Iraq to Aldermaston England. The invisible cloud quadrupled Europe’s atmospheric radiation. According to Dr. Busby, “This research shows that rather than remaining near the target, as claimed by the military, depleted uranium weapons contaminate both locals and whole populations hundreds to thousands of miles away.” Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld’s “time-release poison” from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan took only a year to mix completely into the world’s atmosphere. Take a deep breath, and recall your initial reaction to the stunning TV images of a city of five million people engulfed in a firestorm, with mushroom-shaped clouds of radioactive debris illuminating the skyline. Take a minute to check on your kids playing outside the window in Plain Text Attachment [ Download File | Save to Yahoo! Briefcase ] the fresh spring air. Dr. Katsuma Yagasaki, a Japanese physicist at Okinawa’s Ryukyus University, has estimated that depleted uranium munitions since Cheney’s 1991 Gulf War has contaminated the global atmosphere with radiation equivalent to 400,000 Nagasaki bombs. Greenpeace has just estimated that 93,000 deaths occurred because of the 1986 meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the Ukraine. U.K. environmental scientist Busby was quoted as saying, “To my mind, it’s a human rights issue. Originally, it was an issue relating to whether or not it should be used in Iraq and if the population of Iraq is being contaminated and possibly the Gulf War veterans being contaminated, but now we are seeing that everybody is being contaminated. We are all Gulf War veterans.” Soldier Says Bush Worse Than Bin Laden Veterans and soldiers have been contacting “Over the Rainbow” after we guaranteed anonymity. A soldier serving in Iraq, already showing the symptoms of Gulf War Illness, expressed his bitterness. “I came over here thinking I was fighting to protect our freedoms. It was all bullshit. I’m sick and probably dying. I want to come home. But, that’s really scary because I’m contagious. If I come home I’ll give this shit to my wife and kids. “This was a suicide mission for all of us. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the bunch of them are no better than Osama bin Laden and those sleezebags. The government took patriots and turned us into terrorists. “It’s just like Osama bin Laden and 9/11. They sent us over here on a suicide mission to murder innocent people. “Actually our government is worse than bin Laden. At least when a car bomber volunteers, they tell the guy the truth. He knows he will die quickly and painlessly. When he’s blown to bits, he knows his people will take care of his wife and kids. “Nobody told me I was volunteering to be nuked by DU. The recruiter never said I was going die slowly and painfully. And when I’m dead they’ll dump on my family just like they’re dumping on the people over here.” The soldier asked if I had heard from public relations officer, Maj. Richard J. McNorton, about the radioactive showers at Camp Forward Danger. I wonder if the major thinks he lives a charmed life. He’s sucking up depleted uranium particles from Iraq whether he’s stationed downwind in CENTCOM headquarters in Qatar or across the Atlantic in Florida. Right now GIs in Iraq and Afghanistan are hunkered down as Cheney’s bloody adventure collapses around them. Our men and women are primarily concerned about looking out for each other. Who is McNorton looking out for? Obviously Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld wants to keep depleted uranium and the radioactive showers a secret from the officers and troops. If the Jews of Europe had known the Nazi shower rooms were poison gas chambers, it would have been much harder to get them to board the trains. DU must be the stuff of nightmares for Bush, Cheney, Condoleezza Rice and Rumsfeld. Can you imagine the four of them trying to corral United States Army, Reserves and National Guard troops into transport planes bound for Iraq after they find out about depleted uranium? ------- This is the fourth in a comprehensive series on depleted uranium dedicated to the New York National Guard to appear on the website We're Not in Kansas Anymore, where you will find sources, a bibliography, and suggestions for citizen action to eliminate DU munitions. www.notinkansas.us. Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get to your groups with one click. Know instantly when new email arrives http://us.click.yahoo.com/.7bhrC/MGxNAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. ***************************************************************** 36 Guardian Unlimited: Study sheds new light on Gulf war syndrome Sarah Boseley, health editor Tuesday May 16, 2006 The Guardian British soldiers serving in Iraq do not appear to be suffering ill-health on the scale reported by veterans of the Gulf war, scientists report today. Two studies, published online by the Lancet, suggest there may not be an Iraq war syndrome. But the research raises concerns for reservists and suggests they may need more help and support. The research was carried out by Simon Wessely and colleagues from the King's centre for military health research at King's College London, who also did the definitive studies on the illnesses now commonly described as Gulf war syndrome. They say they are surprised by the results, which are not in line with work carried out in the United States. One of their studies compares the mental and physical health of nearly 4,000 soldiers who went to Iraq with that of a similar number who did not. The second contrasts the results from Iraq with those from the Gulf war in 1991. Researchers found twice as many symptoms of ill-health in Gulf war veterans compared with servicemen who had not been deployed. But the new study of 3,642 male regular armed forces personnel serving in Iraq in 2003 found that their mental and physical health was not significantly different from that of 4,295 servicemen who were not deployed. That means, said Prof Wessely, "that at this moment in time there has not been a repeat of the Gulf war syndrome", though more illnesses may be reported in time. The study sheds new light on Gulf war syndrome. Depleted uranium was suspected of being a cause of illness in the Gulf. But it was also used in Iraq, which Prof Wessely says rules it out. Anthrax and plague vaccines were given, but without pertussis (whooping cough). Vaccinations were spaced out and more information was offered. It is possible, the study says, that "there was some relation between the specific pattern of medical countermeasures used in 1991 and ill-health". The researchers looked for symptoms of depression and anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), fatigue, alcohol use and physical symptoms among the servicemen. Most of the outcomes were the same for those in Iraq and those who stayed behind. About 20% in both groups had depression and anxiety, which can be interpreted as stress at being deployed and expecting to be deployed. In a major difference from the American studies, about 4% of both groups of UK military personnel suffered from PTSD - the figure among US service personnel was 20%. The researchers said that British personnel tended to be older and more experienced. Americans were also more often deployed in areas with the most fighting. UK reservists showed "much poorer health than those not deployed than we would have expected", said lead author Matthew Hotopf. Among those in Iraq, 26% suffered anxiety and depression and 6% had PTSD, compared with 16% and 3% at home. This was important, not least because reservists were being increasingly used in the military, he said. Useful links British army Royal Navy RAF Ministry of Defence Nato United Nations [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 37 Sydney Morning Herald: Govt must 'come clean on nuclear plans' www.smh.com.au May 15, 2006 - 12:14PM Federal government leaders must come clean on their intentions regarding nuclear fuel leasing to countries such as India and China, the Australian Greens said on Monday. The issue was highlighted by Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile on Sunday when he called for people to have an open mind on the subject of taking back nuclear waste from Australian uranium sold overseas. A cautious Prime Minister John Howard has urged people not to get too far ahead of themselves on the nuclear waste issue. Greens senator Christine Milne said turning Australia into a dumping ground for spent nuclear fuel from India was unacceptable. "If there is no safe disposal, there is no justification for mining in the first place," Senator Milne said in a statement. She challenged the government to name where in Australia it intended to store any spent nuclear fuel from India, China, or elsewhere. "(Mr) Howard and (Mr) Vaile should stop talking in code and admit that the motivation behind discussions with the US on the lease proposal is pure and simply to circumvent the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which prevents the export of uranium and nuclear technology to India," Senator Milne said. "As such Australians should reject it." Senator Milne said the Greens had longed campaigned for cradle-to-grave responsibility, from plastic bottles to uranium. "That is why, when there is no safe disposal for nuclear waste, it is irresponsible to generate the product in the first place," she said. "The world is already beset by terrorism. Nuclear waste on the high seas is a frightening prospect. "Our Pacific neighbours have already declared the Pacific to be nuclear free. We should respect that." © 2006 AAP Copyright © 2006. The Sydney Morning Herald. ***************************************************************** 38 AU ABC: NT politicians debate nuclear fuel 'leasing' 17:03 (ACDT)Monday, 15 May 2006. 14:03 (AWST) A Northern Territory politician says if Australia is to store the world's nuclear waste then it should also enrich uranium before it is sent overseas. Nuclear fuel "leasing" has been raised during Prime Minister John Howard's visit to the United States. One option involves sending uranium to the United States to be enriched before it is leased to a third country to generate electricity. The waste would then be sent back to Australia for storage. Environment group Friends of the Earth says nuclear waste returned to Australia would be brought through the Port of Darwin. The CLP Member for Solomon, Dave Tollner, says if that plan goes ahead, uranium enrichment should take place in the country where it is mined. "Enrichment is fundamentally a value-add of uranium and there are many people around Australia who are upset that we send raw material overseas for other countries to process and that processing should happen here," he said. Labor Member for Lingiari, Warren Snowdon, is certain the Federal Government would use the Territory's nuclear waste dump. "These people can do anything, and I'm sure that if it was their intention to do so, they would pass legislation now that they've got the majority in both houses to achieve that sort of objective," he said. "They are callous, they don't care, and they haven't consulted or discussed this matter with the Australian community." Jim Green from Friends of the Earth says the return of waste to Australia through Darwin would be a major operation. "There's just potential for terrorist activity or sabotage or accidents, and basically you're just dealing with extraordinarily toxic material," he said. "All the sorts of things that could go wrong have to be guarded against very closely. "Of course it would be very relevant to Darwin because the stuff would coming in through Darwin port." ***************************************************************** 39 NRC: USEC Inc.'s Proposed American Centrifuge Plant; Notice of FR Doc E6-7364 [Federal Register: May 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 93)] [Notices] [Page 28054-28055] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15my06-72] Availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement. SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the USEC Inc. (USEC) license application, dated August 23, 2004, for the possession and use of source, byproduct and special nuclear materials at its proposed American Centrifuge Plant (ACP) located near Piketon, Ohio. The scope of activities conducted under the license would include the construction, operation, and decommissioning of the ACP. Specifically, USEC proposes to use gas centrifuge technology to enrich the uranium-235 isotope found in natural uranium up to 10-weight percent. The enriched uranium would be used to manufacture nuclear fuel for commercial nuclear power reactors. The FEIS is being issued as part of NRC's decision-making process on whether to issue a license to USEC, pursuant to Title 10 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations parts 30, 40, and 70. Based on the evaluation in the FEIS, NRC environmental review staff have concluded that the proposed action will generally have small effects on the environment, though a few resource areas may experience moderate impacts. The FEIS reflects the final analysis of environmental impacts of USEC's proposal and it's alternatives including the consideration of public comments received by NRC. ADDRESSES: The FEIS may be accessed on the Internet at: by selecting ``NUREG-1834.'' Additionally, NRC maintains an Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. The FEIS and its appendices may also be accessed through NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at . If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to . The FEIS is also available for inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, U.S. NRC's Headquarters Building, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Upon written request and to the extent supplies are available, a single copy of the FEIS can be obtained for a fee by writing to the Office of Information Services, Reproduction and Distribution Services Branch, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; by electronic mail at ; or by fax at (301) 415-2289. A selected group of documents associated with the USEC facility may also be obtained from the Internet on NRC's USEC Web page: . In addition, all comments of Federal, State and local agencies, Indian tribes or other interested persons will be made available for public inspection when received. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions related to the safety review or overall licensing of the USEC facility, please contact Mr. Francis S. Echols at (301) 415-6981. For environmental review questions, please contact Mr. Matthew Blevins at (301) 415-7684. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This FEIS was prepared in response to an application submitted by USEC dated August 23, 2004, for the possession and use of source, byproduct and special nuclear materials at its proposed ACP located near Piketon, Ohio. The FEIS for the proposed ACP was prepared by NRC staff and its contractor, ICF Consulting, Inc., in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and NRC's regulations for implementing NEPA (10 CFR part 51). The FEIS is being issued as part of NRC's decision-making process on whether to issue a license to USEC, pursuant to 10 CFR parts 30, 40, and 70. The scope of activities conducted under the license would include the construction, operation, and decommissioning of the ACP. Specifically, USEC proposes to use gas centrifuge technology to enrich the uranium-235 isotope found in natural uranium up to 10-weight percent. The enriched uranium would be used to manufacture nuclear fuel for commercial nuclear power reactors. USEC proposes to locate the ACP in leased portions of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reservation in Piketon, OH. This is the same site as DOE's Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The ACP would consist of refurbished existing facilities and newly constructed facilities, primarily located in the southwestern portion of the central DOE reservation. NRC staff published a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS for the proposed ACP and to conduct a scoping process, in the Federal Register on October 15, 2004 (69 FR 61268). NRC staff accepted comments through February 1, 2005, and subsequently issued a Scoping Summary Report in April 2005 (ADAMS Accession Number: ML050820008). On September 9, 2005, NRC announced a public meeting to solicit comments on the draft EIS. The public meeting was held on September 29, 2005, in Piketon, Ohio. NRC accepted public comments through October 24, 2005. The FEIS provides summaries of public comments on the draft EIS and responses. The FEIS describes the proposed action and [[Page 28055]] alternatives to the proposed action, including the no-action alternative. NRC staff assesses the impacts of the proposed action and its alternatives on public and occupational health, air quality, water resources, waste management, geology and soils, noise, ecology resources, land use, transportation, historical and cultural resources, visual and scenic resources, socioeconomics, accidents and environmental justice. Additionally, the FEIS analyzes and compares the costs and benefits of the proposed action. Based on the evaluation in the FEIS, NRC environmental review staff has concluded that the proposed action would have small effects on the physical environment and human communities with the exception of: (1) Short-term moderate impacts associated with increases in particulate matter released to the air during the construction phase; (2) short- term moderate impacts related to increased traffic congestion during the construction phase; (3) potential moderate impacts due to transportation accidents; (4) potential moderate impacts from facility operation accidents; (5) moderate impacts associated with a potential operating extension of the DOE depleted uranium tails conversion facility; and (6) moderate employment impacts on the local communities associated with the construction and operation phases. After weighing the impacts, costs, and benefits of the proposed action and comparing alternatives, NRC staff, in accordance with 10 CFR part 51.91(d), set forth their final recommendation regarding the proposed action. NRC staff recommend that, unless safety issues mandate otherwise, the action called for is the approval of the proposed action (i.e., issue a license). NRC staff in the Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards are currently completing the safety review for USEC's license application and is currently scheduled for completion in June 2006. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of May 2006. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Scott C. Flanders, Deputy Director, Environmental and Performance Assessment Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. [FR Doc. E6-7364 Filed 5-12-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 40 AU ABC: Premier sounds warning over nuclear waste dump. 15/05/2006. ABC News Online Western Australian Premier Alan Carpenter says his fears have been confirmed that the Federal Government is trying to push a nuclear waste dump on the state. Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile has called on people to have an open mind about "nuclear leasing", which would require Australia to take back nuclear waste from uranium exports. The Federal Government has previously threatened to use its powers to override the state Government's ban on uranium mining. Mr Carpenter says the Federal Government's intentions are becoming clearer and he says Western Australians should beware. "Why would we want WA, with our lifestyle, with our environmental record, with our amazing economy, now to plunge itself into becoming a nuclear waste dump?" he said. "Why would we want to do that? I don't want that to happen." Mr Carpenter says the Federal Government has an ulterior motive in ramping up the issue. "Wake up, wake up to what's happening. Our State Government stands between this state being a nuclear waste dump and, if you don't believe it, look at what's been going on, look at the discussion in the media, look at what your Liberal Party politicians are saying and think about it," he said. ***************************************************************** 41 AU ABC: WA Govt rules out uranium mining, waste dump PM - Monday, 15 May , 2006 18:44:12 Reporter: David Weber PETER CAVE: The West Australian Government has ruled out any proposal for uranium mining, or a nuclear waste dump there. The Premier believes that while the Federal Government is pressuring the State to lift its mining ban. It's also planning to force the State to accept a waste dump. The Deputy Prime Minister wants an 'open mind' on the prospect of nuclear fuel 'leasing', whereby Australia would store the waste from uranium that it sells overseas. But there seems to be no sign of a backdown in the State which has plenty of uranium, and plenty of space. David Weber reports. DAVID WEBER: Nuclear fuel leasing is being discussed, but it appears to be a long way off from becoming a reality in Australia. The General Manager of the Uranium Information Centre, Ian Hore-Lacy, on this morning's AM program. IAN HORE-LACY: You'd need a lot of capital to set it up, but yes, it would make sense, and I'm sure that's why people are starting to think about it and talk about it. But I wouldn't see any sort of full-fledged fuel leasing getting underway here within 20-years. DAVID WEBER: WA has often been identified as the best state for nuclear waste. The WA Premier Alan Carpenter. ALAN CARPENTER: Do ordinary West Australian people want our Government – State government – to allow WA to be a nuclear waste dump? And do they understand what the Commonwealth Government is doing? The Commonwealth Government is crashing in over the top of our State Government to try to impose all sorts of things on us, one of which was to force us to allow mining of uranium, if they succeed in that, they will force us to become a nuclear waste dump. DAVID WEBER: The Premier's reason for knocking back uranium mining is that it was an issue during the last election. The then premier Geoff Gallop did raise it in several forums, and he linked it to the storage of waste. But the U-word was never really at the forefront. The campaign was dominated by the Liberals proposal for a water canal from the Kimberley. Yet, Alan Carpenter is confident that WA residents don't want to know about a nuclear dump. ALAN CARPENTER: Find me a person who wants that to happen and see if that person can get majority support out of the community, I guarantee that they won't. DAVID WEBER: Uranium issues are being raised in political circles nearly every day, but the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies says there needs to be better standard of debate. The Chief Executive Justin Walawski says no one is pushing for immediate change to State policy. JUSTIN WALAWSKI: It's fairly clear that for anything to change in Western Australia, it probably needs to change at the national level first. DAVID WEBER: The Federal Government wants Western Australia to make some changes, and Federal Labor seems to be going down that path as well, looking at changes to its three mines policy, but any changes in Western Australia would be a long way off? JUSTIN WALAWSKI: I think they would be. I think you'd be very hard pressed to look at even 2007. I think what mineral explorers in WA, and nationally in fact, are looking for is just a reasoned, rational debate to begin the process and to make sure that the general public are comfortable with what's being discussed, and what it would mean for Australia if mining outside the three mines policy, or an extension of that policy, were to occur. DAVID WEBER: Do you think that that reasoned debate that you've referred to is happening now? JUSTIN WALAWSKI: Oh, I would say not. I think it's still very emotional, and it's still being conducted largely in the media – and I'm not discouraging or critical of the media. I just think that for this to take place properly and in a reasoned way, it needs to be in other forums. And that would be through meetings with ministers, through conferences and events and seminars, and through media that's already playing a part. So those three things are needed. PETER CAVE: The Chief Executive of the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, Justin Walawski, speaking there to David Weber. ***************************************************************** 42 NEWS.com.au: Howard dumps nuclear waste plan - From: AAP By Maria Hawthorne in Washington May 16, 2006 PRIME Minister John Howard appears to have ruled out a United States plan to force countries which sell uranium to take back spent nuclear fuel rods for disposal. The US has proposed creating a new group of countries involved in processing uranium. Among the plans is a nuclear fuel leasing system, under which the supplier of the nuclear fuel would have responsibility for disposing of it once the country which leased it was finished with it. After meeting US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman in Washington today, Mr Howard said he had asked to be kept fully informed about the proposal. But he said it did not appear to apply to Australia as Australia was only supplying uranium, not nuclear fuel. This is an anti-proliferation strategy to reduce the number of countries involved in the processing of uranium, of the developing of nuclear fuel and obviously Australia would have to take into account its own interests as the repository of such large resources of uranium, Mr Howard said. The question of waste disposal is an issue for those who process the uranium and develop the nuclear fuel, rather than the supplier of the uranium, which if Australia were to remain a bare exporter would be the situation pertaining to us. Australia has some of the largest reserves of uranium in the world. What I indicated to him (Mr Bodman) was that we would want to be kept fully informed of how this proposal develops, that at this stage Australia was a willing seller of uranium subject to the provisions of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and our own separate safeguard arrangements and we would continue to be in that position, but we would want to be kept informed of any progress towards the formation of what could be regarded as a fuel reprocessing group. So I think what can safely be said about this is that it's a proposal that we want to follow. It's not something that we're proposing at this point. Search for more ***************************************************************** 43 cbs4denver.com: Attorneys Advise Patience For Rocky Flats Verdict May 15, 2006 9:50 am US/Mountain (AP) DENVER Attorneys involved in a huge federal class-action award for residents who live near the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant said it could be years before they begin seeing any money from the verdict. Attorney Merrill Davidoff said hundreds of people have called a hotline set up by the Philadelphia law firm that won the $554 million lawsuit on behalf of about 13,000 residents. There's no guarantee the verdict will survive the appeals process. And if it does, it could take a couple more years before the judge approves a distribution plan. Attorneys for the property owners have sent the judge a proposal to allocate the money. Attorneys for former plant operators Rockwell International and Dow Chemical have said they will appeal the verdict. Any damages will be paid by the federal government, whose contracts to operate Rocky Flats protected the companies from such verdicts. Defense attorneys were asking the trial judge to toss the verdict, saying emotional and political arguments in the trial poisoned jury deliberations. (© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material ***************************************************************** 44 lamonitor.com: State replies to plan for chromium The Online News Source for Los Alamos ROGER SNODGRASS, roger@lamonitor.com, Monitor Assistant Editor The New Mexico Environment Department responded to a plan developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory on what LANL planned to do about the apparent chromium problem discovered in a deep test well in Mortandad Canyon. NMED approved the plan with numerous required modifications and varying deadlines. "Among the requirements included in the modifications, LANL must prepare within 30 days a separate investigation plan to drill a new deep well to determine the vertical extent of chromium contamination in the regional aquifer near well R-28 that registered the high chromium levels. Drilling such a well is expected to provide valuable information concerning the protection of the nearest municipal drinking water supply well, PM-3, which is less than 1 mile from R-28," NMED announced on Friday. Other tasks include, prepare a schedule for the work, map pumping influences by existing water production wells, document reported data better, diagram well-construction proposals, and update conceptual and mathematical models of the regional aquifer. Another requirement, said NMED spokesperson Adam Rankin on Friday, is to prepare an historical investigation report on possible sources. "We want a separate review with more cross-indexed references - more detail on dates and volumes of discharges into the Sandia Canyon from the wastewater consolidation project," he said. Chromium was detected in the regional aquifer, not far from county drinking wells in early 2004, but went unnoticed until it was reported to NMED at the end of 2005. The chromium levels measured and reconfirmed early this year exceed state and federal drinking water standards. Robert Gilkeson, a geologist and critic of both the laboratory's hydrogeological program and NMED's oversight, commented in an e-mail Friday that the laboratory's work plan was inadequate for characterizing the plume of contamination. He wrote: "The borehole at well R-28 will do nothing to add to our knowledge of the immediate danger of the plume to the threatened drinking water wells PM-3 and O-4, which are the two most productive wells in the set of Los Alamos County wells." He continued to criticize the futility of accepting data from LANL characterization wells that have been shown not to provide reliable water samples. A public forum on "Regional Groundwater Contamination Issues from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)," will be hosted by the Northern New Mexico Citizens' Advisory Board on Wednesday at Duane Smith Auditorium, Los Alamos High School. There will be a poster session from 4-5:30 p.m., followed by the forum, which will include presentations by LANL, DOE, Los Alamos County, and a one-hour public comment period. A National Academy of Sciences panel investigating the issue will attend the forum, as a part of their meetings in Los Alamos this week. © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 45 lamonitor.com: Lab's new tech, talents go to market The Online News Source for Los Alamos ROGER SNODGRASS, , Monitor Assistant Editor EDITORS NOTE: This is the second part of a two-part article on Technical Venture Corporation's equity capital symposium this week for commercializing new technologies. Part one Friday focused on LANL's technology transfer strategy and license opportunities. This is about Los Alamos-related business ventures and innovative concepts that came out of the conference. ALBUQUERQUE - Judging by presentations at a regional venture capital symposium last week "disruptive" is the buzz word for new business growth these days, replacing tired (but still kicking) concepts like "cutting edge." Since 1993, Technology Ventures Corp. has been matching new technologies with an extensive pool of potential investors. TVC began in Albuquerque, as a part of Lockheed Martin's contract to manage Sandia National Laboratory. It has grown by its success and the support of the National Nuclear Security Administration to provide similar services for other labs and facilities in New Mexico, California and Nevada. During the main event of the symposium on Thursday, nineteen companies, trained, groomed and advised by TVC were given ten minutes each to make a positive impression on about a hundred investment advisors. TVC officials said over the course of the next year about 35 percent of the companies would typically be funded in their requests, ranging from $1 million to several millions. Four of the companies were related to Los Alamos in one form or another. Deep Web Technologies and FLUTe (Flexible Liner Underground Technologies), have former laboratory employees at the helm, Abe Lenderman and Carl Keller. Keller said, "I'm a graduate of Los Alamos." He joined the lab in 1966, working in underground nuclear testing containment design. That got him involved, he said, "in everything to do with earth sciences," an expertise he also applied to work with the defense nuclear agency and Yucca Mountain projects. FLUTe, based in Santa Fe, sells hydrological and environmental protection technologies and services, working on major contamination problems like the General Electric discharge of PCBs into the Hudson River. With 12 conceptual patents, many trade secrets, and a "clever simplicity," said Keller, the company is not just poised for growth, but actually already in rapid growth. Last year's sales are up 85 percent over the year before, he said, with huge growth waiting to be tapped. The $2 million funding request is meant, among other purposes, to enable Keller to get back to being a principal scientist, by hiring another CEO and a full-time salesman to remove those burdens from his shoulders. One company, Elemetric Instruments, LLC, has as its chief technical officer Yixiang Duan, a principal investigator in environmental science at Los Alamos, who holds five patents for technologies used in the companies' hazardous element detector. Duan is among laboratory nominees this year for a R 100 award. Claro Scientific, based in Massachusetts, has a series of collaborative research agreements with LANL to continue to develop a suite of real-time disease detectors for the medical market. Claro is seeking $15 million this year and $20 million next year, the second highest funding request, but forecasts $113 million in revenue by 2010. "Health care," a company summary notes, "is one of the last U.S. industries not to be significantly disrupted in recent years, suffering from high cost, slow test turnaround and variable quality." John Eller, one of the visiting entrepreneurs with LANL's tech transfer division, said Claro's business plan, is exactly what he means by a "hammer-and-nail" approach to new business development. A new biophotonic technology is the tool, he said. The nail the company wants to attack as its initial market is a costly medial problem known as sepsis - a severe bacterial infection of the bloodstream. Claro's CEO George Crawley said sepsis' cost to the medical industry is about $17 billion a year. Deep Web Technologies is seeking $1 million in investments to leverage recent contracts and two new $100,000, grants from the Department of Energy. The company features high-end, licensed search engine products that can find the "golden needles in the ever-growing haystack of information" on the Internet. Deep Web is located in White Rock, but Lenderman said the company and its 10 employees would be moving to Santa Fe soon. The reasons were that it would be easier to recruit people and because it's hard to find good office space in Los Alamos, he said. The buzz among investors after the presentations seemed to be about the last talk by Focus Energy Corporation's CEO, James Manatt. "In complexity lies opportunity," he said, describing the company's purpose as "looking for oil where oil is." The Roswell-based computational modeling company sees a way to use some Sandia laboratory technology to pinpoint billions of barrels of oil and gas deposits that have been left behind in depleted fields around the world. Focus Energy's targets include the Parmian Basin area in New Mexico and West Texas, and worldwide areas of carbonate geologies, which contain half the world's reserves. The company's claim is their demonstrated business plan returns 10 to 1 on its investment within five years. Over lunch, keynote speaker Steve Eichenlaub used stunning black-and-white photographs by Robert Park Harrison to illustrate some of the basic laws of investing in intellectual capital. The photos include the photographer, humorously and symbolically present in each landscape, images evocative of humanity venturing into a mysterious, half-made technical world. Eichenlaub, whose team has invested $150 million in 60 countries, narrated one of the pictures with some good advice to the entrepreneurs and their patrons. You must spread many seeds, he suggested, and blow hard, because only a small number of seeds bear fruit. © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 46 Knox News: Full construction resumes at Y-12 uranium complex Reinforcing steel problems addressed after reviews By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com May 15, 2006 OAK RIDGE - Full construction of a new complex for weapons-grade uranium has resumed here after a lengthy slowdown to address problems with the building's reinforcing steel. Steven Wyatt, a federal spokesman at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, said officials are still evaluating the effects on the $350 million project. "We remain behind schedule but the full impact on the project is yet to be determined. It is under review at this time," he said. Wyatt said the construction contractor, Caddell-Blaine, has increased its work force in recent weeks to more than 200 - roughly the same as before the problems were discovered in late January. Construction was shut down Feb. 3 because reinforcing steel - rebar - in parts of the building was inadequate or did not meet specifications in the original design. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said the "nonconformances" were widespread. Several reviews were conducted to determine the extent of the rebar problem and how to correct it, where possible. More steel was added in some areas still exposed, and officials decided other parts of the buildings met structural requirements, even where the rebar was shorted. BWXT, the contractor that manages Y-12 for the federal government, assigned additional engineering staff to oversee the project and changed some of the procedures to tighten controls, according to various reports from the defense safety board and the National Nuclear Security Administration. Wyatt said the Caddell-Blaine construction team only recently returned to full operations and that it was too early to be making up lost time. "The contractor still has a startup curve to get back to an optimum construction schedule," he said. The earlier timetable called for construction of the high-security complex to be completed in 2007. It's supposed to take about a year for workers to load the plant's stockpile of highly enriched uranium into the new facility. The weapons materials currently are stored in about half a dozen buildings at Y-12. The hardened facility is supposed to provide greater protection against terrorism and other threats, including earthquakes and tornadoes. Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. © 2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************