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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Rejects U.S. Offer to Talk on Iraq
2 Guardian Unlimited: Iran's 'carrot and stick' package
3 Guardian Unlimited: 6 Key Nations to Meet Next Week on Iran
4 IRNA: Pakistan for peaceful solution to Iran nuclear issue - Kasuri 
5 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: EC head invites Bush to act wisely 
6 AFP: Iran has no nuclear ambitions: vice president tells Pakistan -
7 AFP: Russian official set for nuclear talks in Iran
8 IRNA: President: Iran's nuclear success due to people's role
9 AFP: Be wise, Iran cleric tells Bush and Blair 
10 AFP: Iraq respects Iran's right to nuclear program 
11 AFP: Iran says ready to retaliate against any US strike 
12 IRNA: Safavi warns US, Israel against meddling in Iran's internal af
13 AFP: Iran faces choice whether to remain isolated - Bush 
14 IRNA: EU, Russia reiterate common ground on Iran 
15 AFP: US envoy rules out new incentives to draw North Korea back to t
16 AFP: US says no compromises on North Korea 
17 US: Las Vegas SUN: Senate confirms appointments to DOE, NRC 
18 AFP: US lawmakers want Pakistan to reopen probe on illicit nuclear n
19 AFP: India admits more work to be done on nuclear deal with US -
20 UN Nuclear Chief's Recipe For Safer World: Development Not Weapons
21 Guardian Unlimited: UN nuclear head fears new cold war
22 BBC NEWS: Your electricity choices revealed
23 BBC NEWS: Blair urges United Nations reform
24 Comment is free: The local energy revolution
25 AFP: US talks offer no longer stands - Mottaki - 
26 Comment is free: The real nuclear threat
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
27 US: [NukeNet] Bush in PA Promoting New Nukes; Protesters Rally
28 IPS-English EUROPE: Baltic States Plan Nuclear Expansion
29 IBNLive: NTPC to venture into N-power project
30 Sydney Morning Herald: Nuclear consultant's report backs nuclear pow
31 AU ABC: Nuclear power economically viable - ANSTO
32 AU ABC: Stanhope says ACT, NT site most likely for nuclear reactor
33 Rediff: No new conditions on N-deal - US
34 Rediff: N-deal: India won't test but won't sign on it 
35 RIA Novosti: Decision on Chernobyl waste storage could be made by ye
36 US: Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Bush loves nuclear power 
37 US: ajc.com: Nuclear foes give PSC earful | 
38 US: NRC: NRC Continues Monitoring, Oversight of Groundwater Contamin
39 US: NRC: Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., Environmental Assessment and
40 US: NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collecti
41 Daily News: Venezuelan energy law to govern nuclear issues
42 Boston Globe: Govt approves increase in Seabrook power - 
43 Telegraph: Questions over nuclear power and influence
44 AU ABC: Science Minister backs nuclear power
45 AFP: Iran reiterates its right to peaceful use of nuclear energy -
46 NEWS.com.au: Report backs latest nuke power 
 
                          NUCLEAR SECURITY
 
47 Guardian Unlimited: 34 Countries Take Part in WMD Drills
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
48 US: Las Vegas SUN: Mushroom cloud blast in Nevada delayed indefinite
49 Bellona: Multipurpose nuclear submarine Volgograd scrapped 
50 US: Columbus Dispatch: Deal saves cleanup workers’ benefits 
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
51 AP Wire: Future of MOX plant at SRS uncertain
52 US: Bradenton Herald: Lawyers grapple over papers
53 US: sfweekly.com: Toxic Acres
54 Telegraph: Sellafield MP's trip paid by US group
55 AU ABC: Tripodi says dump listing should worry Broken Hill. 
56 US: El Paso News Leader: Groups demand better safety in nuclear wast
57 News & Star: Plea over sell-off at nuke plant
 
                           PEACE
 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
58 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Judge: DOE must remove nuclear waste
59 Platts: House passes bill approving funding for DOE nuclear program
60 Blair: we don't want conflict with Iran, we're too busy - Yahoo!
61 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Rocky 
62 TimesUnion.com: Residents call for Knolls cleanup 
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
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 1 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Rejects U.S. Offer to Talk on Iraq
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Friday May 26, 2006 12:31 PM

AP Photo BAG114 

By QAIS AL-BASHIR 

Associated Press Writer 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The Iranian foreign minister on Friday
rejected a U.S. offer of direct talks on Iraq, saying the
Americans had raised ``other issues.'' 

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said during a visit to
Baghdad that Tehran had decided to hold the talks but changed
its mind. He did not say what the other issues were. 

``We have considered this and decided to have such a direct talk
in the framework of the issue of Iraq,'' Mottaki said during a
news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. 

``Unfortunately, the American side tried to use this decision as
a propaganda and they raised some other issues. They tried to
create a negative atmosphere and that is why the decision that
was taken for the time being is suspended,'' he added. 

In a shift from prior policy, the two sides had expressed
willingness earlier this year to begin a dialogue focusing on
Iraq. 

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Sunday that he was ready
to talk with the Iranians about their relationship with the
neighboring country. And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
went on Arab television Tuesday to say Washington recognizes
Iran's role in Iraq, as long as it is constructive. 

U.S. officials have said the talks would be specifically about
Iraq and would not include the dispute over Tehran's disputed
nuclear program. 

Mottaki, who was leading the first high-level Iranian delegation
to Baghdad since Iraq's new government was formed last week,
also said a decision on the presence of foreign forces in Iraq
should be left up to the Iraqis. 

``What we are looking for and may we call it concern for
Iranians is security of our country,'' he said. ``Thus in such a
case definitely this presence will affect negatively our
country.'' 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 2 Guardian Unlimited: Iran's 'carrot and stick' package
 
From Press Association   

[UP] 

Press Association Friday May 26, 2006 4:38 AM

Foreign ministers from six key nations will probably meet late
next week to take a final decision on a package of incentives to
reward Iran if it suspends uranium enrichment and penalties if
it doesn't, a senior UN diplomat has said. 

The ministerial meeting will follow up on Wednesday's meeting in
London of political directors from the five veto-wielding
nations on the UN Security Council and Germany, which has been
leading international efforts to rein in Iran's nuclear
programme. 

US Under-secretary of State Nicholas Burns said that Washington
was "very pleased" at the "very productive, very constructive"
talks. British Foreign Office representative John Sawer also
spoke of "good progress" on eliminating differences about how
jointly to pressure Iran on enrichment. 

"The positive aspect," said Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones
Parry, "is that they're moving closer to an agreement on the
content of the package." 

"The package concept is a signal to Iran of what is available if
they comply" with the demands of the International Atomic Energy
Agency including suspending enrichment -- and the alternative of
"running into direct confrontation and the possibility of
sanctions," he said. 

The political directors are now reporting back to their foreign
ministers and recommending that they meet to finalise the
package of incentives and disincentives to be presented to Iran,
the senior diplomat said. 

© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved. 
		 	 	   
      Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 3 Guardian Unlimited: 6 Key Nations to Meet Next Week on Iran
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Friday May 26, 2006 4:31 AM

AP Photo ISL111 

By EDITH M. LEDERER 

Associated Press Writer 

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Foreign ministers from six key nations
will likely meet late next week to decide incentives to reward
Iran if it suspends uranium enrichment or penalize the country
if it doesn't, a senior U.N. diplomat said Thursday. 

The ministerial meeting will follow up on Wednesday's meeting in
London of political directors from the five veto-wielding
nations on the U.N. Security Council and Germany who have been
leading international efforts to rein in Iran's nuclear program. 

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said Thursday that
Washington was ``very pleased'' at the ``very productive, very
constructive'' talks. 

``They're moving closer to an agreement on the content of the
package,'' Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said. 

``The package concept is a signal to Iran of what is available
if they comply'' with the demands of the International Atomic
Energy Agency including suspending enrichment - and the
alternative of ``running into direct confrontation and the
possibility of sanctions,'' he said. 

The political directors are now reporting back to their foreign
ministers and recommending that they meet to finalize the
package of incentives and disincentives to be presented to Iran,
the senior diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity
because the talks were private. 

The meeting will probably take place later next week and the
ministers will decide the location after consultations on their
schedules, the diplomat said. 

At Wednesday's meeting in London, the political directors spent
six hours looking at the package of incentives on trade,
economic cooperation and political dealings and the possible
sticks if Tehran doesn't agree to suspend uranium enrichment,
the diplomat said. 

If the ministers agree on the package, it will be presented to
the Iranians. 

There was no discussion of the three most contentious issues in
a resolution backed by Britain, France and the United States to
make their previous demand for Iran to suspend enrichment -
which Tehran ignored - mandatory, the senior diplomat said. 

Russia and China, which have close strategic and political ties
to Iran, have questioned whether it should be mandatory, whether
it should be under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter which leaves
open the possibility of military enforcement, and whether Iran
should be declared a threat to international peace and security. 

These issues could be discussed at next week's ministerial
meeting in addition to the package of incentives and
disincentives, but that would be up to the ministers to decide,
the senior diplomat said. 

Meanwhile, the senior U.N. diplomat said the political directors
were already looking beyond the resolution. At Wednesday's
meeting, they also discussed what should happen next if Iran
does not comply with the resolution's demands, the diplomat
said. 

--- 

Associated Press Writer David Stringer contributed to this
report from London 
		 	 	   
      Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 4 IRNA: Pakistan for peaceful solution to Iran nuclear issue - Kasuri -

Islamabad, May 25, IRNA

Pakistan-Mottaki 

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri on Thursday
reiterated his country's established position that Iran's
nuclear issue should be resolved thorough diplomatic means alone
and that resort to coercive methods would only endanger regional
security and stability.

 On the Iranian nuclear issue, Kasuri said that Iran has rights
and obligations, being a signatory to the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, Kasuri told his Iranian counterpart
Manouchehr Mottaki, according to a Foreign Office statement.

 Kasuri said Pakistan has adopted a principled position on the
issue, underlining the need for flexibility by all sides, to
achieve mutually acceptable solution to the issue.

 The two foreign ministers discussed bilateral matters as well
as regional and international issues, the statement said.

 The Iranian foreign minister is in Islamabad as the head of
Iranian delegation to the 16th Session of the Iran-Pakistan
Joint Economic Commission, held from 24-25 May 2006.

 Mottaki conveyed to Kasuri the Iranian decision to ratify the
Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) which was signed by the two
countries in 2005.

 The PTA will contribute to expansion of bilateral trade and
enable the two counties to meet the target of Dlrs 1 billion in
annual turnover set by the prime minister, the statement said.

 He welcomed the Iranian decision and felt that it would go a
long way in achieving the old vision of Regional Cooperation for
Development, which has now turned into the Economic Cooperation
Organization.

 The two countries have also decided to establish a Joint
Investment Company to be based in Karachi, with a capital of
Dlrs 25 million.

 The Iranian foreign minister voiced his country's determination
to join Pakistan in the expansion of the road and railway
 infrastructure between the two countries and the decision to
open a branch of Iranian Melli Bank in Karachi.

 The two foreign ministers also discussed other aspects of
bilateral relations between Iran and Pakistan and reviewed
regional developments, including the situation in Iraq and
Afghanistan, the statement said.

 They discussed further measures to promote regional cooperation
within the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), of which
both countries are founding members, the statement said.

 Mottaki invited Kasuri to visit Iran. The Pakistani foreign
minister accepted the invitation, the statement said.		 				 		
			
*****************************************************************
 5 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: EC head invites Bush to act wisely 

  2006/05/26   
  
Tehran, May 26 - Tehran's substitute Friday Prayers Leader,
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said Iranian nation will never let any
power to deprive them from their rights. 

Rafsanjani reiterated "Our enemies should know that Iranians
have never let their enemies to divest them of their rights." 

He called American President Gorge W. Bush and Britain Prime
Minister Tony Blair to act wisely in their handling of Iran's
nuclear programs. 

"We still expect the world power seekers to have sense and not
to create chaos and unrest in our region." 

Describing Islamic Republic of Iran's role in seeking peace and
faith in the world, the Expediency Council Chief added, "The
holy Quran had never invite us to adventurousness." 

In another part of his speech, Rafsanjani reffered to Bush and
Blair admission that mistakes were made in Iraq, adding you will
make such confessions about Iran too. 

"You will realize your mistakes," Friday Prayer leader said.   

  Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran 
Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. 
E-Mail: <font color="#ff0000" face>Webmaster@IRIBNEWS.ir</font> 
*****************************************************************
 6 AFP: Iran has no nuclear ambitions: vice president tells Pakistan -
    
  [Shaukat Aziz(R) greets Parviz Davoudi]   

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - A top Iranian official told Pakistan's
President Pervez Musharraf nuclear weapons had "no place" in his
country's defence strategy, the foreign ministry said.

First Vice President Parviz Davoudi also said during a meeting
with Musharraf that Iran was ready to give necessary assurances
it was not trying to make atomic weapons, it said in a statement.

Musharraf reiterated Pakistan's desire for a peaceful settlement
of the nuclear row between Iran and international community led
by the United States which accuses Tehran of secretly developing
nuclear weapons.

The Iranian leader "appreciated Pakistan's principled stand and
explained that nuclear weapons had no place in Iran's defence
strategy," the statement said.

The Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project was also discussed
during the meeting that followed the signing of agreements to
promote bilateral trade and economic ties, it said.

Davoudi arrived on Thursday for a two-day visit in connection
with the 16th session of the Pakistan-Iran joint economic
commission, which also brought Foreign Minister Manouchehr
Mottaki here. 

    Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! UK Limited. All rights reserved.
AFP '); [ src=] 
*****************************************************************
 7 AFP: Russian official set for nuclear talks in Iran

 Thu May 25, 9:23 AM ET 		 	 

TEHRAN (AFP) - Russian National Security Council secretary Igor 
Ivanov is to visit Iran" /> in the coming days for talks on the 
Islamic republic's disputed nuclear programme, an official source 
said Thursday. 

 The source said Ivanov had been invited by his Iranian
counterpart, Ali Larijani, who is also Iran's top nuclear
negotiator. No further details were given. 

The trip will follow a meeting in London on Wednesday of senior
officials from Britain, France, China, Russia and the United
States -- the five permanent United Nations" /> Security Council
members -- as well as Germany. 

The big powers discussed a European proposal aimed at breaking
Iran's determination to enrich uranium, a process which can be
extended from making reactor fuel to nuclear weapons. 

The foreign ministers of six world powers look set to meet
shortly to decide how to proceed on the crisis after progress
was apparently made at the London meeting. 

Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic
Energy Agency" /> , has also suggested that Tehran was willing
to compromise on enrichment. 

	 		 			
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 8 IRNA: President: Iran's nuclear success due to people's role

Tehran, May 25, IRNA

Iran-Ahmadinejad-Nuclear 

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the attempts of some big
powers to prevent Iran's access to nuclear technology for
peaceful purposes actually emanates from their fear to
acknowledge the independence of the Iranian nation and its role
as a model for other nations.

 Speaking at a meeting with members of Chekad Azadandishan
Coalition, he added, "This is mainly because Iran's achievements
in all fields further motivates the vigilance of the world free
and independent nations, which eventually will lead to the
downfall of the global arrogance."
 According to a report released by the Media Department of the
Presidential Office on Thursday, the chief executive said that
these powers have no anxiety about Iran's access to nuclear
weapons.

 Stressing that nuclear weapons never convert any country into a
superpower, he said that accordingly the ability to affect the
global and international equations does not make a country a
world power.

 "Today, as a consequence of Iran's achievement in accessing
nuclear technology for peaceful use some international equations
have changed and Iran has changed into a decisive power," he
said.

 Ahmadinejad said that Iran's success in the nuclear field is
owing to the prominent role of Iranian people and added that its
fruitful results belong to all world freedom-seeking nations.

 The president said that materialization of justice in its
Islamic concept is distinct from its Marxist or Liberalist
equivalent.

 "In the Islamic sense, justice indicates providing the
opportunity for the growth and elevation of all human beings. It
does not mean that the government should administer all the
current affairs. Efforts should, therefore, be made to encourage
people to play a major role in all domains," added the president.

 The Chekad Azadandishan Coalition is made of seven parties and
institutions.
*****************************************************************
 9 AFP: Be wise, Iran cleric tells Bush and Blair 

 Fri May 26, 8:33 AM ET 		 	 

TEHRAN (AFP) - Top Iranian cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has 
called on the US president and the British prime minister to act 
"wisely" in their handling of Iran" /> Iran's controversial 
nuclear program. 

 "We still expect the world power seekers to have sense and not
to create chaos and unrest in our region," Rafsanjani said to
George W. Bush and Tony Blair" /> Tony Blairin his Friday prayer
sermon carried live on state radio. 

Bush said Thursday that it was up to Iran to determine whether
it remains isolated by the world community because of its
nuclear program. 

Referring to Bush and Blair's admission that mistakes were made
in Iraq" /> Iraq, the influential former president said: "You
will make such confessions about Iran too. You will realize your
mistakes". 

Britain, France and Germany have prepared a package of
incentives to try to persuade Iran to suspend enriching uranium. 

The United States and its allies are also pushing for a UN
Security Council resolution that could eventually trigger
sanctions against Iran, which they accuse of secretly moving
toward making a nuclear bomb. 

Iran insists its nuclear program is for energy purposes and that
it has a right to uranium enrichment as a signatory to the
nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. 

A process in the nuclear fuel cycle, uranium enrichment, can
also make the core of an atom bomb. 

"Iran's historic experience shows it will not allow anyone to
deprive this country of its rights," said Rafsanjani, who still
heads Iran's powerful Expediency Council. 

The head of Iran's powerful ideological army, the Revolutionary
Guards, vowed Friday that any US, British and Israeli
"interference in Iran's affairs or attacks on its soil will be
faced by an unpredictable response". 

"The enemy forces in the region are vulnerable," General Yahya
Rahim Safavi said before the sermon. 

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 10 AFP: Iraq respects Iran's right to nuclear program 

 Fri May 26, 10:46 AM ET 		 	 

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said his 
country respected the right of Iran" /> to develop nuclear 
technology but expressed concern over mounting tension in the 
region. 

 "We respect the right of the Islamic Republic to acquire
scientific knowledge (in this area), in respect of international
law, and we have confidence in the wisdom of the Iranian leaders
to find a solution to this problem," Zebari said following
discussions with his Iranian counterpart. 

But he added: "We do not want any of our neighbors and of any
friendly country possessing weapons of mass destruction. 

"We confirm our respect for the right of Iran and all countries
who (want nuclear power) with guarantees and promises to prevent
an arms race in the region and deal transparently with the
IAEA." 

"We are against all tension in the region at this time because
we think that everyone would lose in this case," he emphasized. 

Chief Iranian diplomat Manouchehr Mottaki's trip is the first
high-level visit to Iraq" /> by an Iranian official since
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election win in June of last
year. Former Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharazi visited Iraq
in May 2005. 

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 11 AFP: Iran says ready to retaliate against any US strike 

 by Kamal Taha Fri May 26, 4:43 PM ET 		 	 

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iran" /> warned it will retaliate in the event of 
a US strike, during the highest level visit of an Iranian 
official to neighboring Iraq" /> since President Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad won power in Tehran last summer. 

 Meanwhile, 18 people were killed in attacks across the country
as British Prime Minister Tony Blair" /> , wrapping up a visit
to Washington, appealed for countries to put their differences
behind on Iraq and rally behind the new government. 

"In the event that America launches a strike from any place,
Iran will retaliate by targeting that place," Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Mottaki told journalists in Baghdad after expressing
his support for Iraq's new government. 

He confirmed his country's decision not to hold direct talks
with the United States over the situation in Iraq, while saying
he thought "the risks of a confrontation are minimal." 

"I don't think the United States is in a position to create a
new crisis for US taxpayers," Mottaki said. 

US President George W. Bush" /> has refused to rule out a
military strike against Iran if negotiations fail to calm
suspicions it is trying to develop a nuclear weapon. 

Washington believes Iran is using its civil nuclear energy
program as a cover to produce nuclear weapons and has demanded
Iran halt uranium enrichment activity. 

"The solution to the Iran nuclear issue will come through
cooperation or confrontation," Mottaki said, denouncing what he
described as a double standard in international nuclear policy. 

"For our part, we prefer diplomatic means. (But) we are ready
for any eventualities and we have told that to the Americans." 

Mottaki's visit comes amid swirling British and US accusations
that Iran is fomenting and supporting recent violence in the
southern Shiite city of Basra. 

Mottaki, who pledged Iran would "support Iraq's reconstruction
until the Iraqi people are able to handle their own fate,"
declined to answer the allegations when asked by a journalist to
respond to them. 

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the issue had been
raised during a "very open discussion" with Mottaki at a press
conference. 

"We did raise all the concerns," Zebari said adding that
security protocols between the two countries were in place. 

The last such high-level visitor from Tehran was former Iranian
foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi who visited Baghdad in May 2005. 

Relations between Iran and Iraq, which fought a bloody war from
1980-1988, have improved dramatically since the fall of Saddam
Hussein" /> and the coming to power of Iraq's long
disenfranchised Shiite majority -- many of whose leaders once
sought refuge in Iran. 

"Iraq will never again be a threat to Iran," Zebari said, while
asking that his neighbors not take advantage of Baghdad's
current difficulties by interfering in its affairs. 

Without naming names, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki accused
institutions and charitable organizations in neighboring
countries of funding armed groups in Iraq in an interview with
Dubai-based TV news channel Al-Arabiya on Thursday. 

Maliki said it was the neighbors' obligation to control the
activities of these organizations if they want normal relations
with Iraq. 

In Washington, Blair urged the international community to put
behind its differences over the 2003 US-led invasion. 

"This should be a moment of reconciliation not only in Iraq but
in the international community," Blair said in a speech on
foreign policy at Georgetown University in Washington. 

"The war split the world," he said. "The struggle of Iraqis for
democracy should unite it." 

Blair said though success in Iraq would reverberate across the
Middle East, a more concerted and concentrated effort was needed
throughout the region, especially in tackling Iran's
controversial nuclear program. 

"I don't believe we will be secure unless Iran changes," he
said. 

Meanwhile, violence raged on in Iraq as 18 people were killed in
a series of attacks, including eight in a car bombing near one
of Baghdad's main bus stations, an official at the defense
ministry said. 

In a particularly grisly discovery in Muqdadiyah, north of the
restive city of Baquba, authorities found five decapitated
bodies of Shiites who had been kidnapped over the past few days,
a security source said. 

Five corpses were also found in Baquba. 	 		 			
													 			 			 				
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 12 IRNA: Safavi warns US, Israel against meddling in Iran's internal affairs - 

Tehran, May 26, IRNA

Iran-IRGC-Safavi 

Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major
General Yahya Rahim Safavi warned US and the Zionist regime of
Israel here Friday not to interfere in Iran's internal affairs.

 Addressing Friday prayers worshipers at Tehran University
campus, the commander said, "Iran's security and intelligence
forces are completely aware of enemies' movements in the region."
 He warned enemies to avoid making new conspiracies against Iran
as the powerful Iranian nation and its armed forces will be
swift to give crushing response to their plots.

 He further stressed that the IRGC and Basij (volunteer) forces
would defend Iran's sustainable security and its independence.

 Safavi further warned those fanning discord among different
Iranian groups inside the country that their acts would be
considered as a "treason."
 "Any acts of fomenting discord among nation will be regarded as
a treason against the nation and the IRGC and Basij forces would
strongly counter betrayers," warned the commander.


*****************************************************************
 13 AFP: Iran faces choice whether to remain isolated - Bush 

 Fri May 26, 2:02 AM ET 		 	 

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush" /> President 
George W. Bushsaid that it was up to Iran" /> Iranto determine 
whether it remains isolated by the world community because of its 
nuclear program. 

 "The Iranians walked away from the table. They made the
decision, and the choice is theirs," Bush said at the White
House after meeting at the White House with British Prime
Minister Tony Blair" /> Tony Blair. 

Britain, France and Germany have prepared a package of
incentives to try to persuade Iran to suspend enriching uranium. 

The United States and its allies are also pushing for a UN
Security Council resolution that could eventually trigger
sanctions against Tehran. China and Russia oppose any punitive
sanctions on Iran. 

Bush said that should Iran choose to cooperate with the world
community by ending the uranium enrichment, an "enhanced
package" of benefits awaits. 

"If they would like to see an enhanced package, they have to
suspend, for the good of the world," the US president said. 

"It's incredibly dangerous to think of an Iran with a nuclear
weapon," Bush added. 

Although the US-British summit focused largely on events in
Iraq" /> Iraq, Bush said he and Blair "spent a great deal of
time talking about the Iranian issue." 

"One of the goals that Tony and I had was to convince others in
the world that Iran with a nuclear weapon would be very
dangerous," he said. 

Bush said that the United States and Britain also spent a lot of
time upstairs "talking about how to convince the Iranians that
this coalition we put together is very serious," including
possible sanctions to be applied by the United Nations" />
United NationsSecurity Council. 

The US leader stressed that the international community's
quarrel is not with Iranians, but with the current Iranian
regime. 

"We have no beef with the Iranian people," the US president
said. 

"As a matter of fact, the United States respects the culture and
history of Iran. And we want there to be an Iran that's
confident and ... we want women in Iran to be free. 

"At the same time, we're going to continue to work with a
government that is intransigent, that won't budge," Bush said. 

"We've got to continue to work to convince them that we're
serious, that if they want to be isolated from the world, we
will work to achieve that. 

That refrain was picked up by Blair. 

"We've got absolutely no quarrel with the Iranian people," the
prime minister said. 

"Iran is a great country, but it needs a government that is
going to recognize that part of being a great country is to be
in line with your international obligations and to cease
supporting those people in different parts of the world who want
-- by terrorism and violence -- to disrupt the process of
democracy," Blair said. 

He added: "They must understand that the word of the
international community is sure and is clear, and that is that
the obligations that are upon them have got to be adhered to. 

Top officials from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and
the United States met in London on Wednesday to discuss what
action to take against Iran, which has been accused by
Washington and its allies of secretly moving toward making a
nuclear bomb. 

Meanwhile, foreign ministers from the six nations were planning
to meet next week in a still-undetermined European capital to
discuss the Iran nuclear dispute. 	 		 			

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 14 IRNA: EU, Russia reiterate common ground on Iran 

Sochi, Russia, May 26, IRNA

Iran-EU-Russia 

Both the European Union (EU) and Russia stand for a diplomatic
solution to the dispute over Iran's nuclear program, Austrian
Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel, whose country currently holds the
rotating EU presidency, said on Thursday.

 Leaders at the EU-Russia summit expressed grave concern over
the Iranian nuclear issue and they reiterated the need to solve
the problem by diplomatic and peaceful means, Schussel said
after EU and Russian leaders met in the Black Sea resort of
Sochi.

 "We share the same objective: a diplomatic and peaceful
solution to the Iranian nuclear problem," he told a press
conference.

 Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin had talks
with Schussel, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso
and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on further developing
Russia-EU relations and also on some international and regional
issues.

 Putin said they discussed the Iranian nuclear program, the
Middle East peace process and the situation on the Balkans.

 Russia share the same stand on the Iranian nuclear issue with
the EU, he said.

 The discussion showed Russia and the EU shared the same or
similar positions on many European and global issues, which
provides a basis for effective cooperation in strengthening
security in Europe and in the world as a whole, the Russian
leader said.

*****************************************************************
 15 AFP: US envoy rules out new incentives to draw North Korea back to talks - 

  [Christopher Hill]   

SEOUL (AFP) - The US envoy to six-party nuclear disarmament
talks again ruled out any new incentives to draw North Korea
back to the negotiating table as he arrived in South Korea.

Instead, US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill urged
the Stalinist state to stick to an agreement reached at the
talks last September.

"It's not up to us to create some new incentive structures for
them to come and implement the September agreement," he said as
he arrived from China.

"The incentive  structures are already in the September 
agreement."

In September, North Korea agreed to abandon its nuclear weapons
program in return for security, diplomatic and energy aid
guarantees.

But it boycotted the talks in November, protesting US financial
sanctions on it for alleged money laundering and counterfeiting.

Hill, who is to meet his South Korean counterpart Chun Young-Woo
and other officials during his two-day visit, said there was "no
breakthrough" in efforts to lure North Korea back to the
six-nation forum.

"I am not sure this is about US economic (sanctions). I think
this is about a country, DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of
Korea), that just has trouble making up its mind," he said.

North Korea has refused to return to the talks unless the United
States lifts its sanctions.

Hill said a new peace mechanism could be discussed with the
North in line with the agreement when the six-party talks resume.

"We are prepared to work on the implementation of all the
elements of the September agreement, and you recall one of the
elements there is that the parties agreed to work on a peace
mechanism in an appropriate forum with appropriate players.

"So of course, we'll be prepared to implement that element as
well."

In Beijing, Hill had said Washington would not offer North Korea
any concessions to lure it back to negotiatiions.

"I don't think the agreement needs to be changed, I don't think
the agreement needs to be sweetened," he said after talks with
Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei.

"I think it is time the DPRK understands where their interests
lie and come back to the talks," he said. 

    Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! UK Limited. All rights reserved.

AFP '); [ src=] 
*****************************************************************
 16 AFP: US says no compromises on North Korea 

 Thu May 25, 11:44 AM ET 		 	 

BEIJING (AFP) - The United States will not offer concessions to 
lure North Korea" /> back to the nuclear negotiating table, the 
US envoy to six-nation talks on the issue said after meeting 
Chinese officials. 

 US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill insisted North
Korea should stick to an agreement made in the six-party talks
in September last year, and that the United States was not
prepared to back down in any way. 

"I don't think the agreement needs to be changed, I don't think
the agreement needs to be sweetened," Hill told journalists
after meeting with his Chinese counterpart in the negotiations,
Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei. 

During the September round of the six-nation talks, North Korea
agreed to abandon its nuclear weapons program in return for
security, diplomatic and energy aid guarantees. 

But it pulled out of the talks in November after the United
States placed financial sanctions on Pyongyang over alleged
money laundering and counterfeiting. 

North Korea has said it will not return to the talks unless the
United States lifts the sanctions, but Washington has refused to
budge. 

"I think it is time the DPRK understands where their interests
lie and come back to the talks," Hill said, referring to the
reclusive Stalinist state by its official name, the Democratic
Peoples Republic of Korea. 

"We don't have any plans to talk them down from where we are
now. They're going to have to climb out of that position on
their own." 

China is the host of the six-nation talks, which began in 2003
in an effort to end North Korea's nuclear program. They bring
together the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia. 

Hill met with Vice Foreign Minister Wu on Thursday during a
lightning visit before heading to Seoul to continue talks on the
nuclear issue with South Korean officials. 

Hill said China, which has repeatedly urged all parties to the
talks to demonstrate "flexibility", had not tried to persuade
the United States to drop the sanctions during his discussions
on Thursday. 

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters
that China had been working hard to break the stalemate. 

"For the past months, we have been making positive efforts for
the resumption of the talks and break through the impasse," Liu
said. 

"We noticed some people in other countries accuse China for not
playing its due role in promoting the six-party talks. We can't
accept such talk." 

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 17 Las Vegas SUN: Senate confirms appointments to DOE, NRC 

Today: May 26, 2006 at 16:17:58 PDT 

ASSOCIATED PRESS 

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate on Friday confirmed President
Bush's nominee to head the Department of Energy office that
oversees Yucca Mountain, after Nevada Sens. Harry Reid and John
Ensign lifted their opposition. 

Edward F. "Ward" Sproat III was confirmed by voice vote as
director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. 

The Senate also confirmed the nomination of Reid's former aide
Greg Jaczko for a seat on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jaczko has been serving on the commission for about a
year-and-a-half under a recess appointment. 

Reid and Ensign used a procedural "hold" to block Sproat's
confirmation after Bush nominated him in September, saying they
wanted answers about the administration's plans for nuclear
waste storage. 

Reid's spokeswoman, Sharyn Stein, said they lifted the hold
earlier this month after they were given the full investigative
report compiled by the DOE Inspector General on an e-mail
controversy over work falsification on the Yucca Mountain
project. 

Sproat is a nuclear industry executive who was the lead
negotiator in a nuclear waste settlement that Chiacgo-based
energy company Exelon Corp. completed with DOE in 2004. 

"His confirmation will allow us to continue on our path forward
to opening Yucca Mountain as our nation's repository for spent
nuclear fuel," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said in a
statement. 

The Senate confirmed Jaczko for the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission by voice vote along with two other NRC nominees:
Peter Lyons, a nuclear policy adviser to Energy Committee
Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M.; and Dale Klein, who will replace
retiring commissioner Nils Diaz as chairman. 

Jaczko will serve out the remainder of a five-year term, ending
in 2008. 

"Dr. Jaczko has served honorably in his year and a half with the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission," Reid said in a statement. "I am
pleased that the full Senate confirmed him to the post today so
he can serve Nevada and the nation for his full term." 

Jaczko initially was opposed by Senate Republicans; he got his
recess appointment as part of a deal in which Reid agreed to
lift his hold on a package of Bush nominees. 

All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 18 AFP: US lawmakers want Pakistan to reopen probe on illicit nuclear network - 

 by P. Parameswaran Thu May 25, 9:29 PM ET 		 	 

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US lawmakers called for the reopening of a 
probe into a nuclear smuggling network led by disgraced Pakistani 
scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan amid concerns he could have supplied 
Iran" /> Iranwith nuclear weapon designs. 

 Pakistan said earlier this month that the probe into the Khan
matter was closed and that he would remain off limits to foreign
investigations despite requests by the United States and the
global nuclear watchdog agency IAEA to interview him. 

While President George W. Bush" /> President George W. Bush's
administration has said that Pakistan had taken all actions
necessary to unravel the network and to uncover all of its
secrets, lawmakers are unconvinced. 

"We have given Pakistan a get-out-of-jail-free card on the
single worst case of proliferation in the past 50 years,"
Democratic Representative Gary Ackerman (news, bio, voting
record) told a House of Representatives hearing Thursday on
Khan's smuggling ring. 

Ackerman and several other lawmakers pushed Washington to
pressure Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a key ally in the
US "war on terror," to get to the bottom of the issue. 

Given the "grave consequences" of Khan's acts and "his
relevancy" to the current Iranian and North Korean crises, the
US and the international community should expect more from
Musharraf, said Republican legislator Ed Royce, who chaired the
hearing by a House panel dealing with international terrorism
and nonproliferation. 

"Some question whether the A Q Khan network is truly out of
business, asking if it's not merely hibernating. "We'd be
foolish to rule out that chilling possibility," Royce said. 

"Vigilance and greater international pressure on Pakistan to air
out the Khan network is in order," he said. 

David Albright, an American nuclear expert, told the hearing
that the Khan case "is far from closed." 

"Many questions remain about what Khan and his associates
supplied other countries, particularly Iran," he said. 

Specific questions involving Iran include the extent of
uranium-enriching centrifuge assistance, the logistics of that
assistance and the possible supply of nuclear weapon designs, he
said. 

"These areas remain especially troubling as we try to determine
exactly how close Iran could be to building nuclear weapons and
what sensitive information may remain in circulation around the
world that could fall into the hands of other enemies of the
United States, including terrorists," he said. 

Leonard Weiss, a former staff director of the US Senate
governmental affairs committee, told the hearing that Khan began
bringing Iranian scientists to Pakistan as early as 1988 for
training in technology that could accelerate its controversial
uranium enrichment program. 

Iran is currently under pressure to halt its nuclear energy
drive, seen in the West as a mask for weapons development. The
United States is pushing for UN sanctions to force the Iranians
to halt their uranium enrichment activities. 

Khan, currently under house arrest after being pardoned by
Musharraf, has not been questioned by any non-Pakistani
investigators and reportedly only answered a limited number of
questions from foreign investigators, the hearing was told. 

"It is safe to assume that critical questions regarding the
nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea" /> North Korea, and
possibly other countries, go unanswered," said Democratic
Representative Brad Sherman (news, bio, voting record). 

"This was by all accounts a massive network, but Pakistan has
only focused on Khan and about a dozen associates. The last of
these to be held in detention was recently released. None were
prosecuted," he noted. 

Aside from Iran and North Korea, Khan also reportedly sold
nuclear equipment or technology to Libya and Syria" /> Syria. 

Some information has been passed from Musharraf to the United
States based on Pakistani debriefings of Khan, but neither
Islamabad nor the Bush administration have made any public
statements about what Khan may have said. 

Khan and his associates had reportedly visited Chad, Egypt,
Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Syria. 	 		 			

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 19 AFP: India admits more work to be done on nuclear deal with US -
     
Friday May 26, 02:54 PM 
 
NEW DELHI (AFP) - More work has to be done on the landmark
Indo-US nuclear deal before it goes through Congress, according
to New Delhi's top diplomat. 

India's Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran spoke in London on
Thursday after handing over to US Under Secretary of State
Nicholas Burns a draft of a proposed bilateral agreement on
civil nuclear cooperation. 

Burns "gave me an account of where it stands (in the US
Congress). There is still work to be done," Saran told
reporters, adding however that the "outlook was positive and
encouraging". 

"The sum total is that we can move ahead on the nuclear deal,"
he said. 

The agreement documents the deal struck in March during a visit
to India by US President George W. Bush giving New Delhi access
to US nuclear energy technology for the first time in three
decades. 

However the deal has sparked complaints in Washington that US
negotiators gave away too much. 

The accord -- awaiting a green light from the US Congress --
will allow India, which has not signed the nuclear Non
Proliferation Treaty (NPT), access to long-denied nuclear
technology. 

In return, New Delhi has agreed to place a majority of its
atomic reactors under international safeguards. 

Saran said Burns told him Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
was working to ensure the deal goes through Congress. 

US legislators say they want to first have a look at a set of
safeguards under which India and the United States would
implement the nuclear agreement as well as the bilateral
agreement to encompass all key ingredients of the deal. 

The safeguards are still being negotiated between India and the
global atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA). 

IAEA chief Mohammad ElBaradei met Rice in Washington on Thursday
and declared the nuclear deal a "win-win" agreement, the Press
Trust of India reported. 

Baradei said he wanted to ensure India became a partner in
non-proliferation. 

"To me, this is a win-win agreement and I hope it will be also
for Congress," he said. 

"We also are trying to look to the big picture in making sure
that we have innovative measures to ensure that sensitive
proliferation technology, like enrichment or reprocessing is
contained." 

Rice agreed, saying: "We need to broaden our concept of
non-proliferation regime in order to deal with anomalies like
the Indian situation." 

Copyright © 2006 AFP. All rights reserved. All information
*****************************************************************
 20 UN Nuclear Chief's Recipe For Safer World: Development Not Weapons
 
Date: Fri, 26 May 2006 17:01:00 -0400


 
UN NUCLEAR CHIEF’S RECIPE FOR SAFER WORLD: DEVELOPMENT NOT WEAPONS
New York, May 26 2006  5:00PM
As the world reaches a fork in the road over nuclear weapons, it 
is up to the new generation to develop an alternative system of collective 
security based not on the build-up of armaments but on 
addressing root causes of insecurity ranging from poverty and repression 
to unresolved conflicts, according to the Director-General 
of the International Atomic Energy Agency (<"http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2006/ebsp2006n008.html">IAEA).

“Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to develop this 
alternative system of collective security. The good news is that, 
as tough as it may sound, this is not ‘Mission Impossible,’” Director-General 
Mohammed ElBaradei told the graduating class at Johns 
Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in 
Washington yesterday.

“You are equipped with the right skills and the broad outlook to 
take on such a challenge,” he added, referring to the need to re-arrange 
global priorities away from spending so much on weapons and 
so little on development aid, reform of the UN Security Council, 
and enhance dialogue.

“In the 1960s, (counter-culture guru) Timothy Leary coined the famous 
phrase: ‘Turn On; Tune In; Drop Out’ – calling on the younger 
generation to disengage from society and seek enlightenment through 
psychedelic drugs,” he told the new graduates.

“I would call on you to do exactly the opposite, to engage and become 
part of the solution - in other words, ‘Turn Back; Tune In; 
Reach Out.’ Turn Back from an approach to security that relies on 
nuclear deterrence. Tune In to the security needs of your fellow 
human beings around the globe. And Reach Out to make those needs 
your own, so that the dream of peace and security can finally become 
a reality.”

The task at hand will require “creative diplomacy, innovative technology 
and above all leadership,” he said, adding that he could 
not lay out the exact nature of such an alternative system.

But outlining features essential to its success, he noted that in 
2004, the nations of the world spent over $1 trillion on weapons, 
and less than 10 per cent of that amount – a mere $80 billion – 
on official development assistance.

Yet experts stress that an extra $65 billion per year could cut world 
hunger in half, put programmes in place for clean water worldwide, 
enable reproductive health care for women everywhere, eradicate 
illiteracy, and provide immunization for every child.

As another example, Mr. ElBaradei noted that the average American 
has 1,800 watts of electric power at his or her disposal powering 
everything from air conditioners to iPods. By contrast, an average 
Nigerian has to make do with only enough power for a single 8-watt 
light bulb.

“If we can focus on giving our less fortunate neighbours the opportunity 
to raise their living standards - the chance to compete, 
to regain their sense of dignity and self-respect - the likelihood 
of conflict will immediately begin to drop,” he declared.

Institutions capable of maintaining international peace and stability 
will be vital to any new system and the UN Security Council, 
which now holds this responsibility, must be representative of the 
global community and structured in a way that makes it agile in 
its responses to crises with the resources needed to carry out 
its mission.

“We should not forget, however, that at the end of the day, international 
institutions are constellations of states, and states are 
made up of people who should be the focus and the drivers of any 
system of security,” he said.

“Every one of you can make a difference,” he concluded. “The future 
rests in your hands.”
 2006-05-26 00:00:00.000 


________________

For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news

To change your profile or unsubscribe go to:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/email/
*****************************************************************
 21 Guardian Unlimited: UN nuclear head fears new cold war
 
Friday May 26, 2006              

The world could be pushed back to the brink of destruction, as
during the height of the cold war, due to the spread of nuclear
technology, the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog has
said.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy
Agency, warned that the former US president John F Kennedy's
prediction of a world with 20 or 30 countries with nuclear
weapons could become a reality.

That could mean the return to prominence of the doctrine of
mutually assured destruction, the belief that international
security can be maintained by the threat of nuclear
annihilation, Mr ElBaradei told Johns Hopkins University's Paul
H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in the USA.

"When it comes to nuclear weapons, we are reaching a fork in the 
road ... Efforts to control the spread of such weapons will only 
be delaying the inevitable: a world in which each country or 
group has laid claim to its own nuclear weapon," said Mr 
ElBaradei.

"Mutually assured destruction will once again be the absurd
hallmark of civilisation at its technological peak."

Mr ElBaradei said the only way to avoid this nightmare scenario
would be for the major global powers, including the US and its
allies, to develop alternative strategies for international
security that eliminated the need for nuclear deterrence.

He said that while existing nuclear powers retained and
continued to develop their atomic arsenal, other countries would
want to follow suit. Mr ElBaradei, who, with his agency won the
Nobel peace prize last year, added that the likelihood of rogue
states and terrorist groups acquiring nuclear capability would
increase due to advances in communication technology.

The top UN official's comments are likely to have particular
resonance given the stand-off between Iran and western powers
over the former's nuclear programme, which the US insists is
aimed at building nuclear weapons.

Although Mr ElBaradei said he did not know what an alternative
security system might look like, he said that increasing efforts
to raise standards of living in undeveloped countries would
reduce "the likelihood of conflict".

He said: "Nukes breed nukes. As long as some nations continue to
insist that nuclear weapons are essential to their security,
other nations will want them. There is no way around this simple
truth.

"No one has seriously taken up the challenge of developing an
alternative approach to security that eliminates the need for
nuclear deterrence. But only when such an alternative system is
created will nuclear weapon states begin moving toward nuclear
disarmament. And only when nuclear-weapon states move away from
depending on these weapons for their security will the threat of
nuclear proliferation by other countries by meaningfully
reduced."

Mr ElBaradei said diverting some of the billions of dollars
spent on weapons towards improving health and education in
undeveloped countries would help to reduce international
tensions.

The Nobel prize winner said that in 2004 the world spent more
than $1 trillion (£534.24bn) on weapons and $80bn (£42.74bn) on
official development aid.

"Experts tell us that, for an additional $65bn (€34.72bn) per
year, we could cut world hunger in half, put programmes in place
for clean water worldwide, enable reproductive health care for
women everywhere, eradicate illiteracy and provide immunisation
for every child," he said.

Mr ElBaradei added that the international community had no
difficulties in cooperating on matters like regulating shipping,
coordinating the use of airwaves or jointly fighting epidemics.

"But when it comes to how to resolve our differences, our
approach dates back to the Stone Age, still rooted primitively
in who carries the biggest club," he said.
 
Useful links
UN website
Wikipedia: Kofi Annan

[UP] 

      Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 22 BBC NEWS: Your electricity choices revealed

| Science/Nature | 

Last Updated: Thursday, 25 May 2006, 23:06 GMT 00:06 UK

  By Richard Black Environment Correspondent, BBC News website   

[BBC Electricity Calculator graphic]
                                                                                        
Renewables are the form of electricity generation favoured by 
users of the BBC News website's Electricity Calculator. 

Your responses indicate you would like more than a third of UK 
electricity to come from renewables such as wind and tidal 
turbines by the year 2020. 

Nuclear power emerges as your second preference, ahead of fossil 
fuels, with imports the least favoured option. 

More than 100,000 readers have used the Electricity Calculator 
since it went live on our site at the end of March. 

This is a ringing endorsement from more than 100,000 people for 
mitigating climate change             

Michael Cupit, Ernst and Young          

Overall, your responses showed that you would like to curb 
Britain's carbon dioxide emissions in line with government 
targets, and are happy to pay a little more than at present. 

Your ideal mix of generation methods to meet demand in 2020,
projected to be 381 billion kilowatt hours (bn kWh), is:
  + fossil fuels - 85bn kWh or 21%
  + nuclear - 113bn kWh or 28%
  + renewables - 143bn kWh or 36%
  + imports - 17bn kWh or 4%
  + reducing demand - 39bn kWh or 10%
  + (NB figures rounded according to the resolution of the
calculator) 

What your response looked like                           

Your preference for renewables goes further than the
government's current aim, which sees 20% of UK electricity
coming from technologies such as wind, wave, solar and biomass
by 2020. 

And your response on the nuclear issue suggests you would be
content to have more reactors than at present. 

Climate choice 

[Candle flame.  Image: BBC]             

Britain facing energy gap                               

"This is a ringing endorsement from more than 100,000 people for 
mitigating climate change," observed energy analyst Michael 
Cupit, assistant director in power and utilities with Ernst and 
Young. 

"Demand reduction, nuclear and renewables are all about moving
towards low-emission or zero-emission technologies." 

One of the reasons why we decided to develop the Electricity
Calculator was a report issued late last year by a group of 150
energy experts, which concluded Britain could be facing a 20%
shortfall in supply within a decade as coal-fired and nuclear
plants close. 

The engineer who chaired that group is John Loughhead, executive
director of the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). 

Commenting on the mix selected by BBC News website readers, he
said: "It's interesting to see that readers come up with a
mixture of technologies, which is what our report said would be
important. 

"It is also interesting to see there is a broad desire to see
renewables play a bigger part, although there are some
engineering reasons which might make it difficult to reach this
level [of about 36%] by 2020. 

It's encouraging to see the public engaging with the debate and 
developing a more sophisticated relationship with energy          

                Malcolm Wicks, Energy Minister          

Those engineering reasons include the location of major wind 
farms, which tend to be away from population centres where 
electricity is needed. 

"You would need a balance of renewables in order to achieve
stability of supply," said Michael Cupit. 

"Wind is going to continue to play a significant role; but you'd
probably want to see a more stable technology such as biomass,
which we don't really have a lot of at the moment." 

Fair wind 

Although the figures cannot be interpreted as an opinion poll as
respondents are self-selecting and limited to BBC News website
users, the preference for renewables is consistent with an
opinion poll just released. 

Commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and
performed by GfK NOP Social Research, it found that 85% of the
UK population broadly support renewables, while more than 60%
would be happy to live within 5km of a wind farm. 

[Windfarm in Scotland.  Image: PA]                              

Renewables are favoured in your responses and in opinion polls                                                             

Your responses also tally with a Mori poll from January, which 
found 68% of the British population supporting the expansion of 
renewables, and 54% accepting new nuclear power stations if that 
would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

"Weighing up the pros and cons of different energy sources is 
incredibly complex," said Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks. 

"There are no easy pick-and-mix answers, but it's encouraging to 
see hard evidence like this showing the public engaging with the 
debate and developing a more sophisticated relationship with 
energy," he told the BBC news website. 

"It is no surprise to me that these results indicate an interest 
in cleaner home-grown sources of energy, and this is of course 
something I am actively considering as I draw up the energy 
review's recommendations." 

Cutting the cake 

The DTI is due to release its energy review in July, which may 
make firm recommendations on the government's preferred future 
energy mix. 

It may well decide to aim for a new generation of nuclear 
stations, and may put more support behind renewables, both of 
which could help the government get its carbon ambitions back on 
track. 

THE UK EMISSIONS 'CAKE' 
British carbon dioxide emissions by source for 2004 Total amounts 
to 153.0m tonnes (carbon equivalent) Figures do not include 
emissions/removals from land use changes and forestry           

Its long term goal is to reduce emissions by 60% from 1990 levels 
by 2050; but its climate change review, released in March, said 
current policies would not achieve a shorter-term target of a 20% 
reduction by 2010. 

But what is needed to boost renewables or nuclear capacity to the 
levels which your responses to our Electricity Calculator 
indicate? 

"To reach these levels on nuclear, you would need a very rapid 
decision by the government on their attitude towards licensing 
new nuclear stations, and what to do about waste management," 
said John Loughhead. 

"To go to that level on renewables would mean continued and 
sustained support; however desirable it may be to move in this 
direction, a fair amount of investment would be needed." 

In the meantime, the DTI is aware of your responses, which it can 
set alongside the raft of formal submissions it has received. 

And the Electricity Calculator has not disappeared - it is still 
here and you are more than welcome to have a play - the only 
difference being that from here on, we will not be collecting or 
collating your responses. 

[Screen of BBC Electricity Calculator] Your average response 
(within the resolution of the calculator)                                                                             
 	 	 
*****************************************************************
 23 BBC NEWS: Blair urges United Nations reform
 
Last Updated: Friday, 26 May 2006, 17:59 GMT 18:59 UK

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has called for the reform of the 
United Nations in a key foreign policy speech in the US. 

He said the UN secretary general should be given greater powers 
to improve the organisation's ability to react to international 
crises. 

Other institutions such as the World Bank and International 
Monetary Fund also needed to change, he added in his speech at 
Georgetown University. 

A spokesman for Kofi Annan said the UN chief welcomed Mr Blair's 
proposals. 

Last month, developing countries of the UN voted to shelve 
management reforms drawn up by Mr Annan. 

Not 'legitimate' 

Iraq was also a key theme of Mr Blair's address, as he repeated 
his call for more support for the new government there. 

[United Nations Security Council]                               
Mr Blair said the make-up of the UN Security Council needed to 
change                                                  
 		
The UK prime minister said the current make-up of the UN Security 
Council - with no permanent seats for Germany, Japan or India - 
could no longer be considered legitimate in the modern world. 

It also needed representation from Latin American and African
countries, he said. 

The IMF and World Bank needed to change - and possibly merge -
to enable them to react effectively to economic and humanitarian
crises. 

Mr Blair also called for the creation of a UN environment
organisation commensurate with the importance the issue had on
the international agenda. 

He said there was a "hopeless mismatch" between global
challenges and the global institutions set up after World War
II. 

'Child of democracy' 

Mr Blair's speech followed a news conference on Thursday in
which both he and US President George W Bush acknowledged they
had made major mistakes in Iraq. 

In his address on Friday, the UK leader acknowledged the
invasion may have split the international community, but called
on it now to support its burgeoning democracy. 

Mr Blair, who held talks with new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
Maliki in Baghdad this week, said the new government was "a
child of democracy struggling to be born", and that "the
international community are the midwives". 

"You may not agree with the original decision, you may believe
mistakes have been made, you may even think how can it be worth
the sacrifice, but surely we must all accept this is a genuine
attempt to run the race of liberty," he said. 

In his wide-ranging speech, Mr Blair also: 


  + said Iran needed to change for the security of the wider
world, although he emphasised "I am not saying we should impose
change". 


  + said Hamas should drop its refusal to accept Israel so
negotiations could begin on an agreement between Israel and the
Palestinians, with a two-state solution to the conflict 


  + suggested an international uranium bank held by the UN's
IAEA nuclear agency to supply fuel to all countries with a
nuclear energy programme, removing the need for each to operate
its own enrichment cycle 

Mr Blair's address was the third in a series of key foreign
policy speeches, but BBC correspondent Nick Childs questions how
much weight it will carry, given his weakened political
standing. 

The current White House, despite the close relationship between
Mr Bush and Mr Blair, remains wary of getting entangled in what
it would see as too much multilateralism, our correspondent
adds. 

		 	 		 	 	 
*****************************************************************
 24 Comment is free: The local energy revolution

guardian.co.uk/commentisfree> Peter Franklin

The local energy revolution
 
Central government is standing in the way of the solution to our
power needs. 

About WebfeedsMay 26, 2006 12:25 PM | Printer Friendly Version

On last week's Question Time, Harriet Harman informed the
audience that nuclear energy supplies between 20% and 25% of our
energy. The next day, another government minister, Caroline
Flint, made much the same claim on BBC Radio 4's Any Questions. 

I don't suppose either minister was deliberately lying. And I'll
discount the possibility that they had been briefed by liars
determined to deceive the public. But that leaves just one
explanation: that both are ignorant of the basic facts of
Britain's energy situation. 

It so happens that nuclear supplies less than 5% of our energy.
Harman and Flint got it so wrong because they made the
elementary error of confusing energy with electricity. Nuclear
supplies around 20% of our electricity, which in turn accounts
for only about 20% of Britain's energy demand. The rest is
mostly made up of heating and transport fuels (to which nuclear
makes no contribution whatsoever). 

Clearly, this is a vital distinction, and by blurring it,
ministers paint a wholly misleading picture. 

The awful truth is that most of our politicians are energy
illiterate. If they demonstrated similar levels of ignorance in
economic matters they would not be taken seriously. But as the
issue at hand is a matter of real science rather than the dismal
science, ministers can get away with making sombre statements
about the "need" for nuclear, while we in the audience either
nod or shake our heads in equally sombre reaction. 

As a result, everyone misses the point. Energy policy is
dominated by a debate over whether we should replace nuclear's
4% share of supply. It's time to think bigger than that. 

Or, rather, we ought to be thinking small - because the
technologies that could really solve our energy problems are at
the opposite end of the scale from the nuclear behemoth. What
I'm referring to goes under a number of names: microgeneration,
micropower and distributed energy are among them. But let's keep
it simple and call it local energy. 

The boiler in your house is one example of local energy. But
what if it generated electricity as well as heat? Domestic
combined heat and power (CHP) systems are already on the market
for larger houses. They cost more than an ordinary boiler but
pay back the investment by generating electricity for less than
it costs from the grid. Even better, you can sell the surplus
back to the grid. Or at least, you could if the regulatory
structures weren't so obstructive. And therein lies the rub. 

Few people associate Greenpeace with the drive to reduce
regulation and open up markets to free competition, but that is
exactly the approach they takein their groundbreaking report
Decentralising Power: An Energy Revolution for the 21st Century. 

This documents all the ways in which government, in cosy
partnership with the utility companies, frustrates the
development of local energy. For instance, if you want to put a
satellite dish on your roof, it is easy to do. If, however, you
want to install a wind turbine of the same size, you have to
apply for planning permission. 

It should be said that some local energy technologies are not
yet ready to compete in the open market, but many of them are -
if only they were given a fair chance. Indeed, if the government
were to extend the favours it gives to centralised energy to the
local alternative, we could see the emergence of an entirely new
paradigm. 

There would be no more national grid: local energy networks
would provide a cheaper, more stable replacement. Worried about
the intermittency of some renewables? Then let your domestic CHP
system switch from heat to electricity production when the wind
isn't blowing or the sun isn't shining. As for carbon emissions,
let's cut them down by cutting out the centralised power
stations that cannot help but waste the heat they by-produce
from fossil fuels. 

In the future, the possibilities of local energy will multiply.
Vijay Vaitheeswaran, energy correspondent for the Economist,
foresees a future in which fuel cell-driven cars export power to
the local grid while they are parked in the evening but then
charge themselves up overnight to take advantage of off-peak
electricity prices. In other words, local energy has the
capacity to create a truly free market in which energy supply
and demand can be managed without the need for corporate or
regulatory bureaucracy. 

Vaitheeswaran's bookon the subject is entitled Power to the
People, hinting at an emerging alliance between the green left
and the conservative right. It may seem unlikely, but they do
have a common interest in local energy and a common enemy in the
form the corporate interests that currently dominate energy
policy. 

Consider the combined forces of the New Labour government, the
DTI, Ofgen and the utility companies: an army of politicians,
civil servants, regulators and executives, not one of whom will
suffer the slightest career damage if local energy fails to
progress. Now, consider the opportunities and incentives that
these individuals have to actively oppose the development of
local energy. 

I hope, therefore, you can see why old adversaries should unite
to smash this oligarchy and allow local energy to achieve its
full potential. 


About webfeeds  Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2006. 
Registered in England and Wales. No. 908396
 Registered office: 164 Deansgate, Manchester M60 2RR
 Privacy Policy· Terms and Conditions	 	 	 	 	 
*****************************************************************
 25 AFP: US talks offer no longer stands - Mottaki - 

 Fri May 26, 7:38 AM ET 		 	 

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has
confirmed his country's decision not to hold direct talks with
the United States over the situation in Iraq" /> . 

 "We decided to have such a direct talks in the framework of the
issue of Iraq, unfortunately the American side tried to use this
decision as propaganda and they raised some other issues," he
said, in a press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar
Zebari during a visit to Baghdad. 

"They tried to create a negative atmposphere and that's why the
decision was taken for the time being to suspend them," he
added. 

Iraqi Shiite leader Abdel Aziz Hakim called for direct talks
between Iran" /> and the United States over the situation in
Iraq several months ago -- a decision Iran said it was amenable
to. Deterioring US-Iranian relations over the country's nuclear
program, however, meant the talks never came to pass. 

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 26 Comment is free: The real nuclear threat

> [John Gittings] 
 
We need to consider not just Iran and North Korea, but also our 
own nuclear sabre-rattling. 

May 26, 2006 10:03 AM | 

What is a nuclear threat? This is a question I suspect we shall
be arguing over increasingly often in the coming months. For
Israeli prime minister the answer - as delivered by him to the
US Congress on Wednesday - is very simple. 

Iran stands "on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons (and)
with these weapons, the security of the entire world is put in
jeopardy". What Olmert - and all the commentators who take the
same line - are suggesting is that Iran, when it has a nuclear
weapon (assuming it intends to have one), will promptly invite
its own obliteration by using it against Israel or the US, or by
giving it to an unnamed terrorist group to use. 

This claim about Iran's intentions reminds me of the furore in
1964 when China carried out its first nuclear test: Western
politicians and strategic experts then warned us of the danger
that Beijing would carry out "nuclear blackmail" - though how,
and against whom, and how it could do so without risking massive
retaliation, was never explained. Today China is regarded as a
responsible nuclear power that has so far pursued a cautious
policy of "minimum deterrence". 

In the meantime, there is a simpler definition of a nuclear
threat which I would like to put forward: the actual threat to
use nuclear weapons against someone else. For those who
appreciate historical irony, the first threat of this kind is
attributed to the US 60 years ago in an earlier crisis involving
Iran - and oil too. 

When in early 1946 the Soviet Union refused to withdraw from
northern Iran, and demanded oil concessions, President Truman
declared that the Russians should be "faced with an iron fist".
At that stage the US still had a monopoly of the bomb and Truman
was being urged by hardliners in Washington to exploit the
advantage. Tough messages were delivered to Soviet officials at
the UN and in Moscow. The outcome was that the Russians withdrew
their troops from the northern Iranian province of Azerbaijan,
and were judged to have suffered a major diplomatic defeat. The
whole of Iran was now left within the west's sphere of
influence. 

The influential US nuclear strategist said later that a
"realistic" threat had been made "to wage a nuclear central war"
unless the Russians complied. Others have argued that the threat
was not explicit, and that Truman was exaggerating when he
boasted that he had been prepared to "take the risk". 

In any case, the nuclear factor now became part of super-power
diplomacy, and a long list of crises followed in the next
decades (Korea, Taiwan Straits, Berlin, Cuba, 1973 middle east
war, Sino-Soviet border etc) where the possible use of nuclear
weapons was either threatened or implied, both by the US and
(less often) the Soviet Union. The end of the cold war made no
difference: for example both the US and refused to rule out
using nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear threat in the Iraq
war. 

When we talk about nuclear threats, we need to consider not just
Iran or North Korea but the whole picture of a nuclearised world
where such weapons are deployed as part and parcel of military
strategies, where the nuclear non-proliferation treaty has
already been undermined by the accession to nuclear status of
Israel, India, and Pakistan and where the major nuclear powers
show absolutely no interest in moving towards a non-nuclear
world. The nuclear threat posed today goes far beyond the
alleged intentions of an alleged rogue state. 



  Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006. 
Registered in England and Wales. No. 908396
 Registered office: 164 Deansgate, Manchester M60 2RR
*****************************************************************
 27 [NukeNet] Bush in PA Promoting New Nukes; Protesters Rally
 
Date: Fri, 26 May 2006 14:48:13 -0700


<x-flowed>
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)


Bush: "Now 16 companies have expressed an interest in new
construction, and they're considering as many as 25 new plants."


http://www.pottsmerc.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=16690083&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=18041&rfi=8

Protesters rally against Bush energy stance
Lindsay Moyer
05/25/2006

Hours before President Bush shook the hands of workers at Exelon
Nuclear's Limerick Generating Station and spoke on energy policy,
about 25 community members and activists gathered outside Pottstown
Borough Hall to protest Bush's energy policy.

Lewis Cuthbert, president of the Alliance for a Clean Environment,
opened the Wednesday afternoon protest by criticizing Bush's call for
building more nuclear power plants.

"President Bush, we adamantly oppose your plan for more nuclear power
plants," Cuthbert said. "Facts suggest financial and safety risks
associated with nuclear power are so grave that it should not be a
part of any solution to the energy crisis."

Cuthbert criticized nuclear power as too polluting, dangerous and
expensive, and said it is not an answer to global warming.

"Mr. President, are you trying to deceive us, or don't you know the
facts?" Cuthbert said.

Joseph J. Mangano, national coordinator for the Radiation and Public
Health Project, a nonprofit group of science and health professionals
based in New York City, and Mike Ewall, of the Energy Justice
Network, also addressed the protesters.

Mangano said nuclear reactors pose a risk to public health in two
ways -- in the event of an accident affecting the reactor's core or
waste and in the routine radioactive emissions from nuclear power plants.

"We don't have to have a Chernobyl or a Three Mile Island for people
to suffer," he said, adding that he thinks repeated low-dose
radioactive emissions do pose a cancer risk to area residents, based
on the evidence he's examined.

"Government officials assert that below a certain permissible level,
there is no harm to public health," he said. "Bush and his officials
are making assumptions that are irresponsible and dangerous."

Ewall decried nuclear energy as expensive, unsustainable, unnecessary
and racist.

"All parts of the nuclear cycle except the site of the reactor
disproportionately affect minority communities, from mining to waste
disposal," he said.

Ewall also cited a U.S. Department of Energy draft report that has
since been removed from the department's Web site, a report that
concluded a combination of renewable energy sources and increased
energy efficiency could meet all U.S. energy needs by 2020.

"Bush is following the need of corporate interests, not what's good
for the people," Ewall said.

Following the speakers' presentations, Donna Cuthbert, vice president
of ACE, positioned a cardboard cut-out of Bush in front of the
protesters so they could direct their comments and questions to him,
since security measures prevented the protesters from getting close
to the Limerick plant.

Fred Fritch, of Mertztown, Berks County, asked, "Why are we letting
corporations run our democracy instead of the people?"

Donna Cuthbert added, "We think you should value our health and our
children and grandchildren more than money, Bush."

Nina Robertson of Pottstown suggested an alternative to the Yucca
Mountain federal nuclear waste depository, which could be decades
away from opening.

"Bush, why don't you just donate a portion of your Crawford ranch for
the next nuclear waste depository?" she asked.

Jim Crater, president of Recycling Services Inc. in Pottstown, came
to the protest with his 1½-year-old daughter, Aurora, and
solar-powered rainbow and bubble makers to keep her entertained.

Crater made a sign for her that read, "I believe in sunshine,
rainbows and my daddy, not smoke and mirrors and Mr. Bush." The smoke
and mirrors, he said, referred to Bush's energy platform based on
illusions and lies.

He also brought a T-shirt that read, "Nuclear power? No thanks," and
used it to dress Bush's cardboard stand-in.

Crater said Bush is ignoring energy that's right at our fingertips,
in forms such as solar and wind.

"We're surrounded by energy and perceived energy shortages," he said,
"because we've been told we need oil to run our car.

"To use nuclear power to generate electricity is like using a chain
saw to cut butter," he continued. "The job is much simpler than the
energy that is generated."

Susan Scholl, a North Coventry resident and member of Democracy in
Action and Berks Peace, attended the protest because she sees war as
"the biggest environmental disaster of all time."

Barry Friedman, a Montgomery County resident, said he came to the
protest because he's concerned about the proposed dry-cask storage of
spent fuel rods at the Limerick plant.

"Nuclear power is a blatant disregard for homeland security by
allowing above-ground storage of nuclear fuel rods," he said.
"Terrorists aren't going to target a wind-generating station or a
solar power unit."

--------------------------

http://www.pottsmerc.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16683202&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=18041&rfi=6

Limerick chosen for energy speech

Evan Brandt
05/24/2006

LIMERICK -- Few people should be surprised that President Bush
decided to visit Exelon Nuclear's Limerick Generating Station today,
a White House official said Tuesday.

That's because "the president has been traveling the country talking
about his energy proposals and nuclear energy plays a big part in
that," said White House spokesman Alex Conant.

"The president outlined some of his positions in the State of the
Union," said Conant, "and now he has been traveling the country
spelling out some of the details."

Chief among the themes Bush has championed, said Conant, "is the
president's belief that we must reduce our dependence on foreign oil."

Now, as in the past, Bush has promoted the expansion of nuclear
energy as one way to wean the nation off what he described in this
year's State of the Union as America's addiction to oil.

More specifically, Bush has also proposed lifting the ban on
"re-processing" spent nuclear fuel, a ban imposed by presidents Ford
and Carter to counter fears of nuclear weapon proliferation.

Bush argues that technology has progressed to the point that spent
fuel can be re-processed safely, avoiding the creation of the easily
manipulated plutonium by-product used in nuclear weapons.

This policy initiative is significant in Limerick which, like many of
the nation's 103 nuclear plants, is grappling with the problem of
storing its spent fuel.

With the completion of the federal depository in Nevada's Yucca
Mountain still years away, plants are now beginning to store their
fuel in "dry casks" outside the main reactor building.

Last month, Exelon announced plans to do just that,

That plan will go before the Limerick Planning Commission, although
whether it will be on the commission's June 1 agenda has not yet been
determined, according to township staff.

Conant said he was unsure if Limerick's dry cask storage plans
contributed to the decision to have Bush visit the station.

However, he said, given the president's energy policy plan, it is
certainly apropos.

Bush is also in the area for a Congressional fund-raiser in
Philadelphia, according to the White House.

"The president always enjoys visiting Pennsylvania and Pottstown,"
Conant said in reference to Bush's campaign visit in 2004 during his
re-election campaign.

"And being here, near the Limerick plant, is certainly a good
opportunity for him to talk about his energy proposals," Conant said.

--------------------------

http://www.pottsmerc.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16690082&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=18041&rfi=6

President Bush gets a warm reception from Exelon employees

Michelle Karas
05/25/2006

LIMERICK -- It's not every day the president stops by to tell you
that you're doing a good job.

On Wednesday afternoon, President George W. Bush did just that for
the employees of Exelon Nuclear's Limerick Generating Station.

About 300 of the plant's 700 employees attended a 30-minute speech by
the president in a large tent on the 600-acre facility. All told,
Bush spent about an hour at the nuclear plant.

"I really appreciate the chance to come to the Limerick Generating
Station," Bush said to the clapping and cheering audience. "I'm glad
to see it in action. More importantly, I was glad to see the people
working here, glad to meet them, glad to get to know them. I
appreciate their strong dedication to safety."

Bush said the purpose of his visit was to talk about how the U.S. can
continue to be an economic leader of the world.

"This economy of ours is moving forward with a full head of steam,"
he said, noting that 5.2 million U.S. jobs have been added since
August 2003, and that the national unemployment rate is 4.7 percent.

"Things are good. The fundamental question is, can you keep them that
way?" he continued.

Keeping taxes low and more money in the pockets of the average worker
is key, Bush said.

In the next 25 years, there will be a 50 percent increase in the
demand for electricity, which is generated from coal, natural gas,
renewable sources such as solar and wind power and nuclear power, Bush said.

Nuclear power -- which accounts for about 20 percent of the
electricity generated in the U.S. -- is abundant, affordable and
safe, the president said.

"It is safe because of advances in science and engineering and plant
design," Bush said. "It is safe because the workers and managers of
our nuclear power plants are incredibly skilled people who know what
they're doing."

Cheers and applause from the audience erupted after that comment. It
was clear from the response to Bush's comments that he had the
unwavering support of most every Exelon employee at the event,
including Exelon CEO John Rowe, who flew in from his Chicago office
to greet the president.

"I want you to know how proud we are of all of you, and that you make
this station what it is that (President Bush) wants to come here,"
Rowe told the employees assembled. "This is not only a time to say
thank you to him, it is a time to say this is a very good plant. You
all work hard to make it that way."

Although not every plant employee was able to attend the speech,
those who were there seemed supportive of the president, and the
atmosphere in the sun-warmed tent was festive in the moments leading
up to Bush's arrival. Most of the employees wore specially made white
golf shirts with LGS on the front and "2006 Presidential Visit" on the sleeve.

"People here are very excited and honored to have the president
here," said Ralph DeSantis, an Exelon spokesman.

DeSantis said a lottery decided which employees could attend the
speech, because not all of them could be spared from work duties. He
said many of Limerick Generating Station's employees worked extra
hours over the weekend to prepare for the presidential visit.

But there were no hard feelings among those who were not selected to
attend, according to Sharon Rhoads, acting human resources manager at
the Limerick plant, who said spending part of the afternoon a stone's
throw from the president was "pretty cool."

Rhoads, an Audubon resident, said that the president's speech was
telecast throughout the plant and to the nine other Exelon sites for
those employees who could not attend in person.

"They appreciate the fact that it was a lottery. And I think we had a
pretty good cross-section of workers here, from the utility
technicians who do work in the yard to the directors," she said.

Allen Columbus, a 19-year plant employee and longtime supporter of
Bush and his father, said visits from dignitaries on Bush's level are
quite rare. Columbus said he was a little disappointed that he didn't
get to shake the president's hand following the speech, as some
employees in the front row of seating did, but that he was glad to
have been there.

Rob Hilferty, who has worked at the Limerick plant for three years in
records management, spent the day shuttling visitors from the parking
area to the tent.

"I thought the speech was very interesting," said Hilferty, a
Limerick resident. "It was the first time I ever got to see the president."

Hilferty said the company officially notified employees of the
president's visit on Monday, but that with several visits from Secret
Service personnel prior to that, "you knew it was something big."

Plant Manager Chris Mudrick said it was quite an honor to have the
president visit. Mudrick, who showed President Bush the control room
prior to the speech, said he was excited to hear Bush's comments
about expanding incentives to build more nuclear plants in the U.S.

Bush said that Congress is considering offering loan guarantees,
production tax credits and federal risk insurance for new nuclear
power plants built in the U.S. -- something that hasn't been done
since the 1970s.

"The first 10 years (of operations) would be paid for. It takes a lot
of the risk out of it," Mudrick said. "That's up to 6,000 megawatts,
where this (Limerick Generating Station) is 1,200 megawatts apiece
(per the two units)."

He said while Bush's energy policy won't specifically benefit the
Limerick plant, it will benefit Exelon, the largest nuclear provider
in the country.

--------------------------

http://www.pottsmerc.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16690081&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=18041&rfi=6

President picks local plant to boost energy initiative

Evan Brandt
05/25/2006

LIMERICK -- Hybrid vehicles, cars powered by ethanol and hydrogen,
wind-powered generators and liquefied natural gas terminals -- and of
course, nuclear power.

Those innovations were the focus of the energy policy outlined by
President Bush in a speech Wednesday before an enthusiastic audience
of about 300 employees of Exelon Nuclear's Limerick Generating Station.

"If we don't get it right on energy, we can have the most educated
work force in the world, but we're not going to be able to compete.
We can have the lowest taxes in the world, the least regulations, the
fewest lawsuits, but if we haven't done something about our energy
situation, we're not going to be able to compete in the world," Bush said.

Bush, who was also in Pennsylvania for an evening fund-raiser in
Philadelphia for Republican congressional candidates, spoke on
several subjects, including the economy and his signature educational
reform -- No Child Left Behind.

But his primary reason for being in Limerick was energy.

Standing in front of a backdrop heralding his "Advanced Energy
Initiative," Bush emphasized research and technology as the best way
to maximize the energy resources available to the nation and thus
break America's addiction to foreign oil.

Noting that innovations like the iPod and the Internet were the
result of government research, he said, "I intend to double the
budget for basic research over the next 10 years."

The reason gas prices are rising, Bush explained, is a simple
capitalist equation: Demand is outstripping supply.

"One of the reasons why our price of gasoline is going up is because
demand for oil is increasing in places like India and China, and the
supply for oil is not meeting that demand," Bush said.

Pump prices would be reduced, Bush said, if cars would be driven on
alternative fuels like ethanol, made from corn and perhaps one day
made from wood chips or switch-grass.

"Pretty cool deal, isn't it," Bush asked, "for the president to be
able to say, you know, we're growing a lot of corn, and we're less
dependent on foreign sources of oil?"

Another way to reduce reliance on petroleum, Bush said, is through
the use of hybrid vehicles, particularly those with a new kind of
battery "that will enable you to drive your first 40 miles on electricity."

Electricity is a key component to the American quality of life, and
its economy, said Bush, noting that "electricity demand is projected
to increase by nearly 50 percent over the next 25 years. That's a
lot," he said.

"And we had better be wise about how we implement a strategy to meet
that demand -- otherwise, we're not going to be the economic leader;
otherwise, our people aren't going to be having the good jobs that we
want them to have; otherwise, your children and my children, our
grandchildren, are not going to have a bright, hopeful America that
we want for them," Bush said.

To power that brightness, Bush said he envisions a nation that draws
electricity from advanced wind turbines -- he joked a good place to
put one would be Washington, D.C. -- combined with clean-burning coal
plants, solar-powered homes, natural gas and new nuclear power plants.

Clean coal technology is important, Bush said, because it is an
abundant resource in the United States and currently provides about
50 percent of the nation's electricity. The United States has about
240 years worth of coal reserves, he said.

About $20 billion will be spent in the next 10 years to develop
"clean coal" technology so that by 2012, "we think we will build the
first power plant to run on coal and remove virtually all
pollutants," said Bush.

His initiative to allow the federal government to overrule local
objections in the siting of liquefied natural gas depots will also
help drive down the cost of electricity, Bush said.

He added that "environmentally friendly" exploration for natural gas
reserves should be allowed in the Gulf Coast and in Alaska's Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge, a remark that generated applause in the audience.

Applause was also frequent when Bush addressed the issue with which
his audience was most familiar -- nuclear power.

Prior to making his 35-minute speech, Bush toured the station,
visiting the plant's two massive generators and its control room.

He praised the employees' "strong dedication to safety," and earned
more of their applause when he said "this plant serves two million
homes in the area, and it does so in a way that does not require us
to pollute the air. It's a perfect example of how we can grow our
economy and protect our environment at the same time."

Sidestepping the issue of global warming -- an issue on which his
position questioning its cause has been widely criticized -- Bush
said nuclear power plants emit no greenhouse gases, considered by
most scientists to be the cause of the global warming phenomenon.

"I try to tell people, let's quit the debates about whether
greenhouse gases are caused by mankind or natural causes; let's just
focus on technologies that deal with the issue," said Bush.

One of those technologies is nuclear technology, he said.

"Without nuclear energy, carbon dioxide emissions would have been 28
percent greater in the electricity industry in 2004," Bush said.
"Without nuclear power, we would have had an additional 700 million
tons of a year of carbon dioxide, and that's nearly equal to the
annual emissions from 136 million passenger cars."

But nuclear power is a technology that has not been expanded in the
United States in 30 years, said Bush. He pointed to France where 58
new plants have been built in the same period, plants that now
generate 78 percent of that country's power.

Plants are also in the works in China and India and unless the United
States begins to diversify its energy strategy with more nuclear
plants, it will cease to be an economic world leader, he said.

The energy bill Bush signed last year provides incentives for new plants.

Those incentives include loan guarantees for companies who undertake
construction, "risk insurance" against delays and cost over-runs
beyond their control, particularly those that have to do with
regulations or bureaucratic delays as well as a package of tax credits.

These efforts, combined with "a $1.1 billion partnership between the
federal government and the industry to facilitate new plant orders,"
have grabbed the attention of potential plant builders, Bush said.

"This time last year, only two companies were seeking to build
nuclear power plants," he said. "Now 16 companies have expressed an
interest in new construction, and they're considering as many as 25
new plants."

To deal with the additional radioactive waste those plants would
generate, Bush continued to back the controversial Yucca Mountain
federal repository in Nevada.

He also promoted a "Global Nuclear Energy Partnership" in which the
United States would ask for help in re-processing nuclear waste from
countries that do it now.

"It will reduce the amount of toxicity of the fuel and reduce the
amount we have to store," said Bush. "To me, it's a smart way to
combine with others to reduce storage requirements for nuclear waste
by up to 90 percent."

That would be welcome news at many nuclear plants, including
Limerick, where pools designed to hold waste temporarily for seven
years to cool it have begun to reach capacity.

Had Yucca Mountain been ready now, that fuel would have been shipped
to Nevada for burial. But now plants have been forced to set up
"temporary" storage in "dry casks," that some opponents fear may end
up being a final solution.

Last month, Exelon announced plans for a pad that could hold as many
as 90 dry storage casks.


Mike Ewall
Energy Justice Network
215-743-4884
catalyst@actionpa.org
http://www.energyjustice.net


_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings or access the archives at:
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</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 28 IPS-English EUROPE: Baltic States Plan Nuclear Expansion
 
Date: Fri, 26 May 2006 14:42:48 -0700


<x-flowed>
ROMAIPS EU IP EN=20
EUROPE: Baltic States Plan Nuclear Expansion
By Giedrius Blagnys

VILNIUS, Lithuania, May 26 (IPS) - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are star=
ting preparations for building a new nuclear reactor to replace existing =
'Chernobyl type' reactors at the Ignalina nuclear power plant.

Following a political agreement signed by the prime ministers of Lithuani=
a, Latvia and Estonia in February, energy companies of the three Baltic S=
tates are starting a feasibility study for the building of a new nuclear =
facility.

=94The study is due to be completed in October this year,=94 Aurelija Tra=
kseliene from the Lithuanian Power Company (LPC) told IPS.. The design of=
  a new nuclear facility would take approximately four years.

The new reactor would be built at the existing Ignalina plant in Lithuani=
a, and would cost approximately 3 billion euros (3.8 billion dollars).

Within the framework of its membership of the European Union (EU), Lithua=
nia shut down the first Ignalina reactor at the end of 2004, with the sec=
ond scheduled to be closed in late 2009. Built more than 20 years ago, th=
e two Soviet reactors with a generation capacity of 1500 MW each are cons=
idered unsafe.

The European Union (EU) has approved a grant of 865 million euros (1.1 bi=
llion dollars) for decommissioning the Ignalina plant. Some of that money=
  has been used to shut down the first reactor.

Besides loss of power generation, closure of the first reactor cut deeply=
  into Lithuania's EU emissions allowance reserve. Lithuania's reserve for=
  2005-2007 is 1.8 million units, but about twice that will be needed if e=
lectricity is to be produced by fossil fuel.

Baltic states have no means of importing electricity from the EU because =
of a lack of power links. The European Commission has described the Balti=
cs region as an =94energy island=94. Lithuania now wants to link its ener=
gy grid to Poland's to get hooked to the European network.

=94The bridge is not only important for the development of the Lithuanian=
  economy, but has international importance as it is related to the countr=
y's energy independence and political independence as well,=94 Lithuanian=
  President Valdas Adamkus said.

But talks to build a power bridge with Poland are deadlocked =94mainly be=
cause of finances,=94 Polish President Lech Kaczynski said in a statement=
. He stressed that the power disconnect was not for political reasons. Th=
e energy grids of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are currently connected t=
o the network in Russia and Belarus.

=94It is clear that from 2015 all the Baltic states will face a shortage =
of energy, and one of the ways to solve the problem is a new nuclear plan=
t,=94 Lithuanian economy minister Kestutis Dauksys told reporters.

Lithuania expects that a new nuclear facility will resolve the problem of=
  electricity shortage, and reduce the dependence of the Baltic states on =
Russian fossil fuel.

=94One of our aims is to diversify our sources of energy,=94 Estonian Pri=
me Minister Andrus Ansip said. =94This is why we are interested in buildi=
ng a new nuclear power station at Ignalina.=94

But people living in the region are not as enthusiastic about a new nucle=
ar plant as their leaders.

According to a poll carried out for the European Commission in November 2=
005, only about 21 percent of the population of Lithuania (3.5 million) s=
upport the development of a nuclear power. And only 8 percent of people i=
n Latvia and Estonia want nuclear energy.

=94To build the new nuclear power plant is a political decision, not an e=
conomical or technical one,=94 Dr. Jurgis Vilemas, chair of the Council o=
f the Lithuanian Energy Institute (LEI) told IPS. =94The urgent construct=
ion of the new reactor is difficult to explain in terms of economic argum=
ents.=94

Vilemas said that existing fossil fuel based power plants could be modern=
ised and developed further..

=94In the medium term, Lithuania should look for an alternative to Russia=
n sources of fossil fuels, should invest in construction of large gas sto=
rages as well as in development of efficiency of existing power generatio=
n capacities. In the long term, depending on the situation, Baltic states=
  might plan to build a low capacity nuclear power plant.=94

Vilemas added: =94We feel disquiet over the aggressive lobbyism of some m=
anufacturers of nuclear reactors. Baltic states should be very careful in=
  planning capacities of the new power plant, because economic calculation=
s presented by those manufacturers are based on outdated economic models =
and data. It is very complicated to forecast costs and benefits of such a=
  project in the time horizon of 10-15 years.=94 (END/IPS/EU/IP/EN/GB/SS/0=
6)


=20
=3D 05261355 ORP008
NNNN

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 29 IBNLive: NTPC to venture into N-power project
 
Friday , May 26, 2006 

New Delhi: NTPC could be on a major restructuring and
diversification drive. A report by the Ministry of Power and the
Central Electricity Authority has recommended NTPC get into
power trading and distribution and even go nuclear. CNBC-TV18
reports. 

NTPC is looking beyond power generation. CNBC-TV18 learns that a
government report has recommended big diversification plans
including going nuclear. The Report recommends NTPC venture into
nuclear power development through a joint venture with Nuclear
Power Corporation. A move that seems to have the backing of the
Power Ministry. 

R V Shahi, Secretary, Ministry Of Power says, "By 2030, we
should be able to substantially grow by 7 per cent of our total
production. We'll produce 55000-mw nuclear power as compared to
3000 mw currently. Nuclear cannot be ignored as an important
option for power generation in India." 

CNBC-TV18 also learns that NTPC's diversification plans include
a foray into coal mining, coal washeries, hydro generation,
trading and distribution and regassified LNG. 


The government has recommended NTPC to draw up an action plan
for setting up coal washeries. It also wants the company to
expand the share of hydropower in its generating portfolio
subject to tariff competitiveness and minimal rehabilitation and
resettlement issues. 

The report also supports NTPC's foray into power distribution
and recommends it to take over power distribution in (Special
Economic Zones) SEZs. It also wants NTPC to set up National
Power Exchange. The report also suggests some changes in NTPC's
organisational structure. 

*****************************************************************
 30 Sydney Morning Herald: Nuclear consultant's report backs nuclear power 

www.smh.com.au

May 26, 2006 - 6:48PM

New research shows the latest type of nuclear power station is
economically competitive with new coal fired power stations,
Science Minister Julie Bishop says. 

Mrs Bishop, who today inspected the new research reactor at
Lucas Heights in Sydney, said the research was conducted by
Professor John Gittus, an independent consultant to the
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). 

A synopsis of his report will be released on Sunday. 

Mrs Bishop said the study concluded that nuclear power was the
safest, most secure way of generating electricity with greater
price stability in comparison to gas or coal power generation. 

The analysis also found the nuclear option was even more
attractive when considering the cost of environmental damage and
carbon dioxide emissions from new coal or gas-fired power
stations. 

"I welcome this report as a useful contribution to what I hope
will be an evidence-based debate about nuclear power in
Australia. The debate must focus on the facts and not be biased
by emotion," she said in a statement. 

Mrs Bishop said the new Open Pool Australian Light-water (OPAL)
reactor was expected to become fully operational in the near
future and would be one of the world's top three research
reactors. 

She said it would deliver healthcare benefits through production
of radiopharmaceuticals and would place Australia at the leading
edge of research into microbiology, biotechnology and gene
therapy. 

"It will maintain Australia's nuclear expertise and attract
overseas research scientists," she said. 

AAP 

| | | Copyright © 2006. The Sydney Morning Herald.                                                          
*****************************************************************
 31 AU ABC: Nuclear power economically viable - ANSTO
 
(ACST)Friday, 26 May 2006. 13:01 (AEST)Friday, 26 May 2006.

 The head of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology
Organisation (ANSTO) says nuclear power is an economically
viable alternative to other forms of power generation. 

The organisation has today given a report it commissioned into
nuclear power to the federal Science Minister, Julie Bishop. 

ANSTO executive director, Ian Smith, says the report shows that
nuclear power is cheaper to produce than other forms of energy,
and also better for the environment. 

Dr Smith says concerns over nuclear waste have been overstated. 

"A 500 megawatt nuclear power station in Australia would produce
something like 800 kilograms of waste," he said. 

"A 500 megawatt coal-fired power station produces 300,000 tonnes
of solid waste for over 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. 

"When it is treated properly, [nuclear power plant waste is]
probably safer than the waste that comes from coal-fired power
stations." 

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) says the report
fails to take into account the ongoing costs of maintaining a
nuclear facility and its waste. 

ACF head Don Henry says nuclear power is too dangerous and
expensive to be seriously considered as a solution to climate
change. 

"Apart from the ethical issues that we shouldn't leave our kids
with nuclear waste for tens-of-thousands of years, the problem
is a lot of the costing doesn't include the long-term costs of
looking after highly dangerous radioactive waste for
tens-of-thousands of years, so we just should rule it out. 

"Isn't it a surprise that the Government's nuclear agency will
come out and recommend nuclear power." 

Meanwhile, ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope says a nuclear power
plant will most likely end up in the Northern Territory or the
ACT. 

Mr Stanhope says the likelihood of strong resistance from the
states, plus the Federal Government's ability to use is
Commonwealth powers, mean the two territories could be targets
for a plant. 

"That's why the ACT needs to engage in this debate because if
John Howard does pursue it and we get all gung ho and decide
this is the future, a nuclear power station in Australia will be
located in either the Northern Territory, the ACT or Jervis
Bay," he said. 
Related Audio
 
Science Minister backs nuclear power
 

Federal Science Minister Julie Bishop says there is a very
strong case for nuclear power generation in Australia.
MP3RealMedia 28k+WinMedia 28k+

*****************************************************************
 32 AU ABC: Stanhope says ACT, NT site most likely for nuclear reactor
 
22:02 (ACDT)Friday, 26 May 2006. 19:02 (AWST)

 The ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope says the Federal Government
is most likely to choose the Northern Territory or the ACT for a
reactor if it decides to go ahead with nuclear power. 

The Prime Minister John Howard has called for a national debate
on whether Australia should embrace nuclear energy. 

Mr Stanhope says the Federal Government could use its
Commonwealth powers to build a reactor in the territories and
avoid clashing with the states. 

The Chief Minister says the nuclear debate is important but he
suspects he knows Mr Howard's motivation for raising the topic. 

"But lets engage in the debate, you know lets not walk away from
it," he said. 

"I think we can be rightly cynical about the Prime Minister's
reasons for initiating this particular debate at this particular
time, I personally think it's because Rupert Murdoch told him it
was time to go and he needs a statesman-like issue to justify
his continuation." 

ACT Liberal Senator Gary Humphries says there is no likelihood
at all that any future nuclear power plant in Australia will be
sited in the ACT or more specifically at Jervis Bay. 

"What we're seeing here is quite a clever attempt on the part of
some Labor politicians to turn this debate away from the debate
we should be having, which is, is there a role for nuclear power
in Australia - into the much more emotive and difficult to
manage issue of where is this horrible nuclear power station
going to be located?" Senator Humphries said. 

But the Member for Fraser Bob McMullen, whose electorate takes
in the area, says there is no doubt the plan is for the nuclear
power plant will be built at Jervis Bay. 

Mr McMullen says he will do all in his power to stop it
proceeding. 

"Absolutely certain that I'm not going to be supporting one in
Jervis Bay," he said. 

*****************************************************************
 33 Rediff: No new conditions on N-deal - US
 
> PTI

Sridhar Krishnaswami in Washington, DC |        

May 26, 2006 14:03 IST

Dismissing suggestions that the Indo-US civilian nuclear accord
was in serious trouble, the Bush Administration has said that
though it was ready to show some flexibility to accommodate the
views of Congress members, it was not prepared to impose
conditions or introduce legislations at this point that may
break the deal.

"We have a very active discussion with members of Congress.
There is always a variety of views and sometimes you can get
lost in that. I think there are a lot of supporters who have
stood up in favour of this. There are people who have praised or
criticised different aspects of the agreement and we have to
deal with that," Assistant Secretary of State for South and
Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher said in an interview to
PTI at the State Department.

"There are a number of people who have raised the issue --
actually it is Congressional prerogative -- for Congress to vote
on the bilateral agreement, something that Congressman [Tom]
Lantos has raised and that is not a India issue. It is an issue
for the Congress and us. But it is one that we have got to talk
to them about," Boucher said.
  + <STRONG>More to Indo-US tango than just N-deal</STRONG>

"I think we are flexible in some terms, in terms of
accommodating some of the desires of Congress and have us work
with them. We certainly accept the views of Congress on
different issues but we are also going to make clear that we
cannot do things -- legislations or conditions -- at this point
that will break the deal," Boucher said emphatically.

On the London meeting between Under Secretary of State Nicholas
Burns and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, he said it was "another
good step forward" with India coming back with a response to the
draft of the bilateral nuclear agreement.

Boucher said that though he does not have a full report of the
meeting, based on early remarks it appears to have gone quite
well. "They have had the time to have a very thorough
discussion, a very detailed discussion on how to move forward
with the relationship, on how we move forward with the Congress,
nuclear suppliers, bilateral agreements".
  + Also see: The Nicholas Burns interview

"I see from the reports that the Indian side came back with a
response to our draft bilateral agreement which is good now.
That sets us up for sitting down seriously and talking about it,
negotiating it. I think overall it is another good step forward.
We are working very closely together on a lot of things and this
is another sign of it," he said.

Burns was intending to give Saran an update on where we stood
with Congress, the senior administration official added.

Turning to the NSG meeting next week, Boucher stressed that
while this was a conference with a broader international agenda,
the subject of the US-India civilian nuclear Agreement will
figure and that it would be "helpful" if New Delhi is able to
answer some questions including on the status of the safeguards
agreement and the separation plan.

"In terms of the US-India agreement, I am sure there will be
some discussion among the countries there. It will be helpful if
Indians are able to answers questions there about the status of
their safeguards agreement, about the deal, about the 
separation plan," he said, recalling that at the last NSG meet,
India had not yet tabled in its Parliament the details of the
separation plan and there were a "lot of questions about that". 
  + The Richard Boucher interview

"What I think will happen is that there will be another
discussion, a lot of questions asked and the considerations will
continue at some future date," Boucher said.

As part of discussions with other countries on the Indo-US
nuclear deal, the senior official said he would be traveling to
Canada on Friday.

"We have ongoing discussions with a lot of countries. We just
don't do it in non-proliferation circles. We do it in policy
circles, people who appreciate the strategic interests for
developing better relationship with India and helping India
developing at the same time," Boucher said.

"We have a dialogue going with Canada," the senior official said
adding that 'like many others they [Canada] have some questions'.
  + <STRONG>'The US is perceived as hypocritical'</STRONG>

The Senior State Department official talked about the status of
the civilian nuclear legislation currently pending in Congress,
the administration's pitch with Congress including the limits to
which it could do in securing the deal and the attitude and role
of outside players like NSG.

On the civilian nuclear deal itself, Boucher, like other senior
administration officials, pointed to a number of 'important'
things that would have to be done and that the administration
did not want 'one to wait for the other'.

"There are a number of important things that have to be done. We
don't want one to wait for the other. There are four things the
US has to do and India has to do: pass legislation in US
Congress and we are working on that; get the Resolution from the
NSG. We are working that although this is not going to happen
next week; negotiate the bilateral agreement; and for India to
get the safeguards agreement with the IAEA and initial
discussions has been held on that," Boucher remarked.

Exclusive interview with National Security Adviser

"Our view is that all these should proceed apace and progress in
one area will reinforce progress in another area and we should
not delay one for the other," the senior official said referring
to the time tables of Congress and the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Boucher was asked if the Bush administration was apprehensive of
the role of China in this civilian nuclear energy arrangement
and if Beijing will come up with a googly to wreck the deal at
the NSG, which operates by consensus.

"I don't know whether China is going to throw in a googly or
not. But there are certainly no indications at this point that
they want to do that. We have seen their public statements which
are generally positive," the senior South Asia official replied.

"We think there are a lot of legitimate questions among the
Nuclear Suppliers Group and these questions have answers,
including answers from the United States, answers from India and
answers from the Director-General of the International Atomic
Energy Agency, who said at a press conference yesterday that
this is a win-win situation and good for non proliferation,"
Boucher said.
  + Complete Coverage: The Indo-US nuclear tango

The Senior State Department official brushed aside the
contention of some in the non-proliferation community that the
draft Fissile Materials Cutoff Treaty tabled by the United
States at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva is a half
hearted measure aimed at appeasing members of Congress over this
civilian nuclear arrangement than in coming to comprehensive
terms with the issue. 

"As important as India is to our relations and my job, we don't
table global treaties in order to take care of a political issue
with one country. We table a global treaty because we want a
global treaty. The fact that the US came forward with this at
this time is an important sign of our commitment to
non-proliferation. It is an important sign of United States'
willingness to look forward in an area that has been stalled for
a long time," Boucher countered.

 "It is also an opportunity for US-India cooperation," he said
recalling the discussions of last July between the President
George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Boucher also talked about the general state of bilateral
relations stressing that the agenda was "everything" and in the
"active follow up" of both sides in the aftermath of the visit
of President Bush to India in March.

"We follow methodically that came out of the President's trip,
the Assistant Secretary remarked going on to make the point that
the next big events could be seen in the realm of economics,
investments, the recommendations of the CEOs Forum, forming
committees on science and technology and following up on the
agricultural initiative.

"We are obviously moving forward on the nuclear area. We are
looking at what we can do in defence; expanding our cooperation
internationally on democracy," the senior official said even
while talking about the expanding cooperation on regional issues
such as Nepal and in Washington maintaining its interest and
encouraging the dialogue between India and Pakistan.

  © Copyright 2006 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or
  
 Copyright © 2006 Rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 34 Rediff: N-deal: India won't test but won't sign on it 

 PTI

May 26, 2006 18:13 IST

India Friday said it is committed to unilateral moratorium on
nuclear testing but will not get into a legal commitment barring
it from carrying out further testing. 

"We are not in a position to deviate from the July 18 joint
statement," Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, who held talks with
US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns on implementation of
the Indo-US nuclear deal, said. 

Asked about the controversy over the clause brought by
Washington in the initial draft that the US would end
cooperation with India if it were to test, he recalled that New
Delhi has already publicly said that it would not accept any
such clause. 

Coverage: The Indo-US nuclear tango

On whether he had made it clear to Burns that India would not
accept any such change in July 18 agreement, he said "it remains
our position that such clause has no place in the bilateral
agreement, precisely because it would change what is a
unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing, a commitment which has
been made by India, into a legal commitment. So we have pointed
this out to the American side. 

"But at the same time we have conveyed quite categorically that
we are committed to the unilateral moratorium on nuclear
testing." 

  © Copyright 2006 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or
  
 Copyright © 2006 Rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 35 RIA Novosti: Decision on Chernobyl waste storage could be made by yearend
 
26/ 05/ 2006                                  

KIEV, May 26 (RIA Novosti) - A decision on building a dry
nuclear waste depository near Chernobyl, the site of the world's
worst nuclear accident, may be made by the end of 2006, an
official said Friday. 

"This is a very optimistic forecast," said Yelena Mikolaichuk,
head of Ukraine's state nuclear regulation committee. 

She also said the depository project, proposed by U.S. company
Holtec International, was currently under examination. 

In December, Ukraine's Energoatom and Holtec International
signed a contract to design and build a dry nuclear waste
depository within the 30-km (18-mile) exclusion zone imposed in
the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. 

President Viktor Yushchenko approved the idea, despite wide
protests from public and environmental organizations. 

"We are not opposed to this project," Mikolaichuk said, adding
that the committee would back it if it met nuclear and
environmental security requirements. 

The project will then be considered by Ukraine's government and
parliament. 

Vast areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, as well as northern
Europe, were contaminated by the fallout of the reactor
explosion in the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl NPP in Ukraine
on April 26, 1986. About 135,000 people were evacuated from
within an 18-mile zone, which has left the surrounding area
largely deserted to this day. 

© 2005 RIA Novosti   
*****************************************************************
 36 Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Bush loves nuclear power 

Today: May 26, 2006 at 7:16:11 PDT 

President fails to acknowledge - again - the dangers of nuclear
waste

President Bush this week visited Pennsylvania's Limerick
Generating Station to again tout the benefits of nuclear power
and call for its expansion. While what Bush said - and what he
didn't say - was all too familiar, it still doesn't make it any
less alarming than his previous statements about nuclear power. 

Bush has said repeatedly that more U.S. reactors should be
constructed so that nuclear power would represent a bigger
portion of the nation's "energy mix" - along with coal, natural
gas, oil and a tiny percentage of renewable sources such as
wind, water and geothermal - to ease the nation's dependence on
foreign oil. 

America needs nuclear power to assure its "economic security and
national security," Bush said on his tour Wednesday. What he
didn't say was that an expansion of nuclear power would do
little to curb our oil "addiction" - only about 3 percent of the
nation's energy plants are fueled by oil (about half are
coal-fired, and almost 20 percent are nuclear). 

Bush's visit to Limerick was about 60 miles from the site of the
1979 Three Mile Island reactor accident. Bush contended that
nuclear power is safe today, but the record is hardly spot-free;
the nation's aging nuclear plants have had several troubling
safety violations in recent years. 

What Bush did not address this week was the lingering unease
that many Americans still have with nuclear power - the fear
that it would only take one terrible accident, such as Chernobyl
20 years ago, to create a major catastrophe. 

Bush also said that nuclear power offers an "abundant and
plentiful" alternative energy source. The president noted that
nuclear reactors burn no fossil fuels that pollute the air and
contribute to global warming. 

But Bush, like so many other nuclear cheerleaders, hasn't come
to grips with the most fundamental problem with nuclear power:
America has no safe, long-term plan for the waste. The highly
radioactive spent fuel from nuclear reactors is some of the most
deadly material known to man. 

The administration is committed to a deeply flawed, long-delayed
plan to launch an unprecedented waste-shipping campaign to
transport the nation's most highly radioactive spent fuel to
Nevada's Yucca Mountain for permanent burial. The deadly waste
and the dangerous plan to bury high-level nuclear waste at Yucca
very much contradict Bush's assertion this week that nuclear
power "helps us protect the environment." 

All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 37 ajc.com: Nuclear foes give PSC earful | 

Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

Opponents of nuclear want Ga. Power to look in other directions
 		 	
By ROBERT LUKE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
 	Published on: 05/26/06 	 		 		 			 		 		 		 	 	 	 				 				
					 							 						 					 				 			 		 	 	 	 			 	 	 	 		 	 	
Georgia Power Co. hasn't decided yet on whether to expand the
Plant Vogtle nuclear power complex near Augusta. 

But one thing is certain. The utility will be dogged every step
of the way  even as it studies the matter  by those opposed to
the use of nuclear power to generate electricity.

  Georgia Power Co.(ENLARGE)  

  Two nuclear power units are in operation at Georgia Power's
Vogtle plant in Waynesboro. Two more units could be added at the
plant, adding to generating capacity in 2015 and 2016.

That was evident at a Georgia Public Service Commission hearing
Thursday as more than 15 people, some representing groups such
as the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, testified against the
nuclear option. They cited potential cost overruns, along with
health and environmental concerns. 

Instead, they recommended the utility spend its dollars to
pursue other ways of producing more electricity, including wind
power, solar power and the use of biomass fuels, such as
switchgrass. They also urged conservation on the part of
customers, so as to forestall the need to build more power
plants. 

Georgia Power reckons it needs to boost generating capacity to
meet future demand. The utility, which hasn't built a major
power plant in 26 years, argues that while alternative energy
sources can help meet a portion of that demand, expanding those
sources isn't cost-effective. 

And it worries about the future supply, and cost, of natural gas
to fuel its power plants. 

The utility, a unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co., last year
used a mix of fuels to power its plants  66 percent coal, 19
percent nuclear, 11 percent natural gas and 4 percent from water
sources. 

Now, it's planning to spend $51 million to study the feasibility
of expanding the nuclear complex at Plant Vogtle. These include
early site permitting and construction operating license costs. 

Vogtle currently has two units. Two more could be added. 

Georgia Power has 15,097 megawatts of generating capacity. It
wants to add about 600 megawatts and 500 megawatts,
respectively, in 2015 and 2016, when the two units potentially
could come online. 

Given the long lead times to get a nuclear power plant built and
operating, Georgia Power is asking the PSC to allow it to defer
those costs for accounting purposes. 

That will allow the company to recover those costs from
customers in a future rate case. Otherwise, the company would
expense those costs as they are incurred and pass them on to
ratepayers. 

But opponents said allowing the deferral of those costs would,
in effect, give the nuclear option precedence over others. 

"You are tilting in the direction of one form of energy," said
Rep. Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta). 

"It's an unprecedented attempt to get into ratepayers' pockets,"
said Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta). 

The PSC is expected to decide the matter next month. 	 	 	 		 		

© 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
*****************************************************************
 38 NRC: NRC Continues Monitoring, Oversight of Groundwater Contamination at Nuclear Power Plants
 
News Release - 2006-07
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION   
  Office of Public Affairs     Telephone: 301/415-8200   
  Washington, DC 20555-0001     E-mail: opa@nrc.gov  
  No. 06-072     May 26, 2006   
  

  


The Nuclear Regulatory Commission continues to address the
instances of contaminated groundwater at nuclear power plants in
Illinois and New York and is ensuring that plant operators take
appropriate corrective actions. Although all available
information continues to show public health and safety are
unaffected by these instances, the agency is addressing concerns
about unintended releases of radioactive material, even in
non-hazardous amounts. 

Most U.S. commercial nuclear reactors release liquid effluents
containing some radioactive material in a controlled manner.
These controlled releases are conducted in accordance with
strict regulatory limits. These limits ensure any radiation dose
that could be received by a member of the public is a small
fraction of normal background radiation. In a few cases
contaminated water has leaked into groundwater at nuclear power
plants migrating off the plant site. None of these cases has
affected public health and safety. The agencys Region III
office, in Lisle, Ill., began inspections of potential
tritium-related issues at all operating nuclear power plants in
Illinois, as well as the previously shut down Zion facility. The
agencys Region I office, in King of Prussia, Pa., has also
inspected groundwater contamination at the Indian Point facility
in Buchanan, N.Y. These inspections are in addition to the
routine examination of effluent and environmental monitoring
programs done at all nuclear power reactors under the Reactor
Oversight Process. The NRC staff continues to analyze
groundwater samples with the affected plants to verify the
effectiveness of licensees analytical methods. Affected states
have also been verifying the sample results. 

As is the normal practice, the agency is making public its
inspection reports and any resulting enforcement actions that
may be taken. This includes recent results from NRCs inspection
of the Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant located near Braidwood,
Ill., that are available on the NRC Web site at :
http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm by entering
ML061450522. The NRCs inspection at Braidwood determined that
public health and safety has not been, nor is likely to be,
adversely affected by historical leaks of water with very low
levels of tritium. However, preliminary findings indicate that
Exelon had failed to adequately evaluate the radiological
hazards associated with leaks from the circulating water
blowdown line vacuum breakers and to assess the resultant
environmental impact between 1996 and 2005. Specifically, the
licensee did not perform adequate, timely radiological
evaluations following the historical leaks which impacted their
ability to assess the environmental impact from the releases and
to mitigate the releases; did not account for the potential
impact on the public; and did not adequately control licensed
material. 

In addition, the NRC has established a task force to evaluate
the inadvertent, unmonitored releases, as well as the regulatory
requirements associated with the structures, systems, and
components from which the releases emanated. The task force will
recommend improvements that may be applicable to the agency, the
industry or both. This task force is scheduled to complete its
review in late summer 2006. The latest available information on
tritium issues can be accessed at this address:
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops-experience/grndwtr-cont
am-tritium.html.   



  


 	Last revised Friday, May 26, 2006 	   
*****************************************************************
 39 NRC: Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., Environmental Assessment and
 
                         FR Doc E6-8112 
[Federal Register: May 26, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 102)]
[Notices]               
[Page 30451-30452]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26my06-129]                         
 
Finding 
of No Significant Impact for Proposed Extension of Deadline for 
Inventory of Special Nuclear Material
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
ACTION: Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant
Impact.
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
------
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin M. Ramsey, Project
Manager, Fuel 
Cycle Facilities Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and
Safeguards, 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop T-8F42, Rockville, MD.
 
20555-0001, 
Telephone (301) 415-7887; fax (301) 415-5955; e-mail kmr@nrc.gov.
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff is considering
the 
issuance of a license amendment to Materials License SNM-124, to 
Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS) (the licensee), to grant a
one-time 
exemption from the May 2006 inventory results for strategic
special 
nuclear material in the Blended Low-Enriched Uranium Preparation 
Facility (BPF). The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment
(EA) 
in support of this amendment in accordance with the requirements
of 10 
CFR part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a
Finding of 
No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate and, therefore, an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will not be prepared.
 
II. Environmental Assessment
Background
The NFS facility in Erwin, Tennessee is authorized, under
License 
SNM-124 to manufacture high-enriched nuclear reactor fuel. In
addition, 
NFS is authorized to blend highly enriched uranium (HEU) with
natural 
uranium and manufacture low-enriched nuclear reactor fuel.
 
Currently, 
BPF is in a safe-shutdown mode, in accordance with Confirmatory
Action 
Letter (CAL) No. 02-06-003 dated March 18, 2006. Operations in
BPF were 
shut down without the usual material processing/clean-out that
is 
required to be undertaken as part of a measured physical
inventory. NFS 
is currently in the process of conducting an operational
readiness 
review (ORR) which must be reviewed and approved by NRC before 
operations are restarted. This is expected to occur on or before
June 
20, 2006. After operations are authorized, the BPF must be
operated for 
a minimum of two weeks to process the material to a form
suitable for a 
measurable physical inventory. NFS requests that the inventory 
reporting date be extended until 45 days after the completion of
the 
ORR and the processing/inventory process clean out resumes, the
date of 
which is not now specifically known.
 
Review Scope
The purpose of this EA is to assess the environmental
impacts of 
the proposed license amendment. It does not approve the request.
This 
EA is limited to the proposed exemption and any cumulative
impacts on 
existing plant operations. The existing conditions and
operations for 
the Erwin facility were evaluated by the NRC for environmental
impacts 
in a 1999 EA related to the renewal of the NFS license (Ref. 1)
and a 
2002 EA related to the first amendment for the Blended
Low-Enriched 
Uranium (BLEU) Project (Ref. 2). The 2002 EA assessed the impact
of the 
entire BLEU Project, using information available at that time. A
2003 
EA (Ref. 3) and a 2004 EA (Ref. 4), related to additional BLEU
Project 
amendments, confirmed the FONSI issued in 2002. This assessment 
presents information and analysis for determining that the
issuance of 
a FONSI is appropriate and that an EIS will not be prepared.
 
Proposed Action
The proposed action is to amend NRC Materials License
SNM-124 to 
grant a one-time exemption from the physical inventory deadline
for 
strategic special nuclear material in the BPF. The exemption
would 
authorize NFS to submit the physical inventory results after NRC
has 
authorized the restart of operations in the BPF and NFS has had
an 
opportunity to process the material and complete the inventory.
 
The 
proposed action is limited to the reporting deadline only. No
change to 
processing, packaging, or storage operations is requested, and
no 
construction of new facilities is requested.
 
Need for Proposed Action
The proposed action is being requested because NFS had to
secure 
operations in the BPF to investigate an upset condition. NFS has 
committed to maintain the BPF in a safe-shutdown mode until NRC 
authorizes restart of operations. Regulations in 10 CFR
74.59(f)(1) 
require a physical inventory of strategic special nuclear
material 
every six months. To comply with this regulation, the material
must be 
processed into a form that can be inventoried. Material in the
BPF 
process is not in a form that can be inventoried and it cannot
be 
processed into the proper form until the restart of operations
is 
authorized.
 
Alternatives
The alternatives available to NRC are:
1. Approve the license amendment as described; or
2. No action (i.e., deny the request).
Affected Environment
The affected environment for the proposed action and the no
action 
alternative is the NFS site. The NFS facility is located in
Unicoi 
County, Tennessee, about 32 km (20 mi) southwest of Johnson
City, 
Tennessee. The facility is about 0.8 km (0.5 mi) southwest of
the Erwin 
city limits. The affected environment is identical to the
affected 
environment assessed in the 2002 EA related to the first
amendment for 
the BLEU Project (Ref. 2). A full description of the site and
its 
characteristics are given in the 2002 EA. Additional information
can be 
found in the 1999 EA related to the renewal of the NFS license
(Ref. 
1). The site occupies about 28 hectares (70 acres). The site is
bounded 
to the northwest by the CSX Corporation (CSX) railroad property
and the 
Nolichucky River, and by Martin Creek to the northeast. The
plant 
elevation is about 9 m (30 ft)
 
[[Page 30452]]
above the nearest point on the Nolichucky River.
 
The area adjacent to the site consists primarily of
residential, 
industrial, and commercial areas, with a limited amount of
farming to 
the northwest. Privately owned residences are located to the
east and 
south of the facility. Tract size is relatively large, leading
to a low 
housing density in the areas adjacent to the facility. The CSX
railroad 
right-of-way is parallel to the western boundary of the site. 
Industrial development is located adjacent to the railroad on
the 
opposite side of the right-of-way. The site is bounded by Martin
Creek 
to the north, with privately owned, vacant property and
low-density 
residences.
 
Environmental Impacts of Proposed Action and Alternatives
1. Occupational and Public Health
Proposed Action. The occupation and public health impacts
from the 
proposed action are essentially the same as those considered in
the 
environmental assessment for operation of the BPF (Ref. 3).
Maintaining 
the BPF in a safe-shutdown mode will reduce the emissions from
normal 
operations and reduce the risk of accidents. However, the
reductions 
would be so small that the differences would be negligible.
 
No Action. Denying this amendment request would not result
in any 
significant difference in the occupational and public health
impacts. 
If this amendment request is denied, the licensee may be cited
for 
failing to submit a required report. However, the material
cannot be 
inventoried until it is processed into an appropriate form. The 
facility will continue to implement NRC-approved radiation
safety 
procedures for storing and handling radioactive materials. Thus,
the 
impacts under the ``no action'' alternative will remain within 
acceptable regulatory limits.
 
2. Effluent Releases, Environmental Monitoring, Water Resources, 
Geology, Soils, Air Quality, Demography, Biota, Cultural and
Historic 
Resources
Proposed Action. The NRC staff has determined that the
approval of 
the proposed amendment will not impact effluent releases,
environmental 
monitoring, water resources, geology, soils, air quality,
demography, 
biota, or cultural or historic resources at or near the NFS site.
 
No Action. The NRC staff has determined that denial of the
proposed 
amendment will not impact effluent releases, environmental
monitoring, 
water resources, geology, soils, air quality, demography, biota,
or 
cultural or historic resources at or near the NFS site.
 
Conclusion
Based on its review, the NRC has concluded that the
environmental 
impacts associated with the proposed action are not significant
and, 
therefore, do not warrant denial of the proposed license
amendment. The 
NRC has determined that the proposed action, approval of the
license 
amendment as described, is the appropriate alternative for
selection. 
Based on an evaluation of the environmental impacts of the
proposed 
license amendment, the NRC has determined that the proper action
is to 
issue a FONSI.
 
Agencies and Persons Contacted
On May 11, 2006, the NRC staff contacted the Deputy Director
of the 
Division of Radiological Health in the Tennessee Department of 
Environment and Conservation (TDEC) concerning this EA. On May
12, 
2006, the Deputy Director responded that TDEC reviewed the draft
EA and 
had no comments (Ref. 6).
The NRC staff has determined that the proposed action will
not 
affect listed species or critical habitat. Therefore, no
consultation 
is required under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.
 
Likewise, 
the NRC staff has determined that the proposed action is not the
type 
of activity that has the potential to cause effects on historic 
properties. Therefore, no consultation is required under section
106 of 
the National Historic Preservation Act.
 
References
1. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ``Environmental 
Assessment for Renewal of Special Nuclear Material License No.
 
SNM-
124,'' January 1999, ADAMS No. ML031150418.
2. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ``Environmental 
Assessment for Proposed License Amendments to Special Nuclear 
Material License No. SNM-124 Regarding Downblending and Oxide 
Conversion of Surplus High-Enriched Uranium,'' June 2002, ADAMS
No. 
ML021790068.
 
3. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ``Environmental 
Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the BLEU 
Preparation Facility,'' September 2003, ADAMS No. ML032390428.
4. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ``Environmental 
Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the Oxide 
Conversion Building and the Effluent Processing Building at the
BLEU 
Complex,'' June 2004, ADAMS No. ML041470176.
5. Nuclear Fuel Services, ``Request for One-Time
Exemption,'' 
April 13, 2006, ADAMS No. ML061150255.
6. D. Shults, Tennessee Division of Radiological Health,
e-mail 
to K. Ramsey, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ``EA for NFS 
Exemption,'' May 12, 2006, ADAMS No. ML061350156.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact:
Pursuant to 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has considered the 
environmental consequences of amending NRC Materials License
SNM-124 to 
grant a one-time exemption from the physical inventory deadline
for 
strategic special nuclear material in the BPF. On the basis of
this EA, 
the NRC has concluded that there are no significant
environmental 
impacts associated with the proposed amendment and has
determined not 
to prepare an EIS for the proposed amendment.
 
IV. Further Information
The documents referenced in this notice may be made
available to 
interested parties pursuant to a protective order and subject to 
applicable security requirements upon a showing that the party
has an 
interest that may be affected by the proposed action.
 
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of May 2006.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Gary S. Janosko,
Chief, Fuel Cycle Facilities Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle
Safety and 
Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
 
[FR Doc. E6-8112 Filed 5-25-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 40 NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
 
                         FR Doc E6-8113 
[Federal Register: May 26, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 102)] 
[Notices] [Page 30450-30451] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr26my06-128]                         
 
Comment Request AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). 
ACTION: Notice of pending NRC action to submit an information 
collection request to OMB and solicitation of public comment.
 
SUMMARY: The NRC is preparing a submittal to OMB for review of 
continued approval of information collections under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35). Information pertaining to the requirement to be 
submitted: 1. The title of the information collection: NRC Form 
398, ``Personal Qualification Statement--Licensee.'' 2. Current 
OMB approval number: 3150-0090. 3. How often the collection is 
required: On occasion and every six years (at renewal).
 
4. Who is required or asked to report: Individuals requiring a 
license to operate the controls at a nuclear reactor.
 
5. The number of annual respondents: 1,350 (600 new, 50 re- 
applications, 600 renewals and 100 waivers).
 
6. The number of hours needed annually to complete the 
requirement or request: 3,250 (2.4 hours per response). 7. 
Abstract: NRC Form 398 requests detailed information that should 
be submitted by a licensing applicant and facility licensee when 
applying for a new or renewal license to operate the controls at 
a nuclear reactor facility. This information, once collected, 
would be used for licensing actions and for generating reports on 
the Operator Licensing Program.
 
Submit, by July 25, 2006, comments that address the following 
questions: 1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary 
for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the 
information have practical utility? 2. Is the burden estimate 
accurate? 3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected? 4. How can the burden 
of the information collection be minimized, including the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology? A copy of the draft supporting statement may be 
viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD
 
[[Page 30451]] 20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the 
NRC worldwide Web site: 
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/index.html. The 
document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days 
after the signature date of this notice.
 
Comments and questions about the information collection 
requirements may be directed to the NRC Clearance Officer, Brenda 
Jo. Shelton (T-5 F52), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, by telephone at 301-415-7233, or by 
Internet electronic mail to INFOCOLLECTS@NRC.GOV. Dated at 
Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of May 2006.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Brenda Jo. Shelton, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of Information 
Services.
 
[FR Doc. E6-8113 Filed 5-25-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 41 Daily News: Venezuelan energy law to govern nuclear issues

eluniversal.com
 
Ángel Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly Energy and
Mines Committee, said by June 15th he is to file before the
plenary session of Parliament a draft energy law for discussion
that is to set the rules of the game regarding water,
electricity and nuclear energy, among other issues. 

In a communiqué, Rodríguez hinted that the regulation is to take
into account Latin American integration, the possibility of
sabotage by foreign countries, the development of nuclear energy
and Venezuelan participation in the Southern Common Market. 

He added that the committee he heads has sought advise from
external consultants regarding the relevant international,
political and economic principles of this energy law. 



 		  Copyright @ Diario El Universal C.A. 2005    

*****************************************************************
 42 Boston Globe: Govt approves increase in Seabrook power - 

Boston.com

Associated Press

May 26, 2006 

SEABROOK, N.H. --The federal government has granted Seabrook
Nuclear plant permission to generate more electricity.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission allowed the first of two
increases in March, allowing the plant to boost its power output
by five percent. The second increase won't be implemented until
the fall.

The two increases will see the plant generating about seven
percent more power, enough to power nearly 97 thousand homes.

------

Information from: New Hampshire Union Leader, [ /] © Copyright
2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. More: 


*****************************************************************
 43 Telegraph: Questions over nuclear power and influence
 
  [telegraph.co.uk]
  
(Filed: 27/05/2006)
 
For the anti-nuclear lobby, Britain's largest nuclear plant at
Sellafield is not only a blight on the windswept Cumbrian
landscape. It also represents the daily prospect of a nuclear
disaster waiting to happen. 

In contrast, that rugged part of the UK is becoming one of the
hottest battlegrounds for the world's largest engineering
companies, which want a slice of the extensive nuclear industry
concentrated in the area. 

Sellafield - the Government-owned site with the largest
concentration of nuclear infrastructure in western Europe - is
"the jewel in the crown" of the nuclear clean-up world,
according to sources. 

It has recently been made all the more enticing because the
Government has announced a wide-ranging plan to privatise
Britain's nuclear businesses, raising the prospect of
multi-billion pound contracts to run Sellafield and other
nuclear sites for many years to come. 

The sell-off of publicly-owned nuclear assets has put the
spotlight on global companies which would like to snap up these
businesses. 

It is also focusing attention on the lobbying firms which are
promoting the interests of their nuclear clients to the
Government. Among the most prominent players in this area is
Fluor, one of America's largest engineering companies, which is
keen to buy British Nuclear Group (BNG), the Government-owned
entity which was put up for sale by Chancellor Gordon Brown in
this year's Budget. 

Whoever buys BNG will be given a five-year contract to
decommission Sellafield's ageing facilities, which is expected
to produce revenues of about £1bn a year. Those vying for BNG
hope that once they have their foot in the door, that five-year
contract could be extended for 10 or even 20 years. 

Closely connected to Fluor is Sovereign Strategy, a lobbying
firm based in Trafalgar Square, London, which counts the
Dallas-based company as one if its major clients. Both Fluor and
Sovereign Strategy have ties to the Labour Party and its MPs. 

Fluor paid for a trip for Jamie Reed, MP for Copeland, the
constituency in which Sellafield falls, to see its operations in
the US this month. 

That visit came after Mr Reed hosted an event for Fluor in the
House of Commons in March. Fluor, which already does some work
at Sellafield, has also donated £12,000 of its own and its
employees' money to Cumbria's local air ambulance. 

Fluor's presence has also been felt in other parts of the North,
where the nuclear industry is a significant part of the economy.
It has taken tables at a "North West gala dinner" for the Labour
Party, and a separate gala dinner in the Labour constituency of
Workington in the past year and a half. 

Senior Fluor executives are understood to have met Geoff Norris,
Tony Blair's special adviser on industry. A Fluor spokesman
pointed out the company had been doing business in the UK for 50
years. 

Meanwhile, Sovereign Strategy has been cultivating its contacts
with the Labour Party. Founded by Alan Donnelly, Labour's former
party chairman in the European Parliament, the firm has taken
tables at Labour fundraising dinners in London. 

As well as Mr Donnelly, there are other Labour politicians who
are either on its payroll now or have been in the past. They
include Lord Moonie, an associate director of the firm and a
close contact of Gordon Brown. Lord Moonie used to be an MP for
Kirkcaldy. 

Alan Milburn, MP for Darlington, is another politician with
links to Sovereign Strategy and has been paid for a speech he
made in the past by the firm. 

Another politician connected to the firm is Jack Cunningham.

Sovereign Strategy organised an event on the House of Commons
Terrace last year to mark his retirement as an MP before
entering the House of Lords. Mr Blair spoke at the event. 

Mr Donnelly, who would only respond to questions via email and
after his lawyers, Carter Ruck, had become involved, confirmed
his firm had organised Lord Cunningham's farewell party. Lord
Cunningham's replacement as an MP is Mr Reed, who said he had
not spoken to his predecessor for six months. 

Lord Cunningham's links to Sovereign Strategy include his role
as "legislative chair" of lobbying group called Transatlantic
Nuclear Energy Forum (Tanef). Tanef and Sovereign Strategy share
an office. A senior Fluor executive, John Hopkins, is Tanef's
"industrial chair". 

Tanef, which lobbies for the nuclear industry in the UK and US,
charges companies either $100,000 (£54,000) a year or $50,000
depending on their membership type. 

Tanef has cultivated connections with politicians and officials.

Recently it invited Sir Anthony Cleaver, the chairman of the
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the Government body which
oversees Britain's nuclear plants, to speak a Tanef event in
Brussels. 

Fluor is not alone in trying to schmooze the Government.

Bechtel, another major US nuclear group, has connections with
the Government and helped it mastermind its nuclear regulatory
policy. This advisory role has barred it from competing for BNG,
though many people in the nuclear world believe the company is
keen to see this ban lifted. 

Other firms are also expected to step up their lobbying as the
auction of BNG intensifies. As well as BNG, the Government is
planning to sell or float the uranium-enrichment business
Urenco, and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is
another candidate for privatisation. 

In addition to the sale of these businesses, Mr Blair earlier
this month threw his weight behind the campaign to build new
nuclear reactors, which will create even more opportunities for
lucrative contracts. 

The potential for lobbying to influence the process has been
criticised by other political parties. Norman Baker, the Liberal
Democrat environment spokesman until March, said: "The nuclear
industry knows that the case for nuclear is weak economically,
so has embarked on a policy to get sympathetic MPs on board. The
nuclear industry is spending thousands to buy influence." 

Peter Ainsworth, the Tory shadow environment secretary, said:

"It is vitally important that in considering potential buyers
for BNG the Government places the national interest before
particular relationships with MPs. We don't want to see this
very important business being sold on the back of lobbying." 

 © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2006. 
*****************************************************************
 44 AU ABC: Science Minister backs nuclear power
 
The World Today - Friday, 26 May , 2006  12:50:00
 
Reporter: Brendan Trembath

 ELEANOR HALL: A Federal Minister has added more fuel to
Australia's nuclear debate today by endorsing a report on the
cost benefits of nuclear power.

Science Minster Julie Bishop says there's a strong case for
nuclear power generation in Australia.

The minister argued the case for nuclear energy while inspecting
the nation's nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney's south.

But she declined to comment on where Australia's first nuclear
power station would be built.

Brendan Trembath reports. 

(sound of tractor)

BRENDAN TREMBATH: Passing through the main gate of Australia's
only nuclear reactor.

It's more than 50 years old now, and a replacement is due to
open next year.

The Science Minister Julie Bishop says it's an impressive
operation.

JULIE BISHOP: It will be one of the top three research reactors
in the world, and we have brought together expertise from across
Australia and across the world to ensure that it is one of the
top three research reactors.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: If it's so benign, why not go another step
further and think about nuclear power, like the original aim of
the site?

JULIE BISHOP: I believe that it's timely for us to have a fully
informed evidence-based debate about the potential of nuclear
power.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: The minister has just a received a report on
nuclear power commissioned by the organisation which operates
the reactor.

JULIE BISHOP: I believe that there is a very strong case for
nuclear power generation in Australia, both a business case in
terms of the economics, but I will be taking into account this
and other reports, but from a safety and security and
environmental perspective, I believe that there is a case for
nuclear power. And that's why I'm looking forward to an informed
evidence-based discussion, debate about its potential.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: But the Science Minister Julie Bishop says
it's too soon to talk about the location of a nuclear power
plant.

JULIE BISHOP: Well, it's early days for us to discuss specifics.
At this stage I'm calling for a fully informed, evidence based
debate on the potential of nuclear power. And we need to take
the emotion out of this and have an objective, dispassionate
debate, and that's why I'm pleased to see the type of report
that ANSTO (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology
Organisation) has commissioned.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: The new reactor looks harmless enough. From
the outside it resembles the aquatic centre built for the Sydney
Olympics.

There's even a pool at the new site, a 30-metre deep pool, part
of the cooling system.

But while it might look harmless, environmentalists are
concerned about nuclear waste.

Dr Ian Smith, the chief executive of ANSTO, says there's much
less waste than other energy sources.

IAN SMITH: If you have, if you take a country like France, which
produces 80 per cent of its electricity through nuclear, the
high-level waste produced is less than 10 grams per person, per
year.

Now, a 500-megawatt nuclear power station in Australia would
produce something like 800 kilograms of waste. A 500-megawatt
coal-fired power station produces 300,000 tonnes of solid waste …

REPORTER: It's not the same waste.

IAN SMITH: It's not the same waste, it's actually, when it's
treated properly, probably safer than the waste that come from
coal-fired power stations.

If you read the …

REPORTER: (inaudible) not being able to find a site to bury the
waste that you do produce already.

JULIE BISHOP: We're in the process of identifying a site. We had
to pass legislation through the Parliament; the legislation
passed last year. We have three sites identified in the Northern
Territory, there are other sites under consideration, and we
have commenced the environmental processes and considering those
sites.

REPORTER: Why do those sites have to be imposed upon the people
who live there though?

JULIE BISHOP: The sites are defence sites, it's Commonwealth
land, it's in the Northern Territory, and the legislation,
having now passed the Parliament, gives us the opportunity to
identify the most appropriate site for the low and intermediate
level waste storage.

ELEANOR HALL: Federal Science Minister Julie Bishop speaking to
reporters at Lucas Heights, including Brendan Trembath.   

*****************************************************************
 45 AFP: Iran reiterates its right to peaceful use of nuclear energy -
     
May 26, 01:32 PM 
 
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Iran has reiterated its right to peaceful use
of nuclear energy but said it was prepared to negotiate with the
international community. 

"The right to nuclear technology is the right of every nation,"
First Vice President Parviz Dayoudi told a joint press
conference with Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in
Islamabad after talks. 

"In order to provide greater assurances to the international
community we are prepared to continue with negotiations,"
Dayoudi said on Thursday. 

The United States, Britain, France and Germany suspect that Iran
is carrying out a covert programme to build a nuclear bomb and
are lobbying to have the UN Security Council to take action. 

Iran insists it wants to enrich uranium to make reactor fuel,
although the process can be extended to make weapons. 

"Nuclear arsenals and weapons have no place in Iran's military
strategy. It is also forbidden in our faith and religion to have
nuclear armaments. Our nuclear activities are fully peaceful,"
Dayoudi said. 

Aziz said nuclear-armed Pakistan supported Iran's right to
peaceful use of nuclear energy and wanted a negotiated
settlement of the row. 

"On the nuclear issue Pakistan always respects the right of
every country to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," Aziz
said. 

"We hope that the current challenge on the nuclear question
would be settled peacefully and will be settled in a way that
this problem can go away through diplomacy and dialogue," he
added. 

Pakistan's own nuclear programme came under international
scrutiny when Abdul Qadeer Khan, who was considered the father
of Pakistan's nuclear programme, confessed in February 2004 to
leaking secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya. 

   Copyright © 2006 AFP. All rights reserved. All information
*****************************************************************
 46 NEWS.com.au: Report backs latest nuke power 

From: AAP

May 26, 2006

NEW research shows the latest type of nuclear power station is
economically competitive with new coal fired power stations,
Science Minister Julie Bishop says. Mrs Bishop, who today
inspected the new research reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney,
said the research was conducted by Professor John Gittus, an
independent consultant to the Australian Nuclear Science and
Technology Organisation (ANSTO).

 A synopsis of his report will be released on Sunday.

 Mrs Bishop said the study concluded that nuclear power was the
safest, most secure way of generating electricity with greater
price stability in comparison to gas or coal power generation.

 The analysis also found the nuclear option was even more
attractive when considering the cost of environmental damage and
carbon dioxide emissions from new coal or gas-fired power
stations.

 "I welcome this report as a useful contribution to what I hope
will be an evidence-based debate about nuclear power in
Australia. The debate must focus on the facts and not be biased
by emotion," she said.

Mrs Bishop said the new Open Pool Australian Light-water (OPAL) 
reactor was expected to become fully operational in the near 
future and would be one of the world's top three research 
reactors.

 She said it would deliver healthcare benefits through
production of radiopharmaceuticals and would place Australia at
the leading edge of research into microbiology, biotechnology
and gene therapy.

 "It will maintain Australia's nuclear expertise and attract
overseas research scientists," she said. 		  		 		 		 			Search

*****************************************************************
 47 Guardian Unlimited: 34 Countries Take Part in WMD Drills
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Friday May 26, 2006 12:16 PM

By MURAD SEZER 

Associated Press Writer 

ABOARD THE TCG BARBAROS (AP) - In a drill, Turkish commandos
rappelled from military helicopters onto a merchant ship that
mock intelligence said was carrying weapons of mass destruction.
U.S. commandos raced to join them from a nearby warship. 

The exercise Friday, with 34 countries participating, was a
practice session to prepare for intercepting weapons materials
before they reach a country like Iran, Turkey's neighbor. 

Officials say cooperation-building exercises like this are
crucial to keeping Iran or other countries from receiving
shipments of materials that they could use to help build a
nuclear weapon. 

The drills began when a merchant ship left the Turkish port of
Antalya without permission. Urgent intelligence reports then
said the ship was carrying ``smuggled materials.'' It was
assumed they were weapons materials on their way to a hostile
country. 

Warships from the United States, Turkey, France and Portugal
raced into the open seas and surrounded the civilian ship about
25 miles into the Mediterranean. Turkish helicopters taking off
from the TCG Gaziantep warship engaged and chased off a civilian
helicopter that was apparently trying to unload cargo from the
civilian merchant vessel. 

French and U.S. maritime patrol planes were also dispatched to
monitor the area. 

Once the merchant ship was secured and boarded by Turkish
commandos from the air and American commandos from the sea via a
motorboat, chemical teams boarded and began to search the ship.
They eventually found a container said to be carrying chemicals
for weapons, which was decontaminated when the ship was returned
to port. 

Officials from Turkey's atomic energy association, bomb
destruction teams, police and customs agents also participated
in the exercise, which included additional scenarios of
searching vehicles carrying suspected weapons materials to an
airport and a land customs gate. 

Observers were hosted above a Turkish naval frigate - the TCG
Barbaros - for the exercise, which is said to be the largest so
far of the Proliferation Security Initiative, or PSI, a program
started in 2003 by President Bush. 

Though officials have repeatedly said the exercise is not aimed
at any specific country, all eyes are on Iran, which is not
likely to see the hosting of the nonproliferation exercise as a
friendly move by its Muslim neighbor. 

Countries bordering Iran, including Persian Gulf countries and
Turkey, have come under increasing pressure recently to
cooperate with the U.S. and pressure the Islamic Republic to
give up what the U.S. says is a secret nuclear weapons program. 

Analysts say the exercise will not only help increase
preparedness for stopping illegal shipments that Iran could use
in a weapons program, but the show of multinational forces
cooperating in Turkey will send the message that most of the
world is united against Iran possessing those weapons. 

``Iran already has most of what it needs for a nuclear weapon,
but it continues to try to procure foreign components that would
allow it to reach that capability faster and better,'' said Mark
Fitzpatrick, a senior fellow at the International Institute for
Strategic Studies in London. 

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has credited PSI with
several successes already in intercepting shipments of missile
and nuclear technology headed to Iran, but she did not elaborate
on details. 

PSI, however, is only one crucial part of a massive effort
needed to prevent proliferation, said Charles Ferguson, fellow
for science and technology at the U.S.-based Council on Foreign
Relations. 

``My view is that PSI fills the gaps,'' Ferguson said. ``The
borders are porous in so many different areas, that's why we
can't rely exclusively on PSI ... We also need to rely on more
traditional tools such as export control, IAEA inspections and
diplomacy.'' 

Ferguson said nonproliferation efforts concentrated too long on
state-to-state transfers of technology and materials - until
Abdul Qadeer Khan, the founder of Pakistan's nuclear weapons
program, admitted in 2004 to passing nuclear technology to other
countries, showing that the dangerous game also involved
individuals or small groups and was getting more complex. 

Pakistan shares a long border with Iran. 

Officials from 34 countries observed or participated in Friday's
exercise either from a naval ship or by computer, as militaries
cooperated to track, board, search and disable suspect vessels. 

There have been more than a dozen previous PSI exercises held in
other countries, though Turkey says this one was the largest
yet. 

When South Korea agreed to participate in an earlier PSI
exercise, North Korea, also believed to have a clandestine
nuclear weapons program, called it a ``war crime'' and
threatened all-out nuclear war. 

--- 

Associated Press writer Benjamin Harvey contributed to this
report from Istanbul.	 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 48 Las Vegas SUN: Mushroom cloud blast in Nevada delayed indefinitely 

Today: May 26, 2006 at 16:46:37 PDT 

By KEN RITTER ASSOCIATED PRESS 

LAS VEGAS (AP) - The federal government on Friday indefinitely
postponed a massive explosion that planners said would generate
a mushroom cloud over the Nevada desert and critics feared would
spread radioactivity across the West. 

Officials said delaying the non-nuclear explosion dubbed "Divine
Strake" would allow time to answer legal and scientific
questions about whether it would kick up radioactive fallout
left from nuclear weapons tests conducted at the Nevada Test
Site about 85 miles northwest of Las Vegas. 

"The previously announced date of no later than June 23 is no
longer accurate," said Darwin Morgan, spokesman for the National
Nuclear Security Administration in North Las Vegas. "The
experiment will be scheduled at a date later to be announced
pending the legal action." 

Anti-nuclear activists, an Indian tribe and Utah and Nevada
congressional lawmakers have pressed the government to address
safety concerns raised since James Tegnelia, director of the
federal Defense Threat Reduction Agency, said the blast "is the
first time in Nevada that you'll see a mushroom cloud over Las
Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons." He later
retracted the statement, saying it was inaccurate. 

A federal judge in Las Vegas let government lawyers on Friday
withdraw a finding that there would be "no significant impact"
from the blast without acknowledging any shortcomings alleged in
a lawsuit filed by the Winnemucca Indian Colony and several
Nevada and Utah "downwinders." 

U.S. District Court Judge Lloyd George said he wanted questions
about the test resolved. 

"You tell the bureaucrats that the time has come for this thing
to move in a timely fashion," the judge told Justice Department
lawyers as he canceled a June 8 hearing but called for written
filings from both sides within four weeks. 

"I will not endure delay after delay," the judge said. 

The explosion was first scheduled June 2 and delayed to June 23
to allow time for a court review of the lawsuit filed by
Reno-based lawyer Bob Hager. The suit claims the federal
government failed to complete required environmental studies
before planning to detonate the 700-ton ammonium nitrate and
fuel oil bomb. 

Designers said the blast would be of the same material but some
280 times larger than the bomb that destroyed the Alfred P.
Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. 

"This is the second time they have announced the intention to
explode this bomb at the Test Site and the second time that
we've stopped them," Hager said. "Until they do the science
right, they'll never be allowed by the court to do this test,
and that's the way it should be." 

A spokesman for the federal Defense Threat Reduction Agency
declined comment. The agency has said the explosion would help
gather data about penetrating hardened and deeply buried
targets. 

Critics have called the planned blast a surrogate for a
low-yield nuclear "bunker-buster" bomb. 

This week Hager filed an affidavit from John Burroughs,
executive director of the Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy
in New York, calling the test "wholly inconsistent" with U.S.
nuclear weapons nonproliferation treaty obligations. 

Hager also submitted opinions from experts, including Richard
Miller of Houston, author of the "U.S. Atlas of Atomic Fallout,"
and Dr. Thomas Fasy, a board member of Physicians for Social
Responsibility in New York City, that the blast posed a risk of
increased cancer to people living downwind of the Test Site. 

The planned blast rekindled fears of illness among "downwind"
residents in Nevada, Utah and Arizona who recalled government
assurances that nuclear tests in the 1950s and early 1960s posed
no risk. Since 1990, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act has
provided for payments to downwinders who contracted certain
cancers and other serious diseases. 

Opponents have collected signatures in Utah to block the
explosion, and a Memorial Day weekend protest is planned at the
Nevada Test Site. 

Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic Senate minority leader,
and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah,
issued statements welcoming the delay. 

"We have always been concerned about background radiation at the
site," Hatch said. "We have been repeatedly told ... that this
was not a concern. But since we've asked them to back up their
conclusions with scientific evidence, it looks like our concerns
are justified." 

A spokeswoman for Utah Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, said the
postponement showed explosion planners were "proceeding
responsibly and with appropriate caution." 

-- 

Associated Press Staff Writers Erica Werner and Jennifer Talhelm
contributed to this report from Washington, D.C. 

All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 49 Bellona: Multipurpose nuclear submarine Volgograd scrapped 

Dismantlement of the Canada sponsored multipurpose nuclear 
submarine completed in Severodvinsk 

2006-05-26 16:50

The multipurpose submarine is the fourth, the disposal of which
is financed by Canada under the Global Partnership programme
adopted at the Group of Eight summit in 2002, Interfax reported
with reference to Zvezdochka shipyard press-department. 

The B-502 (earlier K-502) Volgograd submarine of the Victor-3
class has served nearly for 25 years. Canada is going to finance
during four years the disposal of 12 multipurpose
nuclear-powered submarines, three a year. Ottawa will allocate
about 100 million dollars for this programme. So far Zvezdochka
plant received $8m from Canada for the completed work. 

The submarines of Project 671 RTM Victor-3 were built at St.
Petersburg's Admiralteisky shipyard and in the Russia Far East
before 1987. Twenty-six submarines with 102-meter length and
water displacement up to 6,990 tonnes have joined the navy.
   

  Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge
Information: info@bellona.no, Technical contact:
webmaster@bellona.no
Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62  * P.O.Box
2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway

*****************************************************************
 50 Columbus Dispatch: Deal saves cleanup workers’ benefits 

Thursday, May 25, 2006 

Randy Ludlow THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH 

The application of some political muscle apparently has saved
pension and retirement health-care benefits for about 130
cleanup workers at the former Piketon uranium-enrichment plant. 

U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, threatened to hold up Senate
confirmation of nominees to the U.S. Department of Energy until
it closed a deal resolving workers’ concerns. 

U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Lisbon, also pressured the agency to
guarantee benefits. 

The agency had balked at continuing to reimburse Portsmouth
Gaseous Diffusion Plant contractors for the contract costs of
workers’ portable pensions and other benefits. 

But the Department of Energy has agreed to change its agreements
with cleanup contractors to preserve worker benefits, DeWine and
Strickland announced. 

"Sen. DeWine ... got a result we desired," said Dan Minter,
president of United Steel Workers/PACE Local 5-869, which
represents the employees. 

Workers long have been able to switch seamlessly between
contractors at the Pike County plant without losing seniority,
pension credits and other benefits, Minter said. 

However, the Department of Energy wanted to consider workers,
with an average of 24 years of seniority, new hires if they
chose to begin working for new contractors in coming weeks,
Minter said. 

Congress mandated that the agency allow pension and benefit
costs for long-time USEC Inc. employees joining new employers,
but the agency did not follow the directive, Strickland’s office
said. 

The plant about 70 miles south of Columbus, enriched uranium for
fuel rods used in nuclear power plants until it closed in 2001.

Remaining workers are cleaning up decades of radioactive and
chemical contamination. 

USEC is developing a centrifuge-based uranium-enrichment
technology at Piketon that the company hopes will be up and
running and employing 500 workers in coming years. 

rludlow@dispatch.com 
 
©2006, The Columbus Dispatch, Reproduction prohibited 			 				
*****************************************************************
 51 AP Wire: Future of MOX plant at SRS uncertain

05/26/2006 | 

 Associated Press 

AIKEN, S.C. - The future of a program at the Savannah River Site
that would take material from nuclear weapons and turn it into
fuel for nuclear power plants is uncertain after the U.S. House
approved an energy bill without money for the effort. 

The program to convert the weapons-grade plutonium into mixed
oxide fuel, or MOX, may still be funded by the U.S. Senate,
which has yet to vote on the energy bill. 

The Nuclear Security Administration plans to continue to work to
get the money for the MOX facility, spokeswoman Julianne Smith
said. 

"At this point it's very early in the congressional process,"
she said. "Things can change at any point, especially in
Congress." 

Six years ago, the United States and Russia each agreed to
dispose of 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium by

converting it to fuel for use in commercial nuclear reactors.
Duke Power wants to use the fuel in four of its reactors. 

South Carolina agreed in 2002 to accept 34 tons of weapons-grade
plutonium at SRS if the U.S. Energy Department built a facility
to convert the plutonium into fuel. At the same time, the United
States agreed to help fund the construction of a similar MOX
plant in Russia, meant to operate on a parallel track with the
SRS plant. 

Liability issues and Russia's full-funding demands have delayed
the construction of both plants, U.S. Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C.,
has said. 

The process could create commercial energy, reduce the amount of
waste going to the Yucca Mountain waste storage site in Nevada
and allow MOX fuels to be burned in nuclear reactors, said Rep.
Gresham Barrett, R-S.C., whose district includes SRS, which is
near Aiken. 

"Plus, we're making the country safer. It gets the weapons-grade
plutonium in a fashion that cannot be used by terrorists,"
Barrett said. 

Joining Barrett to vote against the energy bill were Reps. Joe
Wilson, R-S.C., Charlie Norwood, R-Ga., and others. 

*****************************************************************
 52 Bradenton Herald: Lawyers grapple over papers

05/26/2006 | 

herald wathchdog Tallevast attorneys want records from Lockheed
Martin

 DONNA WRIGHT Herald Staff Writer 

BRADENTON - Attorneys representing Tallevast residents have
requested documents from Lockheed Martin Corp. covering
virtually every aspect of operation and handling of hazardous
materials at the former Loral American Co. plant. 

In a response filed with the court on Tuesday, Lockheed's
attorneys called the discovery demands overly broad, vague and
inconsistent with Florida law. 

Still, Tallevast attorneys say their requests for information,
including records of property ownership and use, are necessary
to reveal the extent of the pollution plaintiffs have faced over
the years. 

Moreover, Tallevast attorneys want records not only for the
American Beryllium plant at 1600 Tallevast Road but also 1520
Tallevast Road, the site former workers have identified as the
first Visioneering Co. plant that was the forerunner of American
Beryllium. Today an abandoned warehouse sits on that property,
which is owned by the WHOGAS company. 

In the mid-1990s, low levels of a cancer-causing solvent known
trichloroethylene, or TCE, were discovered on that site and 19
monitoring wells were installed. The Herald reported on Nov. 21,
2004, that a cleanup of the contamination was attempted, but it
was not determined if the cleanup was successful. 

Tallevast residents have long suspected that the contamination
at 1520 Tallevast Road is linked to the American Beryllium plume
Lockheed now says covers more than 200 acres. Furthermore,
Tallevast residents believe that there may a link between
Lockheed and the beryllium plant that predates the defense
giant's acquisition of Loral in 1996. 

Not true, said a Lockheed spokeswoman Thursday. 

"There is no direct corporate relationship between Lockheed
Martin and 1520 Tallevast Road," said Gail Rymer in an e-mail
response to The Herald's questions. 

Lockheed assumed ownership of the Tallevast beryllium plant in a
1996 corporate buyout of Loral Corp., which had operated the
plant since 1961. Rymer said Loral sold the property at 1520
Tallevast Road long before Lockheed Martin acquired Loral. 

Rymer had not yet responded to The Herald's query on whether an
indirect link existed between Lockheed and 1520 Tallevast Road. 

Bruce Denson, of the St. Petersburg law firm of Whittemore
Denson and a member of the Tallevast legal team, said the
requests for discovery documents are well within Florida law. 

"Everything we have asked for we consider to be relevant or will
lead to relevant information," Denson said Thursday. "The
discovery process by Florida law is intended to be very broad." 

The legal team is assessing Lockheed's latest legal move. 

"We are taking a look at Lockheed's responses," Denson said,
"and to the extent we are not satisfied we will make a motion to
compel to get the court to agree that what we are looking for is
relevant to the complaint." 

Donna Wright, health and social services reporter, can be
reached at 745-7049 or at dwright@HeraldToday.com.
HeraldToday.com Go online to read more about the Tallevast
investigation and to view important documents. 

*****************************************************************
 53 sfweekly.com: Toxic Acres

The fill below Treasure Island is filled with dangerous toxins 
left by the Navy

By Ron Russell

Article Published May 24, 2006

The sun is disappearing behind the Golden Gate Bridge, the lights 
of San Francisco's skyline are shimmering in the early-evening 
twilight, and Chris Grasteit, who has come home to his rented 
four-bedroom townhouse on Treasure Island, is savoring the 
moment.

"You'd have to be a fool not to appreciate a view like this," 
says the divorced father of three children. He's surveying a 
million-dollar vista from the apartment he and the kids share in 
what once was military housing before the former Treasure Island 
Naval Air Station closed in 1997. From his place on Westside 
Drive, near the island's northwest corner, nearby Alcatraz - 
barely two miles across the water - is close enough that some of 
the neighbors complain that its foghorn keeps them awake at 
night.

Home to some 2,000 people, the cluster of ex-military townhouses 
on the man-made island at the edge of the ghostly former naval 
facility constitutes one of the city's more unusual - to say 
nothing of overlooked - neighborhoods.

Ever since 1999, when the crescent-shaped tract at the island's 
windy north end opened as city-controlled rental units barely two 
years after the last Navy families moved out, people have flocked 
there for the views and for the solitude of living in the middle 
of the bay, not to mention the relatively cheap rents. "Where 
else in the city could I find a four-bedroom this nice for $2,300 
a month, utilities paid?" Grasteit asks. They live side by side 
with formerly homeless people drawn by another incentive: 
generous housing subsidies through the nonprofit Treasure Island 
Homeless Development Initiative, known as TIHDI, a collaborative 
of some 20 agencies.

But another feature of the neighborhood - the fact that it is 
built atop contaminated soil that dates back to when the Navy 
first moved onto Treasure Island during World War II - is, 
perhaps understandably, less talked about. That, along with what 
some view as the artificial island's vulnerability - at least in 
its current condition - to a major earthquake, has prompted a few 
critics to question whether anyone should currently be living 
there at all.

Eventually, under a grandiose real estate development plan for 
the island being advanced by a group that includes political 
consultant Darius Anderson, Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle, 
and home-building giant Lennar Corp., the environmentally suspect 
90-acre portion of the island where Grasteit and his neighbors 
live will be unoccupied.

Among the most ambitious real estate developments in the city's 
history, the plan is to create a self-sustaining miniature city 
of 15,000 or more residents on the island. It is to include 
high-rise and mid-rise residential towers - including a signature 
high-rise of perhaps 50 stories or more - hotels, a conference 
center, shops, restaurants, and an immense open space a third the 
size of Golden Gate Park.

The plan, which has thus far garnered generally favorable reviews 
from environmentalists, assumes that a long-hoped-for transfer of 
ownership of the island from the Navy to the city takes place. It 
also assumes that the two entities reach a deal on just how much 
the transfer costs, including who pays to clean up the 
environmental mess left behind from half a century of military 
use.

All of which brings us back to Grasteit's island neighborhood.

Dubbed "Area 12" on maps the Navy devised to help clean up toxic 
waste on the island - much of it discovered since the base closed 
- the former base housing tract occupies an area once dedicated 
to ammunition bunkers and solid waste dumps. As military records 
show, in the 1950s and '60s, before any of the units were built, 
part of the neighborhood also was the site of a training facility 
for decontaminating radioactive waste.

As part of the island's transformation, the houses in Area 12 are 
to be demolished, the soil beneath them cleaned up, and the 
entire area is to be transformed as part of a so-called "Great 
Park," replete with hiking trails, wetlands, and ball fields.

But unlike the rest of the island, where most of the $100 million 
the Navy claims to have spent so far on environmental cleanup has 
been focused, Area 12 isn't scheduled to be uninhabited for up to 
10 years after construction of the "new" Treasure Island begins. 
Even under the most optimistic scenario, which calls for 
construction to start in 2009, people could be living there until 
2019 or beyond. "I really do find that to be unconscionable. It 
seems as if we may be playing roulette with people's lives," says 
San Francisco attorney Eugene Brodsky, a longtime island watchdog 
who serves on a citizen advisory board for Treasure Island.

While acknowledging the ongoing environmental issues in Area 12 - 
huge chunks of which have been fenced off - the Navy as well as 
state environmental officials insist that residents are not 
exposed to unacceptable risk.

"The areas behind the fences are a different story, but the rest 
of the areas we're looking at - how shall I put it - I won't say 
are free of contamination; but rather, they're relatively low, 
benign levels," says David Rist, of the state Department of Toxic 
Substances Control, which is overseeing the Navy's cleanup.

Yet, the slowness with which the Navy has approached the cleanup 
effort within Area 12 in the seven years since renters were 
allowed to move in, and the discovery of potentially harmful 
levels of toxic materials over that time in spots where such 
levels were previously thought not to exist, have contributed to 
skepticism. "No one will really know what's under [that 
neighborhood] until they dig it up and see what's there once the 
housing is gone," says Dale Smith, who has long served on a 
restoration advisory board for Treasure Island. The warning signs 
of the neighborhood's checkered environmental past are hard to 
miss - literally. Near the intersection of Gateway Avenue and 
Avenue B, for example, in a spot well suited to caution motorists 
about children at play, a sign warns that "this area contains 
chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer and 
birth defects or other reproductive harm." Similar warnings are 
scattered throughout the community.

Entire buildings are cordoned off behind green fences that bear 
somewhat understated disclaimers describing the areas as under 
"environmental investigation." In one of the fenced-off spots, 
testing in 2000 revealed polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in 
the soil at nearly 100,000 times the level deemed acceptable by 
the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Since the 1970s, when most PCB production was banned, medical 
studies have linked the family of chemical compounds to immune 
system and nervous disorders as well as forms of cancer. Experts 
say humans may be exposed to PCBs through direct physical 
contact, ingestion, or, since PCBs may volatilize, through 
breathing air contaminated by them.

Similarly, there have been discoveries of dioxins, a family of 
compounds linked to birth defects and developmental abnormalities 
in children, beneath the playground at Treasure Island Middle 
School - recently closed for unrelated cost-cutting reasons. In 
2002, after digging up the playground at a day-care center at the 
eastern edge of the neighborhood and replacing it with 
uncontaminated soil, the Navy acknowledged that a dioxin "hot 
spot" remains beneath the foundation of the building. The center, 
opened in 1985 when the base was still operating, serves mostly 
children whose parents are part of the TIHDI program.

Both the Navy and state health officials say that potentially 
harmful levels of PCBs, PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), 
dioxins, and other suspect chemical substances discovered in the 
neighborhood are almost entirely either under the foundations of 
buildings, where they pose no immediate risk, or are confined to 
the fenced-off areas. Nonetheless, before moving in, tenants must 
agree not to dig in the soil, not to plant anything that isn't in 
a raised container, and not even to allow their pets to "dig or 
disturb the bare soil" in their yards.

Saul Bloom, who heads the environmental group Arc Ecology, and 
who argued against the city using the housing for rentals while 
serving on a base reuse commission in the 1990s, still questions 
whether the rental units should be there. "I believed that it was 
inappropriate to open that area [to rental housing] then, and 
nothing I've learned since then has made me feel more 
comfortable," he says.

From almost any angle, the view from Emily Rapaport's apartment 
gives her pause. Like a lot of her neighbors, the unemployed 
medical researcher's decision to move to Treasure Island four 
years ago was based partly on economics and partly on the allure 
of island living. But she freely acknowledges that if she had 
children, she wouldn't stick around.

"It isn't reassuring to live in a jumble of warning signs," says 
Rapaport, who confines her vegetable gardening to a few large 
containers scattered across the patio of her townhouse. The pots 
are courtesy of the John Stewart Co., the firm contracted by the 
Treasure Island Development Authority, the ostensible state 
agency whose board is appointed by San Francisco's mayor to 
administer the rental housing.

Rapaport doesn't have far to look for signs of trouble. Her 
building just off 13th Street is directly beside perhaps the most 
notorious fenced-off contamination zone in the entire 
neighborhood - a group of 24 abandoned apartment units clustered 
around a weed-strewn common area known as Halyburton Court.

According to Navy records, when a military cleanup team first 
investigated Halyburton in the fall of 1999, there was "no 
historical information" to indicate that chemical releases were a 
problem there. But investigators were in for a surprise. Soil 
testing revealed potentially unsafe levels of PAHs, and 
extraordinarily high concentrations of PCBs - up to 19,000 parts 
per million. The federal EPA regards anything beyond .22 parts 
per million as unacceptable.

The find was troubling enough to prompt the Navy team to dig up 
part of the playground at Treasure Island Elementary School, next 
door to Halyburton Court, during winter break that year. Navy 
records say that nothing significant was found during the 
trenching, but records also reveal that neither was any chemical 
sampling conducted on the school property.

The next summer, the Navy dug up and replaced 11,300 cubic yards 
of contaminated soil from Halyburton Court. But the deserted and 
overgrown enclave-within-a-neighborhood by no means enjoys a 
clean bill of health. As recently as last December, the same 
month that San Francisco Unified School District abruptly 
shuttered the elementary school (the middle school had already 
been closed) to cut costs, new tests within Halyburton Court 
revealed PCB levels of up to 1.5 parts per million, well in 
excess of acceptable health standards.

The units there, dating to the mid-1960s, are among the oldest 
structures in Area 12, built on the site of an old storage yard. 
Navy officials cannot say for certain what may have been the 
source of the off-the-charts PCB levels. Speculation is that they 
most likely derive from hydraulic fluids or leaky electrical 
equipment, says James Sullivan, the Navy's base-closure 
environmental coordinator for Treasure Island.

Sullivan insists that neither Halyburton Court nor any of the 
other fenced-off areas represent an unacceptable health risk to 
the residents of Area 12. "We're confident that the steps we've 
taken along with the city and state agencies to restrict access 
to certain areas sufficiently limits exposure for residents," he 
says.

But that may assume that the fences actually keep people out.

"You've got people going into [the restricted areas] all the 
time," says Melanie Williams, 38, a formerly homeless mother of 
three children who was among the first tenants to move to the 
island seven years ago. She and others complain that Halyburton 
Court and other closed-off "environmental investigation" areas 
have become magnets for illicit activities, including 
drug-dealing and prostitution.

"They're like squats," says another longtime tenant, who asked 
not to be identified. "You see people going into [cordoned-off] 
units with sleeping bags. They party in there. Cars show up late 
at night and people get out and just disappear."

The intrusions aren't restricted to nighttime. On a recent visit, 
two teenagers could be seen skateboarding in a cordoned-off zone 
along the northwestern waterfront, not far from where there was a 
large hole in the fence. Residents say adults have been known to 
dig up plants in the off-limits zones for transplanting in their 
yards. "I doubt that the fences are any more of a barrier to 
contaminants than they are to people," says Emily Rapaport.

As for Halyburton Court, Navy officials say that none of the 
units were made available for lease before the contamination was 
discovered there. But that doesn't speak to the potential 
exposure of countless military families who resided in Halyburton 
Court and other now-off-limits units where high levels of 
contaminants have been found, from the 1960s until the base 
closed in 1997.

Asked about them, Sullivan, the environmental coordinator, says 
that there are no records available indicating who lived in what 
units. "We no longer have any records at the base or anywhere 
else that would tell us that," he says.

In contrast to Halyburton and other ex-housing quarters where 
environmental conditions are suspect, no visible evidence remains 
of another neighborhood legacy - the radiological training school 
that existed there from 1957 to 1969. The facility occupied 
several acres in the neighborhood's southwest corner, facing the 
San Francisco shoreline. The spot is now home to dozens of 
families living on Westside Drive and at the south end of heavily 
built-out Gateway Avenue.

The Navy began radiological warfare instruction on Treasure 
Island in 1946, at about the same time the U.S. military began 
conducting landmark nuclear weapons tests at Bikini Atoll in the 
South Pacific. The training went "live" in 1957 with the 
"commissioning" of the USS Pandemonium, a full-scale, 
above-the-waterline mockup of a 173-foot-long patrol craft. Built 
from salvage, the fake ship was plopped on the island for a 
singular purpose: to train sailors how to deal with radioactive 
contamination.

During the last several years the mock-up was in use, the 
exercises conducted there used short-lived radioactive isotopes 
with half-lives of only a few weeks. Records show that the 
training drills consisted of spreading radioactive material over 
the ship's surface and having sailors spray and scrub it down 
until it was decontaminated. Contaminated wastewater that didn't 
seep into the ground was funneled into huge above-ground tanks 
and stored until the water was no longer considered harmful, and 
then dumped into the bay through a drain pipe.

But during the Pandemonium's early years, until 1963, highly 
radioactive cesium-137 was routinely placed aboard the vessel in 
sealed containers in at least 11 locations, Navy documents show. 
Using cables from a central position, an instructor would 
withdraw one or more of the cesium sources from shielded wells, 
enabling students with monitoring equipment to locate 
"radioactivity" during training exercises.

In 1970, the ship was hauled to the northeast corner of the 
island away from the present-day housing tract, and the area was 
cleared to build more houses for base personnel. "I doubt that 
anybody ever even knew what had been there; I don't remember 
anyone in our family ever mentioning it," says Brett MacLean, 38, 
a self-described Navy brat who spent part of his teen years on 
Westside Drive during the 1970s.

Similarly, none of several persons interviewed for this story 
currently living on the site says they were aware that their home 
is on the location of a former decontamination facility. (It is 
not mentioned as part of the disclosures provided by the John 
Stewart Co.)

The Navy has given the site more or less a clean bill of health. 
But like other aspects of the lengthy and ongoing remediation 
effort at the former base, its assurances depends more on 
archival evidence than exhaustive field testing. In 2001, the 
Navy conducted radiological monitoring at 581 test trenches 
scattered across Area 12. But it has thus far resisted trenching 
within four identified former solid waste disposal areas, one of 
which cuts through the middle of the former decontamination site.

In a report released in February, the Navy variously declared 
that there is "no evidence" and "no documentation" to suggest 
that radiological materials were disposed of in the former solid 
waste sites. As for the use of cesium-137 at the training 
facility, the Navy's long-awaited radiological assessment 
contends that "throughout the history of the USS Pandemonium, no 
mention was ever made to indicate a problem" with the use of 
cesium. Acknowledging the paucity of records related to a former 
training site that went out of existence more than three decades 
ago, the report allowed as how the cesium's seals "were required 
to be leak-checked every six months."

The same report yields new information about the Navy's handling 
of a radium spill in another area of the base in January 1950, in 
which at least five students and other personnel were exposed. In 
that incident, a capsule containing about 40 milligrams of the 
highly radioactive material was inadvertently dropped in a 
laboratory at Building No. 233, a long-vacant, two-story wooden 
structure near the southeast corner of the island. It is deemed 
to have been the most serious radiological breach at the former 
base for which there is a record.

In a summary of the incident, the Navy referred to surfaces 
inside the building that couldn't be decontaminated as part of 
the cleanup operation. Last year, Dale Smith, the restoration 
advisory panel member, sought to know what became of the 
materials. The reply: that more than 200 barrels of radioactive 
waste generated from the spill was stored aboard the USS 
Independence at Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard and later - the 
report does not say when - weighted with concrete and "sunk at 
sea."

After more than half a century, and despite Building No. 233's 
having been cleared for reuse within a year, the decrepit 
structure across the street from a little league ball field has 
recently come under renewed scrutiny as part of the Navy's 
overall cleanup of the island in preparation for its presumed 
transfer to the city of San Francisco. Barely a month ago, after 
years of open access, the Navy erected a fence around it.

As for Area 12, not only does it harbor some of the most 
troublesome environmental pollution yet to be dealt with as part 
of the Navy cleanup, it's also perhaps the most seismically 
vulnerable part of the 405-acre island. Originally conceived as a 
site for San Francisco's airport and home to the Golden Gate 
International Exposition that opened in 1939, the island was 
constructed in the 1930s by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. To 
build it, the engineers dredged 29 million cubic yards of 
material - most of it sand - from the bottom of the bay and 
entombed it behind a perimeter rock dike.

Like the Marina District and other areas of the city built on 
fill, the entire island during a severe earthquake is susceptible 
to liquefaction, a phenomenon in which ground-shaking causes 
porous soil to turn mushy and collapse. In addition, geotechnical 
studies show that the areas closest to the dike - including much, 
if not all, of the housing area that hugs the northwest shoreline 
- are vulnerable to lateral spreading, in which ground-failure 
along a slope, in this case the dike, could be expected to spread 
laterally toward the island's interior.

Both phenomena occurred on Treasure Island during the 1989 Loma 
Prieta earthquake. Damage assessments compiled for the Navy 
describe "sand boils" appearing in the northern part of the 
island, a tell-tale sign of liquefaction in the underlying soil, 
and huge cracks several feet long in parking lots. Lateral 
spreading was blamed for some 44 gas, sewage, and water line 
breaks that disrupted services on the then-still-occupied base 
for up to three days after the quake.

The Loma Prieta quake registered 7.1 on the Richter scale. U.S. 
Geological Survey data indicate that ground motion on Treasure 
Island was among the strongest recorded in the Bay Area, despite 
the island's being some 60 miles from the epicenter.

However, the 1990 report compiled for the Navy following the 
earthquake, and obtained by SF Weekly, suggests that what 
happened on the island in 1989 pales compared to what could 
happen there during a similar or more powerful quake along either 
the San Andreas or Hayward faults with an epicenter closer than 
Loma Prieta.

It warned that such a quake could cause "substantially more 
severe shaking" on the island; that "liquefaction [could be] 
expected to be widespread," and that lateral spreading 
accompanied by liquefaction poses "a significant risk of 
widespread distress to the perimeter areas of the island during 
future large earthquakes."

The document concluded that "unless remedial measures to the 
dikes are implemented," lateral spreading during a magnitude 8 
quake on the San Andreas fault could extend "several hundred feet 
into the island and thus encompass large portions of the island's 
interior." In that scenario, the report said, buildings such as 
those that constitute much of the housing stock in Area 12 could 
be "severely damaged."

The lease provided to tenants by the John Stewart Co. is 
straightforward in disclosing the seismic issue. It quotes from a 
geotechnical report prepared for the city in 1995 that concluded 
that the island's soil is of "poor quality and [is] subject to 
liquefaction and soil displacement (spreading)" similar to that 
of the Marina District. "That same report established that the 
areas located within 500 feet of the perimeter island seawall 
(dike) will be subject to the greatest soil displacement and 
spreading, and would consequently be subject to the most serious 
damage in the event of major earthquake," the lease states.

City officials, meanwhile, have long insisted that the island's 
current residents do not face unacceptable seismic risks. "All of 
us in San Francisco live with the risk of earthquakes," says 
Michael Cohen, who heads the mayor's Office of Base Reuse and 
Development. Cohen says that consulting engineers took seismic 
issues into account before certifying that the former base 
housing meets federal standards for "life safety" before the 
units were opened as rentals in 1999.

The firm responsible for the certification was Toft, de Nevers & 
Lee, engineers for the John Stewart Co. But a 1999 letter from C. 
Vincent de Nevers, one of the firm's partners, didn't sound like 
a ringing endorsement. "It continues to be my opinion that a 
significant seismic event could produce extensive structural and 
therefore economic damage [in the housing area] without resulting 
in material life safety impairment," de Nevers wrote. "Only in 
the unlikely event of a very major ground shift ... do I foresee 
the possibility of injury to occupants."

His assertion that the possibility of such a ground shift was "so 
remote that it constitutes an acceptable risk" even prompted a 
friendly corrective from Michael Cohen, in his then-capacity as a 
deputy city attorney. "I want to clarify that at no point in time 
has the city and county of San Francisco or the Treasure Island 
Development Authority (or anyone else that I am aware of) agreed 
that the possibility of a major seismic movement ... is so remote 
that it constitutes an acceptable risk," Cohen wrote. "To the 
contrary," he added, the city was relying on de Nevers' "written 
certifications" that the housing units met Federal Emergency 
Management Agency guidelines for "life safety."

No major seismic reinforcement around the perimeter dike has 
occurred in the 16 years since the Navy's consultants first 
raised the issue after the Loma Prieta quake. And none is 
anticipated until after construction of the hoped-for Treasure 
Island redevelopment project gets started, which, under the most 
optimistic scenario, may be at least three years away.

Meanwhile, Treasure Island watchdog Eugene Brodsky insists that 
based on seismic issues alone, no one should currently occupy the 
island rental housing.

Brodsky is critical of preliminary financial plans that suggest 
annual income from the rentals - currently estimated at about $10 
million - may be used to offset the cost of the development 
envisioned by the Anderson/Burkle/Lennar team. Specifics of those 
plans aren't expected to be known until a so-called "term sheet" 
is unveiled, perhaps this summer. But the latest iteration of the 
plan, released earlier this year, envisioning the rental housing 
to remain for up to a decade after construction starts, would 
make the Area 12 neighborhood the last remnant of the "old" 
Treasure Island to be razed.

"To me there's a great deal of evidence to suggest that residents 
there are at considerable [seismic] risk," says Brodsky. "The 
question is why should that be?"

His answer: "The revenue from the rentals is a cash cow to help 
pay for the development. Knowing what we know about the north end 
of the island, that's something that should be reconsidered."

Meanwhile, such concerns seem distant to many of the island's 
inhabitants, whether so-called "market-raters" enamored of the 
cheap rents and island living, or the formerly homeless people 
served by TIHDI, many of whom are appreciative to have a place to 
live.

"People living out here have traditionally felt like the city's 
stepchildren," says Alice Pilram, who with her husband moved to 
adjacent Yerba Buena Island three years ago after their daughters 
went off to college. "It isn't that the environmental issues 
aren't real, but there's enough on people's agendas already so 
that those things are sort of put on the back burner."

Melanie Williams, the formerly homeless mother and seven-year 
Area 12 veteran, agrees.

"I know there's environmental stuff to worry about," she says. 
"But the way I look at it, if it was good enough for the Navy 
people, it's probably good enough for us." 

                                                                
©2006 Village Voice Media All rights reserved. 
*****************************************************************
 54 Telegraph: Sellafield MP's trip paid by US group
 
Saturday 27 May 2006 

  [telegraph.co.uk]     
  
By Katherine Griffiths, City Correspondent (Filed: 27/05/2006)
 
The MP whose constituency includes the Sellafield nuclear plant
was taken on a 'freebie' trip to America worth almost £7,000 by
one of the US's largest nuclear companies, which is competing to
win a multi-million pound contract to clean up the Cumbria site. 
Jamie Reed, Labour MP for Copeland, was flown business class by
Fluor on a six-day trip to see its operations in Hanford,
Washington State, earlier this month. 


Jamie Reed
  
Since returning from the trip, Mr Reed has criticised two of
Fluor's rivals interested in work at Sellafield. 

He said US-based Washington Group appeared unaware of Britain's
stringent limits on how much radiation nuclear workers can be
exposed to. 

He also said in a debate in the House of Commons that a US union
leader had warned him that another potential bidder for
Sellafield was strongly anti-union. This was understood to be
Bechtel. 

Mr Reed's links with Fluor predate the trip. He hosted an event
in the House of Commons on March 14 for Fluor, to which senior
nuclear industry figures were invited. 

Texas-based Fluor is keen to buy British Nuclear Group, the
Government-owned business which is decommissioning Sellafield's
spent nuclear reactors. 

BNG was put up by for sale by Chancellor Gordon Brown in this
year's Budget. The business is thought to be worth about £1bn
and the sell-off should be completed by autumn next year. 

Whoever wins the auction will receive as a dowry a further
five-year decommissioning contract for Sellafield, which has the
largest concentration of nuclear infrastructure in western
Europe. The contract is expected to generate about £1bn a year
in revenues. Profit margins in this type of business are usually
about 5pc of revenues. 

Fluor's links with Mr Reed come as several large foreign nuclear
engineering companies gear up their UK lobbying after a move by
the Government to embark on a wide-ranging sell-off of its
nuclear assets. 

Last year, it sold US-based Westinghouse to Toshiba for $5.4bn.
BNG is also for sale and Urenco, the uranium-enrichment
business, is set to be sold or floated on the stock market. The
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is another possible
candidate for privatisation. 

Mr Reed, who has declared his US trip in the Register of
Members' Interests, said of Fluor: "They approached me and
offered to take me to see their operation in the US." 

He added he was in contact with, and might visit, other
potential bidders for BNG, including Washington Group, France's
Areva and UKAEA. 

Mr Reed said he did not favour any one bidder and stressed that
it was "entirely appropriate" he should take an active interest
in who buys BNG, as Sellafield is the largest employer in his
constituency and accounts for 60pc of the local economy. 

However, some in the nuclear industry expressed surprise. One
said: "It is not for the local MP to vet potential bidders. That
is what the Government is there for." 

 © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2006.
*****************************************************************
 55 AU ABC: Tripodi says dump listing should worry Broken Hill. 

26/05/2006. ABC News Online
 	
The far western New South Wales city of Broken Hill has been
listed as a regional community that should be concerned because
it was nominated as a location for a low level nuclear waste
dump.

 New South Wales Energy Minister Joe Tripodi says three years
ago a Federal Government committee approved sites in the Broken
Hill, Riverina, Nowra and Singleton areas for a nuclear waste
dump.

 The Minister says if there is to be a nuclear power plant in
Australia these towns have already been assessed as being
suitable for a dump, only they would probably be taking
high-level waste.

 "They should be worried because while the NSW law bans nuclear
power stations, the Federal Government can override it, and if
they do want to go down the road of exploring nuclear power, the
next question becomes, where will they establish the waste
dump?" he said.

 But the federal Member for Parkes, John Cobb, says Broken Hill
residents should not be worried because at this stage the
Government is only discussing the storage of nuclear waste in
regional NSW.

 Mr Cobb says Mr Tripodi is trying to scare communities.

 He says Australia contains more than 40 per cent of the world's
uranium, so it is understandable debate is being had at this
time.

 "All that has been stated is that Australia should look at, and
I believe we should, look at the way in which we sell our
uranium," he said.

 "Should we enrich it first? Do we have a responsibility for the
way it is stored? Currently any such waste is stored in
hospitals all around Australia, including Broken Hill." 

*****************************************************************
 56 El Paso News Leader: Groups demand better safety in nuclear waste shipments

KVIA.com - 

LAS VEGAS, N.M. Citizens groups want tougher safety measures 
along the shipping routes for nuclear waste headed for the 
federal government's dump near Carlsbad, the Waste Isolation 
Pilot Plant.

A forum yesterday in Las Vegas focused on shipping concerns.

Citizens groups suggest more thorough inspections when shipments 
come into New Mexico's ports of entry.

They also recommend the trucks be spaced farther apart on 
highways; that drivers' stops be limited and monitored; and that 
emergency management in small villages along the routes be better 
funded.

Speakers questioned whether smaller communities such as Wagon 
Mound or Las Vegas are prepared if a WIPP truck should crash on 
nearby Interstate 25 and leak radioactive material.    
                                                
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

All content © Copyright 2002 - 2006 WorldNow and KVIA.
All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 57 News & Star: Plea over sell-off at nuke plant
                                   
Published on 26/05/2006
                                                        
By Andrea Thompson
 
SELLAFIELD union leader Peter Kane has said that the nuclear 
plantâ€™s future operator must accept that the safety of the 
workforce and the local community is non-negotiable.
 
The GMB site convenerâ€™s call comes as the Sellafield Shop 
Stewards Committee gave their backing to Copeland MP Jamie Reed 
following his recent adjournment debate in the House of Commons 
about the future of British Nuclear Group.
 
The Sellafield site operator is being sold off to the private 
sector and the debate was an opportunity for the MP to both 
inform and question the Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks.
 
Mr Kane, secretary of the Sellafield Shop Stewards Committee, 
reinforced Mr Reedâ€™s assertion that any company which buys BNG 
must embrace the British nuclear industryâ€™s working and 
regulatory practices.
 
â€œAny future operator of the Sellafield site must accept that 
the safety of the Sellafield workforce and the safety of the 
local community is non negotiable, regardless of any other 
inducements that may be offered,â€ Mr Kane said.
 
He also repeated Mr Reedâ€™s claim that west Cumbria has the best 
nuclear workforce in the world, and welcomed the recognition that 
the trade unions at the site have a major impact and influence 
upon the implementation of the safety culture on the site.
 
John Tear, chairman of the Shop Stewards Committee, added: â€œAs
well as maintaining exacting standards of safety, any new
operator must also be prepared to fulfil the vital role within
the community, as a major partner in the socio economic
development of this area.â€
 
*****************************************************************
 58 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Judge: DOE must remove nuclear waste

  [seattlepi.com]     


U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge rejected the DOE's argument
that a 1995 agreement with the state only covered waste that had
been stored in barrels on asphalt pads at the Idaho National
Laboratory. 		

The federal government had claimed it was not required to dig up
and remove other rotting containers of waste that was
indiscriminately dumped into open pits and buried prior to 1970.
		

The judge said the waste - whether buried or stored above ground
- has to be shipped out of state for disposal by 2018. He wrote,
"The words of the contract could not be clearer." 		

The DOE said leaving the buried waste where it is may be safer
than trying to exhume it, since some of the radioactive
materials can spontaneously explode when exposed to oxygen. 		

State leaders have said they oppose abandoning the waste, since
some studies have shown that buried radioactive materials are
seeping toward the underground aquifer that feeds the Snake
River, which runs across and almost the entire length of Idaho.
		

 [advertising] Jeremy Maxand, director of the Boise-based
nuclear watchdog group The Snake River Alliance, hailed the
ruling as a victory for Idaho's residents and farmers who depend
on the river aquifer for drinking water, recreation and
agriculture. 		

"This is a step in the right direction to getting some
accountability and cleanup at the INL burial grounds," he said.
	                 
*****************************************************************
 59 Platts: House passes bill approving funding for DOE nuclear program

  [The McGraw-Hill Companies]   

Washington (Platts)--25May2006
 
The House passed an energy and water funding bill in a 404-20 
vote yesterday that left intact the Appropriations Committee 
recommendations on funding for DOE's nuclear energy programs in 
fiscal 2007. 

House members rejected a floor amendment by Democratic 
Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts that would have cut 
another $40 million from the DOE Global Nuclear Energy 
Partnership program in FY-07, which begins October 1.

GNEP will receive $120 million, $130 million below the budget 
request, under the bill. 

Also rejected was an amendment by Representative Shelley Berkley 
of Nevada that would have barred DOE from maintaining its website 
aimed at educating children about the nuclear power industry and 
about the DOE repository project at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. 
Berkley, a Democrat, asserted in her floor remarks that the 
cartoon character "Yucca Mountain Johnny" that is a central 
figure on the website misleads children into thinking the 
repository project and nuclear waste are safe. 

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water 
Development is expected to consider its version of the House bill 
in June, according to a Senate staffer. For similar news, take a 
trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com.
 
Privacy Notice Terms & Conditions Copyright © 2006 - Platts, All 
Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill Companies]       
*****************************************************************
 60 Blair: we don't want conflict with Iran, we're too busy - Yahoo!
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width=100 height=45 alt="AFP" border="0"> 					 Blair: we don't
want conflict with Iran, we're too busy 
				 									 					 					 	 		

 Thu May 25, 1:55 PM ET 		 	 
LONDON (AFP) - Prime Minister Tony Blair" /> Tony Blairsaid he
did not want to start a conflict with Iran" /> Iranas Britain's
armed forces already had enough problems to handle, in interview
released by his office. 


  ADVERTISEMENT
<img border="0" width="300" height="250"
src="http://xads.zedo.com/ads2/x?n=536;c=114/32;s=8;x=2304;u=j;z=
1148707950130689" alt="Click here">  

[ src=] 

 But if Iran deliberately breached its obligations on its
nuclear programme, then the international community would have
to take action through the United Nations" /> United Nations,
Blair warned. 

However, the stand-off could be easily resolved if Iran played
by the rules, Blair told the Arab satellite television channel
Al-Jazeera on Wednesday. 

He also said that the continuing violence in Iraq" /> Iraqwas
not the fault of the multinational forces in the war-shattered
country. Britain has 7,200 troops in Iraq and 3,000 in
Afghanistan" /> Afghanistan. 

"Nobody is targeting Iran," Blair said. 

"People are simply worried because they appear to be in breach
of their nuclear obligations and because they are supporting
terrorism around the Middle East. 

"We don't want a conflict with Iran, we have got enough on our
plate doing other things. But if Iran goes out of its way then
to breach its international obligations, of course the
international community through the UN Security Council has got
to take up the issue. 

"But it could so easily be resolved if people just understood
that here are the rules and we should all play by them." 

Blair continued: "I think Iran continually makes this mistake.
It thinks that America and its allies are out to get Iran. 

"We are not, we just want them to stop supporting terrorism and
to stop meddling in the affairs of a country (Iraq) that is now
governed under a UN process and with a multinational force that
is there with UN support." 

He said the most important thing was to have "a unified
international position" on Iran. 

Blair was to arrive in Washington on Thursday for talks with US
President George W. Bush" /> President George W. Bushwhere Iran
and Iraq were to figure high on the agenda. 

On the continuing violence in Iraq, Blair said: "Sorry, but it
is not our fault, it is the fault of the people doing it. 

"How can we be so certain of this? Because there is now a
democratic process, which has resulted in a democratically
elected government. That government is representative of all
communities in Iraq. 

"So there is no excuse for anybody to carry on with violence, or
terrorism, or these barbaric executions of innocent people." 

He said that British troops deployed in Iraq would be withdrawn
as soon as possible. 

"The best thing for Britain,... the best thing for me would be
to say Iraq is now a stable democratic country, the
multinational force leaves. 

"That is what I want, that is what Iraqis want, so why can't we
work together and let them have it?" 

He added: "What is happening in Iraq politically is amazing. 

"Iraq could be a successful prosperous country." 	 		 			
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					 					 					 [Prime Minister Tony Blair said he did not
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 61 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Rocky 
 
                         FR Doc E6-8138 
[Federal Register: May 26, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 102)] 
[Notices] [Page 30395-30396] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr26my06-70]                         
 
Flats AGENCY: Department of Energy.
 
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
 
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental 
Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Rocky Flats.
 
The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. No. 92-463, 86 Stat. 
770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in 
the Federal Register.
 
 
DATES: Thursday, June 22, 2006, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
 
ADDRESSES: College Hill Library, Room L-211, Front Range 
Community College, 3705 W. 112th Avenue, Westminster, Colorado. 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken Korkia, Executive Director, 
Rocky Flats Citizens Advisory Board, 12101 Airport Way, Unit B, 
Broomfield, CO 80021; telephone (303) 966-7855; fax (303) 
966-7856.
 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of 
the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of 
environmental
 
[[Page 30396]] restoration, waste management, and related 
activities.
 
Tentative Agenda: 1. Presentation of the Board's Legacy Report to 
the Community. 2. Statements of Appreciation to the Board. 3. 
Vote to Close Board Operations. Public Participation: The meeting 
is open to the public.
 
Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or 
after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral statements 
pertaining to agenda items should contact Ken Korkia at the 
address or telephone number listed above. Requests must be 
received at least five days prior to the meeting and reasonable 
provisions will be made to include the presentation in the 
agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to 
conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly 
conduct of business. Individuals wishing to make public comment 
will be provided a maximum of five minutes to present their 
comments.
 
Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public 
review and copying at the office of the Rocky Flats Citizens 
Advisory Board, 12101 Airport Way, Unit B, Broomfield, CO 80021; 
telephone (303) 966-7855. Hours of operations are 7:30 a.m. to 4 
p.m., Monday through Friday. Minutes will also be made available 
by writing or calling Ken Korkia at the address or telephone 
number listed above. Board meeting minutes are posted on RFCAB's 
Web site within one month following each meeting at: 
http://www.rfcab.org/Minutes.HTML. Issued at Washington, DC on 
May 18, 2006.
 
Carol Matthews, Acting Advisory Committee Management Officer.
 
[FR Doc. E6-8138 Filed 5-25-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 62 TimesUnion.com: Residents call for Knolls cleanup 

Some at meeting urge independent oversight of $160 million 
project                                                 
 	      	 	 	
By ANNE MILLER, Staff writer                    

May 26, 2006                                            

NISKAYUNA -- Many residents said Thursday they want the federal 
Department of Energy to completely clean up a contaminated area 
at the Knolls Atomic Power Lab, despite a $160 million price tag.

However, there were so many questions about the proposal that 
others called for the federal agency to postpone the cleanup and 
appoint an independent committee to oversee the cleanup and 
further study.

"We don't want a fox-hen-house type of situation," said Eric
Block, a University at Albany chemistry professor, at the
DOE-sponsored meeting in Town Hall.

The contamination covers five of the facility's 170 acres along
the Mohawk River, including two buildings. It dates to the early
1950s, when the federal government researched nuclear weaponry.

Cleanup options range from simply continuing to monitor
radiation levels to total demolition and remediation, with cost
estimates from $60 million to $160 million. The cheapest option
calls for maintaining the current site. The most expensive
option would eradicate all contamination. The other two options
span the middle of the extremes.

Steven Feinberg, the DOE project director, who fielded questions
for two hours, said he has studied the KAPL cleanup since 2000.
The few residents who weighed in on a specific option chose the
total cleanup, which would take about seven years and include
five years of construction work at KAPL.

Only one person spoke for simply maintaining the area for the
next 30 years.

"Put it for 30 years -- I won't be here anymore," said resident
Jacqueline Skolnik. "No, really, that's a terrible imposition on
the town of Niskayuna."

Like Block, others at the meeting in Niskayuna Town Hall had
advanced degrees and decades of experience in chemistry,
physics, medicine and nuclear science.

Two stood on opposite sides of the debate.

Robert Feinberg, no relation to Steven, spent more than 30 years
at KAPL, and counted work on nuclear safety committees among his
many high-level positions.

He wanted to know if the federal government would guarantee the
funds needed for the project's duration, and suggested that the
DOE engineers conduct a safety assessment report. If the site is
no longer a danger to the public, why spend the money, he asked.

Another long-time KAPL employee, Robert Stater, countered the
notion that the site is safe. "This happens to be a weapons
factory, and it doesn't make marshmallows," Stater said. He
urged the Niskayuna community to make a big deal out of the
safety and lobby their government representatives to approve the
money to clean the site.

The public comment period is open until June 5, although
Feinberg said he will consider comments submitted later.

Residents can e-mail the project's public affairs contact, Anne
Wickham, at anne.wickham@emcbc.doe.gov. A fact sheet and a more
detailed report are available at the local branch of the
Schenectady County library across the street from Niskayuna Town
Hall.

Anne Miller can be reached at 454-5697 or by e-mail at
amiller@timesunion.com. 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	   	 
      

  All Times Union materials copyright 1996-2006, Capital
Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation, Albany, N.Y.

    
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