***************************************************************** 08/15/06 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 14.193 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 AFP: With dust yet to settle in Lebanon, Iran nuclear crisis looms a 2 AFP: Iran rejects 'language of force' in nuclear standoff - 3 AFP: Look beyond UN Security Council to end Iranian nuclear dispute 4 IRNA: MP: If violation of Iran's nuclear right continues, IAEA 5 IRNA: Int'l community will come out loser in dangerous N-game - envo 6 IRNA: President: Enemies fail in attempts against Iran's nuclear iss 7 Guardian Unlimited: N.Korea Urged to Return to 6-Party Talks 8 Korea Herald: Toward a mature Korea-U.S. alliance 9 Frontline: India on the right track 10 AFP: British lawmakers urge China to stay away from rogue states for NUCLEAR REACTORS 11 US: NRC: NRC Announces Availability of Vogtle Early Site Permit Appl 12 US: Deseret News: WGA ignoring clean energy of nuclear power 13 US: NRC: NRC Announces New Head of Enforcement Office 14 US: Rutland Herald: Watchdog drops contention against Yankee 15 US: NRC: Omaha Public Power District; Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1; 16 US: NRC: Dominion Nuclear North Anna, LLC; Notice of Extension of Pu 17 US: PRN: UniStar Nuclear Accelerates Its Pace for Early Reviews by t 18 US: NRC: Sunshine Federal Register Notice 19 US: ajc.com: Permit sought for new reactors at Ga. plant NUCLEAR SECURITY 20 RIA Novosti: Russia repatriates 165kg of new nuclear fuel since 2004 21 US: Honolulu Advertiser: Nuclear drill today at Honolulu Harbor - 22 UPI: Russia pleased with uranium repatriation NUCLEAR SAFETY 23 US: Appleton Post-Crescent: Troops deserve better study of depleted NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 24 US: Apple Attempts to Trademark "Pod;" NIRS and Public Citizen Appea 25 Las Vegas SUN: New light on Yucca PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY 26 KnoxNews: Employees on strike protest replacements 27 AP Wire: Energy Department to test Paducah plant's landfill for uran 28 reviewjournal.com: Letter: DOE has no legal authority to spend funds 29 Courier-Journal: Uranium plant's landfill will be tested for safety 30 Knox News: TVA watching rising temperatures in rivers ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 AFP: With dust yet to settle in Lebanon, Iran nuclear crisis looms again - August 16, 07:59 AM WASHINGTON (AFP) - As diplomats struggle to implement the fragile UN peace plan for Lebanon, the US and its allies face another likely crisis with the deadline looming for Iran to abandon its suspect nuclear program and growing signs Tehran is not ready to give in. The UN Security Council has given Iran until August 31 to halt uranium enrichment and other sensitive activities that could lead to production of nuclear weapons or face the prospect of sanctions. Tehran has also promised to respond by next Tuesday to a package of incentives offered by the US and other permanent Security Council members in exchange for a moratorium on its uranium enrichment activities. A defiant President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated in a speech Tuesday that Iran will not be cowed into giving up its nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for peaceful energy purposes only. "If they think they can use a resolution as a stick against us, they should know that Iranian people do not bend to language of force," Ahmadinejad said. Ahmadinejad said he had spoken to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan by telephone and "told him that we are willing to resolve the problem through negotiations ... but by this resolution, we have lost our confidence in them." Ahmadinejad's comments were just the latest in a series of hardline official remarks on the UN resolution, but State Department officials say they are still waiting for a formal response to the Security Council's demands and the incentive package. Defiance by Iran of the resolution will likely provoke a far more acrimonious debate among the council's major powers than even the very difficult negotiations that led to last week's resolution on Lebanon. Washington has said it will seek swift economic and political sanctions against Iran, either in tandem with other states via the United Nations or unilaterally. "There are steps that individual states can take," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said this week when asked about the options open to Washington. However Russia and China, both of which have extensive relations with Tehran, are expected to argue in favor of further negotiations. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak insisted earlier this month that the UN resolution did not carry an "automatic" threat of sanctions. If Tehran fails to meet the August 31 deadline, he said, "the Security Council could examine further steps to persuade Iran to carry out the recommendations" of the world body. The United States has linked the nuclear issue with Tehran's alleged role in the crises in both Lebanon and Iraq, where US officials this week accused Tehran of sponsoring sectarian violence aimed at sparking a civil war. In Lebanon, the United States accuses Iran of arming the Shiite militia Hezbollah and has suggested Tehran may even have ordered the July 12 kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers, which sparked the current conflict in a bid to deflect world attention from the nuclear stand-off. "The regime in Iran provides Hezbollah with financial support, weapons and training," US President George W. Bush said on Monday as he held Iran and Hezbollah directly responsible for the fighting. "We can only imagine how much more dangerous this conflict would be if Iran had the nuclear weapon it seeks," he said. Some analysts suggest that despite its bellicose rhetoric on Iran, a Bush administration already struggling with the twin crises in Lebanon and Iraq and the festering Israeli-Palestinian problem is unlikely to push the Iran nuclear issue too hard at this point. "I don't think the world is ready to take the Iranians to the mat at the end of August over this," said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "The Bush administration has a full plate," said Alterman, a former State Department official. "You still have problems in Gaza, you're going to have monumental problems in Lebanon, and the administration is being hurt politically by Iraq, which is not going anywhere helpful," he said. "They will push on Iran, they will make incremental progress, but this is not going to sweep away the rest of the agenda," he said. Copyright © 2006 AFP. All rights reserved. All information ***************************************************************** 2 AFP: Iran rejects 'language of force' in nuclear standoff - by Aresu Eqbali Tue Aug 15, 3:37 PM ET TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran " /> 's president said his nation refused to be cowed by the "language of force" in its nuclear standoff while a top cleric warned of retaliatory strikes on Israel " /> in the event of an attack. A defiant President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected a UN Security Council resolution that demands Tehran halt sensitive nuclear work, and called for a Middle East free from the presence of the United States and Israel. "If they think they can use a resolution as a stick against us, they should know that Iranian people do not bend to language of force," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech to a vast crowd in the northwest province of Ardebil. The UN Security Council on July 31 adopted a resolution requiring Iran to suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment by August 31 or risk possible sanctions. The West, led by the United States, suspects it could be trying to build nuclear weapons, charges denied by Tehran which says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes. Ahmadinejad said he had spoken to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan " /> by telephone and "told him that we are willing to resolve the problem through negotiations... but by this resolution, we have lost our confidence in them." He reiterated that Iran would respond on August 22 to the international package of incentives to suspend uranium enrichment that was offered by the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany. "We will give our response on the announced date, and our reply will be based on defending the absolute rights of the Iranian people," he said, amid chants of "nuclear energy is our undeniable right". Iran's nuclear chief Ali Larijani also rejected the world's recourse to the Security Council. "If they think they can deprive Iran of its absolute right, they should know that even using the means of the Security Council will have no influence on Iran's determination," he said. Larijani also said Iran intended to carry out "industrial enrichment," without elaborating, adding that this would not prevent the Islamic republic importing some of its nuclear fuel needs in the future. Iran, OPEC " /> 's second largest oil exporter, insists it wants to enrich uranium only to make reactor fuel for power stations, but there is widespread suspicion the country wants the capacity to make weapons-grade uranium. "Today, we have completely and indigenously mastered the nuclear fuel cycle for peaceful use," said Ahmadinejad. His defiant speech came as the nation celebrated the "victory" of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite Muslim Hezbollah militia in its deadly conflict with Israel following a ceasefire that took hold in Lebanon on Monday. A top cleric warned that Iran would retaliate with ballistic missile strikes against Tel Aviv if it came under attack by the United States and Israel. "If they want to carry out an aggression against Iran, they should be afraid of the day that our 2,000-kilometer (1,250 mile) range missile will hit the heart of Tel Aviv," said Ahmad Khatami, a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts which supervises the work of the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. An Iranian general said in January that Iran's Shahab-3 missile, which is modeled on the North Korean No-Dong, was now capable of striking targets 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) away after work to extend its range. "(US President George W.) Bush and (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert should learn their lesson and understand that playing with Islam is like messing with the lion's tail," Khatami said in an interview on state-run television. Hezbollah claimed victory on Monday after a ceasefire took effect to end a war that has cost 1,300 lives since Israel began its massive assault on Lebanon following the capture of two soldiers by the Shiite guerrillas. In Iran, youths on motorbikes waved the yellow flags of Hezbollah, and government bodies set up street stalls to hand out sweets in celebration. Residents of Tehran and other cities also took to rooftops shouting "Allah Akbar" (God is the greatest), echoing the protests that marked the final days of the shah's regime before the 1979 Islamic revolution. Non-Arab Shiite Iran and its main regional ally Syria " /> are accused by the United States and Israel of supplying arms to Hezbollah but Tehran says it provides only moral support. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 3 AFP: Look beyond UN Security Council to end Iranian nuclear dispute - Indonesia - Tue Aug 15, 6:58 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim state, urged the international community to look beyond the UN Security Council to end the Iranian nuclear crisis amid a looming deadline for Tehran to suspend all uranium enrichment activities. "When it comes to the dealing of this issue at the global level by the United Nations " /> United Nations, we believe that there is still room for negotiations beyond the Security Council," Indonesia's envoy to Washington Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat told reporters. The Security Council on July 31 adopted a resolution requiring Iran " /> Iranto suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment by August 31 or risk possible sanctions. It follows a July 12 agreement to refer Iran to the council for failing to respond to a package of energy, commercial and technological incentives to suspend enrichment. Iran has said it will respond to this package by August 22. Western powers, led by the United States, suspects Iran could be trying to build nuclear weapons, charges denied by Tehran which says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes. "Of course by the end of this month, we will see" how the world handles the crisis, Parnohadiningrat said at a forum organized by the National Press Club. At least until this stage, Indonesia hopes for a peaceful settlement of the issue beyond the Security Council, the envoy said, adding however, "I do not know whether a week later, things can change." A defiant Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated in a speech Tuesday that Tehran would not be cowed into giving up its nuclear program. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told Ahmadinejad at a meeting in May that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Jakarta would abide by it "both in letter and spirit" and hoped other parties would do the same, Parnohadiningrat said. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 4 IRNA: MP: If violation of Iran's nuclear right continues, IAEA inspections should stop - Tehran, Aug 15, IRNA Syria-Middle East Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Chairman Alaeddin Boroujerdi said that if the UN Security Council takes another step to violate the inalienable right of the Iranian nation to access nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, there will be no reason to continue IAEA inspections in Iran. He made the remark while speaking to IRNA reporter on the sidelines of Majlis open session on Tuesday, adding that in such a case, Majlis will approach the issue more seriously and will take new measures to defend such a right. Turning to the fact that according to NPT's Article 4, Iran is determined to benefit from such a right, he said, adding "We will not at all give up the inalienable right of the Iranian nation." Concerning cease-fire in Lebanon, Boroujerdi said that Israel was a mere loser on the military and political scenes of the war it had initiated in Lebanon. "Israel was defeated by Hizbollah for the second time. As the Islamic resistance, Hizbollah displayed such a victory to the world and thus disproved the wrong idea that Israeli forces are invincible. "Despite being supported on the political scene by the US and Britain, the Zionist regime had to revise many of its proposals. Thus it also had to face defeat on another scene," he said. The MP referred to the Zionist regime as the initiator of war and dismissed President George W. Bush's remark that the war was initiated by Hizbollah, adding that according to international laws, as the party which initiated the war, the Israeli regime should also compensate the relevant losses. Boroujerdi pointed to the upcoming Islamic states foreign ministers meeting in Cairo, Egypt, and said that it can contribute to the reconstruction of Lebanon and take the required decisions in this respect. ***************************************************************** 5 IRNA: Int'l community will come out loser in dangerous N-game - envoy - Kuala Lumpur, Aug 15, IRNA Iran-New Zealand-Nuclear An Iranian diplomat said in Wellington on Tuesday that the international community will come out the loser in the dangerous game arranged by the United States to pressure Iran to give up its nuclear programs. Iranian Ambassador to New Zealand Kambiz Sheikh-Hassani's remarks came as he addressed businessmen in Wellington. "Access to peaceful nuclear energy is a right of Iran which is strongly backed by the Iranian nation," he said. "All United States allegations of the danger Iran would pose to the international community if it was to have access to nuclear technology are unfounded," the ambassador said. He reminded that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had cleared Iran of any diversion in its nuclear programs from their avowed peaceful purposes. He said the US was preventing Iran from exercising its rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and was sparing no effort in bringing other states to back its desired objectives in the region. Pointing to the Zionist regime's atrocities in south Lebanon and Palestine, the envoy said that the crimes committed by the regime over the past month in Lebanon with US and British support were evidence of the false policies devised by the West to gain control of the region. He added that such false policies have resulted in great material and human losses to the region, and reminded that peace will never be realized through military force as shown in the regional peoples' increasing hatred of the US and Israel. He stressed that the fragile peace that has been established can only be sustained if the US changes its policies in the region by giving up its practice of setting up its desired regimes in Arab states and, more importantly, its blind support for the dangerous and nuclear Zionist regime. "Regional peoples will not oppose establishment of popular governments and will continue to resist occupation, aggression and violation of their rights until they see their desired results." Unfortunately, he said, leaders in the White House never learn from past mistakes. The crimes they are now committing in south Lebanon and Palestine manifest their unwillingness to change their behavior, he said. In fact, they have even become more determined to repeat their wrong policies and commit more mistakes, Sheikh-Hassani said, and added that this attitude is what endangers peace in the region. ***************************************************************** 6 IRNA: President: Enemies fail in attempts against Iran's nuclear issue Tehran, Aug 14, IRNA Iran-Ahmadinejad-Enemies President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here Monday said that Iran's enemies have failed in their attempts against the country's nuclear issue and are disappointed. According to a report released by the Presidential Office Media Department, he made the remark at a gathering of the chancellors of nationwide state universities. He noted that the enemies are now determined to sow the seed of discord inside Iran, adding that the the knowledgeable nation of Iran will once more show at such a point that it will remain united and integrated in the face of hostile elements. "Iran is the only country which has declared its readiness to allow other countries to participate in its nuclear activities and has always urged the need for negotiations, dialogue and reason," he said. The chief executive said that this in itself is a proof of the peaceful nature of the country's nuclear activities. Ahmadinejad referred to university as a center for training elevated human beings, adding that university instructors and fficials are bound to bring up competent, knowledgeable, creative, elf-confident, thoughtful, courageous and cheerful human beings. Elsewhere in his remarks, the president assessed the recent developments in Lebanon and the victory of Hizbollah Movement -- despite the extensive planning of the Zionist regime and its supporters -- as a divine favor, expected to disrupt the future balance of the region. "Despite the United Nations Security Council's unilateral resolution aiming to secure the Zionist regime's interests and its inhuman crimes in Lebanon, the Lebanese nation and the country's resistance forces are the actual winners of the recent developments," he said. The president underlined that the UN and other international bodies should prevent future wars, genocide and taking the lives of innocent Lebanese women and children. "Once war is uprooted, real peace will be materialized by compensating the losses suffered by the Lebanese people and trial of the leaders of the Zionist regime as well as their supporters, in particular the US and Britain," he said. Stating that the UN approach to the recent developments in Lebanon once more has reduced the level of this international body to an instrument used by some countries, he criticized the UNSC resolution on Iran's nuclear issue. ***************************************************************** 7 Guardian Unlimited: N.Korea Urged to Return to 6-Party Talks From the Associated Press [UP] Tuesday August 15, 2006 6:16 PM SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun urged North Korea on Tuesday to return to stalled talks on its nuclear weapons program and said Seoul was ready to provide assistance to the communist nation to achieve a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. ``North Korea should return to the six-way talks without conditions,'' Roh said in speech marking the 61st anniversary of the peninsula's liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule. Roh also pledged that Seoul ``will spare no efforts and assistance to ensure that North Korea abandons its nuclear (weapons program), improves relations with major countries, including the U.S., and moves toward the path of peace and prosperity.'' He did not give further details on what assistance the South would offer, although the country previously has said it would ship energy aid to the North if it abandons its nuclear program. Roh also said the United States could ``take a leading role in helping turn Northeast Asia into a community of peace and prosperity'' by helping to settle the nuclear dispute. He didn't elaborate. The nuclear talks were last held in November, when negotiators made no progress toward implementing a September agreement in which the North agreed to give up its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees. North Korea has refused to return to the negotiations until Washington lifts financial restrictions it imposed on the communist nation for alleged illegal activity such as counterfeiting. The United States says the North should return to the talks without conditions, saying the issue is unrelated to the nuclear standoff. Roh called for tolerance and patience toward North Korea to promote economic reform in the impoverished communist state. In 2002, the isolated regime introduced limited reforms in an apparent attempt to revitalize its moribund economy. However, North Korea's economy is still in shambles following natural disasters and mismanagement in the mid-1990s, provoking a famine that killed an estimated 2 million people. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 8 Korea Herald: Toward a mature Korea-U.S. alliance This article is the first of a 14-part series dealing with Korea-U.S. relations. - Ed. The Republic of Korea and the United States forged an important alliance in 1953 with signing of the Mutual Defense Treaty. The ROK-U.S. alliance came into being under the obvious common cause of deterring threats from North Korea and to prevent the recurrence of ravages inflicted by the Korean War, triggered by North Korea's invasion of the South. For the last half-century, the ROK-U.S. alliance indisputably made a significant contribution to South Korea's political and economic development, as well as to the security of the country and stability in Northeast Asia. Following the end of the Cold War, however, the strategic environment surrounding the ROK-U.S. alliance has been changing rapidly. Among the factors that necessitate a change in the alliance are transformations in the international and regional power balance as a result of the end of the Cold War; the national security interests and global strategies of the United States; and the changing environment of South Korean society. Moreover, in the process of the country's political and social development, South Korean society and public opinion are increasingly pluralistic. In particular, perception of North Korea has been changing since the inter-Korean summit in 2000. Given these changes, it is imperative for the two countries to forge a consensus on the long-term vision of the alliance. Seoul's policy toward Washington The participatory government's policies regarding diplomacy and security comprise cooperative self-defense and balanced practical diplomacy. Cooperative self-defense depends largely on South Korea's own initiative in deterring and thwarting North Korea's provocation by further developing the ROK-U.S. alliance, as well as proactively establishing security cooperation with other countries. Cooperative self-defense stresses self-help from a practical perspective that encompasses not only the existing alliance but also collective security. In today's geopolitical environment, no country on earth pursues national defense independent of security alliances with other states. Countries around the world have been establishing multifaceted defense arrangements based on various forms of security cooperation, while also seeking robust self-defense capabilities. Needless to say, a core requirement is to maintain good relations with the United States, the most important ally for South Korea. Toward this objective, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun discussed matters of mutual interest and concern with U.S. President George W. Bush in several rounds of summit talks held after Roh's inauguration. Through these meetings, the two leaders made it clear that they would pursue a complete partnership, specifying that mutual relations constitute comprehensive ties, not a mere military alliance. Latest thorny issues Despite the recent success in alliance adjustment, both Seoul and Washington face a series of challenging tasks for the years to come. In particular, there are three issues that can be potentially thorny in ROK-U.S. relations. First, the Roh administration is demanding changes in the military alliance structure. Second, U.S. and ROK policies toward North Korea have diverged. Third, South Korea has become increasingly critical of Japan over the issues of Japan's historical rule over Korea, and demands Washington to be more balanced in its policy toward Japan and Korea. Differing policies over North Korea There are considerable differences between the United States and Korea over policies toward North Korea. Korea emphasizes bilateral reconciliation with North Korea and a policy more equidistant between the United States and China. This has become evident in the six-party nuclear talks, in South Korean financial subsidies to North Korea, in South Korean opposition to a more assertive U.S. policy toward North Korean human rights abuses, and most recently, in U.S.-ROK differences in responding to North Korea's missile firings. Amidst growing criticism of North Korea's missile launch, South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok reportedly said that "as far as North Korea's missiles are concerned, the United States is the country that failed most." His remarks drew harsh criticism from South Korean lawmakers for both ruling and opposition parties. Roh made things even more complicated by defending the unification minister on North Korea in a rift with the United States over how to deal with the North's missile launches. It is unfortunate that, at a time when ROK-U.S. cooperation is needed more than ever, high-ranking Korean officials responded in a rather undiplomatic way. Adjusting U.S. military presence in Korea In 2003-2004, the Pentagon announced plans to relocate U.S. troops in South Korea away from the Demilitarized Zone and Seoul. The United States will withdraw 12,500 troops between the end of 2004 and September 2008, and U.S. military officials have hinted that further withdrawals will come after 2008. U.S.-South Korean negotiations are under way to change the military command structure and determine the degree to which the United States could deploy U.S. troops in South Korea to other trouble spots in Northeast Asia. In recent days, the issue of transferring wartime operational control to Korean military authority has suddenly become a hot potato in ROK-U.S. relations. Roh said in an interview that "wartime operational control is a key to national self-defense; and self-defense is an essential symbol of national sovereignty." Opposition parties and many security experts, including former ministers of national defense, expressed their deepest concern over Roh's remarks. Many security experts agree that transferring wartime operational control can mean an end to the Combined Forces Command system, and it can pave the way for further reduction of the USFK. U.S. policies in East Asia South Korea has become increasingly critical of Japan over the issues of Japan's historical rule over Korea, territorial disputes with Japan, and Japan's policies toward North Korea. This criticism of Japan includes South Korean opposition to U.S. encouragement of Japan taking on a greater military security role in the Western Pacific. Correspondingly, South Korea has established friendlier relations with China with their growing economic relationship as the base. South Korean diplomatic cooperation with China in policies toward North Korea has become an important factor in the six-party negotiations. Toward a complete partnership It is true that two allies accomplished many difficult negotiations successfully. Such an accomplishment indicates that the two allies still have a sound communication structure. However, efficient working-level coordination is not the only yardstick to measure the health of the ROK-U.S. alliance. It would be naive to regard the alliance as sound and untroubled merely on the grounds of successful working-level coordination. The two countries can solidify their alliance when they share the same views on the goal and role of the partnership, as well as fundamental philosophy and values. An alliance is formed when any two (or more) countries seek mutual ties out of necessity. Usually, an alliance works most effectively when there exists a common threat. When such a common threat is gone, the partners must discover other common interests to ensure effective collaboration. The task facing South Korea and the United States is to find such strategic common interests to sustain their alliance into the 21st century. Seoul and Washington will go through a massive readjustment in their half-century-old alliance in the coming years. During the process, both sides can have differing views and interests regarding the alliance. The important point is whether both sides can consult and adjust their views in a harmonious and constructive way. Maintaining a sound communication channel is too important to describe. If South Korea and the United States improve mutual understanding of their existing differences by engaging in closer consultation at the government level including and pursuing sincere and candid dialogue at the civilian level from a long-term perspective, the common interests of the two nations may argue for a more mature, stable reciprocal alliance for the 21st century. Lee Sang-hyun is director of the Security Studies Program at Sejong Institute in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. He earned his doctorate from the University of Illinois. His e-mail address is shlee@sejong.org - Ed. By Lee Sang-hyun 2006.08.16 ***************************************************************** 9 Frontline: India on the right track Volume 23 - Issue 16 :: Aug. 12-25, 2006 INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE NUCLEAR POWER T.S. SUBRAMANIAN Interview with Dr. Georges Vendryes, French nuclear scientist. PICTURES: V. GANESAN IN the past one year, breeder reactors have come into sharp focus in India following the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal. The country had taken a firm stand in its negotiations with the United States that it would not put its breeder reactors under International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) safeguards. Earlier, there was intense debate in India whether it was wise to go in for breeder reactors. Right now, a 13 MWe Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) is operational at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam. A 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor is also under construction here. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) plans to build four more FBTRs of 500 MWe capacity each before 2020. The IGCAR is responsible for designing and developing breeders in India. In an interview to Frontline on July 18 at Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram), eminent French nuclear scientist Dr. Georges Vendryes, the father of breeder reactors, asserted that India's policy of developing breeders was "quite right". This was his third visit to India. Dr. Vendryes began his career as a nuclear physicist under Prof. Frederic Joliot-Curie at the "Synthese Atomique" Laboratory, France, in 1948. Between 1952 and 1970, he held various positions in the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). He took over as Director of Nuclear Reactors' Research and Development, CEA in 1971 and became vice-president, Industrial Nuclear Applications, CEA, in 1974. At present he is its Honorary Executive Vice-President. He has made outstanding contributions in research on nuclear energy, especially in the area of fast breeder reactor technology. He has received several awards and honours from organisations and countries including Germany, the U.S., Japan and China. It was during the United Nations Conference on Science and Technology Development in 1979 that Dr. Vendryes, after hearing Walter Zinn of the Argonne National Laboratory, U.S., speak about the promise of breeder reactors, said to himself, "We have to develop breeders." From then on, he worked with passion and determination on the CEA's breeder programme and became a proponent of sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor technology. Excerpts from the interview: At an Indo-French seminar in 1992, eminent French nuclear scientist Dr. Bertrand Goldschmidt observed that in nuclear matters, India and France were prepared to flirt with each other but not really go to bed. Do you think it is time India and France stopped flirting and went to bed? We had in the past wonderful cooperation which, unfortunately, was interrupted in the mid-1970s for reasons you know well. I hope that in the future, possibly within one or two years, new conditions will arise that will open up opportunities for the renewal of our cooperation. I am looking forward to such cooperation taking place again. France stepped in to supply enriched uranium for the Tarapur reactors when the U.S. reneged on its contract after Pokhran I. Why didn't the Indo-French collaboration in nuclear matters take off from there? Did it fail to firm up because France was insisting that India should sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty? We made that gesture (of supplying enriched uranium to Tarapur-1 and 2 reactors) because we wanted to show our goodwill to India but when France signed the NPT in 1992, conditions became more and more difficult for continuing the close cooperation. In your speech today, you said the Indian nuclear industry suffered from isolation, and that you hoped that with the recent visits of U.S. President George W. Bush and French President Jacques Chirac to India, "the present unwanted situation will soon terminate". France wants to build four reactors at Jaitapur, a coastal site in Maharashtra. I have to tell you that I am here to express my own personal opinion, and that I am not at all here as a representative of the French government or the CEA or the French industry. I am not at all involved [with them] because I retired many years ago. I am not at all involved in the discussions, which are taking place right now between the Indian and the French governments. I do not know the details at all. So I cannot make any comments on that. The only thing I can say is that I personally hope that these discussions will have a satisfactory outcome, satisfactory to both sides, and this will make it possible to renew some sort of collaboration in the future. You are the father of the breeder reactor. This is too much! You were the architect of the SuperPhenix breeder reactor in France. You said at Kalpakkam today that the "Hanuman jump" that the DAE was making from the 13 MWe FBTR to the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) under construction at Kalpakkam was "a bold one". Do you think India is on the right path in the matter of breeder reactors? Oh, yes. Definitely so. This policy, this decision to develop fast breeder reactors in India, was made early, at the time of Homi Bhabha, a few years after India became independent. I think this policy is quite right. I can only approve it. It is a good way to develop nuclear energy first by using thermal reactors to produce plutonium, and then using the plutonium with depleted natural uranium to produce more plutonium in the fast breeder reactors. This is a logical way to proceed. I approve it fully. My point is that it so happens right now that the number of countries that are active in fast breeders has unfortunately decreased very much. The French government made a very bad decision to shut down the SuperPhenix and this means that there will be an interruption of several years in fast breeders' development in France. Now only Russia, Japan, China and India have an active interest in fast breeders. That means when India is building its PFBR, it is somewhat alone in the world. It cannot benefit from the exchanges with many other countries because other countries do not at present, unfortunately, develop fast breeder reactors. The fact that you are alone makes your work more difficult, very challenging, and in my opinion, this is the reason why you have to proceed with extreme cautiousness. This does not mean that you are wrong in going that way. Not at all. But you have to go that way with great caution in order to be sure that you will arrive at your goal. Why did the French government shut down the SuperPhenix? For political reasons, which have nothing to do with technical or economic reasons. It was because the Green Party made an electoral pact with the Socialists that the latter should shut down the SuperPhenix (if their alliance came to power). Unfortunately, this is what happened in 1997. It was a very unfortunate decision. It is a major mistake. Well, we have to live with it. Do you think that fast breeder reactors will get a fresh lease of life in France? Yes, I am sure that fast breeder reactors will be developed in France and other countries as well in future because you cannot imagine long-term use of nuclear energy without breeders. Breeder reactors are really the ultimate goal of nuclear energy from fission. Why is Russia pressing ahead with breeders now? The Japanese went ahead with breeders too but had a problem with the Monju reactor. The Japanese had a leak of sodium [from Monju]. As a consequence, Monju remained shut down for many years. But recently, after a series of safety inquiries, the Japanese government decided to repair the damage and start the reactor again. So, maybe in two years from now, Monju will operate. The Russians are operating a 600 MWe fast breeder reactor. They have said that they will build a bigger one, of 800 MWe capacity, at the same location. In France, President Chirac instructed the CEA early this year to start preliminary studies on an advanced reactor, which is indeed a breeder. I think that within a couple of years, the design of this new reactor will be completed; the objective is to put this reactor into service in 2020. You spoke about how India overcame several obstacles after it conducted its first nuclear test at Pokhran in 1974. The Nuclear Suppliers' Group asked its members not to sell light water reactors to India because India was not a signatory to the NPT. So do you think that these embargoes, sanctions and technology denial regimes work? I cannot make any comments on that because this is a highly political question. Again, I cannot make comments on French government policy. High-level discussions are going on between France and India, and India and the United States. I firmly hope that within a few years, India will again find its due place in the mainstream of international nuclear community and get out of its isolation, which was pitiful. How do you battle the propaganda that fish are killed by the coolant waters let into the sea? There is no more controversy about this problem. I cannot exactly tell you why it died down. Anti-nuclear movements always raise problems, which are based on false statements. But there comes a time when the truth is revealed. In the wake of the Chernobyl accident, do you think nuclear energy can really come back? Yes, definitely. British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced recently that his government was in favour of a renewal of nuclear energy there. In many countries, there is interest in nuclear energy. Do you know that Finland, for instance, ordered an advanced light water reactor from France two years ago? It is of 1,500 MWe capacity. Possibly, they will discuss more reactors. This is not decided but it is under discussion in Finland. How many reactors does France have? Fifty-eight. All are light water reactors except for Phenix, which is a small breeder reactor and is, by the way, the oldest nuclear reactor operating in France. It started operating in 1974 and is still operating. Phenix has a capacity of 200 MWe. Why is China showing so much of interest in nuclear power? Why are you surprised that China is interested in nuclear reactors? China is in the same situation as India. They have tremendous energy needs. It is normal that they believe nuclear energy can contribute to the generation of electricity in future. They are making decisions similar to those India has made. But China has enough coal. They have possibly more coal than you have. But the coal deposits in China are located in the northwestern parts of the country. Transportation of coal in a country that is very big is not easy. Similar is the case in India. Do you predict a bright future for India in building breeder reactors, thorium reactors and so on? You are definitely on the right path. I admire what you have done. I admire what you are preparing to do. You are on the right track. Copyright © 2006, Frontline. ***************************************************************** 10 AFP: British lawmakers urge China to stay away from rogue states for trade - Tue Aug 15, 4:13 PM ET LONDON (AFP) - A committee of British members of parliament has urged China not to do deals with countries that flout international law and commit human rights abuses in an effort to acquire its much-needed natural resources in a wide-ranging report on east Asia. The lower House of Commons's Foreign Affairs Committee said in a report published this week: "Beijing's attitude to business with states which the international community has condemned for their behaviour damages efforts to uphold international standards in human rights and good governance." The committee went on to draw particular attention to China's relationship with Sudan and Zimbabwe, saying the Asian giant was not only doing damage to the interests of Western states, it was also doing damage to its own interests because "corrupt, brutal and incompetent regimes make unreliable partners." In Sunday's report, the committee also condemned Internet firms such as Microsoft, Google and Yahoo! for collaborating with Chinese state censorship of the web, which it described as "morally unacceptable". It also criticises China's military build-up along the Taiwan Straits, which, it says, "threatens peace and stability in East Asia". The committee also warned of the emergence of an "authoritarian bloc" with Russia, and raised concerns about the implications of Taiwan's exclusion from the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Foreign Affairs Committee's report said growing links between China and Russia raised concerns since it could signal "the emergence of an authoritarian bloc opposed to democracy and Western values in Eurasia" and the Shanghai Co-Operation Organisation -- a security group aimed at counter-balancing NATO " /> NATO-- could "evolve into an alliance of authoritarian powers opposed to the West". The committee of members of parliament also said that while Britain should not recognise Taiwan as a state, it should increase ties with it, saying its exclusion from the WHO was "unsatisfactory, particularly with the spread of avian influenza". The report also dubbed missile tests carried out by North Korea " /> North Korealast month as "calculatedly provocative and unacceptable", adding that "it would be irresponsible for the government to assume that North Korea had not developed a nuclear weapon or weapons". It also said that the risk of a nuclear accident in North Korea was "significant". Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 11 NRC: NRC Announces Availability of Vogtle Early Site Permit Application News Release - 2006-10 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 06-101 August 15, 2006 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is making available an application from Southern Nuclear Operating Co. for an Early Site Permit (ESP) for property located near the Vogtle nuclear power plant, about 23 miles southeast of Augusta, Ga. Last May the NRC held two public meetings in Waynesboro, Ga., to discuss the permit review process. The ESP process allows an applicant to address site-related issues, such as environmental impacts, for possible future construction and operation of a nuclear power plant at the site. The NRCs formal review will address site safety, environmental protection and emergency planning issues. If the agency approves the request, Southern Nuclear could reference the permit at any time for up to 20 years in an application with the NRC for approval to begin construction of one or more nuclear reactors at the site. The Vogtle Early Site Permit application will be available electronically on the NRCs Web site on this page: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/esp.html. A copy of the application will also be available for public review at the NRC Public Document Room, located at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD; telephone: 800/397-4209 or 301/415-4737. Local residents may view the application at the Burke County Library, 130 Highway 24 South in Waynesboro. The NRC staff is currently conducting an initial review of the application to determine whether it contains enough information for the staff to perform a comprehensive technical review. If the application has sufficient information, the NRC will formally docket, or file, the application and will announce an opportunity for affected persons to participate in the required hearing. Last revised Tuesday, August 15, 2006 ***************************************************************** 12 Deseret News: WGA ignoring clean energy of nuclear power [deseretnews.com] Tuesday, August 15, 2006 By Gary M. Sandquist As we seek effective ways to reduce our growing and dangerous dependence on imported oil and natural gas and combat global warming, nuclear power must play an essential role. China, Japan, France, Russia and other countries are aggressively expanding their nuclear power base. President Bush recognizes the need for nuclear power, and Congress has approved financial incentives for construction of the first new, advanced U.S. nuclear power plant in this century. Yet the U.S. nuclear renaissance may be impeded in the West unless Western governors respond appropriately. The Western Governors Association's recently adopted resolution on Western energy development was unsettling. The resolution called for 30,000 megawatts (30 GW) of "clean power generation" by 2015 made up of renewable sources, hydro, coal gasification, natural gas and cogeneration. Incredibly, nuclear power is not included in the WGA plans. Ignoring nuclear power in a regional plan that purports to address global warming is irrational and unrealistic. Nuclear power accounts for 20 percent of the U.S. electricity and about 75 percent of U.S. emission-free power. Without nuclear power's production of clean energy, the EPA reports that CO2 emissions would be higher by 680 million metric tons a year. This is equivalent to the emissions from 130 million automobiles or about two-thirds of the entire U.S. automobile fleet. In contrast, power plants that burn coal and natural gas that received WGA approval severely pollute the biosphere. U.S. coal plants dumped about 2 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere last year, and more than 120 additional coal-fired plants are planned or under construction. Perhaps the governors should call for a tax on carbon emissions in the WGA plan, along with a market-based cap-and-trade system for reducing emissions. Such a system has been used since 1990 and is remarkably effective in reducing emissions of sulfur dioxide that produces acid rain and smog-forming nitrogen oxides. To be even more effective in controlling greenhouse gases, utilities should begin to replace carbon-rich coal with nuclear, solar and wind power. Presently, 16 U.S. utilities plan to build 27 (GO size) nuclear power plants. The "base-load" electricity from these plants will help meet the projected 40 percent increase in electricity demand by 2030. The Energy Information Administration says that 60 plants must be built by then if nuclear power is to maintain its current share (20 percent) of U.S. electricity production A Gallup poll shows that a majority of Americans now support nuclear power. Many of the nation's leading environmentalists recognize that nuclear power must play a central role in the battle against global warming. Western governors should realistically reconsider the true energy issues. Only nuclear power can provide the massive infusion of clean energy required to control global warming, limit oil and natural gas imports, and eventually provide the primary energy source required to develop a "hydrogen economy" and free us from fossil fuel dependence. Gary M. Sandhurst is a professor of mechanical engineering and former director of nuclear engineering at the University of Utah. © 2006 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 13 NRC: NRC Announces New Head of Enforcement Office News Release - 2006-10 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 06-102 August 15, 2006 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has appointed Cynthia A. Carpenter as Director of the agencys Office of Enforcement. She will succeed Michael Johnson, who is now the Assistant for Operations in the Executive Directors Office. The appointment is effective Sept. 3. In this position, she will be responsible for managing the programs that develop and implement the policies and programs that enforce NRC requirements. She will also oversee the agency's allegations management program, NRC allegations review process and external safety culture policy. Carpenter joined the NRC in 1987 as a reactor engineer in the agencys Region I, in King of Prussia, Pa. Since that time, she has held a number of progressively more responsible positions including resident inspector at the formerly operating Yankee Rowe Nuclear Station and the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant, both located in Massachusetts. She also worked as an operations engineer and technical assistant. Since 1998, Carpenter has held a number of senior management positions in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation including program director for the Policy and Rulemaking Program; chief of the Inspection Program Branch and deputy director of the Division of Inspection Program Management. She became director of the Program Management, Policy Development and Planning Staff in 2004. Prior to joining the NRC, Carpenter worked for the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory at the Naval Reactors Facility in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and in the Nuclear Engineering departments at Charleston and Puget Sound Naval Shipyards as a shift refueling engineer and nuclear engineer. Carpenter received a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Last revised Tuesday, August 15, 2006 ***************************************************************** 14 Rutland Herald: Watchdog drops contention against Yankee Rutland Vermont News & Information August 15, 2006 By DANIEL BARLOW Southern Vermont Bureau BRATTLEBORO — The New England Coalition has withdrawn one of its contentions against Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant's 20 percent power boost, leaving just a single concern to be heard by federal nuclear officials at a hearing next month. The Brattleboro-based nuclear watchdog group said Monday that it dropped a contention regarding the condition of two safety-related cooling towers at the Vernon plant because experts for owner Entergy Nuclear Vermont have answered some of their concerns. The volunteer-driven organization said it will focus its efforts on its one remaining contention — which calls for expanded testing at the plant to determine the effects of the power boost on the 30-year-old plant — when the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board returns to Vermont next month. "In sum, while it is impossible to predict with certainty that the [cooling system] will withstand a severe seismic shock, I believe that both [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] staff and Entergy have responded to New England Coalition's contention with increased oversight, inspections, and analysis that would not have otherwise been performed and which result in significantly increased assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety," wrote Ross Landsman, an expert witness for the NEC, to members of the group on Aug. 4. Ray Shadis, a technical advisor for the NEC, said Monday that the group will now focus on its calls for a main steam isolation valve closure test and a turbine generator load rejection test when the ASLB holds hearings on the uprate from Sept. 12-15 at the Windham Superior Court in Newfane. Shadis noted that the NEC "affected real change for the better" by raising the issue, resulting in additional NRC inspections and Entergy analysis of the impact of an uprate on cooling towers. "We can now focus our limited resources on the remaining contention, which is that Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee should not be granted an exemption from requirements for full-transient testing," he said in a prepared statement. The NRC approved Entergy's request to boost power at Vermont Yankee in March and the plant has since reached that new plateau. But hearings on the matter are continuing, although the NEC remains the sole intervener after the state dropped its contentions earlier this year. The NEC filed a motion to withdraw the cooling tower contention on Aug. 10 and the ASLB, the quasijudicial arm of the NRC which is also holding hearings on Entergy's plan to extend Vermont Yankee's operating license beyond 2012, still needs to rule on the matter, according to Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the NRC. ***************************************************************** 15 NRC: Omaha Public Power District; Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1; FR Doc E6-13330 [Federal Register: August 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 157)] [Notices] [Page 46927-46928] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15au06-67] Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of an exemption from Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.46 and 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix K, for Facility Operating License No. DPR-40, issued to Omaha Public Power District (OPPD, the licensee), for operation of the Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1 (Fort Calhoun Station), located in Washington County, Nebraska. Therefore, as required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC is issuing this environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact. Environmental Assessment Identification of the Proposed Action The proposed action would allow the Fort Calhoun Station to use M5 an advanced alloy fuel cladding material for pressurized-water reactors (PWRs). The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's application dated August 11, 2005, as revised by letter dated November 8, 2005, and as supplemented by letter dated April 12, 2006. The Need for the Proposed Action The proposed action is needed so that OPPD can use M5 an advanced alloy for fuel rod cladding and other assembly structural components at the Fort Calhoun Station. Section 50.46 and Part 50 of 10 CFR, Appendix K, make no provisions for use of fuel rods clad in a material other than zircaloy or ZIRLO. Since the chemical composition of the M5 alloy differs from the specifications for zircaloy or ZIRLO, a plant-specific exemption is required to allow the use of the M5 alloy as a cladding material or in other assembly structural components at the Fort Calhoun Station. Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action The underlying purposes of 10 CFR 50.46 and 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix K, are to ensure that facilities have [[Page 46928]] adequate acceptance criteria for the emergency core cooling system (ECCS), and to ensure that cladding oxidation and hydrogen generation are appropriately limited during a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) and conservatively accounted for in the ECCS evaluation model, respectively. Neither 10 CFR 50.46 nor 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix K, explicitly allows the use of M5 as a fuel rod cladding material or for other assembly structural components. Topical Report (TR) BAW-10227P, ``Evaluation of Advanced Cladding and Structural Material (M5) in PWR Reactor Fuel,'' which was approved by the NRC on February 4, 2000, demonstrated that the effectiveness of the ECCS will not be affected by a change from zircaloy to M5. In addition, TR BAW-10227P demonstrated that the Baker-Just equation (used in the ECCS evaluation model to determine the rate of energy release, cladding oxidation, and hydrogen generation) is conservative in all post-LOCA scenarios with respect to M5 advanced alloy as a fuel rod cladding material or in other assembly structural components. The licensee will use NRC-approved methods for the reload design process for Fort Calhoun Station reloads with M5. The NRC has completed its safety evaluation of the proposed action and concludes that licensee's request to use the M5 advanced alloy for fuel rod cladding and in other assembly structural components in lieu of zircaloy or ZIRLO is acceptable. The details of the staff's safety evaluation will be provided in the exemption that will be issued as part of the letter to the licensee approving the exemption to the regulation. The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability or consequences of accidents. No changes are being made in the types of effluents that may be released off site. There is no significant increase in the amount of any effluent released off site. There is no significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. Therefore, there are no significant radiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. With regard to potential non-radiological impacts, the proposed action does not have a potential to affect any historic sites. It does not affect non-radiological plant effluents and has no other environmental impact. Therefore, there are no significant non- radiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no significant environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative). Denial of the application would result in no change in current environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action and the alternative action are similar. Alternative Use of Resources The action does not involve the use of any different resources than those previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for the Fort Calhoun Station dated August 1972. Agencies and Persons Consulted In accordance with its stated policy, on June 14, 2006, the staff consulted with the Nebraska State official, Julia Schmitt of the Department of Health and Human Services Regulation and Licensor, regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action. The State official had no comments. Finding of No Significant Impact On the basis of the environmental assessment, the NRC concludes that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed action. For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the licensee's letter dated August 11, 2005, as revised by letter dated November 8, 2005, and as supplemented on April 12, 2006. Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or send an e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of August 2006. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Alan B. Wang, Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. E6-13330 Filed 8-14-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 16 NRC: Dominion Nuclear North Anna, LLC; Notice of Extension of Public FR Doc E6-13331 [Federal Register: August 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 157)] [Notices] [Page 46927] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15au06-66] [[Page 46927]] Comment Period on the Supplement to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at the North Anna ESP Site Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) has extended the public comment period on Supplement 1 to NUREG-1811, ``Draft Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at the North Anna ESP Site'' (SDEIS). The site is located near the Town of Mineral in Louisa County, Virginia, on the southern shore of Lake Anna. On July 12, 2006, the NRC issued a Notice of Availability (71 FR 39372) of the SDEIS and on July 14, 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issue a Notice of Filing (71 FR 40096) of the SDEIS. The public comment period on the SDEIS was to have ended on August 28, 2006. Multiple requests for an extension to the comment period were received by the NRC. Pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Section 51.73, the comment period has been extended by 15 days to September 12, 2006. The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that the comment period was extended to September 12, 2006. The SDEIS is available for public inspection and comment in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS Accession No. ML061800217), and on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. (the Public Electronic Reading Room Room problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the PDR reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. In addition, the Louisa County Library, located at 881 Davis Highway, Mineral, Virginia, has agreed to make the SDEIS available for public inspection. As indicated in Federal Register notice 71 FR 39372, the NRC staff will hold a public meeting to present an overview of the SDEIS and to accept public comments on the SDEIS. The public meeting will be held in the Forum at the Louisa County Middle School, 1009 Davis Highway, Mineral, Virginia on Tuesday, August 15, 2006. The meeting will convene at 7 p.m. and will continue until 10 p.m., as necessary. The meeting will be transcribed and will include: (1) A presentation of the contents of the SDEIS, and (2) the opportunity for interested government agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments on the draft report. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions 1 hour before the start of the meeting at the Louisa County Middle School. No formal comments on the SDEIS will be accepted during the informal discussions. To be considered, comments must be provided either at the transcribed public meeting or in writing. Any interested party may submit comments by September 12, 2006, on this report for consideration by the NRC staff. Comments may be accompanied by additional relevant information or supporting data. Members of the public may send written comments on the SDEIS for the North Anna ESP to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and should cite the publication date and page number of this Federal Register Notice. Comments may also be delivered to Room T-6D59, Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. during Federal workdays. Electronic comments may be sent by the Internet to the NRC at North_Anna_comments@nrc.gov. To assist the NRC staff in identifying and considering issues and concerns, comments on the supplement to the draft EIS should be as specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the draft supplement. Comments will be available electronically and accessible through the NRC's PERR link at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html . For Further Information Contact: Mr. Jack Cushing, Senior Environmental Project Manager, at telephone number 301-415-1424, or by mail at U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Jack Cushing, Mail Stop 0-11F1, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852-2738. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of August 2006. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. William Beckner, Deputy Director, Division of New Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. E6-13331 Filed 8-14-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 17 PRN: UniStar Nuclear Accelerates Its Pace for Early Reviews by the NRC PR Newswire Submission Ahead of Schedule in Support of a Potential Fleet of New Nuclear Plants in the U.S. BALTIMORE, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- UniStar Nuclear, the jointly developed enterprise of Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) and AREVA, has advanced the submittal of documents in support of its application for a new nuclear power plant license. The company submitted the entire Quality Assurance (QA) program document to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The QA program will govern the design, construction and operation of a planned potential fleet of U.S. EPR advanced nuclear power plants to be built in the United States. UniStar Nuclear's QA program submittal is the first from the nuclear industry exclusively related to a license application that will be sent in under the NRC's combined construction and operating license application (COLA) process. The timing demonstrates UniStar Nuclear's commitment to its principle of working effectively with the NRC toward early review and issue resolution in licensing much-needed, emissions-free new nuclear generating capacity in the U.S. "Being first with this submittal demonstrates our steadfast commitment to meeting or exceeding key deliverable dates in a disciplined fashion consistent with the new licensing process," said George Vanderheyden, president of UniStar Nuclear. "Early submission of thoroughly detailed, stand-alone documents related to the license application helps the NRC manage its resources more effectively and moves us further along the path to new nuclear power generation in the near term." UniStar Nuclear is exceeding expectations and accelerating the review process with the NRC by submitting this document two months prior to the target deadline of September 2006. This QA submittal provides the NRC staff with the information needed to make a full and complete evaluation of this section in support of the COLA process. "We are aware of the resource challenges that could face the commission in the years ahead," said Vanderheyden. "This document submittal is just one of the milestones in our licensing strategy that demonstrates our commitment to working with commissioners and staff in innovative ways to bring certainty and predictability to the new combined licensing process." The Quality Assurance program is required by the licensing process and lays out the quality assurance requirements for the proposed fleet of U.S. EPR advanced nuclear power plants. This program provides the standards and requirements that will ensure the highest standards of quality, accuracy and completeness across all aspects of plant design, construction and operations. "We focused on the QA program now, for two main reasons," said Rod Krich, senior vice president for regulatory affairs, who is leading UniStar Nuclear's licensing work and serves as the primary contact with the NRC. "The NRC has asked that early submissions be complete and the QA program can be reviewed as a complete stand-alone document. Also, since this document lays out the QA basis going forward, it provides a fleet standard to ensure consistent quality standards are applied across all potential future UniStar Nuclear projects." The early submission of this application-related document allows UniStar Nuclear to stay ahead of schedule toward submitting the completed reference COLA for the planned U.S. EPR fleet by June 2008. UniStar Nuclear (http://www.unistarnuclear.com) is headquartered in Annapolis, Md. Constellation Energy (http://www.constellation.com), a FORTUNE 200 company with 2005 revenues of $17.1 billion, is the nation's largest competitive supplier of electricity to large commercial and industrial customers and the nation's largest wholesale power seller. Constellation Energy also manages fuels and energy services on behalf of energy intensive industries and utilities. It owns a diversified fleet of more than 100 generating units located throughout the United States, totaling approximately 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity. The company delivers electricity and natural gas through the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), its regulated utility in Central Maryland. As the leading U.S. nuclear supplier and a key player in the electricity transmission and distribution sector, AREVA's 5000 American employees are committed to serve the nation and pave the way for the future of the electricity market. The company's commitment to America is reflected in its initial investment of $200 million in the U.S. EPR. With 40 locations across the nation and $1.8 billion in revenues in 2005, AREVA combines homegrown leadership, access to worldwide expertise and a proven track record of performance. In the U.S. and in over 100 countries around the world, AREVA is engaged in the 21st century's greatest challenges making energy available to all, protecting the planet and acting responsibly towards future generations. AREVA, Inc. is headquartered in Bethesda, Md. Visit us at http://www.us.areva.com. SOURCE UniStar Nuclear Related links: + http://www.unistarnuclear.com + http://www.constellation.com + http://www.us.areva.com Copyright © 1996- PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 18 NRC: Sunshine Federal Register Notice FR Doc 06-6939 [Federal Register: August 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 157)] [Notices] [Page 46928-46929] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15au06-68] DATE: Weeks of August 14, 21, 28, September 4, 11, 18, 2006. PLACE: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. STATUS: Public and Closed. MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED Week of August 17, 2006 Thursday, August 17, 2006 10 a.m. Affirmation Session (Public Meeting) (Tentative). a. Louisiana Energy Services, LP (National Enrichment Facility) Docket No. 70-3103-ML, Petitions for Review of LBP-06-15. (Tentative). b. Pacific Gas & Elec. Co. (Diablo Canyon ISFSI), Docket No. 72-26- ISFSI ``Motion by San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, Sierra Club, and Peg Pinard for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief with respect to Diablo Canyon ISFSI'' (Tentative). c. AmerGen Energy Company, LLC (License Renewal for Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station) Docket No. 50-0219, Legal challenges to LBP-06-07 and LBP-06-11 (Tentative). Week of August 21, 2006--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the Week of August 21, 2006. Week of August 28, 2006--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the Week of August 28, 2006. Week of September 4, 2006--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the Week of September 4, 2006. Week of September 11, 2006--Tentative Monday, September 11, 2006 9:30 p.m. Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1). 1:30 p.m.emsp;Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1 & 3). Tuesday, September 12, 2006 9:30 a.m. Meeting with Organization of Agreement States (OAS) and Conference of Radiation Conrol [[Page 46929]] Program Directors (CRCPD) (Public Meeting) (Contact: Shawn Smith, 301- 415-2620). This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov . 1 p.m. Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1). Week of September 18, 2006--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the Week of September 18, 2006. * The schedule for Commission meetings is subject to change on short notice. To verify the status of meetings call (recording)--(301) 415-1292. Contact person for more information: Michelle Schroll, (301) 415-1662. The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the Internet at: http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-making/schedule.html. The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabiloities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable acommodation to participate in these public meetings, or need this meeting notice or the transcript or other information from the public meetings in another format (e.g., braille, large print), please notify the NRC's Disability Program Coordinator, Deborah Chan, at 301-415-7041, TDD: 301-415-2100, or by E-mail at DLC@nrc.gov. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. This notice is distributed by mail to several hundred subscribers; if you no longer wish to receive it, or would like to be added to the distribution, please contact the Office of the Secretary, Washington, DC 20555 (301-415-1969). In addition, distribution of this meeting notice over the Internet system is available. If you are interested in receiving this Commission meeting schedule electronically, please send an electronic message to dkw@nrc.gov. Dated: August 10, 2008. R. Michelle Schroll, Office of the Secretary. [FR Doc. 06-6939 Filed 8-11-06; 9:59 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M ***************************************************************** 19 ajc.com: Permit sought for new reactors at Ga. plant [The Atlanta Journal-Constitution] The Associated Press Published on: 08/15/06 SAVANNAH The Southern Co.'s nuclear subsidiary applied Tuesday for a site permit that would allow the utility to add two reactors to the Alvin W. Vogtle nuclear plant in eastern Georgia. The proposed $3 billion project, which would nearly double Plant Vogtle's output of 2,430 megawatts, requires approval by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Southern Co. spokeswoman Carrie Phillips said the plant's owners haven't made a final decision yet to develop the new reactors at Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro, 30 miles south of Augusta. She said a permit would give the owners 20 years to make a final decision whether to build new reactors. The U.S. has 103 nuclear power plants scattered across 31 states, but no orders for new reactors have been placed since 1973. Recently, high energy prices have raised the profile of nuclear power as a way to generate electricity without churning out greenhouse gases. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said earlier this month he expects 12 utilities to file papers over the next three years to build 18 nuclear reactors. © 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | | | ***************************************************************** 20 RIA Novosti: Russia repatriates 165kg of new nuclear fuel since 2004 15/ 08/ 2006 MOSCOW, August 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has taken back 165 kilograms (360lb) of new highly enriched uranium from research reactors built with Soviet assistance in eight countries since 2004, the Russian Federal Agency for Nuclear Power said Tuesday. The repatriation is part of a Russian-U.S. intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in returning nuclear fuel from Russian-made research reactors signed in May 2004 and a joint statement on nuclear security signed by presidents George Bush and Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Bratislava in February 2005. Since 2004, Russia has repatriated new HEU from Soviet-built plants in eight countries: Serbia and Montenegro, Romania, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Libya, Latvia, Poland and Uzbekistan. Russia also completed in April 2006 repatriation of 63kg (140lb) of spent Russian-made HEU from a research reactor in Uzbekistan. Spent nuclear fuel from all 17 reactors built by Russia's specialists outside the country is expected to return by 2012-13. © 2005 RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 21 Honolulu Advertiser: Nuclear drill today at Honolulu Harbor - Tuesday, August 15, 2006 By William Cole Advertiser Military Writer As airline travel changes again in response to the recent bombing plot in Britain, Hawai'i today will simulate another terrorist theat — the explosion of a nuclear device in Honolulu Harbor. Approximately 14 federal, state and city agencies involving 500 to 1,000 people are taking part in exercise 'a Kele, simulating the detonation of a half-kiloton bomb in a shipping container on the dock. "We're testing a number of things, and one of them is communications" between agencies, said Ray Lovell, a state Civil Defense spokesman. "We're testing the first responders and how they would detect something like this, and what measures they would take." Although the mock explosion occurs in the harbor, "ground zero" for purposes of the exercise will be on an old runway at Bellows Air Force Station. Edward Teixeira, vice director of state Civil Defense, said the name of the exercise uses the Hawaiian words " 'a," for hot and fiery, and "kele," for impurity, signifying radiation. The Homeland Security Council about two years ago developed 15 national planning scenarios, including simulating an "improvised nuclear device" explosion, to test security preparedness. The scenarios include a plague outbreak, chlorine-tank explosion, major hurricane, cyber attack and pandemic influenza, but Hawai'i is one of the first states to take on the nuclear-device planning, officials said. State adjutant general Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee previously said he didn't want to turn the exercise into a mass casualty drill, and commerce won't be affected. "There will be no explosion, there will be no fire, there will be no radiation," Lovell said. Instead, the exercise will be conducted over 34 hours today and tomorrow using computers and other communications to simulate impacts such as the loss of 30 percent of island communications. Teixeira said an estimate of possible casualties showed 40 killed by the blast, 1,050 receiving injury and radiation within 900 meters, and up to 10,712 people receiving effects from the explosion, including radiation fallout. Officials said nothing actually will take place in Honolulu Harbor. Residents around Bellows may notice emergency responders entering the base for the drill. The Queen's Medical Center said it would test its trauma-center role in the exercise with mock decontamination and medical treatment. Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com. © COPYRIGHT 2006 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. ***************************************************************** 22 UPI: Russia pleased with uranium repatriation United Press International - NewsTrack - 8/15/2006 9:14:00 AM -0400 MOSCOW, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Russia reported progress Tuesday in repatriating highly enriched uranium from eight other countries as part of a Russian-U.S. security pact. The Russian Federal Agency for Nuclear Power said most recently, it had acquired 360 pounds of the uranium, which can be used to build nuclear warheads. The supply came from power plants in Serbia and Montenegro, Romania, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Libya, Latvia, Poland and Uzbekistan, the Novosti news agency reported. Officials said last April, Russia also took back 140 pounds of spent Russian-made uranium from a research reactor in Uzbekistan. In February 2005, U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement of cooperation in Bratislava in which Russia would seek out the uranium it provided to other countries to prevent weapons proliferation. The Russian nuclear agency said it was hoped all spent nuclear fuel from 17 reactors built by Russia outside the country will be back safely by 2013. © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights ***************************************************************** 23 Appleton Post-Crescent: Troops deserve better study of depleted uranium effects Your Fox Cities News Source - Editorial: Posted August 15, 2006 You might have read — in Sunday's paper, among other places — about eight members of an Army National Guard unit who are suing the Army because they've become ill through, they contend, exposure to depleted uranium. You probably haven't read about Army Spc. Dustin Brim, a 22-year-old from Florida who died of an array of cancers in 2004 after serving in Iraq. His mother has come to suspect depleted uranium in her son's death, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal. But you probably are at least vaguely aware of Gulf War Syndrome, the name given to explain medical problems encountered by some Gulf War veterans who were generally stymied by the U.S. military in their efforts to have their illnesses addressed or, at times, even acknowledged. Depleted uranium is one of the suspected causes of Gulf War Syndrome. The Defense Department has minimized the danger that depleted uranium poses. It says that, because of the training troops receive on how to handle it, it should be safe. But based on the illnesses some of these soldiers are developing, it's time to take a closer look at it. Because of its density, depleted uranium is used to provide an armored coating for tanks as a stronger defense against attack. It's also used to coat shells our troops fire, making them more powerful in penetrating enemy armor. Depleted uranium is also radioactive and leaves behind a dust that lasts a very long time. Does breathing in that dust cause the types of illnesses being seen in these veterans? That's the important question. But not enough has been done to answer it, even after the controversy over Gulf War Syndrome. In the past four months, the House and Senate have passed separate bills that call for a study on the effects of depleted uranium exposure. Those pieces of legislation are in a committee to be reconciled. The result should provide a clear mandate to provide some answers. Not nearly enough is known about the health risks truly posed by the use of depleted uranium. It's past time to find out. The troops who are risking their lives in support of our nation deserve to know. Contact us at 920-993-1000. postcrescent.com is a Gannett Companywebsite. ***************************************************************** 24 Apple Attempts to Trademark "Pod;" NIRS and Public Citizen Appeal LES License Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:57:52 -0500 (CDT) X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY August 15, 2006 Apples Attempts to Trademark Pod Show Need for Congress to Restrict Trademark Dilution Law in Favor of Free Speech Statement of Paul Alan Levy, Attorney, Public Citizen Litigation Group At a time when consideration of the Trademark Dilution Revision Act has stalled in Congress because of concerns about undue impact on free speech, the recent news that Apple is trying to gain monopoly control over the use of the word pod could not have come at a more opportune time. This new Apple campaign points out the problems with dilution law and the reasons why Congress should be thinking about containing it instead of expanding it. To read the entire statement visit: http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2256. ### NIRS and Public Citizen Appeal LES Licensing Decision to Federal Court WASHINGTON, D.C. Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) and Public Citizen today filed papers with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., challenging the license granted for the proposed Louisiana Energy Services (LES) uranium enrichment plant by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). To read the entire press release visit: http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2255. ### /*Your email ID. --*/ ***************************************************************** 25 Las Vegas SUN: New light on Yucca Today: August 15, 2006 at 7:25:29 PDT Congress wants to get over the mountain on nuclear waste By Lisa Mascaro Las Vegas Sun ALL IN GOOD TIME The opening date for Yucca Mountain as a storage site has been changed many times: 1982: Congress passes the Nuclear Waste Policy Act establishing the development of two national repositories for nuclear waste. Scheduled opening 1998. 1987: In what became known as the “Screw Nevada” bill, Congress names Nevada’s Yucca Mountain as the only site to be studied and drops plans for interim storage elsewhere. 1989: The Energy Department moves the repository opening date to 2003. 1994: The Energy Department moves the repository opening date to 2010. 2000: The Senate falls one vote short of overriding President Bill Clinton’s veto of interim waste storage in Nevada. 2002: Congress passes the Yucca Mountain Development Resolution naming the site as the national repository. 2006: The Energy Department moves the repository opening date to 2017. New plans for interim storage are proposed. Slowly and quietly, a 20-year logjam on Yucca Mountain and nuclear energy is breaking. There have been no announcements or sudden movements, but the signs are clear. The nuclear energy industry is revving up with plans to build the first nuclear power plants in this country in three decades. The issue of nuclear waste disposal at Yucca Mountain is closely tied to that progress. Legislation pending in Congress would provide an alternative to creating a permanent waste repository at Yucca Mountain. If approved, the legislation will allow for creation of interim storage sites around the country, a step that would remove the handcuffs from an industry that has been barred from building new nuclear plants until the nation finds a way to store the waste. It is now stacked up at each of the nation's 104 nuclear plants. Yucca Mountain, now nearly 20 years behind schedule, is currently the only option as a storage site. The government has refused to create any alternative for fear it would slow development of Yucca. Now, however, lawmakers and others are recognizing that Yucca's delays could be indefinite, if not permanent. Constellation Energy and AREVA, a partnership established last year to build nuclear reactors, announced two weeks ago that they have placed orders for the heavy steel forgings necessary to build the first new nuclear power plant in the United States since the 1970s. At least 20 reactors are under discussion around the nation. But none can be built until the waste disposal issue is addressed. Many backers of the interim storage legislation, including Republican Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, insist that it is merely a way to let the energy industry move forward while Yucca is developed. In fact, separate legislation to get Yucca back on track is also pending before Congress. Domenici, the Senate's leading nuclear power advocate, also argues that the interim solution would give the Energy Department time to push ahead with research into a new form of waste reprocessing that could change the equations involved in storing the waste permanently. But not all supporters of the legislation agree with Domenici. If they did, you could expect to see much teeth gnashing from Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the army of Nevada elected officials opposed to developing Yucca. Instead, they are grinning like Cheshire cats. They think that interim storage sites might not be all that "interim." History is on their side. It shows that creating a site - any kind of site - to store nuclear waste is a big step. From there, it's but a short step for "interim" to evolve into "permanent." When interim storage was debated 20 years ago, opponents made their case by arguing what was known as the law of nuclear waste - wherever the waste lands, that's where it stays. You won't hear Nevada officials using that language, for fear of stirring up opposition. But what you do hear is an industry increasingly interested in alternatives. "There was an expectation in the '80s and '90s we were going to have a repository fairly soon," said Steven P. Kraft, senior director of used fuel management for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the main lobbying arm of the nuclear industry. "Now people are so frustrated about the lack of progress in a repository they're beginning to think about what kind of facilities we need to accept this material." Gov. Kenny Guinn summed up the state's view last week in an opinion piece in the Reno Gazette-Journal. The legislation "implicitly recognizes for the first time that the country is on the wrong track in its approach to dealing with spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste," he said. "Although the battle is not yet over," he wrote, "I am very encouraged by the new thinking and direction in Congress." Yucca Mountain researcher Allison Macfarlane now gives Yucca Mountain a 50-50 chance of ever opening. She believes the pending legislation is simply a way to address the reality - that waste has stacked up at power plants across the nation and is not likely to move from there any time soon. "This is the de facto interim solution," said Macfarlane, an associate professor of environmental science and policy at George Mason University in Washington, who co-wrote a book on Yucca Mountain this spring. "It could go either way with Yucca Mountain ¦ There's a good possibility it will fail." What a difference a generation makes. In 1987, most of the country outside of Nevada breathed a sigh of relief when Congress put Yucca Mountain on the short list to house the nation's waste. No one wanted the dump in their back yard. When Yucca missed its first opening deadline and waste kept piling up, President Bill Clinton vetoed a 2000 proposal led by Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert for temporary storage in Nevada. Now Yucca is uncertain, and interim storage plans would dump waste in many back yards. Any of the 31 states with nuclear reactors could be designated by the federal government as an interim site where waste could be stored for up to 25 years under the legislation. As a result, various governors have dashed off letters urging the Energy Department to move ahead with Yucca. At a House committee hearing last month, Republican Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois, the state with more nuclear waste than any other, put it bluntly: "That's the stupidest idea I ever heard of and we cannot go there." "Certainly, there's been a fair expression of concerns," said Charles Pray, a former Energy Department official in the Clinton administration who now serves as Maine's nuclear safety adviser. "It's taking us right back to the early 1980s when Congress directed the Department of Energy to find a national repository." For Domenici, it's all about the math. Even if Yucca Mountain gets up and running by 2017 as now planned, it will still take decades to move all of the waste now sitting at nuclear reactor sites nationwide - a point he reiterated in a letter Monday to one of the governors. Plus more waste is being generated each day - at a rate of 2,000 metric tons a year. Every day the waste sits, the government amasses enormous financial liability for not opening Yucca on time - or providing some other storage solution. Nuclear power companies nationwide have sued to recover the cost of continuing to store the waste near their plants, and the government is bracing for $7 billion in court-ordered payouts until Yucca opens. Domenici and the Bush administration envision a sweeping change in the way the nation treats its waste, with the waste making a midway stop rather than going directly into permanent storage. Instead, it would be recycled, converted back into fuel. That cycle could be repeated many times before it reaches a form so depleted that it cannot be recycled again. That final, spent waste would be much less toxic than existing leftovers. At that point, in the opinion of Domenici and the Bush administration, the stuff should go to Yucca. Skeptics in the scientific community say the idea is preposterous, as do environmentalists and others who seek to prevent construction of any more nuclear plants. The kind of recycling being advocated was shelved by this country nearly 30 years ago, the critics say. The science involved is unproven and the technology does not exit. To pump the billions of dollars into trying to develop the technology would be an enormous waste. But Bush promoted the new form of recycling earlier this year, and the Energy Department announced this month that it was soliciting ideas to begin the research. "There's always interest in these proposals," said Craig Nesbit, spokesman for Exelon Nuclear, the nation's largest nuclear energy company. "It's never a bad idea to look at all your options." Lisa Mascaro can be reached at (202) 662-7436 or at lisa.mascaro@lasvegassun.com. All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 26 KnoxNews: Employees on strike protest replacements By The Associated Press August 15, 2006 ERWIN, Tenn. — Union employees of Nuclear Fuel Services Inc. protested this week the arrival of replacement workers to fill in for the striking employees. Nearly 370 union workers walked out May 15 with the expiration of a four-year contract after rejecting a six-year contract proposal that would have changed workers' retirement and health insurance plans. An estimated 500 union workers and supporters tried to block buses and cars from the plant entrance Monday morning and accused the company of hiring "scabs." "We've had a super good turnout," said Roger Birchfield, president of the United Steelworkers Union, Local 9-677. "I do think that hopefully we've sent a message to the company that the best way to resolve this is to sit down at the negotiating table and not hire replacement workers." Tacks placed at one entrance flattened a tire on a sheriff's vehicle. Birchfield said union members were not responsible. Company spokesman Tony Treadway said the company was concerned for the safety of the plant and its employees. He said 10 replacement workers arrived at the plant Monday. Treadway said the company offered an immediate 5 percent pay raise and an average of nearly 4 percent per year over the life of the contract to striking employees. He said the company was serious about ending the strike and bringing the employees back to work. No arrests were made, but the company asked a judge to hold the union in contempt for violating the terms of a court order restricting picketers from barring entrances or coming within 100 feet of buses carrying employees. The union members moved back away from the entrance once Birchfield received a copy of the company's court petition. This is the first time in the company's nearly 50-year history that it has hired replacement workers. The privately held company supplies nuclear fuel to the U.S. Navy and to commercial nuclear reactors, including downblending weapons-grade uranium for use in Tennessee Valley Authority reactors. The judge ordered an Aug. 30 hearing in Unicoi County Circuit Court to determine if the union violated court orders. Copyright 2006, Associated Press. All rights ***************************************************************** 27 AP Wire: Energy Department to test Paducah plant's landfill for uranium 08/15/2006 | Associated Press PADUCAH, Ky. - The U.S. Department of Energy will test for radioactive materials at a landfill near the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The agency will conduct a one-time test of the liquids in Landfill U after a treatment plant handling leachate from the landfill begins operating sometime next year, Energy Department spokeswoman Megan Barnett said. The liquids will be tested before they are discharged into Little Bayou Creek. "Somebody ought to be looking to see if the treatment plant is able to do what it is supposed to do," said Tom FitzGerald, director of Kentucky Resources Council. The advocacy group petitioned for the tests in March, and an agreement was signed earlier this month with the Kentucky Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet. FitzGerald said he believes the results will show more filters are needed. Barnett said the landfill contains radioactive chemicals, but at safe levels. The Energy Department will test for more than 150 materials, including uranium, technetium-99, strontium-90, radium and thorium-230, according to Tony Hatton, assistant director of the Kentucky Division of Waste Management. "We certainly want to make sure what's coming out of the landfill is properly managed and handled before it goes out into the environment," Hatton said. The refuse comes from a cleanup at the Paducah plant, which is contaminated after more than 50 years of operation. Radioactive material and other chemicals have been found in soil, plants, animals and groundwater in and around the complex. The federal government's cleanup may take two decades and billions of dollars. Some radioactive soil and scrap metal may have been placed in the landfill, said Mark Donham, of Brookport, Ill., an environmental activist who has challenged the Energy Department on numerous contamination issues over the years. FitzGerald's petition was filed on behalf of Donham and Ronald Lamb, a plant neighbor. The federal-state agreement on testing is important, Donham said, "because overall it tells agencies they're being watched, and it's going to make them a little more careful about what they do." Lamb, whose groundwater was contaminated and who also has questioned federal cleanup efforts, said the latest agreement is only a small step. "I'm not sure we'll get the results," he said, chuckling. "Their (the Energy Department's) results are always at acceptable levels." Information from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com ***************************************************************** 28 reviewjournal.com: Letter: DOE has no legal authority to spend funds Aug. 15, 2006 By KEITH ROGERS
REVIEW-JOURNAL Nevada's Nuclear Projects Agency has fired another written volley at the Yucca Mountain Project. In a letter last week to the Department of Energy, the agency said the DOE doesn't have legal authority to spend $100 million on roads, power lines and buildings at the planned nuclear waste site let alone use the state's water to do it. "It cannot be presumed that the construction and operation of a repository at Yucca Mountain will ever occur," agency Executive Director Bob Loux wrote in the Aug. 8 letter, commenting on the impacts of upgrading the infrastructure at the site, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. "The proposed action contained in the EA (environmental assessment) is unnecessary, unjustified and lacks legal authority," Loux wrote in the letter to EA Document Manager Jane Summerson. Later, in a statement, Loux said the upgrade plan, which includes paving a 36-foot-wide road to the crest of the volcanic-rock ridge, amounts to "a road to nowhere." Yucca Mountain Project spokesman Allen Benson offered no comment on the state's letter. Loux noted that the court only allows the DOE to use less than 10 acre-feet of water per year for minimal site maintenance and other needs such as safety, sanitation and drinking water for employees and visitors. The court, he wrote, "does not allow for hundreds of acre-feet of annual water use necessary to support the new construction activities." The plan calls for construction of up to 33 miles of new and replacement roads, more than 20 miles of power lines, and a central operations area with six buildings to replace existing facilities that in some cases have exceeded their operational life, according to the 70-page draft document. The buildings include a 43,000-square-foot field operations center for offices, training, computer operations and emergency facilities; a 10,000-square-foot station for fire and medical support; and a 43,000-square-foot craft shop for maintenance and repair operations. None of the work is directly related to the planned repository, nor is the work being done to construct concrete pads for storing nuclear waste above ground before it is entombed inside the mountain. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2006 ***************************************************************** 29 Courier-Journal: Uranium plant's landfill will be tested for safety courier-journal.com > Local News > Tuesday, August 15, 2006 Screening to check for 150 materials By James R. Carroll jcarroll@courier-journal.com A landfill handling waste from the Paducah uranium enrichment plant will be tested for uranium and other radioactive materials to be sure that treatment at the site is shielding the public and the environment. The U.S. Department of Energy will test for more than 150 materials at a landfill near the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The agreement was signed earlier this month with the Kentucky Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet. Tom FitzGerald, director of the Kentucky Resources Council, an advocacy group that petitioned for the tests in March, said he believes the results will show more filters are needed. "Somebody ought to be looking to see if the treatment plant is able to do what it is supposed to do," FitzGerald said. The refuse comes from a cleanup at the Paducah plant, which is contaminated after more than 50 years of operation. Radioactive material and other chemicals have been found in soil, plants, animals and groundwater in and around the complex. The federal government's cleanup may take two decades and billions of dollars. Under the pact with the state, the Energy Department will test water discharged into Little Bayou Creek from a treatment plant handling leachate from Landfill U, off Ogden Landing Road in Paducah. Leachate is the liquid that seeps through a landfill and is pumped through pipes to a treatment plant. In addition to uranium, other radioactive substances to be tested for include technetium-99, strontium-90, radium, and thorium-230, according to Tony Hatton, assistant director of the Kentucky Division of Waste Management. "We certainly want to make sure what's coming out of the landfill is properly managed and handled before it goes out into the environment," Hatton said. The Energy Department will conduct a one-time test of the liquids in Landfill U after the treatment plant begins operating sometime next year, Energy Department spokeswoman Megan Barnett said. The liquids will be tested before they are discharged into the creek. Barnett said the landfill contains radioactive chemicals, but at safe levels. Some radioactive soil and scrap metal may have been placed in the landfill, said Mark Donham, of Brookport, Ill., an environmental activist who has challenged the Energy Department on numerous contamination issues over the years. FitzGerald's petition was filed on behalf of Donham and Ronald Lamb, a plant neighbor. The federal-state agreement on testing is important, Donham said, "because overall it tells agencies they're being watched, and it's going to make them a little more careful about what they do." Lamb, whose groundwater was contaminated and who also has questioned federal cleanup efforts, said the latest agreement is only a small step. "I'm not sure we'll get the results," he said, chuckling. "Their (the Energy Department's) results are always at acceptable levels." Reporter James R. Carroll can be reached at (202) 906-8141. Copyright 2005 The Courier-Journal. ***************************************************************** 30 Knox News: TVA watching rising temperatures in rivers By The Associated Press August 15, 2006 CHATTANOOGA — Summertime discharges of water from Tennessee Valley Authority reactors have not exceeded the environmental temperature limit, but TVA executives and regulators say they are paying close attention. "That worries us," TVA President Tom Kilgore said. In Europe, a July heat wave and drought prompted utility companies in France, Spain and Germany to take some nuclear plants offline and reduce operations at others. Other nuclear plants in Western Europe sought exemptions from regulations to discharge overheated water. The TVA nuclear plants use water pumped from the river to cool machinery. The water never touches anything radioactive. On cool days the water can be discharged directly to the river. On hot days, the water is routed through cooling towers, where it is released as steam or circulated until it can be discharged without harming temperature-sensitive aquatic life. State regulators forbid TVA from releasing water warmer than 86.9 degrees, according to Tisha Calabrese-Benton, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. Calabrese-Benton said state officials sometimes increase river monitoring in hot weather and work closely with TVA. If utility engineers see they can't bring the temperature to 86.9 degrees with normal methods, they must slow or stop the plant. "Overall, TVA has been very responsible in managing these facilities' thermal loads," she said. "There have been a few occasions over the years where TVA has bumped or even gone over the temperature limits at the facilities. In those cases, TVA is required by permit to consult the department and does so." Kilgore said TVA hasn't had much trouble cooling the water. "We've had very little effect on our nuclear units — maybe 10 megawatts (enough to power 585 homes). In Chattanooga, 20 of July's 31 days registered highs of 90 or above, and a spokesman with the National Weather Service in Morristown, Tenn., said 12 days in the first two weeks of August also had highs above 90. Nationally, the heat wave has killed more than 200 people and made this the hottest July in 70 years and the second-hottest on record, according to climate researchers. TVA spokesman Gil Francis said utility engineers occasionally time release water from a colder reservoir to coincide with a high power demand. One summer TVA workers made a release from Norris Reservoir, with water temperatures in the 50s, to avoid a power reduction downstream. Kilgore said a new reactor that TVA hopes to start in the next several years at Watts Bar will not release water used for cooling equipment. TVA, the nation's largest public utility, was forced several weeks ago to interrupt service to about 70 large industrial customers to prevent brownouts and set an all-time record of 32,037 megawatts on July 18. The self-financing government corporation provides electricity to 158 distributors serving 8.6 million consumers in Tennessee and parts of Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. © 2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************