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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 [NYTr] There IS NO "Iran Crisis" Say Experts
2 [NYTr] Iran Willing to Discuss Ending Nuclear Enrichment
3 IRNA: Majlis urges ministry to follow up Iran's case at UN
4 Xinhua: Iran willing to discuss suspension of nuclear enrichment - F
5 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Rafsanjani: N-research continues
6 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI places no value on UN resolution
7 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Iran not to withdraw from NPT
8 IRNA: EC chief: Tehran to pursue peaceful nuclear research
9 AFP: US brushes aside Iranian comment on possible nuclear negotiatio
10 AFP: Iran ready to discuss suspending nuclear enrichment - FM
11 UPI: Iran ready for nuclear talks
12 IRNA: Iran will not give up full nuclear fuel cycle - Ahmadinejad -
13 UPI: Iran reiterates: No enrichment suspension
14 IRNA: Source rejects authenticity of news on enrichment suspension t
15 IRNA: FM: Iran attaches no value to UNSC nuclear resolution
16 UPI: Seoul rules out summit with Japan
17 US: SF Chronicle: Bush isn't making us any safer
18 BBC NEWS: Howard rejects emissions targets
NUCLEAR REACTORS
19 US: [NukeNet] Southern Energy & Environment Expo-- 10 days away!
20 US: NRC: NRC to Conduct Media Workshop on Sept. 28th in Southbridge,
21 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear clean-up costs likely to soar beyond
22 US: Fredericksburg.com: Lake Anna plan draws pros, cons
23 BBC NEWS: Output concerns hit nuclear firm
24 US: Tennessean: TVA chief: Discharge temperatures within limits -
25 US: Scientific American: The Nuclear Option
26 US: JS Online: Tritium in water under nuclear plant
27 AFP: Indian premier to try to clear air on nuclear deal in parliamen
28 SNA: Fuel-Moving Crane Breaks in Bulgaria's Nuke
29 The Australian: US backs Howard's nuclear vision
NUCLEAR SECURITY
NUCLEAR SAFETY
30 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes: Call fo
31 US: Morris Daily Herald: Tests: Tritium in wells very low
32 US: Guardian Unlimited: Rand: Port Blast Would Be Devastating
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
33 US: AP Wire: State, DOE working on nuke waste removal agreement
34 US: NE StatePaper.com: NPPD Cost Setting Up Nuclear Storage - $45 Mi
35 BBC NEWS: Beach particles talks break down
36 US: Shreveport Times: Explosive moments dot ammo site's history
37 US: Washington Post: Northern Nevadans Don't Want to Gamble With The
38 The Spectrum: Yucca site will set red alert
39 AU ABC: WA warns Federal Govt could put nuclear waste in Perth.
40 US: Times-Mail: Quarry owner says explosives tests were safe;
PEACE
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
41 KnoxNews: If ORNL plans proceeds, they'll leave the light on
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 [NYTr] There IS NO "Iran Crisis" Say Experts
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2006 15:28:57 -0500 (CDT)
X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu
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Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Los Angeles Times via Truthout - Aug 16, 2006
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081606K.shtml
Group Says Iran Is "Not a Crisis"
Former generals and officials seek to prevent an attack on suspected
nuclear sites and to overhaul policies toward Tehran and Baghdad.
By Peter Spiegel
The Los Angeles Times
Washington - Seeking to counter the White House's depiction of its
Middle East policies as crucial to the prevention of terrorist attacks
at home, 21 former generals, diplomats and national security officials
will release an open letter tomorrow arguing that the administration's
"hard line" has actually undermined U.S. security.
The letter comes as President Bush has made a series of appearances
and statements, including a visit Tuesday to the National
Counterterrorism Center in McLean, Va., seeking to promote the
administration's record on security issues in advance of November's
midterm congressional elections.
The rhetoric has increased since last week's Democratic primary in
Connecticut, in which antiwar political newcomer Ned Lamont defeated
three-term Sen. Joe Lieberman to become the party's Senate candidate - a
victory that senior administration officials are describing as a sign
that Democrats are embracing their party's extreme left.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Robert G. Gard, one of the letter's signers
and a former military assistant to Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara
in the 1960s, said the group was particularly concerned about
administration policies toward Iran, believing them to be a possible
prelude to a military attack on suspected nuclear sites in that country.
Gard said the signatories - who included retired Marine Corps Gen.
Joseph P. Hoar, head of U.S. Central Command from 1991 to 1994, and
Morton H. Halperin, a senior State Department and National Security
Council official during the Clinton administration - did not believe
that Iran had the wherewithal to build a nuclear weapon in the immediate
future and would push the administration to open negotiations with
Tehran on the issue.
"It's not a crisis," Gard said in a telephone interview. "To call
the Iranian situation a 'crisis' connotes you have to do something right
now, like bomb them."
He noted that Iran had sought to open negotiations with the U.S.
through Swiss intermediaries, efforts that the letter-signers said were
worth exploring as a means of defusing tensions in the region.
But Gard said the administration appeared to be going in the
opposite direction, adding that he was particularly concerned by recent
warnings from former Israeli military officials that a strike against
Iran may be needed to disable that country's nuclear program.
He noted that the Bush administration's unabashedly pro-Israel
stance during the recent conflict with Hezbollah was an indication that
the White House may accede to such assessments.
"This administration is clearly so beholden to Israel that it raises
the concern we might go along" with a military strike, Gard said.
Organizers of the letter said the White House's recent efforts to
belittle Democrats for seeking a timetable for withdrawing troops in
Iraq may lead the signers to include criticism of the administration's
Iraq policy.
The letter is expected to call for a complete overhaul of U.S.
policy toward both Iran and Iraq.
*
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2 [NYTr] Iran Willing to Discuss Ending Nuclear Enrichment
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2006 19:20:55 -0500 (CDT)
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Radio Havana Cuba
http://www.radiohc.cu
Iran Willing to Discuss End of Nuclear Program
Tehran, Aug 16 (RHC) (Xinhua) - Iran's foreign minister has raised the
possibility of discussing a suspension of its nuclear enrichment program.
On Wednesday Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki expressed his country's
willingness to discuss with the Europeans, suspension of nuclear enrichment
activities.
Mottaki made the announcement to reporters in Tehran. He said that even
though it is not logical for them to demand a suspension of Iran's nuclear
activities, it can still be discussed.
On June 6, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana presented Iran with a
package agreed on by the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain, and
Germany concerning the Iranian nuclear issue.
Mottaki noted that Tehran is willing to negotiate with the Europeans on all
questions and ambiguities contained in the six-nation package.
He said that the most effective way to solve the Iran nuclear issue would
be holding negotiations that would safeguard Iran's rights and remove
Europe's concerns over Iran's peaceful nuclear program. But the foreign
minister stressed that his country will never relinquish its inalienable
rights under any circumstances.
The United States has accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons
under a civilian front, a charge categorically denied by Tehran which says
that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
The UN Security Council on July 31 adopted a resolution urging Tehran to
"suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including
research and development" by Aug. 31 or face the prospect of sanctions.
Iran has rejected the resolution, saying it is without legal basis.
*
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3 IRNA: Majlis urges ministry to follow up Iran's case at UN
, Aug 16, IRNA
--
Majlis on Wednesday called on the Foreign Ministry to follow up
Tehran's case at the UN which demands estimating precisely the
scale of damage that Iraqi-imposed war had inflicted on Iran.
Rapporteur of the National Security and Foreign Policy
Commission of Majlis Kazem Jalali told Majlis open session that
the case had already been raised when Kamal Kharrazi was Iran's
foreign minister, who had in response put the extent of damage
at more than one thousand billion dollars directly and more than
one thousand billion dollars indirectly.
He said that documents related to the damage are available at
the UN.
He blamed the UN, especially the UN Security Council, double-
standards and unsuitable international conditions for Iran's
failure to receive reparations from Iraq.
He added that former Iraqi regime of Saddam had paid Kuwait for
the damages caused during the invasion of that country.
The Iranian lawmaker suggested formation of a committee,
comprising representatives from Foreign Ministry, Majlis
National Security and Foreign Policy Commission and the Supreme
National Security Council, to examine ways of receiving war
reparations from Iraq.
He said the committee can also follow up dredging Arvandroud
border river, swapping the remaining prisoners of war and
presence of the outlawed terrorist Mojahedeen Khalq Organization
in Iraq.
*****************************************************************
4 Xinhua: Iran willing to discuss suspension of nuclear enrichment - FM
www.chinaview.cn 2006-08-16 18:05:30
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Mottaki on Wednesday expressed the country's
willingness to discuss suspension of nuclear enrichment
activities with the Europeans.
"Iran is willing to discuss the suspension of our nuclear
activities with the European states," Mottaki told reporters
after meeting with his visiting Malian counterpart Mokhtar Ouan.
"Even it is not logical for them to demand a suspension of
our nuclear activities, we can still discuss it," Mottaki said.
On June 6, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana presented
Iran with a package agreed on by the United States, Russia,
China, France, Britain, and Germany concerning the Iranian
nuclear issue.
The proposal includes both incentives aimed at persuading
Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and possible sanctions if
Iran does not comply. Iran has promised to give an official
response by Aug.22.
"Iran have reiterated that it will be ready to negotiate
with the Europeans on all questions and ambiguities (of the
six-nation package)," Mottaki said.
The chief Iranian diplomat stressed that the most effective
way to solve the Iran nuclear issue would be holding
negotiations that would safeguard Iran's rights and remove
Europe's concerns over Iran's peaceful nuclear program.
But Iran would "never give up its inalienable rights under
any circumstances," Mottaki stressed.
The United States has accused Iran of secretly developing
nuclear weapons under a civilian front, a charge categorically
denied by Tehran which says that its nuclear program is for
peaceful purposes.
The UN Security Council on July 31 adopted a resolution
urging Tehran to "suspend all enrichment-related and
reprocessing activities, including research and development" by
Aug. 31 or face the prospect of sanctions.
Iran has rejected the resolution, saying it has no legal
basis.Enditem
*****************************************************************
5 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Rafsanjani: N-research continues
2006/08/16
Head of the System's interests council, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
on Wednesday stressed that Iran's peaceful nuclear research will
continue.
Rafsanjani told German ambassador to Tehran Baron Paul
Vonmaltzahn that talks on Iran's peaceful nuclear program should
not be limited to generalities, should be free from any publicity
and be held in a suitable atmosphere dominated by wisdom.
"to show peaceful nature of our nuclear programs, we have had all
types of cooperation, including allowing short notice and
intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency
but America and Western states failed to hide their ill
intentions and by their hasty moves, they threw many obstacles on
the way of access to mutual understanding," Hashemi said.
FK
Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center.
E-Mail: Webmaster@IRIBNEWS.ir
*****************************************************************
6 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI places no value on UN resolution
2006/08/16
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Wednesday said the
Islamic Republic of Iran sees no reason to suspend uranium
enrichment, but it is ready to convince the European party via
negotiations.
The Minister stated that IRI is willing to continue negotiations
on every issue mentioned in the Werstern package, adding that
the best way to remove ambiguity from Iran's peacefull nuclear
program is to continue negotiations.
"The United Nations resolution which demands Iran stop its
peacefull nuclear program has no legal basis and the Islamic
Republic of Iran places no value on it," said the senior
official, describing the resolution as politically-motivated.
Mottaki further said that the resolution was passed hastily as
if those who prevented UN resolution on establishing ceasefire
in Lebanon were quick to pass the resolution against Iran.
Mottaki asserted that the Islamic Republic of Iran will respond
to the offered package on the determined date.
FK
Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center.
*****************************************************************
7 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Iran not to withdraw from NPT
2006/08/16
Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali
Larijani said on Tuesday that Tehran was not contemplating
withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Speaking to reporters after meeting with visiting Deputy Chinese
Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai, Larijani said the NPT provided a
good framework for resolving nuclear problems in the
contemporary world although "it is not implemented well."
He said the fact that the treaty is not consistently implemented
does not necessarily mean that Iran would reject it.
"Iran is a responsible member of the international community and
respects international laws, rules and regulations just as it
insists on enforcement of its rights within these regulations,"
Iran's top nuclear negotiator said.
Asked to comment on the United Nations Security Council
resolution obliging Iran to suspend uranium enrichment by Aug 31
or face tougher action, Larijani said Tehran's nuclear policies
will continue unafffected.
"Iran's nuclear case is not so complicated that it cannot be
resolved by negotiations," Larijani said.
He added that Iranian authorities insist the nuclear dispute can
still be resolved through negotiations and on reasonable grounds
"although some certain states are pushing for other ways."
He cautioned that pressure and threats by the West of a possible
imposition of sanctions would not resolve the dispute but could
only push Tehran to review its nuclear policy.
"If they are intent on depriving the nation of its right, we
will review our policy," Larijani stressed.
mk
Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center.
*****************************************************************
8 IRNA: EC chief: Tehran to pursue peaceful nuclear research
Tehran, Aug 16, IRNA
Iran-Germany-Rafsanjani
Iran's former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani here Wednesday
stressed that Iran's peaceful nuclear research will continue.
Rafsanjani told German Ambassador to Tehran Baron Paul Von
Maltzahn that talks on Iran's peaceful nuclear program should not
be limited to generalities, should be free from any publicity and
be held in a suitable atmosphere dominated by wisdom.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Rafsanjani said to build confidence
Iran has even taken measures beyond its commitments.
"To show peaceful nature of our nuclear programs, we have had
all types of cooperation, including allowing short notice and
intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency
but due to the US intervention, western states failed to hide
their ill intentions and by their hasty moves, they threw many
obstacles on the way of access to mutual understanding."
The Expediency Council chairman said that one cannot block the
road to societies' scientific research and development through
force and intimidation.
Rafsanjani also condemned recent catastrophic events in Lebanon
and Palestine, calling massacre of innocent children and
civilians and demolition of infrastructures of the country as
"an ugly and bitter" phenomenon.
Failure of the Zionist regime's army and victory of Lebanese
Hizbollah added a shining part to Lebanon's history and sent a
clear messages to the region and the world, but unfortunately
European states have not shown proper reaction in that
connection, he added.
He hoped that European states will contribute to stabilization
of peace and stability in Lebanon based on public demand and
wishes and free from any foreign intervention.
He said Iran and Germany share abundant grounds for mutual
economic, political and cultural cooperation given their common
historical background.
Maltzahn for his part provided Rafsanjani with the first hand
information on his government's stances vis-a-vis Iran's nuclear
issue, the Middle East and bilateral ties.
On recent Lebanese crisis, Maltzahn said that Israel failed to
attain its objectives in invading Lebanon.
*****************************************************************
9 AFP: US brushes aside Iranian comment on possible nuclear negotiations -
Wed Aug 16, 11:28 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States brushed aside comments by
Iran" /> 's foreign minister indicating a new willingness by
Tehran to negotiate a way out of the standoff over Iran's suspect
nuclear program.
A State Department spokesman described the remarks by Foreign
Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as peripheral and called on Iran to
issue a formal reply to a UN Security Council resolution setting
an August 31 deadline for Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment
activities or face possible sanctions.
A day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected the
UN resolution aimed at keeping Iran from developing nuclear
weapons, the government's foreign minister on Wednesday said
Tehran was still open to negotiations on the issue.
"Even the proposal to suspend enrichment, which we regard as
illogical, can be discussed in negotiations," Manouchehr Mottaki
told a press conference in the Iranian capital.
Mottaki provided few details about his readiness to discuss
suspension of Iran's sensitive nuclear enrichment work, a
concession that had been categorically rejected by senior
officials in the past.
The State Department spokesman noted the range of "different
messages" that have been coming out of Iran over the past month.
"We're not looking for comments on the periphery, we're looking
for an official response from the Iranians to the UNSC
resolution," said the spokesman, Gonzalo Gallegos, referring to
the UN Security Council.
The council adopted its resolution requiring Iran to suspend all
activities related to uranium enrichment on July 31.
Iran has also promised to respond by next Tuesday to a package
of incentives offered by the five permanent UN Security Council
members plus Germany in return for suspending enrichment.
Iran, a major oil exporter, insists its program is limited to
creating a nuclear power capacity.
In his speech on Tuesday, President Ahmadinejad appeared to
reject the UN resolution outright.
"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," he said.
But Middle East analysts had expected Tehran to ease away from
its hard line before the August 31 deadline, a process that
Mottaki looks to have begun.
"The Iranians are remarkably skilled at getting to a decision
point and then seeing if they can comply 20 percent, or 30
percent," said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program
at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in
Washington.
Despite repeated US warnings that they will seek swift sanctions
against Iran if it misses the end-of-month deadline despite
likely opposition to the move from Russia and China, Alterman
said Washington and its allies were unlikely to spark a new
crisis at a time of widespread conflict in the Middle East.
"I don't think the world is ready to take the Iranians to the
mat at the end of August over this," he said.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
10 AFP: Iran ready to discuss suspending nuclear enrichment - FM
by Aresu Eqbali Wed Aug 16, 8:42 AM ET
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran" /> Iran's foreign minister has said his
country is ready to discuss suspension of its sensitive nuclear
enrichment work, a point categorically rejected by senior
officials in the past.
"Even the proposal to suspend enrichment, which we regard as
illogical, can be discussed in negotiations," Manouchehr Mottaki
told a press conference Wednesday.
The minister did not elaborate on just what Iran might be
prepared to discuss.
The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution requiring Iran
to suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment by
August 31 or risk possible sanctions.
The five UN Security Council members, plus Germany, expect
Tehran's response on August 22 to a package of incentives in
return for suspending enrichment.
Mottaki said any negotiations should "guarantee obtaining the
Iranian people's rights as well as clearing up any questions,
ambiguities and concerns regarding the Islamic republic's
peaceful nuclear activites."
"We will not back down on our legitimate rights under any
conditions," he vowed.
Iran has repeatedly insisted its nuclear programme is for civil
purposes only despite Western concerns that it may be cover for
an attempt to develop the bomb.
Mottaki described the UN resolution as "political" and "of no
value for Iran."
Since the UN Security Council's resolution on July 31, Iran has
repeatedly stressed that it will not accept suspending
enrichment as a pre-condition for talks on the incentive
package.
As recently as Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinjad
rejected the resolution by saying: "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."
But in the event Iran sticks to its current position and defies
the resolution, the country may have to deal with the
consequence of sanctions.
The Islamic republic for its part has said it is ready for the
challenge, said Deputy Foreign Minister Alireza Sheikh-Attar.
"The government has considered necessary measures to confront
any sanction. Under the worst conditions, we have the capability
to face threats and find foreign and domestic alternatives," the
official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
"Playing games with Iran's economy by creating restrictions will
be very costly for the West," he warned, alluding to probable
economic shocks. "They will lose Iran's market for Western
goods. Besides Iran is OPEC" /> OPEC's second oil producer."
Washington has said it will seek swift economic and political
sanctions against Iran, either in tandem with other states via
the United Nations" /> United Nationsor 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.
Russia and China, however, have extensive relations with Tehran
and are expected to argue in favor of further negotiations.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
11 UPI: Iran ready for nuclear talks
United Press International - NewsTrack -
8/16/2006 8:31:00 AM -0400
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr
Mottaki announced Wednesday the country is prepared to discuss
its controversial nuclear program and uranium enrichment.
At a Tehran news conference, Mottaki said the package of
incentives offered by six world powers in exchange for a
cessation of enrichment had "no logic," and said Iran would
"never renounce its inalienable rights under whatever
circumstances."
With a deadline for responding by next Tuesday approaching,
Mottaki said the Islamic republic's position hasn't
significantly changed, the Iranian IRNA news agency said.
"Suspension (of enrichment) is among the main conditions
attached to the package of incentives. We see no reason for
suspension, but will decide on it in talks," he said.
Iran claims its atomic program is solely for the production of
electricity, but the five permanent U.N. Security Council
members -- Britain, France, the United States, China and Russia
-- plus Germany are concerned it will lead to the development of
nuclear weapons.
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© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
*****************************************************************
12 IRNA: Iran will not give up full nuclear fuel cycle - Ahmadinejad -
Bileh Savar, Ardebil prov, Aug 16, IRNA
Iran-Nuclear-Fuel
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed here on Wednesday
that the Islamic Republic will not give up its right to full
nuclear fuel cycle.
Speaking at a public gathering in this northwestern city, he
said those who think they can deprive Iran of its right to
peaceful nuclear technology are on the wrong track.
"I declare to the world that Iran is able to achieve further
breakthroughs given the efforts and determination of its people
and youth," he said, stressing the right of Iran to acquire
nuclear know-how.
President Ahmadinejad also referred to efforts of his cabinet
and national determination in creating employment and curbing
unemployment.
"The government has mobilized all its capabilities to remove
unemployment," he said, calling on Majlis and the Judiciary to
help create more jobs for Iranian youth.
*****************************************************************
13 UPI: Iran reiterates: No enrichment suspension
United Press International - Intl. Intelligence -
8/16/2006 7:51:00 AM -0400
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has
confirmed that Iran will not give up the nuclear fuel cycle in
response to international requests it stop enriching uranium.
Ahmadinejad was quoted by Iranian news agency IRNA as saying
Wednesday "those who believe that by taking stances and making
certain declarations can deprive us from peaceful nuclear
technology, they are utterly wrong."
"Using nuclear energy is a firm right for Iran and our people
will keep that right," he added.
In an obvious reference to the United States and Europe,
Ahmadinejad said, "those who are thousands of kilometers away on
the other side of the globe and who are conspiring to obstruct
Iran's development, should know that the people who succeeded in
possessing nuclear energy with the efforts of its own young
brains is also capable of rising to the highest summits of
development and construction."
Ahmadinejad's comment constituted a further and firmer rejection
of a Security Council decision passed July 31 calling on Tehran
to stop enriching uranium by the end of August or face economic
and diplomatic sanctions.
The five permanent Security Council members -- the United
States, France, Britain, Russia and China -- and Germany offered
Iran a package of economic and trade incentives as well as
security guarantees in return for suspending uranium enrichment.
But Tehran delayed response until August, further delaying the
deadline set by the 5+1 countries.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
*****************************************************************
14 IRNA: Source rejects authenticity of news on enrichment suspension talks -
Tehran, Aug 16, IRNA
Iran-Nuclear-Mottaki
An informed source at Iran's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday
dismissed as 'inaccurate' a report in sections of the media
which quoted Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying Iran
is ready to hold talks on suspension of enrichment.
"Mottaki had instead said that we see no logic in suspension;
and suspension of enrichment is not acceptable by Iran," said
the source in an interview with IRNA on Wednesday.
The source further quoted Mottaki as saying that the Islamic
Republic of Iran is ready to prove in talks with foreign parties
that the suspension of enrichment is bound to no logic.
*****************************************************************
15 IRNA: FM: Iran attaches no value to UNSC nuclear resolution
, Aug 16, IRNA
--
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Wednesday that the
resolution issued by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
on Iran's nuclear activities is illegal, political and therefore
of no value to Iranians.
He made the remark in response to a question on the resolution
on Iran's nuclear issue which was raised by a reporter after his
meeting with Malian Foreign Minister Mokhtar Ouan.
Mottaki noted that the United Nations should also be answerable
to its abstention of taking action and thus endangering the
global peace and security in case of Israel's war on Lebanon as
well as its illegal and political issuance of an unfair
resolution against Iran.
"The 33-day silence of the UNSC on Lebanon due to the influence
of the big powers having a say in the United Nations Security
Council has left a shameful spot on the record of its
performance.
"The UNSC resolution against Iran was issued 21 days before the
deadline for submission of Iran's response to Europe's proposal,
while the one on Lebanon was issued 21 days after Israel's
attack on Lebanon," he added.
Mottaki raised the question as to, "Why the UNSC issued a hasty
resolution on Iran's nuclear issue, but took time and made a
delay to issue the one about the Zionist regime's aggression on
Lebanon.
"The Iranian nation has its own principled approach to the
issue and will not withdraw from its inalienable right to use
nuclear energy for peaceful purposes under any condition.
"By issuing such a resolution against Iran, the UNSC is
responsible for the loss of our trust in it," he added.
*****************************************************************
16 UPI: Seoul rules out summit with Japan
United Press International - Intl. Intelligence -
8/16/2006 6:52:00 AM -0400
SEOUL, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- South Korea will not hold a summit with
Japan until its leader pledges not to visit a controversial war
shrine in Tokyo, a Seoul official said Wednesday.
"Whoever becomes Japan's next prime minister, our position is
that (they) show with actions Japan's efforts to win trust from
the international community," Senior Secretary for Unification,
Foreign Affairs and National Security Seo Joo-seok said in a
local radio program.
Seo, referring to visits by Japanese leaders to the Yasukuni
Shrine that honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including a
dozen war criminals from World War II, said: "The position also
goes to (Japanese leaders') visit to the Yasukuni Shrine."
South Korea suffered Japan's harsh colonial rule from 1910 to
1945 and considers the Japanese leaders' war shrine visits as a
move to revive Japan's militarism.
South Korea was further angered Tuesday when Japanese Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid his respects at the shrine on
the anniversary of the end of World War II.
The Foreign Ministry issued a strongly-worded statement against
Koizumi's war shrine visit and summoned the Japanese ambassador
to Seoul in protest.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has already suspended summit
talks with Koizumi since their last meeting on the sidelines of
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in South Korea in
November last year in response to Koizumi's visits to the
Yasukuni Shrine.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, who is expected to
succeed Koizumi in September, visited the shrine in April and
has not promised to stop such visits if he is elected.
South Korea and Japan are Washington's key Asian allies and
their close cooperation is crucial in coping with North Korea's
nuclear and missile threats.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
17 SF Chronicle: Bush isn't making us any safer
[San Francisco Chronicle]
Robert Scheer
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
GOVERNMENT-INDUCED hysteria thrives on public ignorance, which
is why President Bush is so confident of turning the British
bomb plot to his partisan purposes. Otherwise, how could he dare
claim that his policies have made the nation safer?
Consider, first off, that the attack envisioned -- smuggling
liquid-explosive ingredients onto a score of passenger planes --
was outlined in chapter five of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission
Report as a plot first exposed a decade ago. The originator of
that planned hijacking of 12 U.S.-bound planes, Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, was also the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks. According to U.S. prosecutors, his nephew, convicted
terrorist Ramzi Yousef, even managed to explode such a
liquid-based bomb on a Manila-Tokyo flight, killing one
passenger, as part of a plot code named "Bojinka."
Because checking or banning fluids was not a focus of this
administration's post-Sept. 11 airport security measures, this
"coincidence" would suggest either enormous negligence on the
part of those charged with protecting us or a ludicrous
over-reaction this past week. Knowing as we did of Mohammed's
earlier plan, why wasn't the Department of Homeland Security
requiring fliers to dump their bottles of hairspray and mother's
milk before?
Unlike Yousef, who was arrested in Pakistan in 1995, Mohammed
remained at large until two years after Sept. 11 to continue
pushing the Bojinka concept to any terrorist bankroller who
would listen. It has been known for at least two years since his
capture that he spoke in detail about the scheme with Osama bin
Laden. (The two had met much earlier during their days as what
President Ronald Reagan called "freedom fighters" in the crusade
against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.)
After the first World Trade Center bombings in 1993 and the
exposure of the Bojinka plot, Mohammed "fled to Pakistan to
avoid capture by the U.S authorities" in 1996, according to the
9/11 Commission -- where he managed to find haven for nearly a
decade. In fact, Pakistan, as well as Saudi Arabia, is so
nefariously intertwined with the grim story of al Qaeda and its
affiliates that it boggles the mind how after Sept. 11 the Bush
administration only embraced these two corrupt dictatorships all
the harder while instead sinking us into a predictable (and
predicted) quagmire in Iraq, which had no effective role in
international terrorism.
Rather than admit this incalculable mistake and move forward,
the president has instead continued stubbornly and against all
evidence to claim smashing up Iraq was somehow a fitting
response to the Sept. 11 nightmare. This past week, chief
hatchet man Dick Cheney even had the outrageous gall to argue
that anti-Iraq war U.S. Senate candidate Ned Lamont's Democratic
primary victory over pro-Iraq war Sen. Joseph Lieberman in
Connecticut would embolden "al Qaeda types."
Abetted by apologists in both parties, the Bush administration
has instead fabricated the dangerous notion that anybody who
opposes U.S. or Israeli interests in the region -- be they
secular or religious, Arab or Persian, Sunni or Shiite -- is by
definition a terrorist, who cannot be negotiated with or
tolerated. So far, however, this approach has been disastrous
for the United States and Israel, with costly defeats in both
Iraq and Lebanon that will reverberate in the region for
decades, directly strengthening the hand of extremists of all
stripes.
With Saddam Hussein three years gone, yet Iraq still a disaster,
Bush is now emphasizing the boogeyman of "Islamo-fascism." This
concept completely ignores the fact that U.S. enemies such as
Syria's Baathist regime and many Sunni insurgents in Iraq are
secular, while religious fanatics on both sides of the
Sunni-Shiite split are slaughtering each other in Baghdad every
day in an insane sectarian conflict for control of what's left
of Iraq.
Nor are these divides anything new in a post-colonial region
where Arab (and Persian) nationalism and Islamic fanaticism have
for decades competed for adherents in a region still bullied by
the West and suffering from an inferiority complex. According to
the 9/11 Commission, Sept. 11 lead hijacker Mohamed Atta hated
the neo-fascist Iraqi dictator Hussein as "an American stooge
set up to give Washington an excuse to intervene in the Middle
East."
Never mind such historical prattle -- public ignorance is bliss
for Bush, who for so long has assumed that being folksy and
macho can make up for his constant blunders based on faulty
reasoning. Maybe, however, as both his dismal poll numbers and
pseudo-Republican Lieberman's historic loss in Connecticut show,
Americans are starting to wise up and think for themselves.
Page B - 9
The San Francisco Chronicle]
*****************************************************************
18 BBC NEWS: Howard rejects emissions targets
Last Updated: Wednesday, 16 August 2006, 08:27 GMT 09:27
[Australian Prime Minister John Howard]
The Howard government has not signed the Kyoto protocol
The Australian Prime Minister John Howard has hit out at a plan
backed by state leaders to introduce caps on greenhouse gas
emissions.
State leaders have drafted a "cap and trade" plan which sets
emissions targets for three polluting gases.
The plan would introduce fines for companies exceeding targets
but allow low polluters to trade emissions credits for money.
Mr Howard said the plan would harm the economy and lead to higher
fuel prices.
Australia is one of the few industrialised countries that has not
signed the Kyoto protocol, which aims to tackle global warming
through a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
The Howard government has repeatedly said that signing the deal
would harm the economy.
At the moment, the majority of Australia's energy comes from coal
and Australia is also the world's largest coal exporter.
'Leadership failure'
But state and territory leaders - all members of the opposition
Labor party - have come up with their own initiative to tackle
climate change.
South Australian Premier Mike Rann told Australian radio that
state leaders acted because of a "failure of national leadership"
on the issue.
The plan, released on Wednesday as a discussion paper, sets up a
national framework to cut emissions by 60% by the middle of the
century through the introduction of reduction targets for carbon
dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions.
But Mr Howard told parliament the plan would lead to job losses
and higher petrol, gas and electricity prices.
"What the Labor Party wants is for a resource rich country such
as Australia to agree to an arrangement that would result in the
export of investment and jobs from this country," he said.
[The Lucas Heights nuclear reactor near Sydney] Australia is
looking at developing a nuclear power industry
The plan is not binding on state governments.
Mr Howard's government has been looking at new ways of producing
energy and in June announced a study into whether the country
should develop nuclear power.
In January, the meteorology bureau found that 2005 had been
Australia's hottest year on record, prompting renewed fears of
global warming.
*****************************************************************
19 [NukeNet] Southern Energy & Environment Expo-- 10 days away!
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2006 20:40:44 -0700
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
If I were selling anything, this would be the "shameless commerce
division" -- Come to the Southern Energy and Environment Expo!
August 25, 26, 27 -- NC Agricultural Center -- Just 10 miles
South of Asheville, NC.
http://www.seeexpo.com/ Second only to
the Wisconsin renewable energy fair in size and scope...
In fact, I have some free passes to offer to anyone who would
like to come do tabling at the NIRS no-new-nukes info booth! We
need help all three days - though Sunday is when we need it most.
There is camping, motels (sorry I can't offer to pay!) and
possibly free home accomodations for anyone who wants to come be
part of the action. There will be
workshops and presentations througout the three days -- see:
http://www.seeexpo.com/schedule.htm
--so plan to come for more time than your tabling time!
The NIRS booth will be part of a three-booth extravaganza -- with
Physicians for Social Responsibility of Western North Carolina,
and Common Sense at the Nuclear Crossroads.
For more info or to sign-up to help with the NIRS booth, drop me
a line -- hope to see you there!
Mary Olson Director of the Southeast Office
Nuclear Information & Resource Service Southeast Office PO Box
7586 Asheville, NC 28802 828-675-1792
nirs@main.nc.us www.nirs.org
NOTE NEW NATIONAL OFFICE ADDRESS AND PHONE: Nuclear Information &
Resource Service (NIRS) / World Information Service on Energy
(WISE) 6930 Carroll Ave, Suite 340, Takoma Park, MD 20912
301-270-NIRS fax 301-270-4291
nirsnet@nirs.org
NIRS affiliated with WISE in 2000 -- 12 offices on 5 continents
serving grassroots activists
_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings or access the archives at:
http://mail.energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net
*****************************************************************
20 NRC: NRC to Conduct Media Workshop on Sept. 28th in Southbridge, Mass.
News Release - Region I - 2006-046 -
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs,
Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406
www.nrc.gov
No. I-06-046 August 16, 2006 CONTACT:
Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331
E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a workshop on
Thursday, Sept. 28, in Southbridge, Mass., for journalists who
report on the nuclear industry. The location will be the
Southbridge Hotel & Conference Center.
NRC managers and staffers will brief reporters on topics that
include: the agencys Reactor Oversight Process; nuclear power
plant emergency planning and security; nuclear plant power
uprates; license renewal application reviews; spent nuclear fuel
storage; the decommissioning of reactors; the possibility of new
reactors being constructed; and the regulation of nuclear
materials.
All sessions will be on the record. There is no charge for
attending the workshop, but reporters must cover their own
transportation, food and lodging expenses. Rooms will be
available at a discount rate at the conference center for
workshop participants.
Those interested in attending should contact Neil Sheehan of the
NRCs Office of Public Affairs by Sept. 8 at (610) 337-5331 or
nas@nrc.gov, or Diane Screnci of the same office at (610)
337-5330 or dps@nrc.gov.
Last revised Wednesday, August 16, 2006
*****************************************************************
21 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear clean-up costs likely to soar beyond
£70bn, MPs warn
Mark Milner, industrial editor
Wednesday August 16, 2006 The Guardian
The escalating cost of cleaning up Britain's civil nuclear legacy
is expected to be significantly higher than the current estimate
of £70bn, according to a report out today.
The House of Commons trade and industry committee has expressed
concern about the rising cost of nuclear decommissioning in the
report and warned the government over any further changes to the
structure of the agencies involved in the industry.
The committee concluded that the final cost of decommissioning
was "still unclear", noting that the estimated public liability
had risen from £48bn in 2002, to £56bn in 2004 and to £70.2bn in
2006.
"Given the history of rapidly increasing estimates, the committee
thinks it likely that the overall costs of £70.2bn will rise
significantly, both as further investigative work is done at the
most difficult sites within Sellafield and Dounreay, and because
the nuclear industry appears to be reluctant to continue
reprocessing spent fuel while this remains more expensive than
buying new stocks of uranium."
The committee also expressed concern that the Nuclear
Decommissioning Authority, the body set up to oversee the
clean-up, will have to be funded increasingly by the taxpayer.
The authority was given a series of assets to fund its clean-up
work, including Britain's ageing fleet of Magnox reactors, and
the "trouble-prone" Thorp and Mox fuel reprocessing plants at
Sellafield. But the committee is worried the plants will not
generate enough cash.
The committee also believes the establishment of the NDA and
changes to the responsibilities and status of the UK Atomic
Energy Authority have caused "uncertainties and difficulties"
and warned against further restructuring. "Reorganisation is not
the best way to retain and attract skills or to give stability
and confidence to the wider public, including private sector
investors at a time when new build is being discussed," the
committee said.
"The safe and cost-effective decommissioning and clean-up of a
60-year legacy of civil nuclear operations will not be easy,"
committee chairman Peter Luff said. "We remain concerned about
the continuing uncertainty over the type and scale of waste in
the most problematic sites at Sellafield and Dounreay. We are
also sceptical about the ability of the NDA's assets to generate
as much income as the government appears to assume."
The committee backed the continued funding of the UKAEA's work
on nuclear fusion at its JET facility at Culham in Oxfordshire,
a far more environmentally friendly technology than conventional
nuclear energy. It argued that the incentives to overcome the
remaining difficulties were higher than ever.
"Nuclear fusion may or may not deliver its promise, but the
relatively small sums of money required to keep the UK fully
engaged in the possible development of commercially viable
fusion must be found," Mr Luff said. "Nothing in the
restructuring and the financing of the UKAEA must prevent or
inhibit the UK's full participation in what is, potentially, an
inherently safe and virtually unlimited source of power."
Useful link
Green party of England and Wales
Email your comments for publication to
politics.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
22 Fredericksburg.com: Lake Anna plan draws pros, cons
Free Lance-Star!]
Opponents cite environmental worries, say impact of construction
hasn't been examined.
By RUSTY DENNEN
Date published: 8/16/2006
About 200 people turned out last night to weigh in on Dominion
Power's revised plans to cool a possible third reactor at its
nuclear power station at North Anna.
The occasion was a public hearing by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission on changes Dominion made to a draft environmental
impact statement to switch from using water from Lake Anna to a
cooling-tower method to save water. The company also wants to
increase the power rating for a third reactor from 4,300 to 4,500
megawatts. The commission staff has concluded that the revisions
will not harm the environment.
The hearing, preceded by an informal information session, was
held at Louisa Middle School. Several dozen people signed up to
speak.
Melissa Kemp, with Public Citizen, an environmental group which
opposes the reactor plan, said Dominion's plan to use a closed
system of wet and dry cooling towers was inadequate, would
increase lake temperatures, and use more energy to operate than
the original plan.
Lisa Stiles-Shell, a spokeswoman for the North American Young
Generation in Nuclear, asked for show of hands of those in the
audience who supported Dominion's plans. More than half raised
their hands. The pro-nuclear group, many of whose members work
for Dominion, had about 75 members on hand.
Last night's session, and another public hearing scheduled for
tonight, have triggered a lively round of politicking by various
interest groups.
Dominion on Monday purchased full-page ads in several
newspapers, including The Free Lance-Star, addressing concerns
about the effects of a possible third reactor at the plant.
The main arguments have centered on plans to cool the reactor,
water use, and affects of a massive construction project should
another reactor be built.
In the ad, Dominion says a combination of wet and dry cooling
towers would use little lake water, and operate with low noise
and with little visible exhaust.
The company says it will work with planners to ease traffic on
Kentucky Springs Road, which leads to the plant, and that an
influx of construction workers would not cause overcrowding in
the school system.
Opponents of any new reactors at North Anna raised those and
other concerns again last night and at previous public hearings,
arguing that the impact of construction and operation have not
been adequately examined.
And, Friends of Lake Anna, a citizens' group formed last summer
to monitor the project, and Louisa County Supervisor Eric
Purcell have been firing off accusatory e-mails.
Last week the friends' group e-mailed 2,600 supporters with a
primer on Dominion's reactor plans.
The group has consistently said it is not a NIMBY--not in my
back yard--advocate, and not opposed to nuclear power per se.
Purcell took issue with that in an e-mail response, saying the
group is clearly anti-nuclear and is fighting a company that has
provided millions of dollars in tax revenue to the county.
The Friends of Lake Anna fired back, saying that Purcell was
mistaken on those counts and got his facts wrong on some other
issues.
With that backdrop, Dominion's application for an early site
permit is wending its way through the federal regulatory system.
The permit, good for up to 20 years, addresses site safety,
environmental protection and emergency response plans.
The NRC could make a decision on that permit by the end of next
year. If that is approved, Dominion would then apply for a
combined license to build and operate a new reactor.
The company has said it has no immediate plan to build any new
reactors, but wants that option for generating new electricity.
Dominion appears to be moving in that direction. It notified the
NRC last month that it intends to file an application for a
combined license next fall.
There are currently two reactors at North Anna. Unit 1 went
online in 1978, Unit 2 in 1980.
Tonight, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality will
hold a public hearing on whether Dominion's plans are consistent
with Virginia's Coastal Resources Management Plan.
That will also be held at Louisa Middle School, from 7 to 10
p.m., with an informational meeting beginning at 6 p.m.
To reach RUSTY DENNEN: + 540/374-5431 + Email:
rdennen@freelancestar.com
Date published: 8/16/2006
Copyright 2006, The Free Lance-Star Publishing Co. of
Fredericksburg, Va.
Fredericksburg.com
*****************************************************************
23 BBC NEWS: Output concerns hit nuclear firm
Wednesday, 16 August 2006, 17:01 GMT 18:01
[Sizewell B nuclear power station]
British Energy wants to make its output more reliable
British Energy has reported a huge rise in quarterly profits, but
its shares have dipped on concerns that it might miss its output
goal this year.
The nuclear power generator saw first quarter profits rise 85% to
£210m after supply shortages forced up electricity prices earlier
this year.
But the firm said it was worried about lost output from unplanned
stoppages.
As a result, its aim for annual output of 63 terawatt (TWh) hours
now looked "very challenging", it said.
Losses from unplanned stoppages rose to 3.4 TWh in the quarter
from 2.3 TWh for the same period last year.
This amounted to 20% of total generation output over the period.
British Energy shares ended Wednesday trading down 33.5 pence, or
4.5% to 718p.
Price boost
I am pleased with our financial results benefiting from strong
electricity prices... however, I am not pleased with the level of
unplanned losses
Bill Coley, British Energy chief executive
The firm pledged to focus on improving reliability at its plants,
which include eight nuclear stations in the UK.
The company was financially restructured in 2004 after facing
collapse, and relisted on the stock market in 2005.
Soaring demand for electricity over the winter and spring boosted
the firm, with achieved prices rising £11.20 per megawatt hour to
£35.90.
In the three months to the end of June, the firm's revenues rose
to £729m from £521m for the same period last year.
'Unpredictable'
"I am pleased with our financial results benefiting from strong
electricity prices," said chief executive Bill Coley.
"However, I am not pleased with the level of unplanned losses. We
are sharply focused on improving losses over the remainder of the
year."
One analyst said the profit increase was impressive but that this
had much to do with the rise in wholesale prices.
"What the results do remind investors of is the unpredictable
operational nature of nuclear power, unpredictability which sits
uneasily with equity investors particularly in the utility
sector," said Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown
stockbrokers.
*****************************************************************
24 Tennessean: TVA chief: Discharge temperatures within limits -
Nashville, Tennessee - Wednesday, 08/16/06 - Tennessean.com
Associated Press
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.
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 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).
TVA spokesman Gil Francis said utility engineers occasionally
time release water from a colder reservoir to coincide with a
high power demand. "
Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press,
www.timesfreepress.com.
Copyright © 2006, tennessean.com. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
25 Scientific American: The Nuclear Option
BLOG: SciAm Observations: A blog from the editors of
Opinions, arguments and analyses from the editors of Scientific
American
August 16, 2006
A couple of weeks ago, my colleague David Biello made a highly
critical of nuclear power. Now, in the September issue of the
magazine we have an article with a more positive outlook. and of
MIT present an analysis of how nuclear power generation might
triple, in the U.S. and globally, by 2050. The discussion draws
heavily on a 2003 MIT report that they co-chaired, .
Such a tripling would result in approximately a terawatt (a
million megawatts) of generation capacity and would avoid 0.8 to
1.8 billion tons of carbon emissions annually, depending on
whether the nuclear plants were displacing natural gas-burning
plants (0.8) or coal-burning plants (1.8). To put that in
perspective, at present 7 billion tons of carbon are poured into
the atmosphere every year, a figure that will double in 50 years
if emissions continue to grow at the pace of the past 30 years
(see the article in the same issue by Robert Socolow and Stephen
Pacala).
© 1996-2006 Scientific American, Inc. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
26 JS Online: Tritium in water under nuclear plant
Kewaunee owner, regulators say radioactive isotope doesn't pose
health threat
By THOMAS CONTENT
Posted: Aug. 15, 2006
The release of tritium underneath the Kewaunee nuclear plant
doesn't pose a health risk because the radioactive substance
hasn't been found in drinking water, federal nuclear regulators
said.
Photo/Gary Porter
Tritium, a radioactive isotope, was discovered in water beneath
the Kewaunee nuclear plant. The tritium is not thought to have
entered the drinking water supply, although the level discovered
in one test exceeds Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
What is Tritium?
Tritium is a radioactive isotope of the element hydrogen. It has
a half-life of 12.3 years.
What are tritium's properties?
Tritium is a hydrogen atom that has two neutrons in the nucleus,
in addition to its single proton, giving it an atomic weight
near 3. Although tritium can be a gas, its most common form is
in water because tritium reacts with oxygen to form water.
Where does tritium come from?
Tritium is produced naturally in the upper atmosphere. It is
also produced as a byproduct in nuclear reactors.
What is tritium used for?
Tritium's most important use is in the triggering mechanism in
thermonuclear weapons. Tritium is also produced commercially. It
is used in luminescent devices, such as exit signs in buildings,
aircraft dials, gauges and wristwatches.
How does tritium get into the environment?
Tritium occurs naturally in the environment in low
concentrations. Other sources of tritium include commercial
nuclear reactors and research reactors, and government weapons
production plants. Tritium may be released as steam or may leak
into the soil and groundwater.
How do people come in contact with tritium?
People are exposed to small amounts of tritium every day, since
it is widely dispersed in the environment and in the food chain.
How does tritium affect your health?
Exposure to tritium can increase the risk of developing cancer.
However, tritium emits very weak radiation and leaves the body
relatively quickly.
Source: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
By the Numbers
"About a fourth"
of U.S. nuclear plants have tritium on site
65
Nuclear plants nationwide
Quotable
If you were to drink a cup of water that contained the highest
level, that would be the same as the naturally occurring
radiation you would receive by eating one banana.
- Richard Zuercher,
spokesman for Dominion, on levels of tritium found in water
Tritium Leak
Graphic/Bob Veierstahler
The radioactive isotope of hydrogen was found in four
groundwater samples taken from narrow shafts underneath the
nuclear plant, located in the Kewaunee County Town of Carlton,
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Dominion Resources Inc.,
which owns Kewaunee, stressed that no unsafe levels of tritium
have been detected at monitoring wells near the plant or outside
the plant's boundary.
Kewaunee is one of 10 plants around the country where tritium
leaks have been found. The nuclear industry is stepping up
testing for tritium after a series of leaks at several plants.
Testing at Exelon Corp.'s Braidwood plant in Illinois detected
tritium in a nearby homeowner's well.
State and local authorities in Kewaunee and Manitowoc counties
were informed last week of the discovery, which Dominion
revealed on Friday.
Tritium is released naturally in the Earth's upper atmosphere.
It is also released as a byproduct of power production by
nuclear reactors. While it's a low-level source of radiation,
people who drink water that contains high levels of tritium are
at higher risk of developing cancer, and pregnant women drinking
tritium-tainted water are at higher risk of their babies
developing abnormalities, according to the Environmental
Protection Agency.
The EPA allows up to 20,000 picocuries per liter of tritium in
drinking water. In one of the four shafts measured beneath the
Kewaunee reactor basement, tritium was measured at 103,000
picocuries per liter, the NRC said.
"They've found a small amount of groundwater seeped into these
shafts, and when they collected and measured these samples last
week, they found three of them with relatively low levels of
tritium and one case that was above the EPA drinking water
level," said NRC spokesman Jan Strasma.
Dominion detected the tritium while conducting tests as part of
a voluntary program launched by the Nuclear Energy Institute, an
industry trade group. The tests were conducted in shafts that
are generally used to measure whether the plant's buildings have
settled.
"This is not a threat to anyone's health," said Richard
Zuercher, a spokesman for Dominion, stressing that the water in
which tritium was found is not drinking water.
"This is directly under the station," he said. "Right now we
have a team of individuals up there who are evaluating this,
trying to determine where the possible source of this tritium
might be."
Strasma said possible sources of the leak include the reactor's
spent fuel pool, a leaking underground pipe, or a spill of water
that drained into an area where the shafts are located.
Zuercher said there wouldn't be any health risk posed by the
amount of tritium found at Kewaunee.
"If you were to drink a cup of water that contained the highest
level, that would be the same as the naturally occurring
radiation you would receive by eating one banana," he said.
Nuclear opponent concerned
Bonnie Urfer of Nukewatch, a Luck, Wis.-based group that is
critical of nuclear power, said she thinks the concerns are
being minimized by both the energy company and the NRC.
"Groundwater is not stationary, it doesn't stay in one place,
and they still don't know where this leak is coming from," she
said. "They can't know at this point how it's going to affect
the environment or drinking water in the area."
Tests are conducted weekly of wells near the plant, and "we have
seen no tritium in any of those tests," said Amy Wergin, public
health nurse manager at the Manitowoc County Health Department.
More and more nuclear plants across the country are disclosing
findings about tritium as a result of an industrywide response
to leaks at several nuclear plants.
On Tuesday, Edison International, owner of the shuttered San
Onofre nuclear plant north of San Diego, told the NRC it had
detected tritium beneath the reactor.
Including Kewaunee and San Onofre, 10 nuclear plants have
announced tritium findings, with four leaks disclosed in the
past week, David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer with the Union of
Concerned Scientists, told Bloomberg News.
Southern Co. told regulators last week of tritium at its Hatch
site in Georgia, and Xcel Energy Inc. reported a low level of
the substance at the Prairie Island reactor in Minnesota on Aug.
8, said Lochbaum. Xcel, based in Minneapolis, serves western
Wisconsin through its Eau Claire utility.
Lochbaum said that, by some estimates, "about a fourth" of the
65 U.S. nuclear plant sites will find some level of tritium on
site.
"The final total is not in," he said. The reason for the
increase in tritium-leak reports is because "people are now
looking, and the reporting threshold is lower."
Urfer said the leak is a cause for concern, given Kewaunee's
location on the shore of Lake Michigan.
"They don't know how many of these reactors are leaking," Urfer
said. "For a reactor that's sitting on Lake Michigan, one of the
best freshwater supplies in the entire world, it should be a
serious issue."
The Point Beach nuclear plant, a few miles south of Kewaunee, is
planning to participate in the "groundwater reassessments"
taking place, said plant spokeswoman Sara Cassidy.
Both Kewaunee and Point Beach do regular testing and have been
in compliance with federal standards that permit tritium to be
released at low levels, officials said.
In 1975, Point Beach, which is owned by Milwaukee-based
Wisconsin Energy Corp., experienced a low-level radioactive
release, which included tritium. The area was cleaned up to
levels significantly below the EPA's drinking water limit.
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
From the Aug. 16, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel
, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
27 AFP: Indian premier to try to clear air on nuclear deal in parliament
Wed Aug 16, 8:17 AM ET
NEW DELHI (AFP) - India's prime minister will make a statement to
parliament to try to allay concerns about a controversial
civilian nuclear cooperation deal with the United States, a
spokesman said.
Manmohan Singh met scientific and national security advisers as
well as with the country's top atomic energy official Wednesday
in preparation for the statement Thursday, the spokesman said.
Singh is expected to try to allay concerns raised by top
scientists and his communist allies that the deal will
excessively curtail India's nuclear weapons program.
Eight nuclear scientists issued a joint statement Monday, saying
parliament must "insist on the ground rules for the nuclear
deal" that ensure the nuclear arsenal is not endangered.
Under the agreement India will open most of its civilian
reactors to international inspection but keep pre-selected
military nuclear facilities out of public scrutiny.
The cooperation deal must be approved by the US Senate after
passing the House of Representatives 359-68. Several
commentators as well as the communists believe the upper house
will attempt to increase restrictions on the Indian nuclear
weapons program.
The United States began withholding civilian nuclear know-how
from India in 1974 after it conducted its first nuclear test.
India tested nuclear weapons in 1974 and 1998 and, as a result,
is banned by the United States and other major powers from
buying fuel for atomic reactors and other related equipment.
The current deal was reached during a visit in March to New
Delhi by US President George W. Bush" /> President George W.
Bush.
Some US politicians have expressed doubts about extending
civilian nuclear technology to India, which has not signed the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, without first putting the most
stringent safeguards in place.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
28 SNA: Fuel-Moving Crane Breaks in Bulgaria's Nuke
Sofia News Agency
Politics: 16 August 2006, Wednesday.
A sixteen-ton crane has broken while transporting waste fuel in
Bulgaria's only Nuclear Power Plant in Kozloduy, the plant
reported.
The fuel and its container suffered no damages, and there have
been no registered fluctuations in the gamma-background in the
region.
Work on transporting the fuel has been ceased until the crane is
fixed. Engineers have already started repairing the machine.
Preliminary assessment places the event at level zero, according
to the International Nuclear Events Scale (INES), the plant
claims.
Bulgaria's Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA) has been notified of
the accident.
novinite.com
All Rights Reserved © Novinite Ltd., 2001-2006 - Copyright
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency -
www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news
provider in English that informs its readers about the latest
Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily
online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News
*****************************************************************
29 The Australian: US backs Howard's nuclear vision
Geoff Elliott, Washington correspondent August 17, 2006
THE Bush administration has indicated it will support Australia
developing a uranium enrichment industry, despite the White
House's policy to restrict new entrants to the world nuclear
club.
In response to John Howard's campaign to ensure the existing
nuclear powers do not lock Australia out of future nuclear
development, a senior US official has said "special rules" apply
to Australia and Canada.
Dennis Spurgeon, assistant secretary for nuclear power at the US
Department of Energy, said Australia and Canada were likely to be
given special consideration because they would play a pivotal
role in a new nuclear suppliers club the US is trying to
establish.
"I think Australia, and Canada for that matter, play a special
role in world nuclear affairs because obviously you are two
countries that have the majority of economically recoverable
uranium resources," Mr Spurgeon said in an exclusive interview
with The Australian yesterday.
Asked if this gave Australia and Canada a strong bargaining chip
in negotiating their entry into a new nuclear club, he replied:
"Exactly. So in any discussion, you have to take into account
the facts as they lay."
"I think Australia is viewed as a totally reliable and
trustworthy country, so I don't think there is any issue there
whatsoever."
The Government has launched an inquiry, headed by former Telstra
boss Ziggy Switkowski, to examine the economics of expanding
Australia's uranium mining sector, becoming involved in uranium
enrichment and establishing a domestic nuclear power industry.
It comes after the Bush administration unveiled last year the
Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, which is designed to restrict
the number of countries enriching uranium to existing players
such as the US, Britain, China, Russia and France.
But under the GNEP, nuclear fuel would be shipped to feed
energy-hungry developing countries and the spent fuel taken back
to the supplier so it could not be reprocessed and used for
weapons. Its clear aim is to prevent nuclear proliferation as
witnessed in rogue states such as North Korea and as fears grow
that Iran's civilian nuclear push is simply a cover for nuclear
weapons manufacture.
It is also designed to promote a fuel source that does not
produce greenhouse gases.
But the plan caught the Howard Government off guard and it was
one of the main issues the Prime Minister raised with US
President George W.Bush on his trip to Washington in May. Mr
Howard then travelled to Canada to discuss the GNEP program with
counterpart Stephen Harper.
Last month, Mr Howard told The Australian he was not suspicious
of the initiative "but I'm keen to keep an eye on it and keen to
ensure it doesn't damage Australia's position".
The GNEP policy, as it stands, would freeze Australia out of the
enrichment club and presents an awkward policy conflict between
Australia and the US.
Mr Spurgeon admitted the GNEP policy as envisaged presented an
"unusual situation" in relation to Australia and Canada.
"Any time you make a general rule you always find maybe it
doesn't apply in all circumstances," he said. "The United States
depends on, and wants to continue to have, a very close
partnership and working relationship with Australia.
"We end up with a little bit of an unusual situation here
because the policy is really designed to try to help countries
like Vietnam, for example, to be able to have the benefit of
nuclear energy without needing that kind of enrichment plant and
without needing a reprocessing facility."
Keen to assuage fears that Australia would not be dealt a bad
hand in the program, Mr Spurgeon added that future discussions
with Australia "comes down to the way in which we might jointly
agree on a path forward for implementing the principles
contained in GNEP".
"But it is just that. It's a discussion. It's not a dictation in
any manner of speaking.
"We are pleased Australia is looking at nuclear energy and does
want to be an active partner as we attempt to increase the use
of nuclear energy worldwide in a responsible way."
He stressed he was not in a position to make a definitive
comment on what the administration's position would be on
Australia enriching uranium, saying that was for the State
Department to comment on.
However, a spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of
Non-proliferation declined to comment.
Privacy Terms © The Australian
*****************************************************************
30 NRC: Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes: Call for
FR Doc E6-13433
[Federal Register: August 16, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 158)]
[Notices] [Page 47259] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr16au06-135] [[Page 47259]]
Nominations AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION:
Call for nominations.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is
advertising for nominations for the position of patient advocate
on the Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes
(ACMUI).
DATES: Nominations are due on or before October 16, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Submit 4 copies of your resume or curriculum vitae to
the Office of Human Resources, Attn: Ms. Joyce Riner, Mail Stop:
T2D32, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mohammad S. Saba, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555; telephone: (301) 415-7608;
E-mail: mss@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ACMUI advises NRC on policy and
technical issues that arise in the regulation of the medical use
of byproduct material. Responsibilities include providing
comments on changes to NRC rules, regulations, and guidance
documents; evaluating certain non-routine uses of byproduct
material; providing technical assistance in licensing,
inspection, and enforcement cases; and bringing key issues to the
attention of NRC, for appropriate action.
ACMUI members possess the medical and technical skills needed to
address evolving issues. The current membership is comprised of
the following professionals: (a) Nuclear medicine physician; (b)
nuclear cardiologist; (c) medical physicist in nuclear medicine
unsealed byproduct material; (d) therapy medical physicist; (e)
radiation safety officer; (f) nuclear pharmacist; (g) two
radiation oncologists; (h) patients' rights advocate; (i) Food
and Drug Administration representative; (j) State representative;
and (k) health care administrator.
NRC is inviting nominations for the patient advocate position
that is currently vacant. Committee members currently serve a
4-year term. Committee members may be considered for
reappointment to one additional term.
Nominees must be U.S. citizens and be able to devote
approximately 160 hours per year to Committee business. Members
who are not Federal employees are compensated for their service.
In addition, members are reimbursed travel (including per-diem in
lieu of subsistence) and are reimbursed secretarial and
correspondence expenses. Full-time Federal employees are
reimbursed travel expenses only.
Security Background Check: Nominees will undergo a thorough
security background check to obtain the security clearance that
is mandatory for all ACMUI members. This check will include a
requirement to complete financial disclosure statements to avoid
conflict-of- interest issues. The security background check will
involve the completion and submission of paperwork to NRC, and
take approximately 4 weeks to complete.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 10th day of August, 2006.
Andrew L. Bates, Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. E6-13433 Filed 8-15-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
31 Morris Daily Herald: Tests: Tritium in wells very low
news@morrisdailyherald.com
8/16/2006 2:17:00
Just one in 300 wells shows significant levels
By Jo Ann Hustis Herald Reporter
WILMINGTON - Tritium levels are below federal standards in more
than 300 drinking water wells the Will County Health Department
recently tested.
Physicist Dr. Theodore Hogan, of Hogan &Associates, said Tuesday
tests showed background tritium levels low in all but one well,
which tested at 1,600 picocuries of tritium. The well is located
along the Kankakee River, near the pipe through which Braidwood
Generating Station at Braceville disposed of tritiated water.
Hogan was among the spokesmen at the Community Information Night
Braidwood Station owner Exelon Nuclear hosted to discuss the
ongoing cleanup of tritium from groundwater near the utility.
The physicist said 23 wells in the area were above the detection
limit for tritium, but all were well below the federal level of
20,000 picocuries per liter, and the California level of 400
picocuries per liter.
"Which means tritium, except for the one location in over 300
tests, is not a significant issue," he said.
Tritium is a naturally occurring isotope of hydrogen that emits
a very low level of radiation and is found in more-concentrated
levels in water used in nuclear generating stations.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has gone on record stating
public health and safety has not been jeopardized by the
releases.
Hogan was not sure why the one exception, but said it may have
been connected over time to the tritiated water discharge into
the river. The connection is being investigated, he said.
"There are other issues here besides tritium, however," he
noted.
"There are concerns among the community about cancer clusters,
and a long-term issue of communication between Exelon and the
community."
The other issues include various nitriates which can be caused
by runoff from farms and sewage systems, and bacteria that can
be found in sewage systems.
"That were found in Godley," he said.
Godley has no municipal water system. Drinking water comes from
privately-owned shallow wells 15 to 25 feet deep.
"This (the Godley issue) is not Exelon's problem, but is
Exelon's concern," Hogan noted. "Will County is interest in
helping these people out, part of the reason the testing was
done. There was no reason other than the will of the county to
test for tritium, nitrates, and coliform bacteria because
usually private wells are responsible for themselves."
Exelon is continuing to provide bottled water to Godley
residents.
"They haven't changed their commitment at this point," he said.
Hogan said part of his agency's role through Will County is to
make sure Exelon participates in an effective way of getting its
messages across to the community.
"Like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, we can provide a role to help guide
Exelon's activities," he said.
The tritiated water spills occurred during a 10-year period
starting in 1996, but were not announced to the public by Exelon
until December 2005. About six million gallons of tritiated
water were released during the incidents, and spread into the
groundwater outside the station.
Exelon put a program in place earlier this summer in which the
tritiated water is being pumped from the groundwater and
disposed of in the Kankakee River under federal guidelines.
Resident Robert Rosethal, who lives along Illinois 113 between
Braidwood and Custer Park, said what he heard Tuesday of
Braidwood's tritium removal plans seemed reasonable. He
questions the effect of tritium on the human body, however.
"If there is any effect," he said. "Nobody really seems to have
any really good idea if there's any long-term effects from that."
Rosenthal said that at his age, he had little concern.
"Any effect, if there is any, would be extremely long-term, and
I don't worry about that," he said. "Small kids and young people
definitely would worry."
Rebecca Rosenthal, of the same address, said Exelon appears to
be making an honest effort to clean up the tritium issue, and
said she thought she has to believe the utility.
"They've got to do something because they've got people watching
them," she said. "I just hope (the utility) stays safe."
She admitted the tritium issue bothered her.
"Especially after it was reported it might cause cancer," she
said. "I don't know if that's been substantiated, especially in
the levels it has been detected. I don't like the X-factor."
Braidwood Finance Commissioner George Rozak felt Exelon could
have notified the public when the tritium incidents happened.
"It seems to be water over the dam now, though," he said.
"Hopefully they will do that in the future."
Construction worker Greg Skole of Custer Township, who helped
build the Braidwood, Dresden and La Salle Generating stations,
said Exelon was doing a good job of giving the public a lot of
information.
He also felt the utility's plan for removing the tritiated
groundwater was a good project.
"I trust Exelon all the way," he said. "I've been working in
their facilities for years, and they're upfront with everybody.
They've got quality people. They do everything upfront, and if
they've got a problem, they fix it."
Skole said the chain of command may have been a problem in
getting word to the public when the tritium spills occurred.
"It's hard to say who knew about certain things and how the
chain of command operated," he noted. "That's the biggest thing.
Like everything else, you're doing a job, you check with the
next guy and he'll check with the next guy ..."
Very few area residents attended the Community Night event.
Morris Daily Herald • 1804 N. Division St. • Morris, Illinois
60450 (815) 942-3221 • (800) 215-9778 Software © 1998-2006 1up!
*****************************************************************
32 Guardian Unlimited: Rand: Port Blast Would Be Devastating
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Wednesday August 16, 2006 9:01 PM
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A nuclear explosion at the Port of Long Beach
could kill 60,000 people immediately, expose 150,000 more to
hazardous radiation and cause 10 times the economic loss of the
Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, according to a new Rand Corp.
study.
The study released Tuesday by the Santa Monica-based think tank
was the latest to address concerns about the possible
vulnerability of the nation's ports.
It analyzed the possible effects of terrorists detonating a
10-kiloton nuclear bomb in a shipping container unloaded onto a
Long Beach pier.
In addition to the human casualties, such a blast might destroy
the infrastructure and every ship at theithin the Port of Los
Angeles where agents could thoroughly inspect suspicious cargo.
Currently, customs officials screen cargo with radiation
monitors and X-ray machines at the docks then truck suspicious
containers to a warehouse six miles away for closer inspections.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
33 AP Wire: State, DOE working on nuke waste removal agreement
08/16/2006 |
Associated Press
AIKEN, S.C. - A Department of Energy official at the Savannah
River Site says he is optimistic an agreement can soon be reached
between state and federal officials over the treatment of some
high-level nuclear waste.
"I'm talking a matter of weeks, not months," DOE manager Terry
Spears said at an SRS Citizens Advisory Board meeting Tuesday.
"It is not because of a lack of effort."
The DOE and the state Department of Health and Environmental
Control have wrangled since December over the best way to remove
some of the 36 million gallons of radioactive waste at the former
nuclear weapons site. The disagreement centers on some of the
waste that will be removed from tanks and buried at SRS.
The DOE has cut in half the amount of radioactivity it plans to
leave behind, but state officials are holding out for a renewed
commitment from Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman.
The SRS Citizens Advisory Board set Tuesday as a tentative
deadline last month for the state and federal officials to work
out an agreement.
"I don't want to leave this hanging," said Bill Meisenheimer,
chairman of the advisory board's waste committee.
The waste is stored in 49 tanks at the site. The state, which
gives the federal agency permits to close some tanks, wants them
emptied by about 2020. The DOE already has missed deadlines to
close some tanks.
Bodman and Gov. Mark Sanford have exchanged letters aimed at
reaching an agreement.
Spears said "there's been a lot of efforts behind the scenes"
but he wouldn't provide details.
The two sides also are trying to nail down a process that can be
used for the closure of future tanks, Spears said.
For a decade, the DOE has been removing the most radioactive
waste, which is being stored in glass canisters and is to be
shipped out of the state. It has proven more complicated,
however, to separate more contaminated waste from lower levels.
Information from: The Augusta Chronicle,
http://www.augustachronicle.com/
*****************************************************************
34 NE StatePaper.com: NPPD Cost Setting Up Nuclear Storage - $45 Million
Nebraska News
August 14, 2006
The Nebraska Public Power district has approved the first part of
a two-phase, $45 million project for storing nuclear waste at the
Cooper Nuclear Station in Brownville.
The first stage of setting up a dry-cask nuclear storage system
will cost some $19.7 million. The NPPD board gave a green light
to that phase on Friday.
The second stage will cost an estimated $25.3 million. The board
will not vote on that phase until 2007, NPPD said in a prepared
statement.
Cooper Nuclear Station operates the largest single-unit
electrical generator in the state.
In another development, the board was asked to consider boosting
wholesale energy prices by an average 3.5 percent for next year.
© 2006 Nebraska StatePaper.com
*****************************************************************
35 BBC NEWS: Beach particles talks break down
| UK | Scotland | Highlands and Islands |
Updated: Wednesday, 16 August 2006, 15:35 GMT 16:35
[Geoffrey Minter]
Geoffrey Minter posted a response on his website
Talks between the owner of a beach where radioactive particles
have been found and the organisation leading the clean-up of
Dounreay have broken down.
The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and landowner
Geoffrey Minter had held discussions about Sandside Beach, near
the plant.
Mediation concerned the best way to deal with particles found
there.
But site operator UKAEA said it had ended the process. Mr Minter
said he was "sorry" at its decision.
In a statement, the authority said: "UKAEA regrets to announce
that the mediation process, which we began with Geoffrey Minter
in May 2005, has ended.
I personally remain committed to finding a solution to the severe
and on-going environmental damage to this part of the Caithness
coastline
Landowner Geoffrey Minter
"We wanted to ensure that we could find a fair, reasonable and
documentable resolution to this issue.
"Unfortunately, despite every effort, it has not been possible to
achieve this."
UKAEA said it would seek a long-term solution to managing
particles found in the area with "full public consultation" and
continue to monitor Sandside.
Mr Minter has been a fierce critic of UKAEA in the past.
He posted a response to the UKAEA announcement on his estate's
website and said he would not say anything else.
His statement reads: "I am sorry that UKAEA has decided to break
off talks on the best way of tackling the radioactive
contamination of Sandside Beach.
[Dounreay sign]
UKAEA is heading the decommissioning of Dounreay
"Nonetheless, I personally remain committed to finding a solution
to the severe and on-going environmental damage to this part of
the Caithness coastline."
Mr Minter said UKAEA had to find a way to clean up particles and
stop more waste washing up on the beach.
On Sunday, it emerged another radioactive particle had been
recovered from Sandside. It was the 67th hotspot to have washed
ashore.
Mr Minter previously went to court over particles found on the
beach.
His case reached the Court of Session in Edinburgh in 2003.
In a written decision, the judge, Lady Paton, said the law did
not allow her to order the detailed clean-up which Mr Minter had
demanded in place of the current monitoring regime.
But she held that the UKAEA, which operates the Dounreay plant,
had failed its duty under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965.
Lady Paton said UKAEA must ensure that nuclear material causes no
injury or damage to property.
She added that, despite the stress and anxiety claimed by the
Minters and the effect on their property, no personal injury had
been suffered.
*****************************************************************
36 Shreveport Times: Explosive moments dot ammo site's history
August 16, 2006
Historical site on Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant,
By John Andrew Prime
News of Monday's explosion and fire at the former Louisiana Army
Ammunition Plant near Minden brought bitter memories to people
who remember its worst tragedy that killed six people 38 years
ago today.
Springhill's Bertha Thomas heard explosions as she parked her car
at the plant to start her workday and passed it off as everyday
testing "until one of the inspectors rushed by and said it wasn't
testing this time. Then we could see pieces of stuff flying in
the air, and I knew that was the area my husband was working in.
I was afraid he was hurt, and that was all I could think about."
As she drove up, she saw him, dazed but alive, urging her to go
back. Explosions and fire were still occurring, so she did.
Roy Thomas worked as a subsupervisor on the "F Line," as it was
called, where TNT was melted to be poured into BLU-3 bomblets.
It was the height of the Vietnam War and the plant worked full
tilt, but the blast occurred during a time when only 15 people
were on shift in the reinforced concrete structure, called a
"melt-pour" building. Another hour later, and 300 people would
have been there.
Thomas had stepped out of the building to make a phone call, and
was in another structure about 100 yards away when the blast
"knocked me back against the wall," he told The Times a few days
after the tragedy. "There were explosions going on and from
where I was I could see all the debris that was going up in the
air."
That was in 1968; Thelma Thomas said her husband doesn't like to
talk about the explosion these days. This year they've been
married 42 years. They had a 3-year-old daughter at the time of
that tragedy. Their two sons were born after it. Like the death
of a parent it marks a dividing point in their lives.
So too for Jerry Spears, who was a 27-year-old front-office
worker at the plant, at home in Minden readying to go to work.
Today, he's clerk of the Caddo Parish Commission.
"I heard and I felt the explosions, five in rapid succession,"
he said.
Later, when he arrived at the plant, and over the course of the
next few days when he was involved in surveys of the damage, he
saw the extent of what had happened.
"The 'melt-pour' was a three-story concrete building with
12-inch-thick walls that basically disappeared in a matter of
seconds," he said. "It threw concrete beams several hundred
yards away from the center of the explosion. It made 'waves' on
the tops of some of the cars in the parking lot, and the forces
of the blast traveled across flat areas and went over earthen
berms and came down like a hammer on the other side and caved in
the tops of many buildings a long way from the center of the
blast. I'd say every building out there was damaged."
He said for the next two days the building burned, with smaller
explosions occurring when flames and heat found unexploded
bomblets and detonated them, scattering others over the area.
For a place with such potential for disaster, the plant won a
series of safety awards over its history, as only a handful of
tragic episodes attest.
The plant had a "very active safety department that stressed
safety constantly," Spears said. "You had to wear certain types
of clothes, put covers over your shoes, and use beryllium tools
instead of steel tools to cut down on sparks."
The 1968 blast was the worst in the six-decade history of the
site, now used as a training facility by the Louisiana Army
National Guard. Portions are leased to commercial explosives and
munitions manufacturers.
Monday's explosion involved a production facility leased by
Minden-based Valentec Systems. The last explosion, on July 15,
involved the Goex black-powder facility there. Neither blast
caused injuries.
Here are some of the past known explosions at the site:
July 15, 2006: Fire and "small explosion" cause no injuries at
Goex black powder facility at the former Louisiana Army
Ammunition Plant, now the Louisiana Army National Guard's Camp
Minden training site.
Nov. 3, 2004: Goex explosion, no injuries.
Oct. 31, 2001: Goex explosion injures two employees and causes
$2.5 million in damage.
Jan. 25, 2000: Goex flash fire and explosion burn one employee.
Nov. 5, 1998: Goex explosion kills one worker.
Aug. 16, 1968: Six killed, nine injured when blast destroys
entire government-run "F" line and facilities. Blast can be felt
eight miles away.
Jan. 22, 1963: Testing ground explosion kills one person at
government-run plant.
July 31, 1962: Assembly line explosion kills three, injures six.
Nov. 27, 1942: "Area F" shipping room shell explosion kills
five, injures one.
| | | Copyright 2006© The Times.
*****************************************************************
37 Washington Post: Northern Nevadans Don't Want to Gamble With Their Water
By Sonya Geis Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 15, 2006; A03
WHITE PINE COUNTY, Nev. -- Las Vegas is a parched desert city in
a four-year drought, with new residents pouring in at a rate of
at least 5,000 per month. So water officials plan to tap a great
system of aquifers that form underground lakes in a swath across
Nevada, some of them hundreds of miles away.
But the water is not free for the taking. On top of the aquifers
are ranches and small towns, where a small, tenacious group of
rural residents are fighting hard to keep Las Vegas from sucking
them dry.
"It's a question of values," said Dean Baker, a rancher with
2,000 head of cattle in White Pine County. "Will society accept
drying up this environment to feed Las Vegas's money appetite?"
The battle is the latest in a long series of skirmishes between
Western cities and rural areas over limited supplies of water
and how it should be allocated. Typically, cities win. Coastal
California, Phoenix and Salt Lake City all rely on distant
groundwater supplies.
Such transfers of water from rural to urban areas "have not yet
occurred in Nevada," said Hal Rothman, a professor of history at
the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. "But they are beginning
here."
The Colorado River provides 90 percent of Las Vegas's water, but
the city lives on a diet, an allocation of water it was awarded
decades ago, when Las Vegas was a whistle-stop. So the Southern
Nevada Water Authority wants the water that lies underground to
the north.
To carry the water to the households of Las Vegas, engineers
propose a $2 billion hydra-headed pipeline stretching 250 miles.
The water authority has already started buying ranch property in
the county to access the water underneath. Water authority
officials say there is enough water underground statewide to
provide for the ranchers, plus cover about two-thirds of Las
Vegas's annual water needs.
On Sept. 11, the Nevada state engineer will hold a hearing and
then make a decision about how much water Southern Nevada can
take. Legally, all the water under Nevada is a state resource,
and the engineer must determine its best use.
White Pine County lies at the northern end of the proposed
pipeline. Officials here are eyeing a lawsuit if the hearing
doesn't go their way.
"I've watched the attitude of Southern Nevada, and it's like
they've got gold fever," Baker said as he bounced down a dirt
road in his truck. He has worked his ranch in Snake Valley for
50 of his 66 years. His three sons and their families work it
with him.
"They say there's water here nobody's using. It's not that
simple. There is no free lunch." Baker worries that the aquifer
could be depleted, turning the area into a dust bowl.
The specter of California's Owens Valley looms over the area, as
people recall the aqueducts that almost 100 years ago turned a
lush agricultural community into an environmental disaster so
that water could be delivered to Los Angeles.
Nevada's valleys are majestic and arid, sloping floors covered
in greasewood bushes and fields of alfalfa irrigated with
springs or wells the ranchers have dug themselves. As Baker
drives his land, antelopes, coyotes and jackrabbits, gathered at
pools of water, are startled by the sound of his truck.
"This is a closed basin and it is in balance now," Baker said of
Snake Valley. "The water is coming in through precipitation and
going out through evaporation and transpiration of the plants.
Nobody knows of any river underground where the water's going.
It's here, and it's being used here."
Other counties along the pipeline route have formed agreements
with Southern Nevada, but this summer White Pine County turned
down $12.5 million from the water authority to drop its protests
and cooperate.
The county could use the money. It's a depressed area, and
thanks to financial mismanagement the government is under state
receivership. Still, that doesn't matter to White Pine County
Commissioner Gary Perea. "They could offer us 12 or 15 billion
dollars, but what good is the money if there's nobody living
here?" he said.
Perea wishes the city people would leave his corner of the state
alone, the way he's had the good sense to do with them. "People
live up in rural areas for a reason. They don't like big
cities," he said. "We want to be independent. We want to take
care of ourselves. To take the money from Las Vegas and endorse
the project -- people did not want to do that."
Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water
Authority, understands such resistance is political and cultural
as much as environmental. "They've lived in their world
forever," she said of the ranchers, some of whose families have
worked the land for more than a century. "They feel
disenfranchised. . . . All that anger finds its expression
through this project."
Las Vegas recycles water and imposes conservation measures, but
that's not enough, Mulroy said. "We don't have a network of
streams. Southern Nevada has no backup," she said. "Nevada has
to find a way to safely and sustainably develop groundwater
resources. If they cannot do that, the entire state of Nevada
can lock its doors."
Mulroy said the best way to prevent environmental damage is for
the people of White Pine County to cooperate with her agency to
monitor the effects of pumping. But activists scoff at the idea
that they will have any power to change the water agency's plans.
"That's exactly what Mr. Mulholland said" about Owens Valley,
said Bob Fulkerson, state director of the Progressive Leadership
Alliance of Nevada, which is fighting the pipeline. William
Mulholland, as head of the Los Angeles water department in 1904,
conceived the idea of an aqueduct from the Owens Valley. "He had
no interest in draining the valley, he had no interest in
creating that wasteland," Fulkerson said. "He did not want that
to happen, but that's what did happen because once the siphon
was started it was impossible to turn it off."
"This is going to create a sacrifice zone of thousands of square
miles so Las Vegas can continue to be the fastest-growing city
in the United States," he added.
To Rothman, that calculation makes sense. "Simply put, water has
infinitely more value in urban areas," he said. "Ranchers are an
oligarchic anachronism, privileged by a world long gone." © 2006
The Washington Post Company
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38 The Spectrum: Yucca site will set red alert
St. George Ut- www.thespectrum.com -
Planes, trains and nuclear waste. Yes, it appears that not only
will 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel be hauled by train - a
319-mile route stretching from Caliente near the Utah border - to
Yucca Mountain. The Air Force may also be acquiring airspace
rights over the federal repository site to conduct munitions
training and air-to-air combat exercises from Nellis Air Force
Base.
The announcements both came last week at the same time Sen. Harry
Reid, D-Nev., criticized the Yucca Mountain project, saying
Bechtel, the contractor building the nuclear storage site, is the
same one that built Boston's troubled Big Dig tunnel where a
large piece of concrete gave way and crushed a motorist traveling
in the underground thoroughfare.
Though the Department of Energy is opposing Reid's disclosure -
they say there's a big difference between a highway project and
an underground nuclear repository - combine potentially faulty
construction with the other possible risks of a train or plane
crash and we've got ourselves an accident waiting to happen. Is
this sensible homeland security to breach the safety of a highly
radioactive waste dump with vulnerable transportation plans
approved Tuesday by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit? The DOE is seeking
to designate a "no-fly zone" as part of the project with a
4-mile radius of restricted flight area centered on the
mountain. It also has studied the probabilities and potential
outcomes of plane crashes. But those studies' findings are less
than comforting - especially when the contractor's credibility
has been brought into question.
Yucca Mountain is set to open in 2017. Inadequacies as to the
environmental impact, overall safety and storage capacity plague
the facility, with an additional catalyst of effects from Mother
Nature and her unpredictability with water, earthquakes and
volcanic activity. More scientific input is desperately needed
because Yucca Mountain is not only a disaster for Nevada, it
could be a disaster to Utah and the western United States. All
of us must unite in opposition or the next mechanism of
potential danger will be the shipping of radioactive waste by
diesel trucks on Interstate 15.
Then it'll be planes, trains, automobiles and nuclear waste
forcing the country into a constant state of red alert. Residing
in America was never intended to be lived that way - and it
never should.
Originally published August 16, 2006 Print this article
Copyright ©2006 The Spectrum.
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39 AU ABC: WA warns Federal Govt could put nuclear waste in Perth.
16/08/2006. ABC News Online
Last Update: Wednesday, August 16, 2006. 4:03pm (AEST)
The Western Australian Government says it could be powerless to
stop the Federal Government from building a nuclear waste dump
in Perth.
Federal Transport Minister Warren Truss has decided to allow a
new brickworks factory to be built on land at the Perth airport,
against the wishes of the WA Government.
WA Environment Minister Mark McGowan says the decision sets a
dangerous precedent.
Mr McGowan says the same could happen if the Commonwealth wants
to locate a nuclear waste dump in Perth, because it has shown it
is prepared to ignore the wishes of the local community.
"There's all sorts of land the Commonwealth owns around the
Perth metro area," he said.
"They've expressed a support for uranium, they've expressed
support for uranium dumps.
"They could conceivably put, subject to some legislative
change, noting they control the Senate, uranium facilities onto
any Commonwealth land, including that in Perth."
Mr McGowan says the Commonwealth owns many parcels of land
across Perth, including the airport, Swanbourne army barracks
and Garden Island.
"Based upon their own words you have to assume that it is
feasible and in fact probable under this particular Federal
Government," he said.
The ABC is seeking comment from Federal Environment Minister
Ian Campbell.
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40 Times-Mail: Quarry owner says explosives tests were safe;
Rogers Group not aware of any plans for another round
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
News
By STEVE HINNEFELD, shinnefeld@heraldt.com
Wednesday, August 16, 2006 12:30 PM CDT
Rogers Group confirmed Tuesday that military tests that involved
blasting took place at its Mitchell Quarry in 2004 and 2005, but
said the explosions weren't out of line with what happens at the
crushed-stone facility.
"Blast levels were lower than typical blasting for our crushed
stone business," said a prepared statement provided by Margaret
Angell, a public relations specialist with the Nashville, Tenn.,
company.
She said the blasting was conducted within federal guidelines,
and monitoring devices were used to make sure the blast levels
stayed within acceptable limits.
Angell said Rogers Group hasn't been approached about a massive
blasting test, using 700 tons of explosives, that the Defense
Threat Reduction Agency wants to carry out next year.
The agency halted plans to conduct the test this year in the
Nevada desert. A Las Vegas newspaper reported it was looking at
other sites, including Mitchell Quarry.
A spokeswoman for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency would not
say this week whether the Indiana site was under consideration
for the blast, called Divine Strake, aimed at helping develop
weapons to penetrate hardened, deeply buried targets.
The smaller-scale blasts at Mitchell Quarry took place in July
2004 and March 2005 and were part of the military's Tunnel Target
Defeat Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration project. Defense
Threat Reduction Agency spokeswoman Cheri Abdelnour said they
used up to 1.5 tons of explosives.
Steve Weinzapfel, a blasting expert with the Indiana Division of
Reclamation, said it's common for surface coal mines to use
several times that much explosives, but not all at once.
"A typical coal mine blast could be anywhere from 30 to 40 tons,
but they're not going to shoot that at one time," he said. "They
don't shoot more than 500 to 1,500 pounds, depending on the
distance from homes and so forth."
According to the Rogers Group statement, the tests complied with
rules of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, the
primary agency that regulates quarry blasting. It says Rogers
Group "has a long, positive history working with governmental
agencies, including military installations and the Energy
Department.
Rogers Group was founded in Bloomington in 1908 and moved its
headquarters to Tennessee several years ago. It is the
seventh-largest crushed stone producer in the U.S. with 1,900
employees in five states.
Sue Webster, spokeswoman for the Crane Naval Surface Warfare
Center, said Crane wasn't involved in the 2004 and 2005 quarry
blasts.
Jane Jankowski, spokeswoman for Gov. Mitch Daniels, said state
officials were apparently unaware of the project. "I've not been
able to come up with any information about this other than what
I've read in the papers," she said.
Asked what the state would do if approached about the Divine
Strake project, she said, "We'd have a lot of questions."
Steve Hinnefeld is a reporter for the Herald-Times of
Bloomington, a sister newspaper to the Times-Mail.
Wed Mar 16
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41 KnoxNews: If ORNL plans proceeds, they'll leave the light on
By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com
August 16, 2006
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is getting into the hotel business
- in a small way.
Jeff Smith, the lab's deputy director for operations, said there
are tentative plans to build a $5 million "multiple user housing
facility" near the Spallation Neutron Source. Smith said the
50-bed unit would be a Spartan facility and wouldn't compete with
in-town hotels.
"We've trying to be very sensitive to that. It's for those people
who want to sleep with the neutrons," he said.
Aside from the little dorm associated with the Holifield
Radioactive Ion Beam Facility, ORNL has no overnight
accommodations - although more than one researcher has spent the
night in his office while working on an experiment.
Smith said most national laboratories already have hotels or
something akin to that for scientists visiting major user
facilities.
The ORNL hotel apparently would be situated on Chestnut Ridge,
somewhere in the vicinity of the SNS and the yet-to-be-built
Joint Institute for Neutron Sciences. It would be federally
funded, but how so is not yet clear.
"We're trying to work through what strategy in terms of funding
we will use," Smith said. "We could fund it through general
plant projects."
The idea is to have the facility available in fiscal 2008, when
visitation ramps up at the SNS, and that means getting funding
in the '07 budget.
As part of its plan to develop capabilities for reprocessing of
spent nuclear fuel, the Department of Energy is offering millions
of dollars for preliminary studies at sites interested in hosting
one of the facilities.
The federal agency reportedly plans to support construction of
two types of facilities: a processing plant to separate useful
products from the spent fuel and a burner reactor that generates
electricity while "transmuting" some of the fuel's long-lived
elements into shorter-lived fission products.
There has been some talk among folks in Oak Ridge about possibly
applying for the program.
Oak Ridge might not be a prime candidate for the spent fuel
work, but some local officials believe the $5 million in studies
to scope out potential sites - such as the old Clinch River
Breeder Reactor site or the K-25 plant - could prove useful for
other projects.
Even though Oak Ridge has a reputation as being nuclear
friendly, there's bound to be some opposition to any proposal
that makes the town a destination point for highly radioactive
spent fuel.
The General Accounting Office documented what most folks already
knew: DOE does a lousy job awarding contracts on a timely basis.
GAO reviewed 31 contracts. Of the 24 contracts awarded
competitively, none was awarded by the date planned, with the
level of tardiness ranging from several weeks to 4 1/2 years.
"Delays in awarding contracts occurred, in part, because DOE had
to modify its approach after beginning the contract award
process. At least some of the delays were avoidable, such as
when DOE reworked contract awards to correct errors," GAO said
in its summary.
Despite some concerted efforts to improve the system, DOE
continues to have problems.
In Oak Ridge, for instance, a new contract for
information-technology services is still in process after nearly
two years. The offering has been amended 20 times.
The awarding of Oak Ridge security contracts, one for protective
services at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and a second for
other DOE facilities, has been delayed multiple times as well.
Senior writer Frank Munger covers the Department of Energy for
the News Sentinel. He may be reached at 865-342-6329 or at .
This column is also available in the opinion section of
knoxnews.com.
© 2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel
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