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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 [NYTr] US Isolated as World Favors Diplomacy with Iran
2 Guardian Unlimited: Nations Discuss New Deadline for Iran
3 Guardian Unlimited: Bill Clinton: U.S. Should Talk to Iran
4 Guardian Unlimited: Ahmadinejad Talks to U.S. Think Tank
5 Guardian Unlimited: Ahmadinejad: Iran Doesn't Need the Bomb
6 Guardian Unlimited: Iran has called the west's bluff on the nuclear 
7 AFP: Ahmadinejad says nuclear talks 'on the right path' 
8 AFP: Israeli foreign minister calls for greater vigilance against Ir
9 AFP: New Iran deadline as Bush watches clock -
10 UPI: Ahmadinejad evades security questions
11 UPI: Global poll favors diplomacy with Iran
12 UPI: White House silent on Iran time table
13 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Sets Conditions for N. Korea Visit
14 Guardian Unlimited: North Korea Avoids Meeting of 8 Nations
15 Korea Herald: Slow start on nuclear talks   
16 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: [OUTLOOK] Don't cancel American assistance
17 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Tunnels called ready for nuclear test
18 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Expansion of complex at Kaesong postponed
19 AFP: Hill bilateral in NKorea still possible - US ambassador - 
20 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding
21 US: UPI: UPI Energy Watch
22 [southnews] US threatened to bomb Pakistan 'back to stone age' after
23 Sanctions Against UN Violating Nuclear Rules May Backfire, Russia Wa
24 [NYTr] Musharraf Says US Threatened: Cooperate or Be Bombed
25 Pakistan Link: Pakistan elected to IAEA Board of Governors 
26 Guardian Unlimited: Lib Dems reject call for Trident vote delay
27 AFP: Arab nations seek condemnation of Israel's nuclear activities -
28 IAEA: IAEA Bulletin Volume 48, No. 1
29 IAEA: Monaco’s Prince Albert Opens IAEA Environment Exhibit
30 IAEA: Nuclear Threat Initiative Commits $50 Million to Create IAEA N
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
31 US: NRC: NRC to Hold Two Public Meetings September 27 in Piketon, Oh
32 US:  Palo Verde nuclear reactor is shut down | 
33 US: Reuters: NRC to review Southern Vogtle site for new reactor
34 US: newsobserver.com | Groups: Nuclear plant is unsafe
35 US: newsobserver.com: Repair under way at Harris plant
36 BBC: Scotland 'may not need nuclear'
37 RIA Novosti: Russia has outgrown PSA
38 US: Star Tribune: Alliant goes nuclear with new contract
39 US: NRC: NRC Finds No Significant Environmental Impacts from Extende
40 The Herald: British Energy reaches crossroads   
41 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Subcommittee Meet
42 US: Boston Globe: NRC slaps Pilgrim plant with violation - 
43 Scotsman.com: White elephant? British Energy ready for 'leading role
44 US: Hudson Valley News: NRC offers new notification system   
45 AFP: First test-run at Japan nuclear reactor since 2004 accident
46 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Meeting of the 
47 IAEA: Korea Shares Nuclear Know-how
48 AFP: Mubarak says Egypt to look into nuclear energy - 
49 UPI: Bulgaria to close two nuclear reactors
50 SNA: Bulgaria: Bulgarian Nuke Gets EUR 50 M to Dismantle 2 Units
51 US: NRC: Notice of Meetings; Sunshine Act
 
                          NUCLEAR SECURITY
 
52 IANS: N-deal may increase terrorist threat to India - US expert
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
53 US: Morning Sun: Nuclear investigation                              
54 US: Atlanta Journal-Constitution: GAO joins inquiry of CDC with 2 au
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
55 Las Vegas SUN: Industry group floating bill to speed opening of Yucc
56 reviewjournal.com: Yucca Mountain: Nuclear industry makes offer
57 US: globeandmail.com: Speculators flock to uranium's glow
58 Whitehaven News: Thorp misery lingers on
 
                           PEACE
 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
59 "WATCHDOGS" PARTNER IN GREEN BID FOR LIVERMORE LAB - PRESS
60 KnoxNews: After delay, feds give OK to vent, move hot waste
61 Hanford News: DOE could be fined for spills
62 Hanford News: Hanford tours fill up in 2 minutes
63 Hanford News: DOE docks Washington Closure's pay
64 reviewjournal.com: NEVADA TEST SITE: DOE accused of lying
65 Inside Bay Area: UC closes in on new lab contracts
66 Denver Business Journal: CH2M Hill lands Air Force contract - 
67 IEER | Comments on the Los Alamos Site Wide EIS
68 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Savannah
69 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Oak Ridg
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 1 [NYTr] US Isolated as World Favors Diplomacy with Iran
 
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 14:25:27 -0500 (CDT)

X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu
X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY-WHITELIST

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

US Isolated as World Favors Diplomacy with Iran

London, Sep 21 (Prensa Latina) An international survey ran by GlobalScan
reflects 39 percent support for a diplomatic solution to the conflict over
Iran's N-program vs. 11 percent for the use of force.

The survey says that just 30 percent of 27,407 people questioned in 25
countries consider it necessary to impose economic sanctions on Iran.

The poll also rates at 29 out of 100 participants in favor of banning non
nuclear powers from producing the fuel to supply their own reactors, a
right which Iran defends.

BBC says the poll involved, among others, Britain, France, India,
Indonesia, Israel, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, the US and Turkey.

Washington fabricated a crisis charging Tehran of attempts to produce WMD
disguised with an N-program for peaceful ends.

But Iran contends that it meets the terms of the Nuclear Non Proliferation
Treaty on enriching uranium at its plant in Isfaphan produces at 3.8
percent whereas WMD's need 90 percent plus concentrate.

In addition, the International Atomic Energy Agency did not find evidence
of attempts to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran's right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful ends also found support
from the 118 members of the Non Aligned Movement at the 14th Summit held in
Havana.

sus/emw/to/mf
       
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 2 Guardian Unlimited: Nations Discuss New Deadline for Iran
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Thursday September 21, 2006 1:01 PM

AP Photo DAM102 

By EDITH M. LEDERER 

Associated Press Writer 

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The nations seeking to halt Iran's nuclear
activities are working out a new deadline for the Islamic
republic and have authorized the European Union's foreign policy
chief to go anywhere at any time to meet Tehran's top nuclear
negotiator. 

Despite the possible new accommodations, diplomats said they're
not willing to wait much longer for Iran to respond more
definitively to their package of incentives to stop uranium
enrichment. 

Larijani and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana
had been expected to meet on the sidelines of the U.N. General
Assembly ministerial meeting this week, but British Foreign
Secretary Margaret Beckett said Wednesday she understood the
Iranian nuclear expert would not be coming to New York. 

``What we have done last night is to authorize Javier Solana to
go anywhere at any time in order to facilitate a meeting with
Larijani,'' Beckett said. ``The Iranians do seem to have some
quite extraordinary logistical difficulties, so perhaps Javier
can overcome them by going to wherever it is that they can make
themselves available.'' 

The Iranians had canceled every meeting with Solana at least
once, she said. 

With world leaders gathered at the United Nations, the United
States had hoped to move decisively this week toward political
and economic sanctions against Iran after it missed an Aug. 31
U.N. Security Council deadline to halt uranium enrichment. 

The oil-rich nation insists the program has the peaceful purpose
of producing fuel for nuclear reactors that generate
electricity. But the United States and other countries fear
Iran's goal is to build a nuclear arsenal and transform the
balance of power in the Middle East. 

A dinner meeting Tuesday with Beckett, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and the foreign ministers of France, Russia,
China, Germany and Italy produced little consensus about the
next step, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said. He
said the diplomatic effort to counter Iran was in ``extra
innings.'' 

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Wednesday
that the nations leading efforts to halt Iran's uranium
enrichment are working on a new deadline for Tehran to provide a
more definitive response, despite differences over sanctions. 

France also is pushing a compromise proposal that would have
Iran suspend uranium enrichment at the same time as a Security
Council suspension of all threats of sanctions. 

Douste-Blazy suggested that the United States and others support
the idea and said they were discussing a possible new timeline.
He said he also discussed it with Iranian Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Mottaki and the Iranian agreed that ``time is an
important factor.'' 

The French minister gave no specific date, but a senior French
diplomat said the nations involved in nuclear talks with Iran
are mulling an early October deadline for Iran to agree to a
simultaneous suspension of uranium enrichment and talk of
sanctions. 

``I'm not going to talk in terms of deadlines,'' Rice said
Wednesday, but added, ``This cannot go on for very much
longer.'' 

She also reiterated the U.S. position that Iran suspend
enrichment before negotiations can begin. 

Beckett would not discuss a possible new date, either. 

``What we are looking for is a clear and sustained and concrete
signal that Iran wishes to negotiate,'' she told reporters.
``Our patience, I think, is not unlimited.'' 

``If things just drag on as they have been, then as I say, there
are concerns and constraints about how long that can continue,''
she said. 

President Bush and French President Jacques Chirac claimed they
were on the same page in dealing with Iran, and insisted there
were no differences. But Washington is pushing for sanctions,
while Britain and others are much more reluctant and want
diplomacy to run its course. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told the General Assembly
that the international community must stand up against Iran,
which she claimed is pursuing weapons to destroy Israel, a
reference to Tehran's disputed nuclear program. 

``There is no greater challenge to our values than that posed by
the leaders of Iran,'' Livni said. ``They deny and mock the
Holocaust. They speak proudly and openly of their desire to wipe
Israel off the map. And now, by their actions, they pursue the
weapons to achieve this objective, to imperil the region and to
threaten the world.'' 

--- 

Associated Press writers Anne Gearan and Angela Charlton
contributed to this report. 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 3 Guardian Unlimited: Bill Clinton: U.S. Should Talk to Iran
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Thursday September 21, 2006 2:01 PM

AP Photo NYSW117 

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former President Clinton said Thursday the
U.S. should try talking to Iran about its nuclear weapons
ambitions without imposing a lot of conditions. 

``If you think you might have trouble with somebody, and God
forbid if you think it could lead to a military confrontation,
then there needs to be the maximum amount of contact
beforehand,'' Clinton said in an interview with NBC's ``Today''
show. 

The Bush administration has refused to hold direct talks with
Iran until it agrees to suspend enrichment of uranium, which the
U.S. fears will be used to build nuclear weapons. 

``The United States should not be afraid to talk to anyone. They
should not be reluctant and shouldn't have too many
conditions,'' said Clinton, who said his own offer to meet with
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's predecessor had been
rebuffed. 

The U.S. and allies have offered Iran a package of incentives in
return for its agreement to stop uranium enrichment. But Iran
has given no definitive response and missed an Aug. 31 U.N.
Security Council deadline to halt uranium enrichment, which Iran
says is for generating electricity. 

Iran and the United States have had no direct diplomatic
relations since 1979. That's when Iranian students stormed the
U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held its occupants hostage for 444
days to protest Washington's refusal to hand over the toppled
shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. 

President Bush and Ahmadinejad used separate appearances at the
U.N. General Assembly in New York this week to spar over
Tehran's nuclear program, but they avoided any personal contact. 

In May, Ahmadinejad sent a letter seeking a debate with Bush,
but it was laced with old grievances against America and
included a long list of Iranian demands. 

Clinton said although he would like to see more negotiation with
Iran, Bush's reluctance to personally meet with Ahmadinejad was
understandable. 

``I think we should have some contacts with them,'' Clinton
said. ``I'm not sure the president is the place to start.'' 

In an interview broadcast Thursday on National Public Radio,
Clinton said, `` ... I still believe that, based on all my
Iranian friends in America, what they say is that the vast
majority of Iranian citizens want to have good relationships
with the United States and the West and do not want to be at
odds.'' 

``But they all believe basically that if any other country has a
right to nuclear power, they do too, so we have to work through
that and I, I hope we can do it in a peaceful way,'' he said. 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 4 Guardian Unlimited: Ahmadinejad Talks to U.S. Think Tank
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Thursday September 21, 2006 1:01 PM

AP Photo NYJD103 

NEW YORK (AP) - Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
broke away from events at the U.N. General Assembly to hold an
informal question-and-answer session with high-powered members
of America's most prestigious foreign policy think tank -
despite objections from some Jewish groups and the Bush
administration. 

The Council on Foreign Relations said afterward that Ahmadinejad
had engaged in a ``protracted punch and counter-punch'' with 19
members for about 90 minutes in the conference room of a New
York City hotel late Wednesday. 

But it said the controversial Iranian leader had offered no new
policies or opinions other than those he has aired widely on
issues raging from his country's disputed nuclear program to the
Holocaust. 

``I'm not sure we learned anything new,'' CFR president Richard
Haass said in a statement after the meeting. But Haass added
that the Iranian leader may have learned about American
attitudes from those who he sparred with - some of them Jewish
panelists who had visited former concentration camps in Poland. 

Ahmadinejad has engaged in a media blitz during his trip to New
York to attend the General Assembly - giving interviews to Time
magazine and CNN, among others. 

But the trip to the think tank was controversial, provoking
protests from Jewish groups and the Bush administration. 

The New York Times, which had a reporter who is a CFR member at
the private meeting, said Ahmadinejad spoke ``with a tone that
oozed polite hostility.'' He entered with ``a jaunty smile, a
wave and an air of supreme confidence'' and ended the evening by
asking Council members ``whether they were simply shills for the
Bush administration,'' the newspaper reported. It said there
were no introductory handshakes before the talk began. 

The newspaper also reported that the group's invitation to
Ahmadinejad to talk had stirred objections from Bush
administration figures and prominent Jewish leaders. It did not
specify if the Bush administration had actively sought to stop
the meeting. 

Some Jewish leaders responded to invitations to the event by
asking whether the council would have invited Hitler in the
1930s, and considered resigning from the group en masse, the
Times reported. They decided not to resign after the event was
changed from a dinner to a meeting, it said. 

``It is more offensive to break bread with the guy,'' Abraham H.
Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League,
told the Times. ``I thought dinner was crossing the line.'' 

Ahmadinejad has frequently called the Holocaust a ``myth'' and
has demanded more research to determine whether six million Jews
really perished in World War II. 

CFR chairman Peter G. Peterson told him Wednesday that the
majority of Americans - Jews and non-Jews alike - were
``horrified'' by his assertions, CFR said in a statement. 

Ahmadinejad replied that he doubted that was the case for all
Americans, it said. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told the General Assembly
session that the international community must stand up against
Iran, which she claimed is pursuing nuclear weapons to destroy
Israel. 

``There is no greater challenge to our values than that posed by
the leaders of Iran,'' Livni said Wednesday. ``They deny and
mock the Holocaust. They speak proudly and openly of their
desire to wipe Israel off the map. And now, by their actions,
they pursue the weapons to achieve this objective, to imperil
the region and to threaten the world.'' 

The United States is embroiled in a confrontation with Iran over
its nuclear ambitions. Tehran claims its goal is to generate
electricity, but the U.S. says Iran aims to produce nuclear
weapons. 

The U.S. was required to grant Ahmadinejad a visa to travel to
the General Assembly in New York this week, under an agreement
with the United Nations. 

The foreign policy group is filled with the country's government
elite: Haass worked at the State Department under President
Bush's first term while member Brent Scowcroft served as
national security adviser under Bush's father, and Robert D.
Blackwill directed Iraq policy at the White House. All attended
the event, the Times said. 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 5 Guardian Unlimited: Ahmadinejad: Iran Doesn't Need the Bomb
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Thursday September 21, 2006 7:16 PM

AP Photo NYRD122 

By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI 

Associated Press Writer 

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
insisted Thursday that Tehran doesn't need atomic weapons and he
is ``at a loss'' about what more he can do to prove that.
Ahmadinejad said his country has not hidden anything and was
working within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty. 

``The bottom line is we do not need a bomb,'' he said at a news
conference on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. 

The nations seeking to halt Iran's disputed nuclear activities
are working out a new deadline for the Islamic republic and have
authorized the European Union's foreign policy chief to go
anywhere at any time to meet Tehran's top nuclear negotiator. 

Despite the possible new accommodations, diplomats said they're
not willing to wait much longer for Iran to respond more
definitively to their package of incentives to stop uranium
enrichment. 

Ahmadinejad said he believed negotiations on the issue were ``on
the right track.'' 

``Our position on suspension is very clear,'' Ahmadinejad said.
``Under fair and just conditions ... we will negotiate about
it.'' 

He said the Iranians ``want to make sure that everything we
agree on'' has a guarantee but they were not looking for
security measures. 

``We are able to protect ourselves and our security,'' he said.
``What we speak of are guarantees of enforcement of provisions
that are agreed upon.'' 

He also accused the U.S. of having a double standard and said it
should destroy its own nuclear arsenal, which would make it
``less suspicious of others.'' 

He questioned what the U.S. has done to shut down its weapons
program. ``They too need to submit a report'' to the
International Atomic Energy Agency on its nuclear program, he
said. ``We've acted in a very transparent manner.'' 

Ahmadinejad, whose country has been accused of smuggling weapons
to the Islamic militant group Hezbollah, which fought a 34-day
war with Israel this summer, said Lebanon's internal affairs
were its own concern. 

``We give spiritual support to all those who want to support
their rights,'' he said when asked about whether Iran is arming
Hezbollah. He added that Iran supports ``permanent stability in
Lebanon, and we will fall short of no means in supporting this
goal.'' 

The hard-line Iranian leader also reached out to the American
people, two days after President Bush addressed himself to the
Iranian public. 

``The people of the United States are highly respected by us ...
many people in the United States believe in God and believe in
justice,'' he said. 

In response to a question by an Israeli TV reporter on his past
remarks that he sought the destruction of Israel, Ahmadinejad
hesitated before responding. 

``We love everyone in the world - Jews, Christians, Muslims,
non-Muslims, non-Jews, non-Christians,'' he said. ``We are
against ugly acts. We are against occupation, aggression,
killings and displacing people - otherwise we have no problem
with ordinary people.'' 

``Everyone is respected. ... We declare this in a loud voice,''
he said. 

With world leaders gathered at the United Nations, the United
States had hoped to move decisively this week toward political
and economic sanctions against Iran after it missed an Aug. 31
U.N. Security Council deadline to halt uranium enrichment. 

The oil-rich nation insists the program has the peaceful purpose
of producing fuel for nuclear reactors that generate
electricity. But the United States and other countries fear
Iran's goal is to build a nuclear arsenal and transform the
balance of power in the Middle East. 

A dinner meeting Tuesday with Beckett, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and the foreign ministers of France, Russia,
China, Germany and Italy produced little consensus about the
next step, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said. He said
the diplomatic effort to counter Iran was in ``extra innings.'' 

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Wednesday the
nations leading efforts to halt Iran's uranium enrichment are
working on a new deadline for Tehran to provide a more
definitive response, despite differences over sanctions. 

France also is pushing a compromise proposal that would have
Iran suspend uranium enrichment at the same time as a Security
Council suspension of all threats of sanctions. 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 6 Guardian Unlimited: Iran has called the west's bluff on the nuclear standoff

Comment is free | 

The US cannot risk imposing stricter sanctions or military
action. Fairness is now the only option 

Martin Woollacott
Thursday September 21, 2006
 		 
As the Iranian and American presidents offer their rival versions 
of international reality at the United Nations this week, it is 
worth recalling that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not the first Iranian 
leader to travel to New York to proclaim his country's right to 
make its own decisions about energy resources, to denounce 
imperialism, and to condemn a world order weighted in favour of a 
handful of powerful nations.

In this same month in 1951, Dr Mohammad Mossadeq convinced the
UN that British efforts to regain control of the oil industry
the Iranian government had just nationalised did not deserve the
world body's support. Mossadeq won over the security council,
and he won over the United States, which enjoyed the spectacle
of this elderly, eccentric and eloquent man challenging the
British empire. American reporters affectionately nicknamed him
"Old Mossy".

How different is the scene at the UN today, with Bush
castigating Iran for political suppression at home, for
supporting terrorism abroad, and for pursuing nuclear weapons,
while Ahmadinejad portrays the US as the leader of a group of
nations which have hijacked international institutions in
pursuit of their own narrow interests. Between these two moments
on the East River lies a half century in which the US was
transformed, in Iranian eyes, from the angel in international
affairs that Mossadeq had imagined into the demon scourged by
Ayatollah Khomeini and most of his successors.

"Old Mossy" hoped America would help Iran become truly
independent. Instead, America joined Britain in removing him
from power and ensconcing the Shah as an authoritarian ruler.
Most Iranians, including opponents of the regime, think the US
has never redeemed itself for that act, or for its later
meddling in Iranian affairs. American intervention would reach a
malign climax, they say, if the US were to attack Iranian
nuclear installations. Just as Iranians believe the US has never
made up for the wrong it perpetrated in 1953, so Americans
believe the Islamic republic demonstrated, by its seizure of
American diplomats in 1979, a deeply unreasonable and probably
permanent hostility towards America. The two nations, in other
words, bulk pathologically large in each other's vision, and
that is the ultimate problem which makes an accommodation
between them on nuclear matters, let alone a more general
rapprochement, so difficult to achieve.

The drama which began three years ago when Britain, France and
Germany undertook to bring Iran round on the nuclear issue has
had its comic dimension, as European wiliness encountered
Iranian guile, and was usually outmatched by it. But now comedy
threatens to tip over into farce, and tragedy lies in wait.
After the passing of many deadlines, the latest at the end of
last month, the Iranians are still enriching uranium. They have
so far suffered no consequences, and even if a very modest
package of sanctions were to survive Russian and Chinese
objections at the UN, it would not hurt the Iranians much, if at
all.

The western bluff has been called. The Europeans have moved from
making suspension a condition for talks to contriving formulas
to allow talks to begin without it. As long as serious sanctions
lay in the far future, the Europeans were ready to act as if
they, and even the highly sceptical Russians and Chinese, would
be prepared to take strong measures. But as soon as they become
a real prospect, the excuses emerge, ranging from the lack of
adequate inducements to the absence of conclusive proof of
Iran's nuclear intentions and the danger of pushing the Tehran
regime into too tight a corner. All have some substance, but
nevertheless represent a retreat from previous positions.

In the unlikely event that strong sanctions were imposed, Iran
would find it relatively easy to survive them, and they would
play into the hands of those in the Iranian government,
including Ahmadinejad, who may well believe that a good
relationship with the west is a contradiction in terms -
something that would sully the revolutionary purity of the
republic. So there are indeed reasons for caution on sanctions.
In any case the real sanction has been the prospect that if
negotiations were to end in total failure, they would be
followed, no doubt after a period in which economic measures
would be shown to be ineffective, by American military action.
The bunker-busters would go in and parts of Iran would be dug up
and ploughed under by a bombing campaign, aimed both at
destroying installations and killing scientists, which would set
back Iran's nuclear programme by three or four years.

Yet even if the Bush administration was less weakened by Iraq
than it is, the chances of it choosing this option are somewhat
less than they may have seemed some months ago. There is no
readiness in the country to accept another military enterprise,
even if it "only" involved air action, and anyone ordering it
would suffer grievous political damage. This would come not so
much in the campaign itself, but with the inevitable retaliation
by Iran in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. The US
government would be wide open to the charge of making a bad mess
worse, and the charge would be true, something which it may now
be beginning to grasp. It will not rule out the
counter-proliferation option, and the American military will
continue to plan for it on a contingency basis, but the Iranians
are probably right to conclude that it is not a very immediate
threat.

But it is in the nature of the relationship between Iran and the
west that as one danger recedes, another advances. If the
Iranian regime comes to believe that both the Europeans and the
US are paper tigers, it will be both strengthened and
emboldened. At home, the consequences may well be to quicken the
pace of the regime's encroachments on the freedom and democracy
the Iranian system still displays. Abroad, they could give a
push to the sort of adventurism which would make war between
Iran and the US a stronger possibility. The only answer is a
Middle Eastern policy which stresses needs, rights and fairness
more than threats and enemies. Easy generalities, but somewhere
in that direction lies the solution, if there is one to be found.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2006. 
Registered in England and Wales. No. 908396
 Registered office: 164 Deansgate, Manchester M60 2RR
*****************************************************************
 7 AFP: Ahmadinejad says nuclear talks 'on the right path' 

 Thu Sep 21, 6:51 PM ET 		 	 

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
said that talks on his country's nuclear programme were "on the
right path" and insisted that Tehran did not need an atomic
bomb. 

 With new pressure mounting as Washington and its allies seek
progress in efforts to reach a negotiated settlement with the
Tehran government, Ahmadinejad's comments at the UN headquarters
injected a note of moderation into the diplomatic battle. 

European Union" /> foreign policy chief Javier Solana has been
leading negotiations with Tehran, and Ahmadinejad told a press
conference: "We believe those negotiations are moving on the
right path. 

"Hopefully others will not disrupt the work. In small ways
perhaps, it is a constructive path to take." 

The Iranian president reaffirmed his position that Iran" /> was
prepared to negotiate the demand for a nuclear freeze "under
fair and just conditions". 

Repeatedly questioned about the programme that Washington and
its allies suspect hides efforts to build a nuclear weapon,
Ahmadinejad said: "the bottom line is, we do not need a bomb,
not like what others think." 

Later he added: "We are not seeking a nuclear bomb, let me make
that clear." Ahmadinejad said "the time for nuclear bombs is at
an end." 

The Iranian leader spoke on the final day of a three-day visit
to New York to address the UN General Assembly where he
aggressively defended his country's uranium enrichment and
attacked US policy. 

Iran ignored a UN Security Council demand that it suspend
uranium enrichment, a key stage in weapons production, by August
31. 

According to diplomats, the United States and its European
allies have decided to give Iran until early October to make
progress in nuclear talks before they start discussing UN
sanctions against Tehran. 

Solana has been mainly speaking with chief Iranian negotiator
Ali Larijani but there have been no face-to-face talks between
the two since early September. 

A plan for a meeting in New York this week was called off and
some Western ministers have expressed frustration at what they
consider Iran's unwillingness to show a sign it wants to
negotiate. 

Britain, France and Germany drew up a package of economic and
political incentives hoping to persuade Iran to give up uranium
enrichment. But Iran has not given a firm response. 

"What we are looking for is a clear and concrete signal that
Iran wishes to negotiate," British Foreign Secretary Margaret
Beckett told reporters Wednesday, after highlighting the
repeated postponement of talks by Iran. 

"If things drag on as they have been, then there are concerns
and consequences about how that can continue," Beckett added,
while refusing to confirm that there was a deadline for talks to
produce results. 

Stressing the documents and access to nuclear facilities that
Iran has already given the International Atomic Energy Agency"
/> , Ahmadinejad said: "I am at a loss in understanding what
else we need to do to provide guarantees." 

"It may take 100 years or more to gain confidence in what we do.
What are we supposed to do given the context of the past 27
years that has been demonstrating such hostility toward our
nation?" he added. 

The United States has led calls for sanctions to be imposed by
the UN Security Council. But this has been opposed by Russia and
China. 

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council --
Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States -- plus
Germany and Italy, agreed Tuesday to give European negotiators
more time to convince Iran to give up enrichment before
discussing sanctions. 

A senior European diplomat said the new deadline would stretch
to early October, in the hope that new talks between Solana and
Larijani achieve a breakthrough. 	 		 			

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 8 AFP: Israeli foreign minister calls for greater vigilance against Iran - 

 Thu Sep 21, 3:50 AM ET 		 	 

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, 
called for greater international vigilance against the security 
threat posed by Iran" /> Iran, in a speech to the UN General 
Assembly. 

 "There is no greater challenge to our values than that posed by
the leaders of Iran," Livni said. "They deny and mock the
Holocaust. They speak proudly and openly of their desire to wipe
Israel" /> Israeloff the map. 

"And now by their actions, they pursue the weapons to achieve
this objective, to imperil the region and to threaten the
world." 

The minister said the international community must stand up to
what she called "this dark and growing danger" posed by Iran's
nuclear weapons ambitions. 

Using the right of reply given at General Assembly debates, a
member of the Iranian delegation countered by telling delegates
that Livni had spread "baseless propaganda" as a "smokescreen
for war crimes" committed by Israel. 

The United States has led a push for sanctions against Iran over
its nuclear programme. Iran insists that its nuclear activities
are for peaceful purposes. 

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 9 AFP: New Iran deadline as Bush watches clock -

 Wed Sep 20, 7:19 PM ET 		 	 

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - World powers handed Iran" /> a new early 
October deadline to halt uranium enrichment, a senior European 
diplomat said, as President George W. Bush" /> warned "time is of 
the essence" in settling the nuclear showdown. 

 Hopes of a snap breakthrough in the crisis however were already
dimmed, with an announcement that European Union" /> foreign
policy chief Javier Solana would not meet, as expected, this
week in New York with Iranian negotiators. 

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus
Germany and Italy agreed late Tuesday to give European
negotiators more time to convince Iran to give up enrichment
before seeking sanctions under a UN resolution 

A senior European diplomat told reporters the new deadline would
stretch to early October, in the hope that new talks between
Solana and Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani would bear fruit. 

The UN Security Council had set an August 31 deadline for Iran
to comply with the demand for a suspension of enrichment
operations. But Tehran, which denies US claims it is seeking a
nuclear weapons, has so far refused to comply. 

Bush meanwhile warned time was running out for Iran, and again
wondered out loud whether the latest delay was a symptom of
Tehran running out the clock. 

"I'm not going to discuss with you our intelligence on the
subject, but time is of the essence," Bush said, when asked on
CNN whether he backed the Israeli line that only a few months
remained before Iranian scientists learned how to enrich uranium
-- the critical step towards building a bomb. 

"I'm concerned that Iran is trying to stall, and to try to buy
time, and therefore it seems like a smart policy is to push this
issue along as hard as we can and we are," Bush said. 

Bush's secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice" /> meanwhile
declined to confirm the new deadline but also warned diplomacy
couldn't stretch on indefinitely. 

"Everyone wants to resolve this through negotiations and
everyone wants to solve this thing quickly," she said here. 

"There is a really excellent opportunity for Iran to engage with
the international community, if it will simply meet a condition
(freezing uranium enrichment)." 

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Wednesday
major powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia
and the United States -- agreed that Iran must respond rapidly. 

"We must have a response fairly quickly," he said, "it's
becoming urgent." 

At Tuesday's meeting, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
backed away from the long-standing US position that Iran should
face sanctions immediately for failing to meet an August 31 UN
deadline for suspending its uranium enrichment. 

She agreed to permit a new round of negotiations between Solana
and Larijani in hopes of convincing Tehran to meet the UN
demand, US officials said. 

If Iran suspends its enrichment, Rice said she would personally
attend the launch of direct negotiations with Tehran aimed at
rewarding the Islamic republic for winding down its nuclear
program. 

Chances of a quick breakthrough in the standoff were hit by the
announcement that Larijani would not meet with Solana in New
York this week as expected. 

Instead, Larijani and Solana agreed in a telephone conversation
to hold talks next week in an unidentified European capital, the
official Iranian news agency reported in Tehran. 

"It seems to have been difficult to get some of those (talks)
scheduled and we would encourage the Iranians to take him up on
his offer to meet with him and to clarify any remaining
questions," said Rice. 

"But this cannot go on for very much longer." 

As well as the extended deadline for an Iranian response,
Washington got its partners to agree to the new deadline for
imposing sanctions if Iran stands firm, according to senior US
and European officials present at the meeting. 

Douste-Blazy said Tuesday's meeting had agreed on the need to
give Iran one more chance. 

"We all thought that we had to avoid confrontation and do
everything possible to pursue a dialogue ... while also avoiding
a situation where the Iranians, through meeting after meeting,
are able to play for time and we end up with a fait accompli" of
an Iranian nuclear weapons program, he said. 	 		 			
 							 					 					 					 					 					 					 					 					 					
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 10 UPI: Ahmadinejad evades security questions
     
United Press International - Intl. Intelligence - 

9/21/2006 4:31:00 PM -0400

NEW YORK, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad refused to answer questions regarding his support of
Hezbollah and evaded other questions of international security. 

The president was asked at U.N. World Headquarters in New York
Thursday if he will respect a U.N. Security Council mandate for
an arms embargo and ceasefire in Lebanon. 

Specifically, he was asked twice if Iran will continue to supply
weapons to Hezbollah. In response, the president simply said he
"supports permanent stability in Lebanon." 

On the issue of his support for Hezbollah and his apparent
contempt for Israel, he said, "justice means allowing the
Palestinian people to decide on their own fate." 

"We love everyone around the world," he said. "Everyone should
enjoy legitimate rights." 

Ahmadinejad was asked about a statement in which he said Israel
should be "wiped off the map" and evaded this question as well. 

"We are opposed to oppression," he said. "Aggression and
occupation is an abhorrent act." 

Ahmadinejad did say that he believes the Zionist movement, a
national liberation movement for Jews in Israel, is a "party
that has no religious ties." 

"Zionists are not Jews, they are not Christians, they are not
Muslims," the president said, saying that the Zionist role in
Middle East conflict "should be thoroughly examined by the
media." 

"If you displace people from their homeland, the world will
condemn you," he said. 

Ahmadinejad also mentioned he is still considering the proposal
from French President Jacques Chirac to halt nuclear development
during the course of negotiations. 

"We want to make sure that whatever we agree on has a guarantee
of enforcement," he said, expressing concern agreements may not
be followed through.

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
 11 UPI: Global poll favors diplomacy with Iran
     
United Press International - NewsTrack - 

9/21/2006 12:58:00 PM -0400
 
LONDON, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A global BBC poll of people in 25
countries shows the majority of people say Iran's nuclear
controversy should be settled by diplomatic means. 

Diplomacy was the favored choice of 39 percent of 27,407 people
polled, with 11 percent favoring military action, the survey,
released Thursday said. 

Thursday, Iran was given a deadline of early October to stop
enriching uranium, or the United Nations would meet to discuss
economic sanctions. The United States has not ruled out military
action. 

In the poll, 30 percent of respondents said they favored the
sanctions route if Iran persisted with enrichment. 

However, a minority said they believe Tehran's claims the
enrichment is solely for peaceful purposes, with 17 percent
finding it credible. 

Regarding international supervision of nuclear programs, 52
percent of respondents favored having the United Nations develop
new controls, while 33 percent said they favored preserving the
existing system allowing non-nuclear powers to develop nuclear
fuel but not weapons. 

The survey by GlobeScan has a margin of error of 2.5-4
percentage points.

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
 12 UPI: White House silent on Iran time table
     
 United Press International - Security &Terrorism - 

9/20/2006 5:39:00 PM -0400

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- The White House stayed
noncommittal Wednesday over any time frame for taking strong
action against Iran. 

White House spokesman Tony Snow, when queried about Tehran's
continued recalcitrance on nuclear fuel enrichment and how long
Bush was prepared to wait for a change in behavior, would only
say "we're working with our allies." 

"It's a little difficult to figure out whether there's progress
or not on the Iranian front," he said. "There have been
conflicting signals. 

"But we've made it clear that they need to suspend, and the
United Strtes is going to proceed working with allies toward
remedial measures if the Iranians do not suspend." 

Bush Tuesday, in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, repeated
the call for Iran - whom he accused of supporting terror - to
suspend nuclear enrichment programs and return to the
negotiating table. 

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking later, replied
by attacking what he called U.S. abuse of power and asserting
Iran was committed to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. 

The United States suspects Iran's nuclear efforts, some of which
were undertaken surreptitiously, are cover for an arms
development program, something Tehran denies. 

International negotiations to resolve the issue have faltered
over Iran's refusal to suspend nuclear fuel enrichment as a
condition for discussions. 

The United Nations, after a report from its International Atomic
Energy Agency, gave Iran until Aug. 31 to suspend enrichment, a
deadline Tehran ignored. 

The United States is pushing the Security Council to impose
sanctions on Iran. It is also attempting to cobble agreement
from others to join a sanctions movement if the Security Council
fails to act.

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
 13 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Sets Conditions for N. Korea Visit
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Thursday September 21, 2006 12:16 PM

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The main U.S. nuclear envoy could
visit Pyongyang if North Korea ends its boycott of international
nuclear talks, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea said in an
interview Thursday. 

``I think that possibility has never been excluded,'' Ambassador
Alexander Vershbow told Yonhap news agency in remarks that were
confirmed by the U.S. Embassy. 

The North has in the past invited the U.S. envoy, Assistant
Secretary of State Christopher Hill, who expressed willingness
to make such a trip last year after the communist nation agreed
at the arms talks to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for
security guarantees and aid. 

The North immediately threw cold water on the deal and demanded
a nuclear reactor for power generation - and the trip was put
off. 

``Unfortunately it was impossible because North Koreans were
unwilling to even suspend their production of plutonium in the
Yongbyon reactor,'' Vershbow said, referring to the North's main
nuclear facility. ``So the opportunity was missed.'' 

Vershbow also said that Hill ``is prepared to enter into
bilateral talks in a constructive spirit if North Korea is
committed to return to the six-party talks,'' according to the
embassy. 

North Korea has stayed away from the six-nation nuclear talks -
which include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. -
since last year in anger over U.S. financial restrictions
against the North for its alleged complicity in counterfeiting
and money laundering. 

Japan and Australia earlier this week enacted similar
restrictions on a group of North Korean firms allegedly involved
in suspect transactions. 

Vershbow said Thursday that the United States didn't have any
immediate plans for more sanctions of its own on the North. 

``We are still considering what additional steps may be
necessary. On our own part, we are proceeding in a deliberate
manner. We are not rushing to any decisions,'' he said. ``There
is still time for North Korea to pull back from the brink. I
hope they do.'' 

North Korea has insisted it won't return to the talks unless the
U.S. drops its sanctions. Pyongyang claims to have nuclear
weapons and further stoked regional tension in July by
test-firing a series of missiles over international objections,
drawing condemnation from the U.N. Security Council. 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 14 Guardian Unlimited: North Korea Avoids Meeting of 8 Nations
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Thursday September 21, 2006 5:16 PM

NEW YORK (AP) - North Korea stayed away from a gathering of
diplomats from the United States and seven other nations
Thursday that focused on the specter of a nuclear North Korea. 

``They don't like to talk to people,'' Assistant Secretary of
State Christopher Hill said following the gathering on the
sidelines of the annual United Nations opening session. 

China and Russia also skipped the meeting, although they are
members of the international coalition that reached a
breakthrough disarmament bargain with Pyongyang a year ago. That
agreement has never taken effect and North Korea is boycotting
further talks in protest of what it calls unfair U.S. financial
sanctions. 

Hill called the North Korean complaint a pretext for ignoring
its responsibilities to give up nuclear weapons ambitions under
the 2005 agreement. He said the original coalition of the United
States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea remains ready to
resume negotiations with the North. 

Thursday's meeting involved foreign ministers from Australia,
Indonesia, New Zealand, Canada and the Philippines, in addition
to the United States, Japan and South Korea. 

Hill said several participants criticized China for failing to
do enough to bring North Korea back to talks, but he said the
United States was not among them. China is the North's closest
ally and has served as an intermediary. 

North Korea seeks to normalize its relations with the U.S. but
also says its nuclear program is a deterrent to fend off a
possible U.S. invasion. 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 15 Korea Herald: Slow start on nuclear talks   
        
The South Korean and U.S. chief nuclear negotiators met in New
York yesterday to discuss the overall direction of efforts to
solve the North Korean nuclear crisis, but no immediate progress
was made. 

But in Seoul, the situation appeared more positive as the top
U.S. envoy here emphasized Washington's willingness to talk
one-on-one with Pyongyang. 

"Our position has been for some time that if the North Koreans
clearly send signals that they are committed to coming back to
six-party talks, then there are many possibilities for bilateral
contacts," U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow said in an
interview with Yonhap News. 

North Korea has repeatedly asked for a bilateral meeting with
Washington, even inviting Hill to Pyongyang, but never with the
precondition of returning to the nuclear talks. 

On whether Washington was open to a visit by Hill to the
communist state, Vershbow said, "I think that possibility has
never been excluded. In fact as you know he (Hill) had hoped to
make a visit to Pyongyang shortly after the Joint Statement was
agreed." 

The visit, however, was never made possible after North Korea
refused to suspend its Yongbyon reactor. 

Vershbow also supported the ongoing talks, saying that it was a
"very constructive way forward." 

The South Korean government is tight-lipped about the measures
it is presenting to Washington, but Seoul officials emphasized
that the negotiators did not attend the talks empty-handed. 

"Both Seoul and Washington went to the talks with their ideas in
hand. The talks will be about exchanging such ideas and
contemplating them," a government official said on condition of
anonymity. 

The consultation between Chun Yung-woo and Christopher Hill was
arranged upon consensus at the Korea-U.S. summit talks last
week. 

Washington agreed to give Seoul's proposal a try - to draw out a
common and broad approach to solving the North Korean problem. 

Although vague in concept, it was considered an opportunity for
Seoul to deviate attention away from U.S.-led sanctions against
the North and back to six-party talks. 

Chun said the discussions were just the beginning and follow-up
consultations would continue. 

"We discussed how to get to a common and broad approach," Chun
told reporters after a two-hour meeting with Hill. "Some ideas
were presented. Nothing has been agreed, but consultations will
go on." 

But undermining these efforts, the U.S. Treasury secretary
yesterday reiterated Washington's determination to crack down on
North Korea's allegedly illegal activities with a Macau bank. 

While in Beijing, Henry Paulson told reporters, "No, there is no
prescribed time frame," when asked whether his government has
set a deadline for the probe. 

"This is a law enforcement matter and it will take as long as it
takes to resolve it appropriately." 

South Korea is anxious for Washington to end its investigation
into Banco Delta Asia as soon as possible. The probe has been
the main reason for North Korea's boycott of the six-party talks
since November last year. 

Back over in New York, the United States was busy arranging a
five-plus-five meeting among the ministers attending the U.N.
General Assembly to discuss North Korea. 

The move is considered more as a gesture towards North Korea
rather than a practical consultation. 

So far the chances of a successful gathering appear dim. 

China, the host to the suspended six-party talks, has decided
not to attend the meeting this time in apparent fear that it
could replace the Beijing talks. 

Russia has also decided not to participate, according to
sources. Chances of France and England joining are also slim,
they said. 

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday morning local time, and
will be chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. 

Washington has been pushing to gather foreign ministers of the
six-party talks and those from the European Union. 

Members to the nuclear talks - the two Koreas, the United
States, China, Japan and Russia - reached an agreement to
denuclearize North Korea last September but immediately met with
a stumbling block when Pyongyang objected fiercely to
Washington's financial measures. 

Countries excluding North Korea held an expanded 10-party
meeting in July this year in Malaysia during the ASEAN Regional
Forum, but no progress was made. (angiely@heraldm.com) 


By Lee Joo-hee 
2006.09.22
 
*****************************************************************
 16 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: [OUTLOOK] Don't cancel American assistance

September 22, 2006 KST 13:04 (GMT+9)

  The entire country is in chaos over the government's plan to
take back wartime operational control over its military from the
United States. As this is an important matter, every sector
needs to think about it seriously. As an economist, I would like
to use economic theories to view this issue.

 National defense is a core public commodity that a country
offers, along with public order and peace. Economic liberals
claim that a smaller government is better, but they agree that a
country must offer quality services for national defense and
public order. 

What is wartime operational control as a part of national
defense? In economic terms, it is defined as a contingent
commodity. This means the commodity is effective in a special
situation, such as when a war breaks out. This is the same as
insurance for cancer only being useful when the holder has
cancer.

 Peacetime operational control is not a contingent commodity,
but a regular commodity, related to services of national defense
that are normally offered and consumed. There is no question
that a country should exercise peacetime control of its forces.
This is like healthy people taking care of their bodies to
maintain their health the way they want.

 However, a person might get a disease or have an accident even
though he or she is careful. Thus, healthy people are also
recommended to buy many different types of insurance. This feels
like wasting money but might prevent the person from going
bankrupt over an unfortunate accident. When a person becomes ill
or is injured, it is stupid to pridefully say, "This is my body
so I will take care of it my way." The best resolution is to
have a dependable insurance company and a hospital.

 In this respect, one should prepare oneself meticulously in
order to to take charge of wartime operational control, which is
in many ways different from peacetime control. Some countries do
not think seriously about wartime control. Switzerland, a small
and neutral country, is a good example. If the chance to get
involved in a war is zero percent, there is no need to talk
about wartime control.

 However, nobody will claim that on the Korean Peninsula, the
odds of a war breaking out are zero percent. In the medium- and
long-term, northeast Asia is insecure, as powerful neighboring
countries like Japan and China intend to claim larger
territories and compete against each other over hegemony. The
Korean Peninsula is quite insecure because North Korean leaders
pursue a military-first policy and are obsessed with nuclear
development programs. 

Therefore, good wartime operational control is needed. Let's
take a look at the current wartime operational control. In a
nutshell, it can be said that South Korea has insurance against
war from an insurance company called the United States. First,
the conditions of this insurance are unbelievably good for us.
If a war broke out, the United States would go beyond
compensating money that we lost, the job regular insurance
companies do. The world's strongest military power is
automatically engaged to fight with us. This is the same as
having subsidiary troops guaranteed.

 The insurance fee is also very low, particularly compared with
the unreasonable amount of money that the South Korean
government says we need to use to have sufficient military
competence for the independence of our military.

 Finally, it can be said we have additional insurance to deter a
war. Buying insurance against cancer does not prevent cancer
from developing. But the current wartime control makes North
Korea know clearly that it would be the end if it did something
stupid, so it has the effect of deterring a war.

 Lately, Korea Life Insurance and Samsung Life have stopped
selling insurance that solely covers cancer, stating that they
will likely have to pay out too much money to policyholders. The
United States has long stopped selling the insurance program
that it sold to South Korea to other countries. Although serving
as an international police force is an honorable job, the
possible costs in lives and money are too high. In both cases,
only existing holders are entitled to benefit from the programs.

 Let's say one wants to cancel an insurance program on cancer
because the person does not like Samsung's management. Then what
would the company think of the policy holder? The company will
only welcome the decision because the company has nothing to
lose.

 The Korean War prompted South Korea to buy an unusual insurance
policy against further wars. Looking at the current situation on
the Korean Peninsula, this insurance is still useful. 

People feel insecure because the government wants to cancel this
insurance. We should keep this as a special product that helps
prevent North Korea from provocative acts and enhances security
on the Korean Peninsula.

 North Korean leaders resorted to nuclear development as a means
to protect their regime and the South Korean administration
places people's livelihoods in jeopardy because it lacks a sense
of reality. This reminds me of what Bill Clinton said as a
presidential candidate ¡ª "It's the economy, stupid."
 
* The writer is a professor of economics at Chung-Ang
University. Translation by JoongAng Daily staff.
 
by Ahn Kook-shin   
	  
  2006.09.21       

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*****************************************************************
 17 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Tunnels called ready for nuclear test

September 22, 2006 KST 13:04 (GMT+9)                                             
	   		 	   	   		 	   	   		 	   	   		 	   	 	 
  September 22, 2006 ¤Ñ North Korea has constructed an
underground tunnel for possible use in a nuclear weapons test, a
Grand National Party lawmaker with close ties to the
intelligence community said yesterday.

 Chung Hyung-keun cited sources in the National Intelligence
Service for his claim. He said a shaft 700 meters (0.4 miles)
deep has been sunk into Mount Mantap in North Hamkyong province
with a horizontal tunnel running nearby. 

Mr. Chung was in Washington, where he was lobbying against the
quick transfer of wartime control of the Korean military back to
Seoul. 

Mr. Chung is a member of the National Assembly's intelligence
committee. 

Pointing out similarities between the suspect site and those for
underground nuclear tests in the U.S. state of Nevada and in
India and Pakistan, he said that Pyongyang seemed to be
preparing for a similar test. He said the vertical shaft was
more than twice as long as would be necessary, interpreting that
as a desire by North Korean scientists to reduce the risk of
atmospheric fallout.

 On the other side of the world, Libya's leader, Muammar
Qadhafi, told Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook of Korea on
Wednesday in Tripoli that he would try again to mediate the
North Korean nuclear crisis, an official at Ms. Han's office
said yesterday. In 2003, Libya forswore further attempts to
develop weapons of mass destruction and scrapped its programs in
return for diplomatic ties and economic relations with Europe
and the United States. But while Mr. Qadhafi said he would try
to make the North see reason, he also complained that his
country had not received enough support and compensation for
scrapping its programs. 

Separately, Alexander Vershbow, the U.S. ambassador in Seoul,
told Yonhap News yesterday that Washington was considering what
additional steps it could take to pressure Pyongyang to return
to nuclear talks, but that the United States would not "rush
into any decision." Mr. Vershbow continued, "Assistant Secretary
[Christopher] Hill is prepared to enter into bilateral talks in
a constructive spirit if North Korea is committed to return to
the six-party talks."

 Earlier this week, a U.S. State Department spokesman appeared
to distance himself from earlier, similar remarks by the U.S.
envoy that bilateral contacts could precede a resumption of
those multilateral negotiations.	
 
by Lee Sung-il, Brian Lee africanu@joongang.co.kr>   
	  
   
Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use |
*****************************************************************
 18 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Expansion of complex at Kaesong postponed

September 22, 2006 KST 13:04 (GMT+9)

  September 22, 2006 ¤Ñ South Korea has decided to postpone
expansion of a joint industrial complex in Kaesong with North
Korea amid heightened tension over the communist state's nuclear
ambitions, Unification Ministry officials said yesterday.

 At the beginning of this month, Seoul indefinitely suspended
its plans to begin receiving applications from South Korean
companies that wished to move into the joint industrial complex
in the North's border town of Kaesong in June. The decision came
amid concerns that North Korea was planning to test-fire another
missile. Pyongyang test-fired seven ballistic missiles,
including a long-range Taepodong-2, on July 5.

 The South Korean government refused to halt or suspend the
inter-Korean project despite the North's actions, which prompted
a UN Security Council resolution prohibiting any missile-related
dealings with North Korea.

 Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, the country's point man on
North Korea, has also defended the joint business venture,
claiming inter-Korean cooperation may one day provide the key to
the reunification of the divided Koreas.

 The ministry again sought to receive applications from South
Korean businesses this month or early next month, according to
the ministry official. But it decided to postpone the schedule
again due to unfavorable conditions.

 "Because the most important thing is market conditions, [the
government] is saying we will do it when [the market conditions]
are most appropriate, but I believe there has been no specific
pressure or request from the North Korean side," Mr. Lee said in
a regular press briefing yesterday.

 He said it would not take too long for the planned expansion to
be realized, but "it would not be appropriate for now to say
when the right time would come."   
	  
Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms
*****************************************************************
 19 AFP: Hill bilateral in NKorea still possible - US ambassador - 

 Thu Sep 21, 11:22 AM ET 		 	 

SEOUL (AFP) - US nuclear envoy Christopher Hill could still 
travel to North Korea" /> North Koreafor a bilateral meeting if 
Pyongyang agrees to restart stalled talks on nuclear disarmament, 
the US ambassador in Seoul said. 

 The trip is among a number of possibilities that are "available
if the North Koreans are prepared to come back to the six-party
process," ambassador Alexander Vershbow said in an interview
with Yonhap news agency. 

"I think that possibility has never been excluded," he said. 

Hill planned to visit Pyongyang after it agreed last September
to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for energy and
economic aid, eventual diplomatic benefits and security
guarantees. 

But the plan was shelved after North Korea boycotted the
six-party talks to protest at US sanctions on a Macau bank which
allegedly helped it pass counterfeit US dollars and launder
funds. 

The US position has been that North Korea must first come back
to the six-nation talks before Washington will agree to any
bilateral meeting. 

Vershvow, however, stressed the need for a face-to-face meeting
between US and North Korean negotiators to resolve the nuclear
crisis, Yonhap said. 

"Our position has been for some time that if the North Koreans
clearly send signals that they are committed to coming back to
the six-party talks, then there are many possibilities for
bilateral contacts," he was quoted as saying. 

The ambassador also indicated that Washington would not roll out
additional sanctions on North Korea anytime soon. 

"We are still considering what additional steps may be
necessary. On our own part, we are proceeding in a deliberate
manner. We are not rushing to any decisions," he said. 

Aside from the United States and North Korea, the other
participants at the nuclear talks were China, Japan, Russia and
South Korea" /> South Korea. 

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 20 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding
 
                         FR Doc 06-7898 
[Federal Register: September 21, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 183)] 
[Notices] [Page 55223-55225] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr21se06-77]                         
 
of No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct 
Materials License No. 29-30285-01, for Termination of the License 
and Unrestricted Release of the SK Bio-Pharmaceutical R Center's 
Facility in Fairfield, NJ AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact for License Amendment.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Lawyer, Health Physicist, 
Commercial and R Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region 1, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; 
telephone 610- 337-5366; fax number 610-337-5393; or by e-mail: 
drl1@nrc.gov.
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the issuance of a 
license amendment to Byproduct Materials License No. 29- 
30285-01. This license is held by SK Bio-Pharmaceutical R Center 
(the Licensee), for its SK Bio-Pharmaceutical R Center, located 
at 140A New Dutch Lane in Fairfield, New Jersey (the Facility). 
Issuance of the amendment would authorize release of ``the 
Facility'' for unrestricted use. The Licensee requested this 
action in a letter dated June 29, 2006. The NRC has prepared an 
Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of this proposed action 
in accordance with the requirements of Title 10, Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR), Part 51 (10 CFR Part 51).
 
Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No 
Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate with respect to the 
proposed action. The NRC plans to issue the amendment following 
the publication of this FONSI and EA in the Federal Register.
 
II. Environmental Assessment Identification of Proposed Action 
The proposed action would approve the Licensee's June 29, 2006, 
license amendment request, resulting in release of ``the 
Facility'' for unrestricted use. License No. 29-30285-01 was 
issued on June 19, 1996, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 30, and has been 
amended periodically since that time. This license authorized the 
Licensee to use unsealed byproduct material for purposes of 
conducting research and development activities on laboratory 
bench tops and in hoods and animal studies.
 
The Facility is situated on 15,000 square feet, and consists of 
general offices and laboratories. The Facility is located in a 
mixed industrial and commercial area. Within the Facility, use of 
licensed materials was confined to 1,600 square feet of 
laboratories.
 
On May 26, 2006, the Licensee ceased licensed activities and 
initiated a survey and decontamination of the Facility. Based on 
the Licensee's historical knowledge of the site and the 
conditions of the Facility, the Licensee determined that only 
routine decontamination activities, in accordance with their 
NRC-approved, operating radiation safety procedures, were 
required. The Licensee was not required to submit a 
decommissioning plan to the NRC because worker cleanup activities 
and procedures are consistent with those approved for routine 
operations. The Licensee conducted surveys of the Facility and 
provided information to the NRC to demonstrate that it meets the
 
[[Page 55224]] criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for 
unrestricted release.
 
Need for the Proposed Action The Licensee has ceased conducting 
licensed activities at the Facility, and seeks release of the 
Facility for unrestricted use.
 
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action The historical 
review of licensed activities conducted at the Facility shows 
that such activities involved use of the following radionuclides 
with half-lives greater than 120 days: hydrogen-3 and carbon-14. 
Prior to performing the final status survey, the Licensee 
conducted decontamination activities, as necessary, in the areas 
of the Facility affected by these radionuclides.
 
The Licensee conducted a final status survey during June 2006. 
This survey covered all areas where unsealed materials were known 
to be stored or used. The final status survey report was attached 
to the Licensee's amendment request dated June 29, 2006. The 
Licensee elected to demonstrate compliance with the radiological 
criteria for unrestricted release as specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 
by using the screening approach described in NUREG-1757, 
``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance,'' Volume 2. The 
Licensee used the radionuclide-specific derived concentration 
guideline levels (DCGLs), developed there by the NRC, which 
comply with the dose criterion in 10 CFR 20.1402. These DCGLs 
define the maximum amount of residual radioactivity on building 
surfaces, equipment, and materials, and in soils, that will 
satisfy the NRC requirements in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for 
unrestricted release. The Licensee's final status survey results 
were below these DCGLs and are in compliance with the As Low As 
Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) requirement of 10 CFR 20.1402. The 
NRC thus finds that the Licensee's final status survey results 
are acceptable.
 
Based on its review, the staff has determined that the affected 
environment and any environmental impacts associated with the 
proposed action are bounded by the impacts evaluated by the 
``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking 
on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-Licensed 
Nuclear Facilities'' (NUREG-1496) Volumes 1-3 (ML042310492, 
ML042320379, and ML042330385). The staff finds there were no 
significant environmental impacts from the use of radioactive 
material at the Facility. The NRC staff reviewed the docket file 
records and the final status survey report to identify any 
non-radiological hazards that may have impacted the environment 
surrounding the Facility. No such hazards or impacts to the 
environment were identified. The NRC has identified no other 
radiological or non- radiological activities in the area that 
could result in cumulative environmental impacts.
 
The NRC staff finds that the proposed release of the portion of 
the Facility described above for unrestricted use is in 
compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its review, the staff 
considered the impact of the residual radioactivity at the 
Facility and concluded that the proposed action will not have a 
significant effect on the quality of the human environment.
 
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action 
Due to the largely administrative nature of the proposed action, 
its environmental impacts are small. Therefore, the only 
alternative the staff considered is the no-action alternative, 
under which the staff would leave things as they are by simply 
denying the amendment request. This no-action alternative is not 
feasible because it conflicts with 10 CFR 30.36(d), requiring 
that decommissioning of byproduct material facilities be 
completed and approved by the NRC after licensed activities 
cease. The NRC's analysis of the Licensee's final status survey 
data confirmed that the ``Facility'' meets the requirements of 10 
CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted release. Additionally, denying the 
amendment request would result in no change in current 
environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed 
action and the no-action alternative are therefore similar, and 
the no-action alternative is accordingly not further considered.
 
Conclusion The NRC staff has concluded that the proposed action 
is consistent with the NRC's unrestricted release criteria 
specified in 10 CFR 20.1402. Because the proposed action will not 
significantly impact the quality of the human environment, the 
NRC staff concludes that the proposed action is the preferred 
alternative.
 
Agencies and Persons Consulted NRC provided a draft of this 
Environmental Assessment to the State of New Jersey, Department 
of Environmental Health for review on July 24, 2006. On July 27, 
2006, State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Health 
responded by letter. The State agreed with the conclusions of the 
EA, and otherwise had no comments.
 
The NRC staff has determined that the proposed action is of a 
procedural nature, and will not affect listed species or critical 
habitat. Therefore, no further consultation is required under 
Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. The NRC staff has also 
determined that the proposed action is not the type of activity 
that has the potential to cause effects on historic properties. 
Therefore, no further consultation is required under Section 106 
of the National Historic Preservation Act.
 
III. Finding of No Significant Impact The NRC staff has prepared 
this EA in support of the proposed action. On the basis of this 
EA, the NRC finds that there are no significant environmental 
impacts from the proposed action, and that preparation of an 
environmental impact statement is not warranted. Accordingly, the 
NRC has determined that a Finding of No Significant Impact is 
appropriate.
 
IV. Further Information Documents related to this action, 
including the application for license amendment and supporting 
documentation, are available electronically at the NRC's 
Electronic Reading Room at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can 
access the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System 
(ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public 
documents. The documents related to this action are listed below, 
along with their ADAMS accession numbers.
 
1. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;'' 2. 
Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;'' 3. Title 10, 
Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental Protection 
Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions;'' 4. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact 
Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for 
License Termination of NRC- Licensed Nuclear Facilities'' 5. SK 
Bio-Pharmaceutical R Center, Amendment Request Letter dated June 
29, 2006 [ML061880439]; 6. SK Bio-Pharmaceutical R Center, 
Additional Information Regarding License Amendment, Control 
Number 139082, letter dated July 17, 2006 [ML061990341].
 
 
[[Page 55225]] If you do not have access to ADAMS, or if there 
are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact 
the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. These 
documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint 
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR 
reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee.
 
Dated at Region 1, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia this 12th 
day of September 2006.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
James P. Dwyer, Chief, Commercial and R Branch, Division of 
Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I.
 
[FR Doc. 06-7898 Filed 9-20-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 21 UPI: UPI Energy Watch
     
United Press International - Energy - 

9/20/2006 3:57:00 PM -0400

 By ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU UPI Energy Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Annual oil conference in Iran
postponed -- again 

Industry experts and senior company officials from Europe, Asia
and the Middle East were expected to meet in Tehran for the 8th
Annual Iran Petrochemical Forum, but the gathering was
postponed, again, to May 2007. 

The meeting was first scheduled to take place in May, and was
delayed for October until it was postponed again. 

The reasons for the delays are unclear, but the current
political tension over Iran's nuclear enrichment program is
believed to have been a contributory factor. 

Another reason could be the result of a change in personnel at
Iran's state-owned National Petrochemical Co. after last year's
presidential election, the Financial Times reported. President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sought to reshuffle the management in key
government sectors with Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh leaving his job
as head of the NPC to lead the National Iranian Oil Refining and
Distribution Co. He was replaced by Asghar Ebrahimi-Asl, a
project manager at Petropars Oil and Gas. 

The Iran Petrochemical Forum enables NPC to give participants an
update on its plans, while providing participants with a visit
to some of its installations. 

-0- 

Gazprom eyes partnership with Malaysia's Petronas 

Russian state-controlled Gazprom said it wants to begin working
Malaysian state-owned Petronas on joint energy projects. 

The two sides are discussing signing a memorandum of
understanding, Gazprom's press service said Monday after a
meeting between Alexander Medvedev, deputy CEO of Gazprom, and
Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, vice president for Petronas' gas
business. 

The projects would entail developing multilateral cooperation in
the oil and gas sector based on the joint implementation of
projects in Russia, Malaysia and other countries. 

Gazprom and Malaysian energy officials discussed cooperation in
the exploration and development of oil and gas fields in Central
Asia; potential for partnership in the production and supply of
liquefied natural gas; and cooperation in projects to build
underground gas storage facilities, Gazprom said. 

Gazprom and Petronas are already working together in a
consortium for the development of the second and third phases of
the South Pars field in Iran. 

-0- 

State plans to sell off Rosneft 


Kremlin aide Igor Shuvalov said Sunday state-controlled Rosneft
would become "fully privatized" within the next three to 10
years by selling the company's shares through public equity
offerings, the Moscow Times reported. 

Other officials, meanwhile, maintained that the company would
remain under state control, contradicting Shuvalov's remarks. 

"Within three to 10 years (Rosneft) will become completely
privately owned," Shuvalov was quoted as saying by Interfax. 

Rosneft will become a "public company owned by portfolio and
strategic investors with stakes not larger than 10 percent
each," he said. "The nationalization story will turn into
complete privatization." 

Statements from Shuvalov, Russia's envoy to the Group of Eight,
seem to be at odds with the Kremlin's policy of boosting state
control of the oil industry. 

This summer, Rosneft held the country's largest ever initial
public offering, selling 15 percent of its stock for $10.6
billion with nearly half of the stock going to four foreign
major investors -- BP, Malaysia's Petronas, China's CNPC and an
unnamed buyer. 

-- 

Closing oil prices, Sept. 20, 3 p.m. London 

Brent crude oil: $59.79 

West Texas Intermediate crude oil: $60.76 

-- 

(Please send comments to AMihailescu@upi.com)

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
 22 [southnews] US threatened to bomb Pakistan 'back to stone age' after 9-11
 
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 18:12:02 -0500 (CDT)

X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu
X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY

The United States threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the stone age" in 
2001 unless it cooperated in the US-led war on terror, President Pervez 
Musharraf said in an interview.

US threatened to bomb Pakistan 'back to stone age' after 9-11: Musharraf

AFP  Friday September 22, 3:43 AM 	

The United States threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the stone age" in 
2001 unless it cooperated in the US-led war on terror, President Pervez 
Musharraf said in an interview.

Musharraf, whose support for the US-led invasion of Afghanistan was 
instrumental in the fall of the hardline Taliban regime after the 
September 11, 2001 attacks, said the threat came from former deputy 
secretary of state Richard Armitage.

The Pakistani leader said the comments were delivered to his 
intelligence director, according to selected transcripts of the 
interview with CBS television's "60 Minutes" investigative news 
programme due to be broadcast Sunday.

"The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, 'Be prepared to 
be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the stone age'," Musharraf said.

"I think it was a very rude remark," Musharraf says in the interview. 
"One has to think and take actions in the interests of the nation, and 
that's what I did."

Shortly after the September 11 attacks, Pakistan abandoned its support 
for the Taliban, which was sheltering Al-Qaeda leaders, and became a 
front-line ally in the US-led "war on terror."

Pakistan has arrested several senior Al-Qaeda members including Khalid 
Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of the 2001 attacks.

The South Asian country has also deployed around 80,000 troops on the 
rugged border with Afghanistan to hunt pro-Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked 
militants who sneaked into the area after fleeing the US-led invasion of 
Afghanistan.

Armitage's alleged threat also demanded that Pakistan turn over border 
posts and bases for the US military to use in the war in Afghanistan, 
which ended with the Taliban regime's collapse in late 2001.

Other "ludicrous" demands required Pakistan to suppress domestic 
expressions of support for militant attacks on US targets, according to 
the CBS, which produces 60 Minutes.

"If somebody's expressing views, we cannot curb the expression of 
views," it quoted Musharraf as saying.

In the interview, Musharraf also reveals an embarrassing episode in 
which former CIA director George Tenet confronted him in 2003 with proof 
that Pakistan's top nuclear scientist was passing secrets to Libya, Iran 
and North Korea.

Abdul Qadeer Khan, held as hero in Pakistan for helping to make the 
country a nuclear power, admitted giving away nuclear secrets in a 
televised confession in February 2004, exposing a global black market in 
nuclear technology.

"He (Tenet) took his briefcase out, passed me some papers. It was a 
centrifuge design with all its numbers and signatures of Pakistan. It 
was the most embarrassing moment," Musharraf says.

It was only then, he says, that he realised that not only had blueprints 
been leaked, but that centrifuges themselves -- a crucial technology 
needed to enrich uranium to weapons grade -- were being passed on, CBS said.

Musharraf denies that anyone in the government or military was aware of 
the leak.

He pardoned Khan the same month, but the ailing scientist has since 
lived under virtual house arrest in a leafy diplomatic sector in 
Islamabad and makes no public appearances.
____________________________________

132 countries agree on reforms in UN: Musharraf

  International News Network, Pakistan - 1 hour ago

NEW YORK: Pakistan is opposed to the increase in the strength of 
permanent members of UN Security Council as it is against the 
sovereignty and integrity of countries; however, it supports expansion 
of the non-permanent members.

In this connection, representatives of members states have extended 
their proposals and discussed the issue to struck consensus and 132 
countries have so far agreed on the reforms in the United Nations.

This was stated by President Pervez Musharraf at a joint Press Stakeout 
following the dinner co-hosted by him and Italian Prime Minister Romano 
Prodi at the Roosevelt hotel here on Wednesday night. The dinner was 
attended by foreign ministers of 50 countries, eight heads of states and 
representatives.

He said that all the representatives and heads of states have exchanged 
views on various proposals and have agreed to make consensus on reforms 
in the Security Council. "The representatives and secretaries of the 132 
countries will initiate talks soon to adopt a joint strategy," he added.

The Italian Prime Minister said that we want broad reforms in the United 
Nations and Security Council. "We will have to shun models and 
imagination and start meaningful dialogue and go towards the solution of 
issues," he added.

He said that we have to form working groups and launch talks process. He 
hoped that the consensus would not fail.

http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=102649

The archives of South News can be found at
http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/ 
*****************************************************************
 23 Sanctions Against UN Violating Nuclear Rules May Backfire, Russia Warns Un
 
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 20:00:50 -0400

SANCTIONS AGAINST COUNTRIES VIOLATING NUCLEAR RULES MAY BACKFIRE, RUSSIA WARNS UN
 
New York, Sep 21 2006  8:00PM
Calling for the “systematic strengthening” of nuclear non-proliferation 
measures, the Russian Federation also warned the United Nations 
General Assembly today that applying sanctions to violator 
countries “without calculating their consequences might bring unpredictable 
results.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov <"http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/61/pdfs/russian_federation-e.pdf">told 
the Assembly’s annual 
debate that it is “absolutely necessary to eliminate the loopholes 
in the non-proliferation regime, but this should be done through 
clear and non-discriminatory approaches without creating grounds 
for suspicions regarding [the] existence of some hidden agenda.”

Mr. Lavrov said Moscow was confident that practical solutions could 
be found to resolve non-proliferation issues in a “non-confrontational 
manner,” recognizing that countries are entitled to legitimate 
access to the benefits of peaceful atomic energy.

He cited President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to set up Multilateral 
Centres for Nuclear Fuel Cycle Services, similar ideas from 
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and like-minded proposals 
from United States President George W. Bush as examples of 
how to chart a way forward in disputes.

Mr. Lavrov also welcomed the “current purposeful steps in search 
of negotiated solutions” to the current international stand-off over 
Iran’s nuclear programme and the row over the announced withdrawal 
by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) from the 
Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

In his address the Russian Foreign Minister took up the broader issue 
of collective international action, saying the biggest challenges 
facing the world today highlight the need for countries to 
work together, through the UN and other bodies, to achieve solutions.

“An answer to global challenges and threats can only be found collectively,” 
he said.
 2006-09-21 00:00:00.000 


___________________

For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
To listen to news and in-depth programmes from UN Radio go to: http://radio.un.org/ 
_______________________________

To change your profile or unsubscribe go to:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/email/
*****************************************************************
 24 [NYTr] Musharraf Says US Threatened: Cooperate or Be Bombed
 
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 19:40:33 -0500 (CDT)

X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu
X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
AP via Yahoo - Sep 21, 2006
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060921/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_musharraf_threat

Pakistan leader says U.S. made threats

By BARRY SCHWEID
AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON - President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan says the United States
threatened to bomb his country back to the Stone Age after the 9-11 attacks
if he did not help America's war on terror.

Musharraf says the threat was delivered by Richard Armitage, then the
deputy secretary of state, to Musharraf's intelligence director, the
Pakistani leader told CBS-TV's 60 Minutes.

"The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, 'Be prepared to be
bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age,'" Musharraf said in the
interview to be shown Sunday on the CBS television network.

It was insulting, Musharraf said. "I think it was a very rude remark," he
told reporter Steve Kroft.

But, Musharraf said he reacted responsibly. "One has to think and take
actions in the interests of the nation and that is what I did," he said.

The White House and State Department declined to comment on the
conversation.

Armitage told CNN on Thursday that he never threatened to bomb Pakistan,
wouldn't say such a thing and didn't have the authority to do it. Armitage
said he did have a tough message for Pakistan, saying the Muslim nation was
either "with us or against us," according to CNN. Armitage said he didn't
know how his message was recounted so differently to Musharraf.

In a speech in January 2002, four months after the attacks on the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon, Musharraf gave a speech in which he clearly
came down on the side of reform at home and opposition to Islamic
fundamentalism.

Pakistan to this day is considered a close ally of the United States in the
struggle with militant groups. Sometimes, however, Pakistan appears
reluctant to go after Taliban, which controlled neighboring Afghanistan
until 2001 and has intensified its insurgency in the southern part of the
country in recent months.

He is scheduled to meet on Friday at the White House with President Bush and
then see Bush again next week in a three-way meeting with President Hamid
Karzai of Afghanistan.

Musharraf told 60 Minutes that Armitage's message was delivered with
demands that he turn over Pakistan's border posts and bases for the U.S.
military to use in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Some were
"ludicrous," such as a demand he suppress domestic expression of support
for terrorism against the United States.

"If somebody is expressing views, we cannot curb the expression of views,"
Musharraf said.

Copyright ) 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
       
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*****************************************************************
 25 Pakistan Link: Pakistan elected to IAEA Board of Governors 

Islamabad: Pakistan has been elected to the Board of Governors
of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for a two-year
term. 

The election took place at the international watchdog's recent
annual general meeting at Vienna. 

Chairman, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Anwar Ali
will represent Pakistan on the IAEA Board of Governors during
the 2006-2008 term. 

Pakistan has previously served on the IAEA board for fifteen
terms. 

The election was projected by the Pakistan official media as an
endorsement by the international community of the "peaceful"
nuclear programme being pursued by it. 

The board is the executive organ of the agency. It considers all
major questions including applications for membership and the
agency's programme of work. 

It approves the agency's annual report and the budget under its
own authority. The board also approves all safeguards
agreements, important projects, safety standards and technical
assistance grants to member states. 
Courtesy Geo 
  
*****************************************************************
 26 Guardian Unlimited: Lib Dems reject call for Trident vote delay
 
Hélène Mulholland

Thursday September 21, 2006 Guardian Unlimited               

Liberal Democrats today rejected calls for the parliamentary vote 
on Trident to be delayed until they form their own policy next 
spring. 

Norman Baker, a former environment frontbench spokesman, led 
calls for ministers to ensure a Commons vote on the future of the 
nuclear warheads be held after the Lib Dem spring conference in 
Harrogate next year.

The party's federal policy committee has held a consultation on 
the issue but will not be ready to form a full policy for another 
six months.

"I think it's appalling and irresponsible for the government to 
try to force it through with haste when there's not been proper 
consultation for the three parties," Mr Baker told delegates 
today.

"I think we need to argue with the government that decisions are
not needed for the immediate future."

But Lord Garden, the party's defence spokesman in the Lords,
said: "I am a bit dubious that the government will organise its
policy making around the dates of the Liberal Democrat spring
conference."

The move was defeated in the Brighton conference hall, leaving
the party without a policy agreed by members if ministers call a
vote before March.

Earlier this week the Lib Dem leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, said
he did not have "sufficient evidence to make a judgment at this
stage" but predicted a period of inaction because Tony Blair
would not seek to pursue a divisive vote on a decision in his
last year as prime minister.

While the Liberal Democrats deliberate their position, Labour's
manifesto commitment to replacing Trident looks set to continue
if Gordon Brown takes over when Tony Blair stands down.

Mr Brown enraged critics over the summer by highlighting his
personal commitment to replacing Trident. 

[UP] 

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 27 AFP: Arab nations seek condemnation of Israel's nuclear activities -
    
 Thu Sep 21, 2:58 PM ET 		 	 

VIENNA (AFP) - Arab nations asked the UN's atomic energy 
watchdog, the IAEA, to adopt a resolution condemning Israel" /> 
's nuclear activities -- even as the UN pressured Iran" /> on the 
same issue in New York. 

's representative at the IAEA, Ibrahim Othman, one of the main 
sponsors of the resolution targeting Israel, told the agency's 
141 members that Israel's "criminal aggression against Lebanon 
and Palestine" required that a formal text be adopted. 

"It is true that the conflict in Lebanon complicated things, but 
we can't hope that they will pull back as has happened in the 
past," another Western diplomat said of the proposed resolution. 

Negotiations were underway on Wednesday on the sidelines of 
official IAEA meetings in Vienna, he said. 

The presence of this item on the agenda would put Western powers 
in an awkward position by forcing them to take a position on 
Israel's nuclear activities. 

The issue rarely comes up at the IAEA because Israel -- unlike 
Iran -- is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation 
Treaty. 

The Jewish state refuses to acknowledge or deny that it
possesses nuclear arms, but most experts agree that it has at
least 200 atom bombs at the ready. 

On Wednesday Israel's representative at the IAEA, Gideon Frank,
made it clear -- though without mentioning Iran by name -- that
his country would not "remain indifferent" to Tehran's alleged
nuclear arms programme, whose existence "seriously compromises
the stability of the region" and poses "an existential threat"
for Israel. 

At the same time, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said
during the UN General Assembly in New York that the
international community must face up to the "rising danger"
posed by Tehran. 

World powers have given Iran until early October to respond to
an offer to negotiate the cessation of their uranium enrichment
activities or face sanctions, according to diplomats. 

But the Arab nations "are tired of double standards," with Iran
-- which claims that its nuclear programme is strictly for
generating electricity only -- threatened with sanctions, while
no mention is made of Israel, a Middle Eastern diplomat in
Vienna said. 

"We can count on a marathon session Friday with a flurry of
amendments and separate votes," the first Western diplomat said,
noting that the resolution could still pass even if Western
nations abstain. 

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 28 IAEA: IAEA Bulletin Volume 48, No. 1
 
+ [IAEA.ORG :: Atoms for Peace] 

Visions for Security
 
Today, the road to security is a cross-cutting interchange of
paths and approaches. The IAEA travels these paths everyday
through its global reach. In this edition of the IAEA Bulletin,
contributors offer their views on ways to move ahead. They don't
always agree on which way to go, but they do agree on the
urgency of going forward. 	 	
Nuclear Security's Global Reach 
[Nuclear Security] 

An IAEA Bulletin update on where the IAEA's work is heading.
 Read more »--> 
  + PDF 
	 
From High to Low: Minimizing the Use of Highly Enriched Uranium
 	 [HEU] 


Pablo Adelfang and Ira Goldman highlight the steps the IAEA is
taking to help to reduce the use of high-risk nuclear fuel at
the world's research reactors. 
Read more »--> 
  + PDF 

Securing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: What Next?
 	[HEU]  

Sergey Ruchkin and V.Y. Loginov examine approaches for
controlling sensitive nuclear technologies.
 Read more »--> 
  + PDF 

Talking about Terrorism: Q&A with Jessica Stern
 	 [RTG] 

A terrorism expert shares her perspectives on national and
international threats and what she learned sitting across the
table from terrorists.
 Read more »--> 
  + PDF 
 
Remote Control: Decommissioning RTGs
 	[RTG]  

Taking old radiation sources out of service requires teamwork,
reports Norway's Malgorzata Sneve.
 Read more »--> 
  + PDF 

A Treaty's Testing Times
 	[RTG]  


The Treaty turns ten. Ola Dahlman reviews the record and
outlines the challenges for the world's nuclear-test-ban-treaty.
 Read more »--> 
  + PDF 

Nuclear Re-Think
 	[RTG]  

Patrick Moore, the co-founder of Greenpeace, says he changed his
mind about nuclear power myths a long-time ago.
 Read more »--> 
  + PDF 

[bulletin logo] 
  + CONTENTS 
  + Editorial Comment 
  + 
  + IAEA Beginnings 
  + 1956: The World the Way it Was 
  + When the IAEA was Born 
  + 
  + Security's Cross-Cutting World 
  + Nuclear Security's Global Reach 
  + How The World Can Combat Nuclear Terrorism 
  + From High to Low: Minimizing the Use of Highly Enriched
Uranium 
  + Assurances of Nuclear Supply & Non-Proliferation; New
Approaches 
  + Securing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: What Next? 
  + Training Nuclear Watchdogs: Safeguards and Nuclear Fuel
Cycle 
  + G-8 Leaders Tackle Global Security 
  + Talking About Terrorism; Q&A with Jessica Stern 
  + What We Need To Know ...And When 
  + Remote Control: Decommissioning RTGs 
  + Wake Up Call: Sixty Ways to Combat WMD 
  + Challenges to Effective WMD Verification 
  + A Treaty's Testing Times 
  + 
  + Nuclear Contributions & Challenges 
  + Nuclear Re-Think 
  + A Prince's Tribute...and Trial 
  + Early Warning: Avian Flu & Nuclear Science 
  + Finding Peace From Hiroshima 
  + Turning Brain Drain into Brain Circulation 
  + The House That Abdus Built: The ICTP in Trieste Copyright
2003-2004, International Atomic Energy Agency, P.O. Box 100,
Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria 
Telephone (+431) 2600-0; Facsimile (+431) 2600-7; E-mail: 
*****************************************************************
 29 IAEA: Monaco’s Prince Albert Opens IAEA Environment Exhibit
 
 [IAEA.ORG :: Atoms for Peace] 

Monaco´s Prince Albert Opens IAEA Environment Exhibit
 
Prince Promotes Marine Environment, Backs PACT Health Initiative
 
Staff Report
 19 September 2006 [Prince Albert of Monaco] 
HSH Prince Albert of Monaco informally briefs the press on
environmental initiatives during the IAEA´s 50th General
Conference. (Photo: D. Calma/IAEA) 
  + Story Resources 
  + Prince Albert´s Statement 
  + IAEA Special Exhibit: Air, Earth, Oceans 
  + 
  + 
  + A Prince´s Tribute and Trial, IAEA Bulletin [pdf] 
  + 

Prince Albert II of Monaco today underscored his commitment to
protecting the earth´s environment at the opening of a special
exhibit at the IAEA General Conference in Vienna. The Prince
opened the event - entitled "Nuclear Technologies for the
Environment: Protecting Air, Earth and Oceans" - with IAEA
Director General Mohamed ElBaradei. 

"The oceans and the seas are key elements in the protection of
what is definitely beginning to be perceived as international
public goods," Prince Albert said to a gathering of General
Conference delegates and dignitaries. "Today, more than ever,
the sea is regarded as a source of wealth for humans - as an
essential sanctuary - and contains evidence of our Earth´s past.
It is a precious resource for humankind’s future." 

Monaco has a long history in the investigation of the marine
environment. Prince Albert II´s great great grandfather, Prince
Albert I, was a pioneer in oceanographic exploration, an
organizer of European oceanographic research and founder of
several international organizations including the Musée
Océanographique. Recently, Prince Albert II, in conjunction with
IAEA marine scientists, traced his great great grandfather´s
steps as he explored the Arctic region – looking for clues to
unlock the mysteries of climate change. 

After the exhibit opening, the Prince briefed members of the
international press corps and met with Dr. ElBaradei, expressing
appreciation for the IAEA-Monaco partnership dedicated to
protecting the marine environment. "We have always had our eyes,
ears and soul turned to the Mediterranean," the Prince said. 

A New PACT Partner 

The Prince also offered his commitment to the IAEA´s Program of
Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT). 

By leveraging the Principality´s expertise in the use of nuclear
energy in the medical field, "we will support the efforts of the
IAEA in its fight against the great threats of our era," the
Prince pledged. Currently, the Principality is exploring
meaningful ways in which to contribute to this program – among
those efforts could be training radiologists and radiotherapy
technicians at the Princess Grace Hospital in Monaco as well as
program funding. 

Prince Albert II Foundation 

Trading in gas guzzlers for alternative energy vehicles stands
among the initiatives the Principality is promoting at home in
order to encourage greater individual responsibility for the
environment. "We all have a part to play to lessen our impact on
the environment and, specifically, to lesson the large amounts
of CO2 that we release into the atmosphere." 

To this end, in June 2006, Prince Albert launched a new
foundation for protection of the environment. The Albert II
Foundation "will be a permanent source of dynamic and innovative
actions for environmental protection and sustainable
environment", the Prince said. 

The Foundation will focus on three areas: climate change,
biodiversity, and access to drinking water. 

Prince Albert said, "Monaco may not be the biggest country in
the world, but I am determined to show it can be among the most
innovative in its approaches to the environment." 

Background: The IAEA established its Marine Environment
Laboratory in 1961 on the shores of the Principality of Monaco.
The Laboratory – the first purpose-built facilities dedicated to
marine research - launched a new era in the investigation of the
marine environment. Scientists there focus on using radioactive
and stable isotopes as tracers to better understand processes in
the oceans and seas, addressing pollution problems and promoting
wide international cooperation. Copyright ©, International
Atomic Energy Agency, P.O. Box 100, Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400
Vienna, Austria 
Telephone (+431) 2600-0; Facsimilie (+431) 2600-7; E-mail: 
*****************************************************************
 30 IAEA: Nuclear Threat Initiative Commits $50 Million to Create IAEA Nuclear Fuel Bank
 
 [IAEA.ORG :: Atoms for Peace] 

Joint NTI/IAEA Press Release 2006/16

 19 September 2006 | The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) will
contribute $50 million to the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) to help create a low-enriched uranium stockpile to
support nations that make the sovereign choice not to build
indigenous nuclear fuel cycle capabilities, NTI Co-Chairman Sam
Nunn announced today in Vienna, Austria. The announcement was
made in a speech at the IAEA Special Event on Assurances of
Supply and Non-Proliferation as part of the Agency´s 50th
General Conference.

"This generous NTI pledge will jump start the nuclear fuel bank
initiative," IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said. "It
will provide urgent impetus to our efforts to establish
mechanisms for non-discriminatory, non-political assurances of
supply of fuel for nuclear power plants."

In his speech, Nunn said, "A country´s decision to rely on
imported fuel, rather than to develop an indigenous enrichment
capacity, may pivot on one point: whether or not there is a
mechanism that guarantees an assured international supply of
nuclear fuel on a non-discriminatory, non-political basis to
states that are meeting their non-proliferation obligations. We
believe that such a mechanism can be achieved, and that we must
take urgent, practical steps to do so."

NTI´s contribution is contingent on two conditions, provided
they are both met within the next two years:


  1. that the IAEA takes the necessary actions to approve
establishment of this reserve; and 


  2. that one or more member states contribute an additional
$100 million in funding or an equivalent value of low enriched
uranium to jump-start the reserve.

Every other element of the arrangement - its structure, its
location, the conditions for access - would be up to the IAEA
and its member states to decide. Warren Buffett, one of NTI´s
key advisors, is financially backing and enabling this NTI
commitment.

"This pledge is an investment in a safer world," Buffett said.
"The concept of a backup fuel reserve has been discussed for
many years. Its creation is inherently a governmental
responsibility, but I hope that this pledge of funds will
support governments in taking action to get this concept off the
ground."
 
The proposal comes at a time when more nations are seeking
nuclear energy to meet their development needs and are weighing
available options to determine what will be the most secure and
most economical way to ensure a reliable supply of nuclear fuel.
As more nations seek nuclear energy, concerns have been raised
about the nuclear fuel cycle. The report of the UN High Level
Panel on Threats said that "...the proliferation risks from the
enrichment of uranium and from the reprocessing of spent fuel
are great and increasing."

Nunn said, "We envision that this stockpile will be available as
a last-resort fuel reserve for nations that have made the
sovereign choice to develop their nuclear energy based on
foreign sources of fuel supply services—and therefore have no
indigenous enrichment facilities. The goal of this proposed
initiative is to help make fuel supplies from the international
market more secure by offering customer states, that are in full
compliance with their nonproliferation obligations, reliable
access to a nuclear fuel reserve under impartial IAEA control
should their supply arrangements be disrupted. In so doing, we
hope to make a state’s voluntary choice to rely on this market
more secure."

Nunn expressed concern that "cooperation in nuclear security is
being sorely tested today by mounting tensions over the three
areas of consensus and commitment that created the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and have held it together for
nearly 40 years." Those three areas are:


  1. The commitment of nuclear weapons states to make progress
toward nuclear disarmament.


  2. The commitment of non-nuclear weapons states to forego
nuclear weapons.


  3. The commitment of all nations to ensure NPT compliant
member states access to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Nunn explained that "none of these commitments exist in
isolation. They are mutually dependent and mutually reinforcing.
We must make continuous progress in all three areas or we will
destroy the mutual trust that is essential for our survival. We
are in a race between cooperation and catastrophe and, at this
moment, the outcome is unclear."

He said that while the idea for a fuel reserve is not new,
"there has been discussion of it, in some form, for several
decades and it is provided for in the Agency´s statute. NTI´s
commitment is intended to help move the discussion from words to
deeds in this vital area of nuclear cooperation. Let me be
clear: our proposal is distinct from, independent of, but
consistent with other pending proposals. We strongly believe
that our concept is essential whether or not any of the other
proposals are adopted. I hope that we can together create a
system of fuel assurances that can provide states confidence
that their choice to rely on imported fuel supply will be
secure, economical and in their best interest."

Nunn concluded, "We are all here at this conference with a high
purpose. We must find new and better answers to the imperative
of the nuclear age: how to maximize the value of nuclear power
and minimize proliferation dangers. In truth, this challenge is
the responsibility of governments, but after decades of debate
on this issue, action remains elusive. We believe these dangers
are urgent and that is why we at NTI are stepping forward. It is
now up to governments to act, and to act decisively. We are well
past the time when we can take satisfaction with a step in the
right direction. A gazelle running from a cheetah is taking
steps in the right direction. It is no longer just a question of
direction; it´s a matter of speed."

About NTI

NTI is a charitable organization dedicated to reducing the
threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. The
Initiative is governed by an international board of directors
with members from China, France, India, Japan, Jordan, Pakistan,
Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. It is
a place where leaders with different perspectives and experience
come together to find common ground and act on a common vision
of global security.

From its inception, NTI has sought to lead by example and foster
increased efforts by governments to counter nuclear dangers.
NTI´s goal is to reduce toward zero the chance that any nuclear,
biological, or chemical weapon will ever be used anywhere,
either by intent or accident.

NTI has been a strong supporter of the work and mission of the
IAEA. In September 2001, NTI made an initial contribution to
help launch the Agency´s Nuclear Security Fund. Since that time,
NTI has worked with the IAEA to support several other critical
projects in assisting member states secure nuclear materials and
in building the Agency´s institutional capacity to continue and
accelerate this work into the future.

The full text of Senator Nunn´s speech can be found at .


NTI´s International Board Members Express Support for NTI/IAEA
Fuel Bank Proposal

"With growing concerns about volatile oil-prices, interest in
nuclear electricity has experienced a renaissance. One advantage
of civil nuclear energy production is that fuel for the
reactors, low-priced low-enriched uranium (LEU), is available on
the world market in abundancy. However, some countries, like
Iran, argue that delivery-safety of LEU is not sufficiently
guaranteed and that they therefore must develop a national
capacity of enrichment of uranium.

"Considering the market price of LEU, the building and operating
a national facility for enrichment would be abnormally
expensive. Furthermore, new or restarted nuclear enrichment
facilities would put serious strain on the international joint
efforts to prevent the spreading of nuclear weapons.

"With its proposals of an IAEA-owned and operated LEU fuel
reserve, NTI offers a workable solution for a system of
guaranteed, non-discriminatory, reasonably prized deliveries of
reactor fuel, without negative impact on the all-important
international Nuclear Non-proliferation Regime.

"NTI´s offer to foot a substantial part of the bill for
establishing a fuel reserve is an unprecedented contribution
both to civil nuclear energy cooperation and development and to
international security." -- Ambassador Rolf Ekéus Chairman,
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)


"The exhaustion of the world´s fossil fuel resources in the next
two to three decades is likely to boost nuclear power capacity
worldwide. If the world is to fulfill its energy requirements
without risking a wide dissemination of nuclear weapons-usable
technologies, such as enrichment and reprocessing, placing these
facilities under UN/IAEA direct ownership is the way of the
future.

"NTI´s proposal to organize a world nuclear fuel bank is
designed to respond to a nation´s legitimate right to develop
peaceful nuclear energy, while avoiding proliferation risks. It
is high time that major nuclear supplier countries organize such
a bank by providing financial or material (low enriched uranium)
resources to that effect.

"NTI offers a first step, which hopefully will be imitated by
key nuclear nations." -- Pierre Lellouche, French National
Assembly


"Now is the time for the IAEA and its member states to translate
words into deeds and finally bring this concept—originally
conceived as part of the IAEA´s creation five decades ago—into
reality." -- Dr. William Perry, Stanford University, 19th U.S.
Secretary of Defense

"Experts from all over the world who contributed to Universal
Compliance, the Carnegie Endowment´s sweeping review of global
non-proliferation, agreed that the best way to meet countries´
needs for reliable fuel supply while reducing proliferation
risks is through an internationally guaranteed fuel reserve
managed by the IAEA.

"NTI´s proposal takes a giant step toward making that a reality.
There are few - if any - higher priorities for making the world
a much safer place." -- Dr. Jessica T. Mathews President,
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

"An IAEA-owned and operated LEU fuel reserve will give nations
confidence to pursue nuclear power without the risks and expense
of building their own nuclear enrichment facilities. The
international, voluntary and non-discriminatory character of
NTI´s proposed IAEA reserve is a necessary complement to other
fuel assurance mechanisms. Now is the time to bring this concept
into reality." -- Professor Fujia Yang Academician, Chinese
Academy of Sciences


"This is a very bold and much needed initiative that has the
potential of changing the paradigm in the international arena
for generations to come. The world will be a safer place because
of the IAEA´s leadership role and vision." -- General Eugene E.
Habiger, United States Air Force (Ret.), Former Commander in
Chief, U.S. Strategic Command

"This initiative to help the IAEA become an independent, neutral
and impartial supplier of fuel will do a great deal to help
countries with their energy needs." -- Dr. Nafis Sadik Special
Adviser to the UN Secretary-General


Press Contacts
 

NTI Contact: 

Brooke Anderson
 Vienna
 

IAEA Contact: 

Melissa Fleming
 [43-1] 2600-21275
 mailto:m.fleming@iaea.org 
About the IAEA


The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) serves as the
world's foremost intergovernmental forum for scientific and
technical co-operation in the peaceful use of nuclear
technology. Established as an autonomous organization under the
United Nations (UN) in 1957, the IAEA carries out programmes to
maximize the useful contribution of nuclear technology to
society while verifying its peaceful use. 

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit the Press
Section of the IAEA's website
(http://www.iaea.org/Resources/Journalists/), or call the IAEA's
Division of Public Information at (431) 2600-21270. 
Copyright ©, International Atomic Energy Agency, P.O. Box 100,
Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria 
Telephone (+431) 2600-0; Facsimilie (+431) 2600-7; E-mail: 
*****************************************************************
 31 NRC: NRC to Hold Two Public Meetings September 27 in Piketon, Ohio
 
News Release - Region II - 2006-03 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY 
COMMISSION 

Office of Public Affairs, Region II No. II-06-038                         
September 21, 2006 CONTACT:     Ken Clark (404) 562-4416 Roger D. 
Hannah (404) 562-4417     E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov  
  

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold two public
meetings at Piketon, Ohio, on September 27 to discuss results of
the agencys most recent Licensee Performance Review of the
United States Enrichment Corporations Portsmouth Gaseous
Diffusion Plant and to discuss the NRC inspection plan for the
upcoming American Centrifuge Lead Cascade Facility being built
by USEC, Inc., at the same site. 

The meetings will begin at 7:00 p.m. (EST) at the Ohio State
University South Centers Auditorium, located at 1864 Shyville
Road in Piketon. The NRC staff will discuss with USEC officials
the results of the agencys review of safety performance at the
plant for a period from August 8, 2004, to July 1, 2006. The
discussion will include licensee regulatory performance in the
areas of Safety Operations, Radiological Controls, Facility
Support and Licensing. 

The meting will be open to observation by interested members of
the public, and NRC officials will be available to answer
questions prior to its conclusion. 

The NRC will conduct a second public meeting immediately
following the licensee performance review, at approximately 8:00
p.m. (EST) to discuss NRC regulation of the American Centrifuge
Lead Cascade facility, being built by USEC, Inc., at the
Portsmouth plant site. The NRC staff will discuss the agencys
inspection program for the facility and will be available to
answer questions from the public prior to the meetings
conclusion. 

The Lead Cascade project is a test and demonstration facility
designed to provide information on new American Centrifuge
uranium enrichment technology. 


  
-----------------------------------------------------------------


NRC news releases are available through a free list serve
subscription at the following Web address:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC
homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail
notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are
posted to NRC's Web site.   

  



  


 	Last revised Thursday, September 21, 2006 	   
*****************************************************************
 32  Palo Verde nuclear reactor is shut down | 

www.azstarnet.com Â®
 
The Associated Press Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.21.2006

PHOENIX â€” One of the three reactors at the nation's largest 
nuclear power plant was shut down Tuesday because of a recurring 
problem with pressurizer heaters and will be out of service for 
at least one week, officials said. 

"We need to know what is the root cause of the problems with 
these heaters," said Jim McDonald, a spokesman for Arizona Public 
Service Co., which operates the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating 
Station outside Phoenix for a consortium of utility companies in 
four states. 

McDonald said Unit 1 has 36 pressurizer heaters, five have failed 
during the past two months, and 23 of the heaters need to be 
functioning properly for the unit to be in operation. 

A pressurizer heater is a device that maintains proper pressure 
in the reactor coolant system, an APS official said. "We 
evaluated whether we could find out the problem with the unit 
still on-line and decided it would be best to take it off-line 
for at least a week," McDonald said. 

"Power supply is
not an issue now." 

The 1,243 megawatt Unit 1 creates enough electricity at peak 
production to supply power to more than 300,000 homes. Palo 
Verde, in Wintersburg, some 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix, 
has been plagued by outages and equipment problems the past two 
years. The plant supplies electricity to about 4 million 
customers in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California.                                                                                      
<img

 DiscussCopyright Â© 2006Go Back       
*****************************************************************
 33 Reuters: NRC to review Southern Vogtle site for new reactor

Friday September 22, 2:38 AM
 
 NEW YORK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission has accepted Southern Co.'s Early Site Permit
application for a new reactor at the Vogtle nuclear power plant
in Georgia, the NRC said in a release. 

Accepting the application does not mean the NRC will allow
Southern to build a new reactor at the site, but rather that the
NRC staff has determined the application contains sufficient
information for the agency to start its review. 

Southern has said it expects the NRC to issue an Early Site
Permit in 2009. 

If the company decides to build a new reactor at Vogtle,
Southern has said it would build a Westinghouse AP1000 reactor. 

Westinghouse is a subsidiary of British nuclear company BNFL.
BNFL has agreed to sell Westinghouse to Japanese electronic
company Toshiba Corp. . 

The Early Site Permit process allows an applicant to address
site-related issues, such as environmental impacts, for possible
future construction and operation of a nuclear power plant at
the site. 

If the NRC approves the request, Southern's Southern Nuclear
Operating Co. subsidiary could use the permit at any time for up
to 20 years as part of an application to construct one or more
nuclear reactors at the site. 

Southern would still need to file an application to construct
and operate any reactor. 

Southern has said it expects to file for a construction and
operating license in the spring of 2008 which would beat the
deadline to qualify for a federal production tax credit. 

About a dozen energy companies are developing plans to build new
nuclear reactors. The first new reactors could enter service as
early as 2014-2015, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute,
an industry trade group. 

The 2,301-MW Vogtle station is located in Waynesboro in Burke
County, about 105 miles southwest of Columbia, South Carolina.
There are currently two units at the station -- the 1,152-MW
Unit 1 and the 1,149-MW Unit 2 -- which entered service in 1987
and 1989, respectively. 

Southern owns and operates more than 40,000 MW of generating
capacity, markets energy commodities, and transmits and
distributes electricity to more than 4 million customers in
Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.           <img

Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 34 newsobserver.com | Groups: Nuclear plant is unsafe
 
Thursday, September 21, 2006

Raleigh · Durham · Cary · Chapel Hill   

Wade Rawlins, Staff Writer 

Five public interest groups are asking the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission to suspend the operating license of Progress Energy's 
Shearon Harris plant or levy hefty fines until the plant fixes 
longstanding flaws in fire safety systems.

A petition -- filed Wednesday by the N.C. Waste Awareness and
Reduction Network, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the
Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and two other groups
-- contends that the violations make the plant unsafe. 

The groups demand that regulators take an emergency action -- 
either shut down the plant or fine it $130,000 a day per 
violation.

Some of the fire safety violations date to the early 1990s and
are industry-wide issues. The groups contend that Progress
Energy has relied indefinitely on compensatory measures such as
having personnel assigned to look for fires, rather than
correcting the problems.

"Progress Energy has known of the fire protection violations
since at least 1992," said Jim Warren, executive director of
N.C. WARN, based in Durham. "It obviously has made a business
decision to not correct them."

Officials at Progress Energy and the NRC said Shearon Harris has
taken temporary measures to ensure the plant is safe. A fire
broke out at the plant in 1989, shutting it down for two weeks,
followed by a planned outage.

Currently, Progress has assigned personnel to patrol the plant
looking for fires, constructed barriers and beefed up some
inadequate insulation. Progress has until 2015 to correct fire
safety problems at its plants under an agreement with the NRC
and plans to make Harris a priority, a spokesman said.

Fire is a concern at nuclear plants. It can interfere with a
quick shutdown and keep operators from controlling hundreds of
cooling system components that prevent fuel in the reactor core
from overheating and causing a meltdown.

Nuclear plants are required to have multiple backup fire
protection methods to keep fires from damaging safety systems.
They include fire barriers such as insulation, fire detection
systems and sprinklers.

"We are in compliance with fire safety regulations right now,"
said Julie Hans, a spokeswoman for Progress Energy. "We are
using compensatory measures, but those measures bring us into
compliance. We have been addressing the problem."

Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
said Shearon Harris was not in compliance with all fire safety
regulations.

"There are some areas where they are not meeting the current
regulations," Hannah said. "But they are meeting the safety
standard that we expect them to adhere to."

The NRC first will decide whether to accept the groups' petition
for review. If it does, then it typically takes six months to
act. NRC officials declined to comment on the petition, saying
they hadn't seen it.

"They're not new issues," said Dave Lochbaum, a nuclear safety
engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Part of the
feeling is that without a petition, they are never going to be
resolved. The petition will hopefully serve as a way to get them
done sooner rather than later, to replace the I.O.U.'s with
action."

Shearon Harris is one of the first nuclear plants to start
changing to new fire safety standards, endorsed by the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, based on risk of fire. Utilities will
analyze the risk of fire in parts of the plant and make changes
where needed for fire protection. It also may allow utility
officials to avoid spending money to correct fire safety
violations in some areas, if they can make a case that the risk
of fire is low.

"Right now, what is required by the NRC is a cookie-cutter
approach," Hans said. "The same fire protection standard exists
in every part of the plant, no matter the risk of fire in that
location."

Hans said that Progress Energy had until 2015 to correct fire
safety issues at all its plants, and it planned to make
modifications at Harris first. She said the company had spent
$13 million in recent years making changes.

The watchdog groups criticized the approach, saying it allowed
more years of delay under a different regulatory guise.

The filing might be a prelude to a broader legal challenge by
the groups to Progress Energy's plans to seek a 20-year
extension of its operating license. The Harris plant, about 25
miles southwest of Raleigh in southern Wake County, has been in
commercial operation since 1987. Staff writer Wade Rawlins can
be reached at 829-4528 or wrawlins@newsobserver.com.   

        		 
 © Copyright 2006, The News & Observer Publishing Company
A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company <img
*****************************************************************
 35 newsobserver.com: Repair under way at Harris plant
 
Thursday, September 21, 2006

Raleigh · Durham · Cary · Chapel Hill   

  
By John Murawski, Staff Writer Progress Energy is repairing a
malfunctioning piece of monitoring equipment that caused the
Shearon Harris nuclear plant to shut down automatically Tuesday
morning.

The nuclear reactor, about 25 miles southwest of Raleigh, shut
down after the unexplained failure of a “relay” — a device that
monitors electricity produced by the plant’s generator, Progress
Energy spokeswoman Julie Hans said this morning.

The shutdown was traced to the relay device Wednesday night,
more than 24 hours after the plant tripped.

Nuclear plants are designed to shut down automatically during
equipment malfunctions. Tuesday’s shutdown was the first
automatic shutdown at Shearon Harris since 2004; that shutdown
lasted 14 days.

The relay device monitors voltage and current in the electricity
produced by the plant. If the relay device detects a problem, or
if the device fails, the nuclear reactor shuts down to allow
plant operators to make adjustments or repairs.

Relay devices are standard equipment on generators at all types
of power plants — whether fueled by coal, natural gas or uranium.
Shearon Harris officials don’t know yet why the monitoring
device failed.

Hans said that the Harris reactor may be restarted Friday
morning. It will be ramped up slowly and could start feeding
electricity to customers this weekend. Staff writer John
Murawski can be reached at 829-8932 or murawski@newsobserver.com
  
 © Copyright 2006, The News & Observer Publishing Company
*****************************************************************
 36 BBC: Scotland 'may not need nuclear'
 
Last Updated: Thursday, 21 September 2006
 
[power station]                                 

Mr McConnell wants the nuclear waste issue to be cleaned up                                                            

Scotland may not need new nuclear power stations if it achieves a 
big increase in green energy, according to First Minister Jack 
McConnell. 

He made the claim under fresh pressure to declare his views on 
the issue. 

Mr McConnell repeated his long-standing line that there could be 
no new nuclear stations until the issue of waste was resolved. 

SNP deputy leader and Holyrood group leader Nicola Sturgeon 
accused him of "sitting on the fence". 

Mr McConnell made the comments during First Minister's Questions. 

He argued that even if there were to be no new nuclear stations, 
there would still be waste from existing sites. 

Mr McConnell said: "I suspect we have the capacity in Scotland to 
deliver the energy needs that we have from a massive increase in 
renewable sources." 

Nuclear stations 

He added: "Given the importance of energy supplies for domestic 
households and businesses in Scotland, it would be silly of us at 
this stage to forever rule out any option." 

There are no current applications for new nuclear stations. 

Ms Sturgeon was challenged to say whether SNP plans for 
independence meant that waste stored in north-west England would 
have to be returned to Scotland. 

She said Nicol Stephen, the deputy first minister, had said 
"categorically" that no new nuclear stations were needed. 

Ms Sturgeon said: "What possible reason can there be for him [Mr 
McConnell] not giving a very clear view on new nuclear stations?" 

Ms Sturgeon said the final recommendations of an expert committee 
on radioactive waste management were published two months ago.                                                      
*****************************************************************
 37 RIA Novosti: Russia has outgrown PSA

Opinion &analysis - 

21/ 09/ 2006

MOSCOW. (Igor Tomberg for RIA Novosti) - A Russian environment
official has said recently that inspections of the large
Sakhalin 2 energy project are to continue. 

"We have not checked the stream flows and outside sea areas
yet," said Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the Federal Service for
the Oversight of Natural Resources. "Based on preliminary
information, these checks can prove that the suspension of the
project had been justified. We have the results of a study done
by the Russian Academy of Sciences and reports of public
organizations and environmentalists." 

In recent weeks, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch/Shell, which are
involved in multibillion energy projects in Russia, have been
complaining about pressure from Russian regulators. The General
Prosecutor's Office has backed the service's complaint against
the state environmental expert examination of the Sakhalin 2
project, operated by Sakhalin Energy. Prosecutors said that the
Natural Resources Ministry's resolution endorsing the results of
the expert examination had to be abolished. On September 18, the
ministry annulled the examination results of the second stage of
the project. This means that work in the licensed offshore areas
has to be suspended at least until new examination results are
announced. This will lead to the project's failure to meet the
deadlines and to lawsuits from buyers of contracted gas. 

ExxonMobil also has numerous problems with the Russian
authorities related to its Sakhalin 1 project. On September 18,
the Far Eastern Service for Ecological, Technological and
Nuclear Supervision ordered Exxon Neftegas to suspend loading
oil in the pipeline, which goes to an export terminal at the
De-Kastri port across the Khabarovsk Territory, due to its
failure to carry out all the necessary environmental
precautions. 

Earlier, the Russian authorities turned down Exxon's request to
increase its development license. The U.S. company wanted to
expand the borders of the Chaivo field, having discovered
additional oil reserves estimated at 75 million tons. But under
the law on natural resources, a field of this scale is viewed as
a strategic one. 

Regulators have become more active, as the Russian government
seems to be dissatisfied with the terms of product-sharing
agreements under which energy projects are being developed. One
of the main reasons is said to be the misbalance in the PSA
costs and profits. According to the Industry and Energy
Ministry, aggregate costs of the three PSA in Russia (Sakhalin
1, Sakhalin 2 and the Kharyaginsk field development, operated by
France's Total) have reached $18.182 billion, of which only
$407.7 million has gone to the budget. 

That a PSA is not very profitable for the hosting party has
repeatedly been said from the very beginning, when the relevant
law was adopted in 1995. At that time, there was powerful
opposition against using this mechanism in investment
cooperation with foreign companies. Unlike the national tax
regime, a PSA offers investors significant benefits. It relieves
companies that develop a field from almost all taxes, except for
the unified social tax, the profit tax and payments for
subsurface use at a discounted rate. It is a kind of risk bonus
for investing in a country with an unfavorable investment
climate. The basic idea of a PSA is that a country - i.e. Russia
- starts receiving its share of the profit from national natural
resources only after investors have recovered their costs. This
means inevitable losses for the budget. 

The problem is not only that there are great opportunities for
abuse and corruption. The temptation to inflate the project's
spending on any pretext is very strong. This is what is
happening at Sakhalin 2, whose operator Sakhalin Energy now
wants the government to endorse an increase in the costs from
$12 billion to $20 billion. The Russian party is not inclined to
agree, because it means higher state spending on the project and
a delay in revenues. 

The Russian authorities have recently said they are not content
with foreign companies' activities under a PSA. Earlier this
month, the Russian presidential aide Igor Shuvalov said it would
be better if the projects' participants switched over to the
national tax regime. Kirill Androsov, deputy economic
development minister, said that Russia did not intent to cancel
the existing PSAs, but it would not sign new ones. Economic
Development Minister German Gref made a similar promise. "We
should certainly honor the current agreements," he said, adding,
however, "I believe that the current investment climate in the
country and the situation on the foreign market allow us to do
without this regime and work on standard terms." 

Remarkably, Western mass media, in their numerous comments about
the pressure the Russian government puts on foreign oil
companies, often - and relevantly - use the word "humiliating."
On September 19, the Guardian quoted Adam Landes, an oil and gas
analyst with Renaissance Capital, as saying, "It seems to be a
brutal way of renegotiating previous deals that were quite
humiliating for Russia." 

Indeed, it does not befit a country that aspires to be an energy
superpower to preserve the PSAs. It seems the era of this
mechanism in Russia is drawing to a close. Western oil companies
are in for tough talks in a desperate attempt to at least
preserve the status quo. Expansion of borders or budgets is most
probably out of the question. It will already be a good result
if they manage to fight off the environmental criticism.
Suggestions that Gazprom can join the Sakhalin 2 project also
seem grounded. The pressure will weaken as the Russian gas
giant's influence in the project will grow. Exxon's plans of an
export pipeline to China are unfeasible given Gazprom's pipeline
monopoly. 

As to the negative investment climate, foreign mass media are
exaggerating the situation. Although Russia's investment climate
has traditionally received low assessments from international
organizations, this has not stopped private investors. In the
first six months of 2006, foreign direct investment in the
Russian economy surged by 43.6%, according to the official
statistics. A survey of foreign investors conducted by the
Foreign Investment Advisory Council for the Economic Development
Ministry produced a similar picture. Last year, as many as 71%
of respondents were willing to invest in Russia. Now, however,
their optimism has spread to 91%. 

All negative factors related to state interference are
outbalanced by the huge potential of the Russian market combined
with the country's economic growth and high oil prices. Returns
on investment in Russia are only slightly lower than in China
and are many times higher than in developed countries or even in
Eastern Europe, company executives say. This is why many firms
that are not active here yet have announced their intention to
enter the Russian market very soon. 

Dr. Igor Tomberg is a senior research fellow at the Center for
Energy Studies, the Institute of World Economy and International
Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences. 

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author
and may not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti. 

© 2005 RIA Novosti   
*****************************************************************
 38 Star Tribune: Alliant goes nuclear with new contract

www.startribune.com

 The Edina-based company won a $10 million bid to build a new
type of rotor tube to be used in commercial nuclear power
plants. 

Dee DePass, 


Last update: September 20, 2006  11:26 PM 

Defense and aerospace firm Alliant Techsystems Inc. is entering 
the nuclear energy business.

The Edina-based company said Wednesday that it has won a
contract to build specialty rotor tubes that will be used to
help yield enriched uranium for commercial nuclear power plants.

The initial $10 million contract with the U.S. Enrichment
Corporation's (USEC) American Centrifuge Program is expected to
grow to $250 million once high-volume production begins in 2008.

Maryland-based USEC supplies low-enriched uranium for commercial
nuclear power plants worldwide.

Alliant will make several of the giant tubes for testing and
then build a production facility in West Virginia that will
create about 100 jobs. Alliant expects to make 12,000 of the
massive rotor tubes in four years. 

Made of an extremely strong, lightweight and heat-resistant
carbon-epoxy composite, the tubes measure roughly 2 feet in
diameter and 43 feet long. The technology is new and considered
to be dramatically more efficient than the gas-diffusion process
currently used in centrifuges, Alliant officials said.

Alliant's timing in entering this line of business could be
fortuitous.

There are 104 nuclear power plants in 31 states. However, thanks
to high oil prices, the U.S. Department of Energy is predicting
dramatic growth in the amount of electricity production that
will come from nuclear plants. The agency has relaxed rules to
allow older plants to operate 20 years beyond their planned
40-year life spans. And at least six large reactors are expected
to be built, starting in 2014, the department said in December.

By 2020, the United States will "almost double its electrical
power consumption to more than 800,000 megawatts," the
Department of Energy said this month. "To supply that power we
will require 1,200 to 1,900 new U.S. power plants, many of which
could be nuclear." 

As recently as 2004, the agency saw no new nuclear reactors on
the horizon.

The use of carbon-epoxy composites in nuclear power development
is a departure for Alliant Techsystems, which is best known for
manufacturing missiles, ammunition, space shuttle rocket
boosters and satellite components. Alliant now makes
carbon-epoxy engine housings in Utah for NASA rockets.

"We have this expertise in aerospace that we are now migrating
into commercial industries that are relatively far removed from
what we normally do," Alliant spokesman Bryce Hallowell said. 

"It is absolutely a growth strategy for the company to get into
these types of industries." 

Last month, the company won a multimillion-dollar contract to
make light, non-metal containment cases that surround the fan
blades of General Electric's new GEnx engine for jetliners. 

Those massive housings will be delivered by spring and mark
Alliant's entry into the commercial aerospace business.

Dee DePass • 612-673-7725 • ddepass@startribune.com 

Copyright 2006Star Tribune. All rights reserved. Feedback|Terms
*****************************************************************
 39 NRC: NRC Finds No Significant Environmental Impacts from Extended Operation of Monticello
 Nuclear Power Plant

News Release - 2006-11 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office 
of Public Affairs     Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 
20555-0001     E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 06-117     September 21, 
2006   

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its final
environmental impact statement on the proposed renewal of the
operating license for the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant.
The report contains the NRCs finding that there are no
environmental impacts that would preclude license renewal for an
additional 20 years of operation. 

The Monticello plant is located approximately 30 miles northwest
of Minneapolis, Minn. The current operating license expires
Sept. 8, 2010. Nuclear Management Company submitted an
application for renewal of the license March 24, 2005. 

As part of its environmental review of the application, the NRC
held public meetings near the plant to discuss the scope of the
review and the draft version of the environmental impact
statement. Comments were received from members of the public,
local officials, and representatives of state and federal
agencies. 

The Monticello Final Environmental Impact Statement is available
on the NRCs Web site at this address:
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1437
/supplement26/index.html. Copies are also available for
inspection at the NRCs Public Document Room at One White Flint
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md; and at the
Monticello Public Library, 220 W. 6th St., Monticello, Minn.,
and the Buffalo Public Library, 18 N.W. Lake Blvd., Buffalo,
Minn.

NRC news releases are available through a free list serve 
subscription at the following Web address: 
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC 
homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail 
notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are 
posted to NRC's Web site.   

Last revised Thursday, September 21, 2006          
*****************************************************************
 40 The Herald: British Energy reaches crossroads   

Web Issue 2622     September 21 2006      

    
  MARK WILLIAMSON     

  The chairman of British Energy said the company had much to do
regarding the reliability of its nuclear capacity, but insisted
it had made good progress in the two years since it was rescued
from near-collapse.

 Sir Adrian Montague said British Energy, which generates 20% of
the UK's electricity and has been enjoying a surge in
profitability recently, helped by rising energy prices, had done
well against a series of operating measures. These included a
reduction in the amount of time lost to unplanned outages at its
nuclear power stations last year.

 However, days after the generator warned of the potential loss
of two terrawatt hours after finding a higher-than-expected
level of cracking in boiler tubes at the Hunterston B plant in
Ayrshire, Montague said it faced an uphill struggle.

 "It has been a very challenging start to the year with greater
unplanned losses than we had anticipated," he said.

 Addressing the company's general meeting in Edinburgh, Montague
ran through an announcement which was issued on Monday in which
British Energy said delays in returning the Hunterston station,
and the Hinkley Point B plant in Somerset, to service would
extend its record of unplanned outages.

 The company warned in August it was unlikely to meet its output
target of 63 TWh in the current financial year, after losses of
four TWh in the previous four months. 
Montague said British Energy continued to monitor the
implications of problems at the R3 reactor at Hunterston, which
may require modifications to be completed, and would update
investors when the picture was clear.

 However, he said British Energy looked forward to playing a
leading role in the development of the next generation of
stations to replace its ageing stock.

 The company was pleased that following completion of an energy
review by the government this summer, ministers had said that
nuclear should form part of the solution to Britain's energy
needs.

 Directors expect the government to publish a white paper
outlining the framework in which the nuclear industry will
operate later this year, after which they could start firming up
their thinking about what role British Energy will play.

 However, Montague said the future of the company was very much
tied up in the development of new stations. It believes these
could help meet the economy's requirement for increased energy
while limiting carbon emissions.

 Board members have had outline discussions about how British
Energy might respond to the challenges the nuclear industry will
have to address, according to Montague, who said it would not be
appropriate to give details.

 While a spokesman declined to comment when asked whether the
latest problems at Hunterston B called into question the safety
and commercial reliability of nuclear stations, industry experts
noted it is an advanced gas reactor type station.

 These have been superseded by pressurised water reactors, like 
the Sizewell B plant in Suffolk.

 However, British Energy came under fire from Lang Banks, a
representative of anti-nuclear group Friends of the Earth, who
said the company seemed to be assuming that rising electricity
prices would guarantee it a successful future.

 Problems such as those experienced at Hunterston could send
costs spiralling upwards, causing fresh pain for shareholders.

 Many suffered heavy losses after British Energy ran into
trouble when electricity prices slumped in 2002, before narrowly
averting collapse after agreeing a debt for equity swap which
gave creditors control of the vast bulk of its shares.

 Montague admitted the outcome of the restructuring had not been
satisfactory to shareholders. However, he rejected a call from
one private investor, Aparesh Sen, for investors who had lost
out to be compensated.

 "Shareholders provide risk capital and in a restructuring
creditors have the whip hand," said Montague.

 Under the reconstruction shareholders had been awarded warrants
to buy British Energy shares that had become quite valuable.

 All resolutions at the general meeting were passed by large
majorities.
   
  Copyright © Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights
Reserved   
*****************************************************************
 41 NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Subcommittee Meeting
 
                         FR Doc 06-7889 
[Federal Register: September 21, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 183)] 
[Notices] [Page 55225] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr21se06-79]                         
 
on Planning and Procedures; Notice of Meeting The ACRS 
Subcommittee on Planning and Procedures will hold a meeting on 
October 3, 2006, Room T-2B1, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland.
 
The entire meeting will be open to public attendance, with the 
exception of a portion that may be closed pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
552b(c) (2) and (6) to discuss organizational and personnel 
matters that relate solely to the internal personnel rules and 
practices of the ACRS, and information the release of which would 
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
 
The agenda for the subject meeting shall be as follows: Tuesday, 
October 3, 2006, 10:30 a.m. until the conclusion of business.
 
The Subcommittee will discuss proposed ACRS activities and 
related matters. The Subcommittee will gather information, 
analyze relevant issues and facts, and formulate proposed 
positions and actions, as appropriate, for deliberation by the 
full Committee.
 
Members of the public desiring to provide oral statements and/or 
written comments should notify the Designated Federal Official, 
Mr. Sam Duraiswamy (telephone: 301-415-7364) between 7:30 a.m. 
and 4 p.m. (ET) five days prior to the meeting, if possible, so 
that appropriate arrangements can be made. Electronic recordings 
will be permitted only during those portions of the meeting that 
are open to the public.
 
Further information regarding this meeting can be obtained by 
contacting the Designated Federal Official between 7:30 a.m. and 
4 p.m. (ET). Persons planning to attend this meeting are urged to 
contact the above named individual at least two working days 
prior to the meeting to be advised of any potential changes in 
the agenda.
 
Dated: September 14, 2006.
 
Michael R. Snodderly, Branch Chief, ACRS/ACNW.
 
[FR Doc. 06-7889 Filed 9-20-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 42 Boston Globe: NRC slaps Pilgrim plant with violation - 

Pilgrim hit with federal breach NRC cites missing radiation 
detectors
 
By Robert Knox, Globe Correspondent  |  September 21, 2006 

Federal regulators have issued a ``notice of violation" to the
Pilgrim nuclear power plant for its failure last spring to know
the whereabouts of several low-level radiation detectors.

The nine devices were reported missing in May when plant
managers discovered they were not, as long presumed, stored in
the plant's spent fuel pool. The reactor's managers later
concluded the devices had been disposed of years ago with other
low-level nuclear waste -- but that the removal of the detectors
had not been properly documented at the time.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission , which oversees the country's
nuclear reactors, last week released an inspection report that
cited Pilgrim for a ``Severity Level IV Notice of Violation "
for that incident. Level IV is the lowest of four severity
levels, and carries no penalty or fine. It does warn the plant's
owner of a violation of ``more than minor concern which, if left
uncorrected, could lead to a more serious concern," according to
the NRC.

Pilgrim's owner, Entergy Corp ., is required to respond in
writing within 30 days detailing the cause of the problem, the
corrective actions taken to prevent the problem from recurring,
and the date when the actions will be complete.

Pilgrim officials said the problem has already been corrected,
since the company upgraded its procedures for handling ``special
nuclear material" such as the radiation detectors years ago.

Regulators issued the violation to stress the importance of
better materials accounting and help prevent a recurrence, said
spokesman Neil Sheehan .

Other nuclear plants have had incidents where materials were
never located, including spent fuel rods, Sheehan said. ``When
it comes to Special Nuclear Material, as was the case here," he
stated by e-mail, ``we expect plant operators to exhibit the
utmost care in tracking it at all times."

Back in the 1980s, when plant managers concluded the devices had
been disposed of in ``the waste stream," Pilgrim officials
believed, incorrectly, that records needed to be kept only on
the disposal of devices containing 1 gram or more of radiation.
Thus, there was no record of the transfer.

The detectors have well under 1 gram, said Entergy Corp.
spokesman David Tarantino. Pilgrim's low-level waste is sent to
a disposal site in Barnwell , S.C.

Notices of violation, while not unheard of at Pilgrim, are more
rare today than they were 10 years ago, Tarantino said. This is
the first one Pilgrim has received this year. ``We're
improving," he said.

Pilgrim has tightened up its record-keeping procedures for
special nuclear material in the last decade , Tarantino said.
Items like the hand-held radiation detectors are kept in a
distinct area with its own inventory control system. Those
procedures will be reported to the NRC as a response to the
violation notice.

The NRC requires reactor operators to keep records of all
materials with any degree of radiation and places strong
emphasis on the accountability of any materials placed in the
spent fuel pool, officials said. While the missing radiation
detectors contained only very low levels of radiation, federal
regulations require nuclear reactors to account for their
whereabouts because they contain Uranium-235 , the kind of
uranium used to make weapons.

``We have confidence they were in the waste stream," said
spokesman Tarantino Monday, because the devices could not have
left the reactor in any other way without detection. All waste
material removal from the reactor is carefully monitored for
radiation, Tarantino said.

Nuclear critic Mary Lampert of Duxbury, however, expressed
skepticism over Entergy's conclusion two months ago that the
missing reactors must have been shipped out with other low-level
waste. The plant's ``lax disposal methods" didn't solve the
problem, Lampert stated in an e-mail. ``To my mind the detectors
are as lost as they ever were."

Lampert criticized the NRC's response last week as too mild.
``The Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted Pilgrim's theory as
fact -- mystery solved -- no need for a real spanking," she said
by e-mail. " But does anyone actually know what really happened
to the detectors?"

There are no bad marks on Pilgrim's current NRC report card,
Sheehan said. As a result, it is receiving the baseline, or
``routine," level of inspections, he said.

Robert Knox can be reached at rc.knox@gmail.com. [ /] ©
Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company. More: 
*****************************************************************
 43 Scotsman.com: White elephant? British Energy ready for 'leading role'
 
Thu 21 Sep 2006        

SCOTT REID DEPUTY BUSINESS EDITOR 

BRITISH Energy said it was "looking forward to playing a leading
role" in the development of the next generation of nuclear power
stations, as it fended off concerns from environmental
protesters at yesterday's annual shareholder meeting in
Edinburgh. 

The group, which rattled investor confidence this week when it
admitted that damaged nuclear reactors would take longer than
expected to repair, said it would continue to seek further life
extensions to its nuclear power stations where it was
"technically and economically feasible". 

Welcoming the government's Energy Review, which was published in
July and paved the way for international energy giants to
construct up to ten new reactors south of the Border, British
Energy said new generation capacity was required to sustain
growth in the UK economy. 

British Energy supplies about a fifth of Britain's power from
its eight nuclear facilities and one coal-fired plant. 

Chairman Sir Adrian Montague told investors: "The UK needs a
balanced mix of generation technologies including the use of
nuclear, and as industry prepares to follow the course set by
the Energy Review we look forward to playing a leading role in
the development of the next generation of nuclear stations." 

Shareholders arriving at the AGM at Murrayfield Stadium
Conference Centre were greeted with the sight of a giant
inflatable elephant. Friends of the Earth Scotland said the
white elephant symbolised "the many problems with nuclear
power". 

The environmental pressure group's chief executive, Duncan
McLaren, said: "British Energy's existing plants are literally
cracking and crumbling, and only still operate today because the
taxpayer was forced to bail it out to the tune of billions of
pounds. 

"This is a company and an industry that is as big a white
elephant as the one that we placed in front of the conference
centre today." 

All 13 of the resolutions on yesterday's agenda were approved on
a show of hands. The company said it was not proposing to pay a
dividend this year, but would update its policy when the
government offloaded part of its stake in the group. 

British Energy shares nudged 8.5p lower to close at 574p. 

Last updated: 21-Sep-06 01:21 BST 
 		
*****************************************************************
 44 Hudson Valley News: NRC offers new notification system   

Thursday, September 21, 2006 

  Washington  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is now offering 
an automated email information and notification system to be kept 
up-to-date on Indian Point and other NRC-related issues. 

All persons need do is log onto www.nrc.govand go to the 
Subscribe link to sign up. 

The service will provide electronic notices of the latest news 
releases, speeches by NRC officials, public meetings on the 
Indian Point power plants and other information. 

    
                                
  HEAR today's news on MidHudsonRadio.com, the Hudson Valley's
                only Internet radio news report. 
  
    



*****************************************************************
 45 AFP: First test-run at Japan nuclear reactor since 2004 accident

: report - 

 Thu Sep 21, 11:47 AM ET 		 	 

TOKYO (AFP) - A Japanese nuclear reactor was reportedly turned 
for the first time since it witnessed the country's worst-ever 
nuclear plant accident more than two years ago. 

 The No.3 reactor at the Mihama nuclear plant, owned by the
Kansai Electric Power Co., was restarted for a 13-day test run
as a prelude to full commercial operation, company spokesman
Masaru Hamano was quoted by the Kyodo news agency as saying. 

Kansai Electric Power said it planned to confirm the safety of
the facilities by carrying out the test-run until October 3
before resuming full operations by the end of the year,
according to Kyodo. 

In August 2004 four workers were killed and seven others
severely burned by a leak of non-radioactive steam registering
200 degrees Centigrade (390 degrees Fahrenheit) at the Mihama
plant, which is west of Tokyo. 

Since the accident, Kansai had replaced pipes and implemented a
series of measures to prevent similar incidents, Kyodo said. 

The company had also relocated its operational headquarters from
its head office in Osaka to the town of Mihama to ensure the
safety of the facility, the report said. 

The decision to restart operations at the plant had been agreed
by the local government of Fukui prefecture and other
organizations following a briefing with the bereaved families,
it added. 

Resource-poor Japan relies on nuclear generation for 30 percent
of its electricity, but nuclear projects have witnessed rising
opposition due to a series of mostly minor accidents. 

In January 2003, a court blocked the resumption of operations of
the Monju experimental fast-breeder reactor which had been shut
down since 1995 due to an accident. 

However, the Supreme Court in May last year gave the green light
to reopen the Monju reactor, which is considered a signature
project in the government's energy program. 

The six billion-dollar project is meant to make more plutonium
than it consumes, paving the way for growth in electricity
production. 

Opposition to nuclear power had been heightened after another
accident in 1999 at the Tokaimura uranium plant northeast of
Tokyo which killed two workers and exposed 600 people including
nearby residents to radiation. 

In March this year, two workers suffered minor injuries for
smoke inhalation after a fire at the Ohi plant in the western
province of Fukui. No radiation was leaked. 

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 46 NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Meeting of the 
 
                         FR Doc 06-7890 
[Federal Register: September 21, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 183)] 
[Notices] [Page 55225] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr21se06-78]                         
 
Subcommittee on Plant License Renewal; Notice of Meeting The ACRS 
Subcommittee on Plant License Renewal will hold a meeting on 
October 3, 2006, Room T-2B3, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland.
 
The entire meeting will be open to public attendance.
 
The agenda for the subject meeting shall be as follows: Tuesday, 
October 3, 2006--1:30 p.m. until 5 p.m. The purpose of this 
meeting is to discuss the License Renewal Application for Oyster 
Creek and the associated Safety Evaluation Report (SER) with Open 
Items prepared by the NRR staff. The Subcommittee will hear 
presentations by and hold discussions with representatives of the 
NRC staff, AmerGen Energy Company, and other interested persons 
regarding this matter. The Subcommittee will gather information, 
analyze relevant issues and facts, and formulate proposed 
positions and actions, as appropriate, for deliberation by the 
full Committee.
 
Members of the public desiring to provide oral statements and/or 
written comments should notify the Designated Federal Official, 
Mr. Cayetano Santos (telephone 301/415-7270) five days prior to 
the meeting, if possible, so that appropriate arrangements can be 
made. Electronic recordings will be permitted.
 
Further information regarding this meeting can be obtained by 
contacting the Designated Federal Official between 7:30 a.m. and 
4:15 p.m. (ET). Persons planning to attend this meeting are urged 
to contact the above named individual at least two working days 
prior to the meeting to be advised of any potential changes to 
the agenda.
 
Dated: September 15, 2006.
 
David C. Fischer, Acting Branch Chief, ACRS/ACNW.
 
[FR Doc. 06-7890 Filed 9-20-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 47 IAEA: Korea Shares Nuclear Know-how

+ [IAEA.ORG :: Atoms for Peace] 
 
Exhibit Highlights Advances in Nuclear Technology
 
Staff Report
 19 September 2006 [Korea Exhibit] 
The "Albert Einstein" humanoid robot at Korea´s exhibition.
(Photo: D. Calma/IAEA) 
  + Story Resources 
  + 
  + 
  + Korea Exhibit, 2004 General Conference 
  + General Conference, 2005 

"Albert Einstein", the latest Korean humanoid robot, was among
dignitaries briefed at Korea´s exhibit, "Korean Nuclear Energy:
Messenger of Happiness".   The Republic of  Korea is a regular
exhibiter at the IAEA´s General Conference and the  country´s
exhibit this year emphasizes transferring Korean nuclear
know-how to  other countries. 

Since becoming a founding Member State of the IAEA in 1957,
Korea has shot into the top group of nuclear energy producers.
Now with nearly 20 nuclear power plants in operation, Korea´s
share of electricity production generated by nuclear has
increased to 40%. 

Korea´s nuclear expertise extends beyond power reactors and into
other nuclear technological applications. Medical, environmental
and biological fields are fast developing. Korea is now
interested in switching its role from being a beneficiary of
nuclear technology to being a provider of it – and sharing the
"happiness" that nuclear technology can bring. 

Korea has developed a leading edge in the following areas and is
interested in collaboration: 
  + Wastewater treatment technology (specifically in the area of
clean-up and purification of industrial wastewater in the
textile dyeing industry); 
  + Early cancer detection and diagnosis (through the use of the
Cyclotron KIRAM-13); 
  + Global positioning technology ( via the START mobile
station); and 
  + Small-scale electricity generation and sea water
desalination (through the Korean-developed SMART -
System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactor multi-purpose small
medium sized reactor). 

Introductory remarks were delivered by the 137cm tall robot,
"Albert Hubo" whose head was modelled after Albert Einstein. The
humanoid robot was developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of
Science and Technology and has 31 motors behind its face
allowing it to laugh, blink and even scowl. Hubo has quickly
developed a following of his own - both nationally and
internationally. 

The Korean Nuclear International Cooperation Foundation
(KONICOF), hosted of the exhibit, is charged with taking a
leading role in nuclear technology transfer. Established by the
presidents and representatives of various nuclear-related
industries, research institutions and civil organization,
KONICOF provides for the exchange of nuclear technology and
information with advanced and developing countries. Copyright ©,
International Atomic Energy Agency, P.O. Box 100, Wagramer
Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria 
Telephone (+431) 2600-0; Facsimilie (+431) 2600-7; E-mail: 
*****************************************************************
 48 AFP: Mubarak says Egypt to look into nuclear energy - 

[Hosni Mubarak(R) meets with Omar al-Beshir]   

CAIRO (AFP) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said that his
country would start examining nuclear energy.

"We must benefit from sources of new and renewable energy,
including peaceful uses of nuclear energy," he said in his
closing address to the ruling National Democratic Party
conference.

"I call for serious dialogue into what nuclear technology has to
offer... especially when we are not starting from scratch -- we
have knowledge of this technology," he said.

"The future of energy is a central element in the building of the 
nation's own future," Mubarak said.

Speaking to a packed auditorium, he also criticized foreign
ambitions for the region.

"We live in a region which is going through a critical phase of
disturbance and instability... which sees attempts to impose a
new regional reality that does not suit the circumstances,
conditions and priorities, and fails to see the challenges faced
by its people," Mubarak said.

"The standstill in the peace process is the core issue behind
the problems of the Middle East. The time has come for the
international community to admit this reality and to deal with
it in a serious and impartial way without delay," he said.

"Any talk of a broader or greater Middle East fails to
acknowledge this reality," he said.

"Any talk of the war on terror must be accompanied by discussion
on the root causes and a serious move to justly resolve them,"
he said.

On Tuesday, the president's son Gamal, who is the party's
assistant secretary general and also heads the influential
Policies Secretariat, said it was time for Egypt to examine
nuclear energy.

"The time has come for Egypt to think about... the issue of
alternative energy including nuclear energy," the young Mubarak
said.

US Ambassador to Egypt Francis J Ricciardone said on Thursday
that his country would encourage the peaceful use of nuclear
energy.

Speaking to Egypt's al-Mehwar television, Ricciardone said that
"the United States encourages the peaceful use of nuclear power
for civilian purposes throughout the world." 

    Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! UK Limited. All rights reserved.
AFP 
*****************************************************************
 49 UPI: Bulgaria to close two nuclear reactors
     
 United Press International - NewsTrack - 

9/21/2006 1:29:00 PM -0400
 
SOFIA, Bulgaria, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- The European Union will grant
$64 million to Bulgaria to help it close two reactors of the
Kozloduy nuclear power plant. 

The European Commission approved an agreement to finance
dismantling the two units of the country's only operating
nuclear plant, in northwestern Bulgaria, the SNA Sofia news
agency reported. 

In 2002, Bulgaria agreed to mothball two of the six Soviet-type
reactors at the Kozloduy nuclear plant and to close another two
reactors at the end of 2006, to show it is willing to meet
necessary standards on its way to join the European Union on
Jan. 1. 

The Kozloduy's remaining two reactors are of more modern design
and will remain in operation, SNA said.

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
 50 SNA: Bulgaria: Bulgarian Nuke Gets EUR 50 M to Dismantle 2 Units

Business: 21 September 2006, Thursday.

The only operating nuclear plant in Bulgaria, at Kozloduy, will 
be funded with EUR 50 M to ease the dismantling of two of its 
units.
 
The free financing to be provided by the European Commission was 
approved Thursday under the draft project of a financial 
agreement between Sofia and Brussels, under the PHARE program.
 
Earlier in June the Economy and Energy Ministry announced plans 
to partially dismantle equipment at two mothballed reactors at 
its nuclear power plant at Kozloduy as a guarantee to the 
European Union that it will not attempt to reopen the facilities.
 
Bulgaria agreed in 2002 to mothball two of the six Soviet-type 
reactors at Kozloduy in the northwest of the country and to shut 
down a further two at end-2006 to secure a chance of joining the 
EU on 1 January 2007.
 
Kozloduy's reactors five and six, which are of a more modern 
design, are to remain in service.
 
Official estimates have shown that after closing the reactors 
Bulgaria will have to cede its position as top energy exporter in 
the Balkans and some energy experts have called on statesmen to 
renegotiate the shutdown.

 All Rights Reserved © Novinite Ltd., 2001-2006 - Copyright
&Disclaimer - Privacy Policy
ISO 9001:2000 Certified
 

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
Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish
*****************************************************************
 51 NRC: Notice of Meetings; Sunshine Act
 
                         FR Doc 06-8011 
[Federal Register: September 21, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 183)] 
[Notices] [Page 55226-55227] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr21se06-81]                         
 
Agency Holding the Meetings: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Date: Week of October 2, 2006.
 
Place: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland.
 
Status: Public and Closed.
 
Additional Matters to be Considered: 
 
[[Page 55227]] Week of October 2, 2006 Thursday, October 5, 2006 
12:55 p.m. Affirmation Session (Public Meeting) (Tentative). a. 
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., (Pilgrim Nuclear Power 
Station), Massachusetts Attorney General's Petition for Backfit 
Order (Tentative).
 
* * * * * *The schedule for Commission meetings is subject to 
change on short notice. To verify the status of meetings call 
(recording)--(301) 415- 1292. Contact person for more 
information: Michelle Schroll, (301) 415- 1662.
 
* * * * * The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the 
Internet at: 
http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-making/schedule.html. * * * 
* * The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to individuals with 
disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable 
accommodation to participate in these public meetings, or need 
this meeting notice or the transcript or other information from 
the public meetings in another format (e.g., braille, large 
print), please notify the NRC's Disability Program Coordinator, 
Deborah Chan, at (301) 415-7041, TDD: (301) 415- 2100, or by 
e-mail at DLC@nrc.gov. Determinations on requests for reasonable 
accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
 
* * * * * This notice is distributed by mail to several hundred 
subscribers; if you no longer wish to receive it, or would like 
to be added to the distribution, please contact the Office of the 
Secretary, Washington, DC 20555 301-415-1969. In addition, 
distribution of this meeting notice over the Internet system is 
available. If you are interested in receiving this Commission 
meeting schedule electronically, please send an electronic 
message to dkw@nrc.gov. Dated: September 18, 2006.
 
Sandy Joosten, Office of the Secretary.
 
[FR Doc. 06-8011 Filed 9-19-06; 9:59 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M

 
*****************************************************************
 52 IANS: N-deal may increase terrorist threat to India - US expert
 
By Arun Kumar, Indo-Asian News Service
 
Washington, Sep 21 (IANS) As US Congress considers the nuclear
deal with India, it should also encourage cooperative nuclear
security between them to counter increased threats of terrorism
against Indian facilities, says an expert at a US think tank. 

The two countries should not permit their improving relationship
to become hostage to terrorists threats from Al Qaeda and other
militant groups and put a halt to the potential benefits of the
US-India deal, says Charles D. Ferguson, a fellow for science
and technology at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Instead their leadership should do more to protect Indian
nuclear facilities in light of increased threats of terrorism
and military attack, he says, suggesting these could grow in
three ways with the deal's implementation. 

First, the deal can facilitate a substantial expansion of
India's plutonium stockpile in the civilian and military
sectors. Plutonium, a toxic and fissile material, could, in the
hands of skilled terrorists, fuel improvised nuclear devices -
crude but devastating nuclear bombs - or radiological dispersal
devices, one type of which is popularly called a 'dirty bomb.'

Second, the deal can spur expansion of India's civilian nuclear
facilities, increasing the number of targets for terrorist or
military attacks. Third, the deal brings India into much closer
alignment with the United States. 

This alliance has already stirred animosity toward India from
Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda. Moreover, closer
Indo-American relations could also breed resentment in Pakistan
and result in a more vulnerable India, especially in armed
conflict involving the subcontinent's nuclear rivals, Ferguson
said.

Al Qaeda-affiliated operatives may have launched or helped
perpetrate the July 11 terrorist bombings in Mumbai. More
recently, India's intelligence agencies have cautioned that
Islamic militants could target the country's nuclear sites.

India has ambitious plans for a major expansion of its nuclear
complex, which already presents a target-rich environment. This
expansion could increase the risks of accidents, attacks, or
sabotage, Ferguson said.

Without adequate quality controls in training, the risk of
accidents increases, and even with high-quality training, a
rapid influx of workers into the nuclear programme increases the
probability of saboteurs entering it.

Shaken by sectarian strife and terrorism for many decades, India
resides in one of the most violence-prone regions of the world.
Jihadist groups have caused much of this violence. Some of these
groups have ties to Al Qaeda, which has considered using nuclear
and radiological terrorism, Ferguson.

Pakistan has sponsored terrorist groups to further its aims in
the separatist regions of Jammu and Kashmir and could consider
using such groups as proxies in a military attack against other
regions of India, including those containing nuclear facilities.

But 'Should threats to India by Al Qaeda and other militant
groups put a halt to the potential benefits of the US-India
deal?' Ferguson asked and himself answered, 'No. The United
States and India should not permit their improving relationship
to become hostage to terrorists.'

But the leadership of both countries can do more to protect
Indian nuclear facilities in light of increased threats, he
said. India, with American cooperative work where appropriate,
should:

. Ensure that the different modes of a terrorist or military
attack are fully considered and continually evaluated in
assessing the safety and security of its nuclear facilities.

. Separate more of its civilian nuclear facilities, including
breeder reactors, from connections to the military programme to
reduce the target profile of these facilities and to help remove
them from the shroud of secrecy surrounding the military
programme.

. Work with China and Pakistan toward a fissile- material cap to
limit the amount of plutonium potentially available to
terrorists.

. Develop cooperative nuclear security by sharing and
implementing best practices with the United States, the
International Atomic Energy Agency, and other partners.

. Install in new facilities, and retrofit to the extent possible
in existing facilities, sabotage-resistant safety systems. Apply
additional safety and security measures such as extra diesel
generators and relatively low-cost fortifications around spent
fuel pools and vulnerable buildings, and establish active and
passive air defences for critical nuclear sites.

. Finally, create a more transparent and self-critical civilian
nuclear infrastructure that would empower an independent
regulatory agency and would continually be vigilant about
insider sabotage or collusion with terrorists.

Copyright Indo-Asian News Service							   						 						
	 	 	 
Copyright © 2004-2006 DailyIndia.com
*****************************************************************
 53 Morning Sun: Nuclear investigation                                                                                               

A low-level radioactive dump site in Bethany Township will be the 
target of a thorough investigation in hopes of identifying the 
volume of material buried on less than an acre at the 2.2-acre 
site.-->

Wednesday, September 20, 2006                              

Consulting firm to lead effort to gauge volume of material at 
Breckenridge site 

By ROSEMARY HORVATH                                     
Sun Staff Writer 

A low-level radioactive dump site in Bethany Township will be the 
target of a thorough investigation in hopes of identifying the 
volume of material buried on less than an acre at the 2.2-acre 
site.

David Heidlauf of the Chicago office of Environ, an
international environmental consulting firm, will head up the
investigation in October as he did in 2004 when the initial
cleanup was started.

 Environ was hired by the Custodial Trust that owns the Madison
Road property and six other former Velsicol Chemical properties
in three states.

 In the process of the first cleanup, a greater amount of buried
material was discovered than initially expected. The project was
halted in 2004 after $500,000 was spent and a remaining $200,000
wasn't enough to finish.

 Heidlauf reviewed the history and current events related to the
dump site with the Pine River Superfund Citizen Task Force in
St. Louis Wednesday.

 Referred to as the "Breckenridge site,“ the property is among
former Velsicol Chemical Company properties tied to
environmental cleanups. The Velsicol plant site in St. Louis is
another.

 A Velsicol insurance settlement provided $1.4 million payout of
which half was earmarked for Breckenridge.

 State and federal agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, signed off on the original assessment and cleanup
plan for the Madison road dump site about five miles east of St.
Louis.

 Amounts of thorium, uranium and radium are buried from when
Velsicol was processing yttrium in the manufacture of television
tubes.

 After remediating two of nine confirmed contaminated spots in
2004, more material was found which Heidlauf said was "a wider,
thicker and more widespread volume than what we anticipated.“

 The unspent $200,000 is enough to finish a thorough testing but
not enough for remediation. Heidlauf doesn't possess the
expertise to predict cleanup costs but said it could cost 1
million or 4.5 million.

 The task force, propelled by new interest of Breckenridge area
residents, is pushing for total remediation.

 The original assessment and work plan accepted by the NRC, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality turned out to be inadequate and
potentially based on falsified records, charged Alma College
Professor Murray Borrello, chair of the Superfund technical
advisory committee, a subgroup of the task force.

 Heidlauf ran through a new timetable. In the end an updated
report will be filed with the NRC. In two months or so, a
revised plan addressing the contamination may be available.

 Borrello argued that NRC guidelines may fall short of what
community members expect. It's possible the worst areas will be
remediated while lesser ones are just covered with a heavy
material.

 Heidlauf said a cleanup can be no more or less than what the
NRC requires.

 There's no concern the public is endangered. The site is fenced
and closed off to public contact. No one is exposed or digesting
material, Heidlauf said.

 "It's not in the groundwater and we don't think it's moving,“
he said, noting that if leaching were involved it would take 600
years to reach the groundwater, based on models.

 Borrello suggested the task force consider suing the NRC or
registering a complaint of gross incompetence. 					 				 				 
				 				 				 				
2006 Morning Sun all rights reserved. 
Morning Sun, a Morning Star Publishing Daily Publication
 © Copyright 2006 Morning Star Publishing Company, an affiliate
of Journal Register Company
*****************************************************************
 54 Atlanta Journal-Constitution: GAO joins inquiry of CDC with 2 audits 

ajc.com
 		 
By Alison Young The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 09/21/06

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, beset with low 
morale and growing staff dissent, is now under investigation by 
the Government Accountability Office, an inspector general and a 
second member of Congress. 

At the request of U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, who has been 
investigating turmoil at CDC since the spring, the GAO has opened 
two investigations, his spokeswoman said Wednesday evening.

One audit, prompted in part by a CDC whistle-blower, is
examining whether the CDC is properly overseeing a $3.8 billion
program of state bioterrorism grants. The second is examining
whether the CDC is meeting its responsibility to provide
guidance to state and local health departments in preparing for
future public health emergencies, said Jill Kozeny, Senate
Finance Committee spokeswoman. Grassley (R-Iowa) is chairman of
the committee. 

The committee also is monitoring an investigation by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services' Inspector General,
Kozeny said. That investigation involves allegations, by a
second whistle-blower, that CDC officials have altered or
falsified payment records to pharmaceutical companies to cover
up violations of the federal Prompt Payment Act. 

The act is designed to ensure federal agencies pay vendors in a
timely manner and establishes late fees and interest payments
for past-due bills. The payments involve CDC's National
Immunization Program, Kozeny said. 

No timeframe has been given for completion of the three
investigations. 

CDC spokesman Tom Skinner, reached Wednesday evening, said he
was unaware of the GAO and inspector general inquiries but would
look into them. Officials with the GAO, which is the
investigative arm of Congress, and the inspector general's
office could not be reached for further details. 

Grassley's own investigators have been probing a wide range of
issues at CDC, including the impact of low morale and departures
of key scientists, as well as complaints that cash bonuses are
being unfairly distributed. 

The Journal-Constitution reported Sunday that the CDC employees
most frequently receiving large cash awards and bonuses are
accountants, budget and administrative staff - not scientists.
Since 2004, more than a dozen high-profile leaders and
scientists have left the agency, including most of the directors
of the agency's eight primary scientific centers, the newspaper
reported earlier this month. 

On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, the ranking Democrat on
the House Government Reform Committee, launched his own probe of
turmoil at CDC and set up a confidential hotline for employees
to report concerns. 

Waxman, of California, said Wednesday that the hotline was
prompted by reports in the Journal-Constitution about departures
of key scientists and the concerns of current and former CDC
staff that the agency's scientific mission is being threatened. 

"This hotline is a safe, confidential way for employees to
communicate with my staff about problems at CDC," said Waxman in
a press release. "It is important that agency management issues
do not impede the critical public health mission of CDC." 

CDC employees can reach Waxman's staff by calling 202-225-5420
or through the web, at
www.democrats.reform.house.gov/contact/cdc.asp. The Web site has
a gray box on the right side titled "Contact the tipline about
shifting priorities at the CDC." By clicking on it, people can
fill out a form without having to leave their name or an e-mail
address. 

Skinner said agency officials will address any issues Waxman
shares that are identified through the hotline. 

"We respect the need for CDC employees to freely share their
concerns about the workplace," he said. "We're supportive of
efforts which further open the lines of communication between
employees and management." 

CDC Director Julie Gerberding has said that despite issues of
low morale, recent strategic changes at the agency have made it
stronger than ever. It's a view that's been echoed top officials
at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC's
parent agency. 

Gerberding last month announced the agency will be creating its
first ever ombudsman office to help resolve internal employee
issues. Two contractors will initially serve as temporary
ombudsmen beginning in October, while they research what the
permanent job will ultimately entail. 

"We hope to get it up and running and functional as soon as
possible," CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said of the new CDC
ombudsman's office. "It's being set up as we speak." 

© 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 
*****************************************************************
 55 Las Vegas SUN: Industry group floating bill to speed opening of Yucca Mountain 

Today: September 21, 2006 at 11:35:21 PDT 

ASSOCIATED PRESS 

LAS VEGAS (AP) - An industry lobbying group has unveiled a plan
in Washington to speed the opening of the Yucca Mountain nuclear
waste repository in Nevada. 

Draft legislation by the Nuclear Energy Institute would allow
interim storage of spent radioactive waste at the site and
provide millions of dollars to Nevada if the state drops
opposition to the project. 

Copies of the proposed bill were distributed Wednesday to
industry officials and to select Capitol Hill staff members who
handle energy issues. 

The idea was rejected by Nevada officials who said Nevada was
not interested in compensation for accepting nuclear waste. 

"We've said no before. We haven't changed our mind," said state
nuclear projects director Bob Loux, who called the proposal a
last-gasp attempt to move a stalled project forward. "We're not
interested at any price." 

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., called the proposal "an amazing
nuclear industry wish list of everything up to and including the
kitchen sink," while Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., said he thought
the pro-repository trade group was "feeling desperate." 

With Congress unlikely to pass a Yucca Mountain bill during the
remainder of this year's session, a Nuclear Energy Institute
official said the trade group was staking out a position for
when lawmakers return in January for the final two years of
President Bush's term. 

"The president has been a strong friend of nuclear, and we would
certainly like to see legislation advance under his
administration," Michael Bauser, NEI associate general counsel,
told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 

Bauser said the proposed bill "represents an overview of what we
see as the more important issues" facing the repository 90 miles
northwest of Las Vegas. 

The NEI proposal would pay Nevada $25 million a year during
planning and construction of an interim storage site while the
Energy Department works through delays in opening a permanent
repository. Payments would increase to $50 million while the
temporary storage site was open. 

Among other provisions, the Nuclear Energy Institute proposal
also would set a 10,000 year compliance period for radiation
safety at the site, reversing a 2004 federal court ruling that
ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to set a 1 million
year safety standard. 

Nuclear waste is currently stored at commercial nuclear power
plants in 31 states. 

The Energy Department signed contracts with utilities to begin
moving the waste to a permanent repository in 1998. Bush and
Congress picked the Yucca Mountain site in 2002. But progress
has been slowed by budgetary constraints and safety concerns. 

The project would entomb 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel in
casks wheeled on rails into tunnels some 1,000 feet below the
mountain. The Energy Department now plans to submit a licensing
application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in mid-2008 and
open the repository in 2017. 

All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 56 reviewjournal.com: Yucca Mountain: Nuclear industry makes offer
 
Sep. 21, 2006

State would get millions for temporary storage   

WASHINGTON -- A new bid to "fix Yucca Mountain" took shape on 
Wednesday when nuclear industry officials unveiled a broad plan 
to speed the repository, including offering Nevada millions of 
dollars in a new deal to accept high level radioactive waste. 

Written as a draft bill for Congress to consider, the Nuclear 
Energy Institute proposal would establish interim storage at 
Yucca Mountain for spent nuclear fuel while the Department of 
Energy tries to work through delays on a permanent repository. 

The proposed benefits for Nevada to host a temporary nuclear
waste site would be $25 million a year until it opens, $50
million upon arrival of the first waste shipment, and $50
million annually until the site is closed, presumably upon
completion of a comprehensive repository nearby. 

Among other provisions, the Nuclear Energy Institute proposal
also would set a 10,000 year compliance period for radiation
safety at the site, reversing a 2004 federal court ruling that
ordered the safety period to be set for thousands of years
longer. 

The proposed bill drew little immediate interest on Capitol Hill
but garnered a strong reaction from Nevadans. 

Bob Loux, director of the state Agency for Nuclear Projects,
said Nevada "is not interested" in nuclear waste at any price. 

The NEI proposal "is an amazing nuclear industry wish list of
everything up to and including the kitchen sink," said Rep.
Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. "We are taking this very seriously." 

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., said the pro-repository trade group "is
feeling desperate. They have been talking about this for some
months. I am not surprised." 

With Congress unlikely to pass a Yucca Mountain bill during the
remainder of this year's session, authors at the Nuclear Energy
Institute said the trade group was staking out a position for
when lawmakers return in January for the final two years of
industry-friendly President Bush's term. 

"The president has been a strong friend of nuclear, and we would
certainly like to see legislation advance under his
administration rather than an unknown who may be better or may
be worse," said Michael Bauser, NEI associate general counsel. 

Bauser said the proposed bill "represents an overview of what we
see as the more important issues" facing the repository project. 

Copies of the proposed bill were distributed Wednesday to
industry officials and to select staff members on Capitol Hill
who handle energy issues. Immediate reaction in Congress was
subdued. 

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the House Energy and
Commerce Committee, had not examined it, spokeswoman Lisa Miller
said. 

"Maybe this is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; maybe
it's the chamber pot," Miller said. "We haven't looked inside
yet." 

A copy of the proposal was sent to the Department of Energy,
where spokesman Craig Stevens declined to comment on the
specifics. 

Much in the 28-page draft echoes a Bush administration bill on
which House and Senate panels held hearings this summer but
generally is considered dormant. 

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee, is expected to introduce a separate
Yucca Mountain bill before Congress adjourns next week, but it
was unclear what would be in it. 

The Nuclear Energy Institute bill includes elements of the Bush
bill expediting repository licensing, withdrawing 147,000 acres
of public land at the Yucca site, removing the repository's
77,000-ton nuclear waste cap, and broadening federal powers on
repository-related transportation, water claims and toxic
materials management. 

While containing all that, the Nuclear Energy Institute plan
goes further in several areas: 

• It directs the energy secretary to establish a temporary
nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain, where spent fuel would sit
in canisters on "aging pads" awaiting completion of the
permanent repository. The bill calls for the interim site to
have a minimum capacity of 40,000 metric tons of radioactive
spent fuel. 

A site application would need to be filed within a year, and the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission would be given 18 months to issue
a final decision. DOE could begin building a temporary
repository as soon as it applies for a license. 

The Energy Department also could consider other volunteer sites
for interim waste storage. 

• Nevada or any volunteer site would be offered payments for
hosting the temporary repository. 

• It pushes the Energy Department to file a repository license
application by Dec. 31, 2007, six months faster than DOE has
proposed.	 

• The bill sets a 10,000 year compliance period for the
Department of Energy to show the repository, estimated to open
in 2017, would not leak radioactive contaminants into the
groundwater. 

A federal appeals court in 2004 rejected the 10,000 year
standard, ruling that it needed to be rewritten and consistent
with recommendations that the compliance period should cover
time frames where corroded waste could yield peak doses of
radiation. 

"This has even less of a chance of passing than the
administration's proposal," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. "This
bill just further demonstrates the need for Democrats to regain
control of the House so we can put an end to the ongoing flow of
bad Yucca Mountain proposals." 

Nuclear Energy Institute attorneys are drafting another bill
that would further revise Yucca Mountain licensing, Bauser said.
The measure would initiate an "adaptive staging" approach in
which the repository would be licensed in three steps. 

The National Academy of Sciences in 2003 said it might make it
easier for the Energy Department to incorporate health and
safety improvements as time goes on. 	   

Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2006
*****************************************************************
 57 globeandmail.com: Speculators flock to uranium's glow
 	
POSTED ON 21/09/06

MINING           

Metal's soaring price proves irresistable

JOHN PARTRIDGE INVESTMENT REPORTER

A small but growing number of hedge funds and other bold
investors are getting hungrier for one of the world's most
potent metals: uranium.

Purchases of the nuclear fuel -- in solid or gaseous form -- by
these decidedly non-traditional buyers are on pace to equal or
exceed levels reached in 2005, according to figures provided to
The Globe and Mail this week by Ux Consulting Co. LLC, a uranium
industry research company in Roswell, Ga. 

So far this year, the handful of funds that have caught the bug
have purchased about eight million pounds of uranium on the spot
market, according to Ux. This compares with about 8.75 million
pounds for all of 2005, and perhaps an eighth of that in 2004,
when investors started to buy the metal instead of just its
producers' shares. 

Adjusting for some sales, fund executives and industry analysts
estimate that investors now have a total of about 16 million
pounds sitting in licensed storage facilities.	 	 			 			 			
			 			 			 	 		 	 	 	 	 	 		 				 			 			 	 	 	 						 		 	 	 	
The investors have been attracted into the field by the metal's
soaring price, which is being driven higher by what is shaping
up to be a revival of nuclear power and a large gap between
demand and inadequate supply. 

Uranium concentrate, or U308, is now fetching about $53 (U.S.) a
pound, up from $36 in January and a 2001 low of just $7. 

New production capacity for the metal is set to come on stream
over the next few years, which is expected to bring prices down. 

But some analysts have recently raised their forecasts of
long-term uranium prices. Greg Barnes at TD Securities Inc., for
instance, has hiked his forecast to $35 a pound from $30, and
expects the metal to hit this level in 2015. 

One reason is that Russia has said it does not plan to renew a
1993 pact with the United States under which about 20 million
pounds of uranium a year has been extracted from decommissioned
nuclear warheads and sold into the market when it expires in
2013. 

Rising prices are good news for uranium miners, including Cameco
Corp. of Saskatoon, the world's largest producer, and for the
new mid-sized producer that will be created through the planned
$511-million (Canadian) takeover of Denison Mines Inc. of
Toronto by International Uranium Corp. of Vancouver, which was
announced Monday. 

Uranium prices did not join in the general commodity and equity
plunge that took place in May and June. 

In fact, the metal's price has not suffered a week-to-week drop
since July, 2003, according to fund manager Robert Mitchell, who
heads Adit Capital of Portland, Ore., and was one of the first
investors to start buying physical uranium in 2004. "I'm not
aware of any other commodity on the face of the Earth that has
gone 168 consecutive weeks without a downtick," he said
yesterday. 

Mr. Mitchell said Adit now has three funds, with a total of
about $200-million in assets under management among them, and he
is contemplating a fourth. The first invests solely in uranium
(mostly the metal but equities as well) while the other two
invest in uranium and other energy-related metals that are not
traded on any exchange. 

As it is, with 16 million pounds of the metal currently salted
away, investors control less than 10 per cent of the
approximately 170 million pounds consumed each year by the
nuclear power industry. 

Among the new players in the game is Lido Park LLC, a secretive
Delaware-registered firm, that last month paid more than
$42-million to buy 300 tonnes of uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6)
from the U.S. Department of Energy. 

A DOE spokeswoman said she was not authorized to provide any
information about Lido Park's identity. However, two sources
familiar with the matter said the firm is a uranium investment
vehicle set up by QVT Financial LP, a New York hedge fund. QVT
did not respond to a request for comment. 

Other existing players also are continuing to buy more. 

Uranium Participation Corp. of Toronto, launched last year and
managed by Denison Mines, plans to use the $100-million
(Canadian) proceeds of a share offering that closed last week to
help finance the $93.4-million (U.S.) purchase of 650,000
kilograms of UF6 by the end of this year. The fund already owns
4.2 million pounds of U308 and 300,000 kilos of UF6.                    

 © Copyright 2006 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights 
Reserved. globeandmail.com and The Globe and Mail are divisions 
of Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc., 444 Front St. W., Toronto, 
Canada M5V 2S9 Phillip Crawley, Publisher                                       
-->                                     -->            close   
*****************************************************************
 58 Whitehaven News: Thorp misery lingers on

Published on 21/09/2006

SELLAFIELDâ€™S Thorp will not re-open until next year because 
there is still too much to do following the serious radioactive 
leak which closed the plant 17 months ago.
 
Operators BNG had been confident of re-opening this autumn but
workers were told last Friday it would not be in a position to
do so until 2007. 

It is a further blow for the Â£1.8bn flagship plant which has
remained closed since 83,000 litres of highly radioactive liquor
leaked from a fractured pipe last April. It went undetected for
nine months.
 
A BNG spokeswoman said: â€œWe are carrying out final
preparations to get Thorp operational again. 

â€œThe plant can only re-start once all of the necessary
permissions have been obtained from the Nuclear Installations
Inspectorate and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
 
â€œWhile all necessary improvements to the plant will be
completed by the end of September, it is now clear that the
process of closing out the NII recommendations and related work
will take some time. 

â€œBNG and the NII are seeking to complete this work as quickly
as possible but it is likely that this will run until the end of
December, leading to a restart in early 2007.â€ 

A spokesman for the NDA said: â€œWe always place safety as the
absolute priority. We understand that the NII must have the time
it needs to complete its assessments and determine whether the
plant is safe to re-start.
 
â€œAny final decision to restart Thorp will be made by the NDA.
The plantâ€™s date to re-start has always been tentative given
that this was a major incident.â€
 
*****************************************************************
 59 "WATCHDOGS" PARTNER IN GREEN BID FOR LIVERMORE LAB - PRESS
 
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 15:34:42 -0700

X-Nohoney: yes white-hard - relay H=adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net (borg.energy-net.org) [63.203.231.61]
X-Sender-Host-Address: 63.203.231.61
X-Sender-Host-Name: adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net
X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY-WHITELIST

<x-flowed>
Hi -- Our press release with cool info and quotes -- also, my kudos to the
"green" bidding partners and supporters who spoke to the UC Regents (and to
reporters) yesterday. Read on...

CONTACT:  Tri-Valley CAREs, Tara Dorabji or Marylia Kelley, (925) 443-7148
                  Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Jay Coghlan, (505) 989-7342

NUCLEAR "WATCHDOGS" PARTNER WITH COLLEGE, CLEAN ENERGY FIRM TO PREPARE
"GREEN" MANAGEMENT BID FOR LIVERMORE LAB

Team Pledges to Transform Troubled Nuclear Weapons Lab into "Center for
Civilian Science"

Today, a leading Livermore Lab "watchdog" organization announced that it
has joined forces with one of the state's premier independent colleges, a
clean energy company and a New Mexico non-profit to prepare a bid to manage
the troubled Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), currently
managed by the Regents of the University of California (UC) for the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE).

Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) held a
morning news conference to discuss its plans just before the UC Board of
Regents meeting at the University's San Francisco Mission Bay campus. The
group has partnered with the New College of California, Nuclear Watch of
New Mexico and WindMiller Energy to prepare what the bidders promise will
be "a creative, forward-looking and feasible 'green' proposal to manage
Livermore Lab."

"Our innovative bid will promote world class science by transforming
Livermore Lab from a nuclear weapons design facility into a center for
civilian science," explained Tara Dorabji, Outreach Director for Tri-Valley
CAREs, which has monitored Livermore Lab activities for 23 years.  "By
focusing on socially-beneficial scientific initiatives like sustainable
energy, global warming and environmental cleanup technologies, our bid will
increase cutting edge research at the Lab and provide the greatest degree
of security and safety proposed by any management team." According to the
DOE Lab Tables, 85% of Livermore Lab's current budget request is earmarked
for weapons activities. Less than 1% is earmarked for energy conservation.

"The mission of the New College of California is to create a just, sacred
and sustainable world," explained Martin Hamilton, President of New
College. "By bidding to manage Livermore Lab, we bid for a more sustainable
future, a future that is not chained to nuclear weapons. The role of
academic institutions in science should not be to create weapons of mass
destruction, but rather to seek sustainable solutions for humankind."

"One of our goals is to illuminate options for Livermore Lab management
that are available to all bidders," stated Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley
CAREs' Executive Director. "Our bid will demonstrate how to increase
transparency, improve health and safety provisions for workers and
communities, strengthen whistleblower protections, and provide incentive
points for bringing more civilian science to Livermore," Kelley said. "We
challenge the UC-Bechtel consortium to show how they, if chosen, will
accomplish these same tasks."

"We fear our competitors will propose more 'business as usual' and
dysfunctional management at Livermore Lab, with continued cost overruns at
the National Ignition Facility, safety violations in the plutonium facility
and dwindling resources allotted to the basic sciences," Kelley continued.

"Livermore Lab, located in a world-class wind resource area with ample
solar resources, boasts an unrivaled team of world-class scientists,
coupled with state-of-the-art equipment and support," explains Barry
Miller, President of WindMiller Energy. "Therefore, Livermore Lab is
uniquely situated to play a leading role in research, development and
testing of renewable energy resources, such as those generated by wind and
sun."

Since 1952, Livermore Lab has been managed by the University of California
under a "no bid" contract. After repeated security and fiscal management
scandals, DOE decided in April 2003 to open competition for the Livermore
contract. Prospective bids for the Livermore contract are due to the Dept.
of Energy by October 12. Selection of the contractor will occur in the
winter of 2006. The current LLNL contract expires on September 30, 2007.

Scott Kovac, Operations Director of Nuclear Watch of New Mexico, explains
further, "We look forward to focusing on environmental science and
renewable energy technologies to ignite a new future for the Lab and wean
Livermore Lab off of nuclear weapons. We are thrilled to join with the New
College of California, WindMiller Energy and Tri-Valley CAREs."

Additional support for transitioning Livermore Lab to a civilian science
mission came from students, UC faculty and a leading Livermore Lab
scientist. Said Dr. Hugh Dewitt, an astrophysicist employed at Livermore
Lab for 5 decades: "The next Livermore Lab management contract should
detail a phase out of classified work over a 5-year period. Plutonium
operations should cease, and the material safely removed. Livermore Lab can
most effectively serve our country by undertaking urgent, non-military
endeavors, a task for which it is superbly equipped." DeWitt continued, "I
applaud Tri-Valley CAREs and its bidding partners for bringing these issues
to the forefront of the contract debate."

THE FOUR "GREEN" BIDDING PARTNERS AT A GLANCE:

Tri-Valley CAREs was founded in Livermore in 1983 to monitor activities in
the DOE nuclear weapons complex, with a special focus on the nearby
Lawrence Livermore Lab. The group's 4,800 members work to promote nuclear
disarmament and nonproliferation, ensure cleanup of the Cold War legacy of
radioactive and toxic pollution, safeguard the environment from further
contamination, and enhance worker and public participation in
decision-making. (www.trivalleycares.org)

New College of California is committed to education in support of a just,
sacred, and sustainable world. New College cherishes intellectual freedom,
the search for social justice, respect for differences, and a belief in
collective responsibility for the welfare of all people.
(www.newcollege.edu)

WindMiller Energy was begun in 1990 to promote and distribute wind and
related energy technologies and information to small and mid-sized users.
The company provides equipment and the technical details needed for user
communities to maintain it optimally.

Nuclear Watch of New Mexico provides information to the public on nuclear
issues in the Southwest and encourages effective citizen involvement around
these concerns. The group promotes environmental protection, safe disposal
of radioactive wastes, and federal policy changes to curb the proliferation
of nuclear weapons. (www.nukewatch.org)

                         -- 30 --

Marylia Kelley
Executive Director
Tri-Valley CAREs
(Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA USA 94551

<http://www.trivalleycares.org> - is our web site address. Please visit us
there!

(925) 443-7148 - is our phone
(925) 443-0177 - is our fax

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 60 KnoxNews: After delay, feds give OK to vent, move hot waste

By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com

September 20, 2006                                                              

Bechtel Jacobs, the government's cleanup manager in Oak Ridge, 
has received the go-ahead to prepare about 4,000 drums of 
radioactive waste for treatment. 

The drums contain so-called transuranic waste, long-lived 
radioactive materials -- such as plutonium and curium -- that are 
considered among the most dangerous byproducts of nuclear 
operations. 

Earlier this summer, the U.S. Department of Energy stalled the 
project because of Bechtel Jacobs' "unsatisfactory demonstration" 
of techniques for venting gases and sampling the contents of the 
waste containers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, according to a 
report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. 

On Aug. 24, Dae Chung, DOE's deputy assistant secretary for
safety management and operation, OK'd the start of venting and
sampling operations, and Bechtel Jacobs and its subcontractor,
Weskem, did the first unit Aug. 28. 

The drums will be tested and sent, as needed, to Foster Wheeler
Environmental Corp., which is processing the waste and packaging
it for delivery to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New
Mexico, its final resting place. 

As noted earlier this year, the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant has
stepped up its dismantlement of old warheads to reduce
storage-space requirements, comply with international treaties
and make some materials available for new uses. 

Asked to be more specific, a plant spokesman said the current
dismantlement rate is about four times the plant's historical
norm. Among the weapon systems involved: Minuteman I and III,
Lance and Spartan, as well as various air-dropped bombs. 


+ 

Frank Akers, the national security director at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, said he thinks SensorNet -- one of the
lab's contributions to homeland security -- has been a success,
but it's probably misnamed. 

Akers said the name focuses attention on sensors, while the
program is really more about the network architecture that
conveys information to emergency responders in the event of
bioterrorism, a dirty bomb or some other nasty event. 

"In some corners of the world, we feel that SensorNet has not
received the visibility that it's due," Akers said. But use of
the ORNL system is broadening as competitors disappear, he said. 

"I would tell you that more and more people are moving in the
direction of SensorNet," he said. "Several systems have been a
disappointment." 


+ 

Ralph Matlock, 76, spent his career with the phone company,
Southern Bell, etc., and for much of that time (1958-1971) he
was assigned to the government's Oak Ridge facilities --
repairing telephone cables in some interesting and some
radioactive locations. 

He said he remembers peering down into a facility from his work
location and seeing lead bricks lining the walls, later
wondering about his potential exposure. 

Matlock said he developed thyroid cancer in 1962 and had his
thyroid removed. 

With all the health studies that have been done and programs set
up to assist sick nuclear workers, Matlock said nobody ever
seems to think of the phone workers who traversed the entirety
of ORNL, Y-12 and K-25. 

Many of those workers later developed cancer and died
prematurely, the Knoxville man said. "Somebody needs to look at
that," he said. 


+ 

At the "Atomic Junction" field exercise last week in Clinton,
emergency responders -- military and civilian -- practiced their
roles in different scenarios, such as the explosion of a
so-called dirty bomb. I asked one of the participants if they
were trained on how to deal with a panicked public. 

He replied, "Yeah, we give them lots of Jack Daniels." 

He was joking. I think.

© 2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel
*****************************************************************
 61 Hanford News: DOE could be fined for spills
 
This story was published Wednesday, September 20th, 2006 

By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer 

The Washington State Department of Ecology wants the Department
of Energy to be fined because of two hazardous chemical spills a
half-mile from the Columbia River. 

The sodium dichromate spills should not have occurred and those
responsible did not handle them correctly, said Jay Manning,
director of the state agency. He called the situation a
breakdown of common sense. 

Washington Closure Hanford, the DOE contractor for cleanup along
the Columbia River at the Hanford nuclear reservation, said
unexpected situations are common there. Dealing with them
requires judgment, and the state disagrees with what was done to
secure the site, said Todd Nelson, a company spokesman. 

Work was under way June 15 to remove piping that once carried
highly concentrated sodium dichromate to the D and DR reactors.
They operated from 1944-67 to produce plutonium for the U.S.
nuclear weapons program. 

The chemical was piped to the reactors to be mixed with water to
prevent corrosion in the reactors' cooling systems. 

When an excavator started to remove the first set of twin pipes,
about 30 gallons of a bright red and green liquid flowed out of
the pipe. Duratek Federal Services, which has since been
acquired by EnergySolutions, was doing the work as a
subcontractor to Washington Closure Hanford. Washington Closure
Hanford had found records that indicated the pipe had been
emptied, but instead it only had been sealed off from the
reactors. 

Workers pinched off the ends of the pipe at the break and dug up
soil they believed was contaminated. The most contaminated soil
was placed in a waste container on site. The rest was piled back
into the hole after it had been lined with plastic. 

The contractor said that was a way to secure the site, but the
state report indicates the soil was put back into the hole
because the contractor ran out of room in the waste container. 

At that point, DOE and the state should have been notified, the
state believes. 

Instead, workers went home for the weekend. When they returned
to work Monday, they cut into a different section of the twin
pipes and three more gallons spilled into the soil. Then DOE was
notified. 

Workers filled the hole over the second spill without sampling
the soil, a violation of regulations, according to John Price,
Department of Ecology project manager for environmental
restoration. They did not use a plastic liner in the second
spill. 

The soil was put back into the hole to stabilize the site until
the contractor, DOE and regulators could decide what to do next,
Nelson said. 

The Department of Ecology, a regulator on the project, was not
notified until June 26, Manning said. 

Regulations allow flexibility for contractors that encounter
unexpected situations at Hanford, but the key is notifying
regulators to come up with acceptable actions, Price said. 

The Department of Ecology on Tuesday issued a notice that DOE
had violated the legally binding Tri-Party Agreement on Hanford
cleanup. The state agency has requested that the other Hanford
regulator, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, follow up
with a fine. 

They said the violations include spilling toxic waste, failing
to take adequate soil samples and failing to notify DOE and the
state. 

The sodium dichromate in the pipes includes hexavalent chromium
at levels 22,000 times the safe level for human exposure, the
state said. It's a human carcinogen and highly toxic to people
and to the salmon that spawn in the Columbia River. 

The spill was a threat to workers, the state said. However,
Washington Closure Hanford said all work was done remotely by an
excavator, and air sampling showed workers were not exposed. The
excavator operator was the only worker inside a 30-foot safety
perimeter marked off to protect workers. 

Because similar work was done last year at another Hanford
reactor, Washington Closure Hanford and EnergySolutions should
have anticipated the problem, Manning said. 

"This was a notable and very disappointing exception" to the
good work typical of contractors at Hanford, he said. 

The EPA has not made a decision on a fine, but said the state
has raised significant concerns. 

"EPA plans to carefully review Department of Ecology findings,
conduct additional investigations as necessary and consider
appropriate enforcement actions," said Nick Ceto, EPA Hanford
project manager, in a statement. 

The Department of Energy received the state report Monday night
and is continuing discussions with regulators and the contractor
to determine its accuracy and conclusions, said Colleen French,
DOE spokeswoman. 

"It's clear on a site like ours we are going to continue to run
into surprises and changing conditions during cleanup," she
said. "The big focus for us is ensuring the contractor's
excellence at worker health and safety when we do." 

DOE is likely to consider what regulations apply, since soil in
the area already was suspected to be contaminated and scheduled
to be dug up. 

Work resumed Aug. 15 in the area with full approval of the
state, Nelson said. 

© 2006 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 62 Hanford News: Hanford tours fill up in 2 minutes
 
This story was published Thursday, September 21st, 2006 

By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer 

Registration for the next round of Hanford public tours opened
at noon Wednesday. 

It closed at 12:02 p.m. 

That's how long it took for all 350 seats on the October tours
to be filled. In fact, because of a software problem,
confirmations were sent to 450 people. 

But the Department of Energy and Fluor Hanford plan to make good
on those extra seats, said Thom Spencer, spokesman for Fluor
Hanford. 

Typically there are some cancellations. But if needed, extra
buses will be added to accommodate everyone who received
confirmations and can make the Oct. 17, 18 and 19 tours, he
said. 

For previous tours, registration would reopen periodically and
without notice to the public in the case of cancellations. But
this time people checking back at the registration Web site are
unlikely to find any openings because of the extra
confirmations. 

Public road tours of Hanford were canceled in 2002 and 2003 in
the wake of 9/11. Demand has been high since they have returned
on a limited basis. 

In 2004 about 160 people were allowed to take the road trip.
That increased to 600 people in 2005 and, with more tours added
this year, about 600 people have taken the tour so far this
summer. 

"We receive calls almost every day throughout the year from
people who have a variety of interests in touring Hanford,"
Karen Welsh, Fluor Hanford tour coordinator, said in a
statement. 

They include employees who want to show people where they work
but cannot otherwise bring them onto the restricted site. Also,
many Hanford retirees, some who worked at Hanford as early as
the 1950s, come back to see the site again. 

But the majority of visitors are members of the public who are
curious about the current cleanup of the site or its history
producing plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program
starting in World War II, she said. 

About 8 percent of people on the tours in 2006 have been from
out of state. About a quarter of participants traveled from
outside the Tri-City area to take the tour. People have signed
up from the South, the Midwest and the East Coast. 

The road trips include a walking tour of Hanford's historic B
Reactor, which supporters are working to save as a museum. From
the bus, participants also can see the $12.2 billion
vitrification plant under construction, other plutonium
production reactors and the processing plants or "canyons" where
plutonium was chemically removed from irradiated fuel rods. 

No more tours are scheduled for 2006.

© 2006 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 63 Hanford News: DOE docks Washington Closure's pay
 
This story was published Thursday, September 21st, 2006 

By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer 

The Department of Energy is planning to deduct $100,000 from
Washington Closure Hanford's fee because of electrical safety
problems. 

However, DOE said it will consider mitigating factors that could
reduce the amount of the fee withheld before a final figure is
set. 

Washington Closure had three electrical safety problems this
summer. Those, coupled with other reportable safety events
during its first year as a Hanford contractor, "indicate serious
weaknesses in WCH's work planning and control process," wrote
Keith Klein, manager of the Hanford DOE Richland Operations
Office, in a letter to Washington Closure. 

None of the incidents resulted in serious injuries. But they
indicate the potential for serious injuries has not been
adequately addressed, Klein wrote. 

Washington Closure Hanford is responsible for cleaning up
chemical and radiological contamination, sealing up reactors and
tearing down buildings along the Columbia River corridor at the
Hanford nuclear reservation. Contamination is left from the past
production of plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons
program. 

On June 20 a road was being graded as part of routine
maintenance by Washington Closure when the grader blade cut
through an electrical wire along the road. The utility line was
not where it was supposed to be, said Todd Nelson, spokesman for
Washington Closure. 

On Aug. 7 another electrical wire was cut when samples were
being collected from a septic drain field in the 300 Area just
north of Richland. Washington Closure had used
ground-penetrating radar to determine what was under the ground
before it was disturbed. But the line appeared to be a pipe on
the radar, Nelson said. 

The corrections Washington Closure came up with after the
road-grading incident addressed requirements and rigor needed
when drawings and plans showing electrical lines were correct,
according to a DOE report. But the corrections were not broad
enough to address situations in which changes to electrical
systems were not recorded, resulting in a similar event in the
septic drain field, the report said. 

The third incident was a "near miss" July 25, according to the
report. A worker using a portable saw in a wet environment in
the 300 Area received an electrical shock. 

When planning for the work was done, the work area was dry,
Nelson said. But before work started, some nearby asbestos
removal work was sprayed down and left standing water. 

Washington Closure will be improving its planning process, he
said. 

"Our goal is zero injuries and accidents," Nelson said. "The
fact that incidents are above zero is not where we want to be.
We want to do better and we will do better." 

Washington Closure plans to submit information on mitigating
factors to try to lower the amount of the fee reduction. Its
contract lists several conditions that could be mitigating
factors, such as demonstration of compliance with a range of
safety improvement programs, identification and correction of
problems by the contractor rather than DOE and the contractor's
degree of control over problems that occurred. 

The firm's overall fee is determined by its long-term
performance. 

The other recordable safety events in the past year mentioned in
Klein's letter were not detailed. However, they could have
included a wide range of events that are considered reportable,
from bee stings to an incident in which a hydraulic bucket
gradually lost fluid and lowered onto a worker's steel-toed boot
but did not injure him. 

Washington Closure's problems occurred as DOE has pushed
nationally for better electrical safety. 

An increased number of electrical safety events in 2004 at sites
across the DOE complex continued through 2005 and into the
current year, DOE said in a Special Operations Report sent to
DOE and contractor managers in August. 

The energy secretary last year required contractors and DOE
offices to demonstrate that performance expectations were
adequate and that managers were being held accountable for
improving electrical safety. 

In addition, an improvement plan has been developed and actions
to carry it out should be complete by year's end. 

© 2006 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 64 reviewjournal.com: NEVADA TEST SITE: DOE accused of lying
 
Sep. 21, 2006

Pair question radiation exposure data    

By KEITH ROGERS<br>REVIEW-JOURNAL
	
John Funk, who installed bulkheads in nuclear test tunnels at
the Nevada Test Site, sits outside Wednesday's meeting of the
Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health. Funk has bone
cancer. 

Photo by Clint Karlsen.
 	   
A former Nevada Test Site worker and the widow of one of his
colleagues told a federal advisory panel this week that they
were lied to and deceived by the government's handling of their
compensation claims. 

"Either the government lied to us when they told us how abused
and harmed we had been, or the government is lying to us now
when they are denying our claims. In either event, we have been
lied to, and we are angry," John Funk, a carpenter who installed
bulkheads in nuclear test tunnels, said in his written testimony
to the panel Tuesday night. 

Similarly, Dorothy Clayton, whose husband, Glenn, died in 1999
after a bout with five different cancers, showed the panel
discrepancies in his radiation exposure history at the test
site. 

The actual film badge cards she obtained from Department of
Energy records "showed a lot more (radiation exposure) than they
were admitting to," Clayton said Wednesday. 

She said the panel members "were shocked. They wanted a copy of
the records." 

Even though she has since received $150,000 in compensation,
"there's a lot of widows whose husbands worked in the very same
areas and got the same exposure my husband got. He wasn't out
there alone," Clayton said. 

She had come to Las Vegas from Nashville, Tenn., to support
survivors who have been denied compensation. 

"It makes them really distrustful of the DOE. How can you trust
them? It means the information coming out of DOE is incorrect
according to the records that we have," Clayton said. 

Funk, afflicted with bone marrow cancer, asked the Advisory
Board on Radiation and Worker Health to consider the combined
effects of exposure to chemicals and radioactive materials and
to drop the current 250-day requirement for working at the test
site to qualify for $150,000 in compensation plus medical
expenses. 

Funk has been denied compensation by the National Institute of
Occupational Safety and Health. The board advises the institute
on dose reconstruction and nuclear workers' cancer issues. 

"For the workers at Amchitka Island (Alaska), there is no
250-day requirement in the legislation. Can anyone explain to me
why that is fair to our Nevada workers?" asked Funk, who
represents a group of former workers known as Atomic Veterans
and Victims of Nevada. 

Special exposure status was given to former Amchitka nuclear
workers in legislation, meaning they aren't required to have
their doses reconstructed to qualify for compensation. Instead,
they only have to show they contracted cancers linked to
radioactive materials and worked at one of the three underground
nuclear tests at Amchitka. 

Nevada Test Site workers stand to receive "special exposure
cohort" status for above-ground nuclear tests from 1951 to 1962,
if they worked at the test site for at least 250 days. 

However, most of the nuclear tests at the test site, 828 tests,
were conducted below-ground from 1963 to 1992. Claims for those
tests aren't covered by the special status. 

Paul Ziemer, the board's chairman, said he couldn't comment
specifically on the apparent disparity between workers in Alaska
and Nevada but noted that many have said it's unfair. 

"We understand there are political aspects to how the
legislation was passed. ... That's the way it came to us from
Congress," Ziemer said during a break in Wednesday's session at
a Las Vegas hotel. 

Wednesday night, Funk told the board that many records that
could be useful in proving claims by former tunnel workers and
their survivors were disposed of in a landfill at the test site
in late 1997, three years before the Energy Employees
Occupational Illness Compensation Program took effect. 

Earlier Wednesday, panel member Robert Presley, who chairs the
Nevada Test Site working group, said some exposure and
industrial hygiene and safety records are probably missing from
throughout the nation's nuclear weapons complex. 

"There have been campaigns over the last 40 years that we don't
need these records so let's get rid of them. We didn't think
we'd need them 30 years later," Presley said during a break. 

"Yeah, there could have been records that were taken out and
dumped." 	   

Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2006
 Stephens Media GroupPrivacy Statement
*****************************************************************
 65 Inside Bay Area: UC closes in on new lab contracts

Article Last Updated: 09/21/2006 05:18:12 AM PDT  

University system may win despite calls for change of management

By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER  
     
  After seven years of problems with security, safety and finan- 

ces at national laboratories run by the University of California
— problems that made some in Congress livid at the mention of UC
— the university is close to locking up management of those labs
and responsibility for U.S. nuclear explosives well into the
next decade. 

The last stage of UCs rehabilitation began quietly a couple
months ago. 

In a masterful stroke, the university and Bechtel National,
having beaten the worlds largest defense contractor to keep
running Los Alamos nuclear-weapons design lab, now appear close
to eliminating their most serious challenger for running its
sister lab, Lawrence Livermore. 

The centers receive more than $1 billion a year in defense
research. 

Battelle Memorial Institute, a Columbus, Ohio-based nonprofit
running more national laboratories than any other federal
contractor, acknowledged Wednesday that it was in intensive
negotiations with UC and Bechtel about teaming up for the
Livermore bid. The talks are well along and signal that Battelle
is leaning away from mounting its own bid. 

You do all the analyses, weigh the positives and negatives.
Frankly, this gives the government the best contractor ever,
Battelle Executive Vice President Bill Madia said late
Wednesday. 

Today, the universitys gov-erning Board of Regents is expected
to endorse joining Bechtel, Battelle and other firms in bidding
to keep the Livermore contract. The university expects to spend
$3 million on preparing the bid, drawn from a portion of lab
management fees banked over the years. 

I believe it is our duty and our obligation to take over this
duty and this job as a service to the country, Regent Peter
Preuss said Wednesday. 

University and lab executives would say little about their bid 
proposal but suggested homeland security and conventional defense 
research could grow. 

Theres a war going on, said Livermore lab executive officer 
Ronald Cochran. They need a lot of help, so were looking to 
expand our portfolio in those areas. 

The competition is the first in the history of the nations
second nuclear weapons lab, run by the university from its
founding in 1952. If the university and its partners win, design
and maintenance of all U.S. nuclear explosives will remain in
University of California hands at least until 2014. 

That outcome is not assured. Northrop Grumman, the nations third
largest defense contractor and operator of the Nevada Test Site,
is expected to lead a novel bid for managing Livermore. On
Wednesday, Northrop declined to confirm that it was assembling a
team. 

Were still looking at all our options, spokesman Bryan Culbert
said in an e-mail. 

A green team of disarmament activists and alternative energy 
boosters announced plans Wednesday for a bid intended to steer 
Livermore away from nuclear weapons work toward carbon-free 
energy research. 

Its really to challenge the secrecy around the proposals and
offer alternatives, said Tara Dorabji, an organizer for the
Livermore watchdog group, Tri-Valley CAREs. It doesnt have to be
all nuclear weapons. 

Two years ago, when a half-dozen congressional committees were
investigating allegations of theft, fraud and losses of
classified nuclear weapons data at Los Alamos, the idea that a
university that never had to vie for the job of running national
labs could ace three bidding competitions was almost
unthinkable. 

But the university had no opposition for running Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, its pioneering lab above the
Berkeley campus. It squeaked past Lockheed Martin Corp. at Los
Alamos and now at Livermore, on the third and last of those
bids, despite efforts by the federal government to sweeten the
deal, competition is fading. 

Its an interesting question whether there will be change, said
Hugh Gusterson, a cultural anthropologist at George Mason
University who studied the weapons labs closely for two books. 

In 2004, Congress saw the university having trouble with the
basics of operating weapons labs that UC had run unchallenged
for more than a half century. Some lawmakers suggested shutting
down Los Alamos, Livermore or both. Instead, Congress ordered
competition for every national lab run by a single contractor
for 50 years or more. 

Gusterson suspects Congress is less interested now because
Livermore always was a better-run laboratory than Los Alamos and
because Livermore was in the universitys back yard. 

It looked for the last year or so as though Livermore had a
low-grade fever but Los Alamos was the emergency patient, he
said. As for Livermore, he added, it might be that if it aint so
broke, why fix it? 

Full-blown competition or not, the University of California has
swallowed some of its pride and regardless of outcome, no longer
will have sole responsibility for security, safety, financial
management and other things that it wasnt good at, while
remaining in charge of science and technology, areas of UC
expertise. 

Contact Ian Hoffman at ihoffman@- 

angnewspapers.com.   
                  
Insidebayarea.com | Subscriber Services | Contact Us

 © 2000-2006 ANG Newspapers |   	     
*****************************************************************
 66 Denver Business Journal: CH2M Hill lands Air Force contract - 

Engineering giant said Thursday it has landed a five-year, $21 
million contract for environmental remediation and construction 
at the Beale Air Force Base in California. 

CH2M Hill is based in Englewood, a suburb of Denver. 

The contract, offered by the U.S. Air Force, will pay CH2M Hill
the cost of the work, plus additional money on an incentive
fee-based, performanced-based agreement -- akin to the structure
CH2M Hill worked under to clean up the Rocky Flats nuclear
weapons plant northwest of Denver. But it's the first time the
Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence, which is handling
the contract, has used such a structure. 

CH2M Hill is contracted to complete feasibility studies and
decision documents as well as clean up the Air Force base. The
project starts this month and runs through November 2011. 

Most of the work involves cleanup of solvent-contaminated
groundwater and soil. In addition, CH2M Hill will be removing
soil and sediment contaminated from past Department of Defense
practices at the base. 

© 2006 American City Business Journals, Inc. and its licensors.
*****************************************************************
 67 IEER | Comments on the Los Alamos Site Wide EIS

Comments on the Los Alamos Site Wide Environmental Impact 
Statement DOE/EIS-0380D, June 2006 Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D. 
President, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research
                                
20 September 2006 

By e-mail to LANL_SWEIS@doeal.gov Fax: 505-667-5948 

1. The Department of Energy Site Wide Environmental Impact
Statement on the Los Alamos National Laboratory (DOE/EIS-0380D,
June 2006, referred to below as the SWEIS), contains some data
on water and soil that should be of considerable concern to all
those interested in the integrity of groundwater and surface
water resources in the environs of the laboratory. There also
appear to be significant issues with the quality of the data.
The SWEIS does not address the problem of a 300 kilogram
discrepancy in plutonium waste accounts and its implications for
the environment and for security. Finally, the presentation of
the data is done in a manner that is non-transparent, so that a
detailed independent assessment of trends is not possible. 

These comments focus on a few areas and a few radionuclides of
concern, in large measure because the time allowed for comment
on a vast topic was too short. They are presented in the form of
issues to which IEER seeks response and recommendations in terms
of implementation in the next version of the SWEIS. The
recommendation in that regard is that this version of the Draft
SWEIS should be scrapped and the that the process should be
started anew with a new scoping document for the SWEIS. 

The radionuclides on which we focus here are plutonium-238,
plutonium-239/240, americium-241, and strontium-90. We will use
drinking water standards as a benchmark, but want to make clear
that their use does not indicate that there is a violation of
the rules when the levels are exceeded, since the rules apply to
public drinking water systems. The exception is uranium, where
the data indicate that Santa Fe public water supply wells are in
violation of the EPA drinking water rule. 

Storm water 

Table 1 shows data read from the graphs in Appendix F of the
SWEIS relating to americium and plutonium isotopes for storm
water runoff. The storm water samples even averaged over four
years are very high - well above the drinking water standard of
15 picocuries per liter if each isotope were present alone and 5
picocuries per liter if all were present in equal amounts (which
is approximately the case). 

Table 1: Data from the SWEIS showing some soil and water data
for canyons 


    	  Onsite Canyons, pCi/liter  	  Mortandad Canyon, pCi/liter
 	  Drinking water standard, pCi/liter, alone  	  Drinking water
standard, all 3 present equally   
  Am-241	  15  	  40  	  15  	  5   
  Pu-238	  15  	  50  	  15  	  5   
  Pu-239/240	  10  	  30  	  15  	  5   

Values estimated from graphs in the SWEIS, Appendix F, Figures
F-13, F15, and F-16; Standard from 40 CFR 141.66 2005. 

Storm water either seeps into the ground and the radionuclides
in it would eventually pose a threat to the groundwater or, in
intense storm events, the plutonium and other radionuclides
would be washed into the Rio Grande. It is not possible to infer
from the data presented whether (i) the high contamination
values are due to colloidal or dissolved plutonium and americium
or (ii) the sediment that is swept up in the storm water
represents most of the contamination. If the former is true,
some canyons would likely be much more contaminated than
indicated by the sediment data. If the latter is the case, much
of the contamination would settle out in the sediments of the
Rio Grande or Cochiti Lake when intense storms carry the water
into the river. 

Recommendation for revision: Given the magnitude of the
plutonium and americium mobilization in storm events, a careful
canyon-by-canyon, storm event by storm event analysis is
necessary to understand the pattern of transuranic radionuclide
mobilization. 

When the Rio Grade does receive the storm water, it would be
considerably diluted. Hence it is unlikely that the
contamination levels measure by LANL would exceed present
drinking water standards, which are annual averages. This is,
however, cold comfort, since the present standards are too lax
by a factor of about 100. This was shown in an analysis done by
the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and sent to
the EPA in 2005.1 In other words, the Maximum Contaminant Limit
for each of the radionuclides listed above should be 0.15
picocuries per liter. We have asked the EPA to review its
present Maximum Contamination Level of 15 picocuries per liter
as part of its legally mandated review in 2006 of the drinking
water standards. That request has been supported by Governor
Richardson. The EPA has stated that it is considering the
analysis in our report. Of course, if more than one radionuclide
is present, then the MCL for each is reduced. For instance if
all three items in Table 1 are present in equal amounts, the
limit for each would be 0.05 picocuries per liter. 

The contamination of storm water in the "onsite canyons" is
about 300 times the level suggested by our analysis of drinking
water standards. That analysis is based on the dose delivered to
the maximally exposed organ, accepted and published by the EPA
in its Federal Guidance Report No. 13. Hence a dilution of 300
times would be needed before the water could be used for
drinking were the standard to be changed as we have recommended. 

Recommendation for revision: The SWEIS should analyze the impact
upon surface water systems of high storm water content of
transuranic radionuclides in light of the proposed reduction of
the drinking water standard for long-lived alpha-emitting
transuranic radionuclides to 0.15 picocuries per liter. 

Groundwater 

Table 2 shows some of the groundwater data for the radionuclides
that are of the greatest concern as indicated by the data. 

Table 2: Groundwater contamination, picocuries/liter, 2001-2004 


    	  Canyon alluvial groundwater systems  	  Other springs  	 
San Ildefonso Pueblo  	  Drinking Water standard   
  Americium-241  	  0.5  	  0.03  	  0.02  	  15   
  Plutonium-238  	  0.6  	  0.015  	  2.0  	  15   
  Plutonium-239/240  	  0.25  	  0.015  	  0.01  	  15   
  Strontium-90  	  20  	  50  	  0.2  	  8   

Values estimated from graphs in the SWEIS, Appendix F, Figures
F-1, F-3, F-4, and F-5 ; Standard from 40 CFR 141.66 2005. 

Many of these values are considerably above the level of
groundwater contamination to be expected from fallout. For
instance, the level of plutonium-238 in Santa Fe water supply
wells for 2001-2004 was reported as 0.00420 picocuries per
liter, which is well over two orders of magnitude less than the
contamination level for this radionuclide in the San Ildefonso
well. Stronium-90 groundwater contamination is much higher than
expected from nuclear bomb testing fallout (Santa Fe level
reported as 0.147 picocuries per liter). 2 The data indicate
that strontium-90 contamination of the water in the canyons is
high - above the drinking water limit for the canyon alluvial
groundwater systems and "other spring." The strontium-90 may be
migrating rapidly. The data reported indicate no clear trend
between the aggregates for 1991-1996 and those for 2001-2004 for
strontium-90. 

The source of the high Sr-90 is unclear, especially as LANL does
not have any reprocessing. There is an absence of
characterization of the Sr-90 source term. 

Recommendation for Strontium-90: A clear and complete account of
the source term for Sr-90 is needed. A detailed analysis of the
migration of Sr-90 into groundwater is also needed. It is urgent
to establish that the full extent of the contamination, whether
there is a plume, and the possible future evolution of that
plume. The canyon and spring data are averages over many
locations. Separate analyses, each connected to the major source
terms for Sr-90 are needed for a clear understanding of
groundwater contamination. The potential for Sr-90 to migrate
into groundwater that could be used for drinking needs to be
carefully assessed. This is also an environmental justice issue.
The implications of the high levels of strontium-90
contamination in surface water outcrops for the surface water
quality in the region needs to be addressed. 

Data quality 

The interpretation of groundwater data is complicated by
problems that might affect sampling wells. Specifically, the
bentonite clay used in well drilling may trap many of the
radionuclides, including the ones discussed here. The use of
organic solvents may also have a similar effect by more complex
mechanisms. The problem appears to be pervasive. The DOE
Inspector General's office concluded that there was a
significant problem in this regard (See at ). This report, as
well as analyses by NGOs, should be cited and analyzed in the
SWEIS. It is not possible at present to determine the extent of
the underestimate, since that must be done on a well-by-well,
year-by-year basis. That is impossible to do from the data
presented in the SWEIS. Indeed, it is unclear if it can be done
at all. 

The problem is very serious for the four radionuclides discussed
here and perhaps for others. Strontium-90 is already above the
drinking water limit in several areas. Further, the San
Ildefonso groundwater average for plutonium-238 is well above
the maximum contaminant level recommended by Institute for
Energy and Environmental Research. 

Recommendation for SWEIS revision: The SWEIS should clearly
state that the data for groundwater radionuclide pollution are
systematic underestimates. It should specify the radionuclides
that may be significantly affected by the problem. It should
also identify those wells where data are suspect or known to be
underestimates. An attempt should be made to determine if
scientifically defensible adjustment factors can be developed.
These adjustment factors must be verified by data from new
characterization that are drilled according to sound procedures.
If adjustment factors that are scientifically defensible cannot
be developed, new wells should be drilled and new, reliable data
should be gathered before the SWEIS is revised. 

Recommendation for SWEIS revision: Since a large portion of
critical groundwater data are basically flawed, this draft SWEIS
should be discarded and a new scoping document followed by a new
draft SWEIS with sound groundwater data should be published. 

Santa Fe Water 

The mean level of uranium contamination shown in Table F-19
(SWEIS, p. F-40) is considerably higher than the EPA drinking
water standard. Table 3 shows the mean values and the standard
deviations for the three uranium isotopes present in natural
uranium. 

Table 3: Uranium data for Santa Fe Water Supply Wells, 2001-2004 


    	  Mean, picocuries/liter  	  Standard Deviation   
  U-234  	  22.6  	  20.4   
  U-235  	  1.58  	  1.41   
  U-238  	  24.6  	  19.8   



The total of all three mean values, representing total uranium
contamination of these wells is about 49 picocuries per liter
(rounded). This amounts to about 73 micrograms of uranium per
liter (since natural uranium is indicated by the isotopic
composition). This is about 2.4 times above the EPA drinking
water standard of 30 micrograms per liter. 

Recommendation: It appears that the groundwater component of
Santa Fe water is being contaminated by natural uranium - at
least that appears to be the common assumption among those who
are familiar with the problem. However, it is necessary for the
SWEIS to do an analysis to ensure that none of the uranium
pollution can be traced to LANL. 

Accounting for plutonium in waste 

The SWEIS summary refers to a 1996 memorandum regarding
plutonium accounting problems at LANL.3 But this memorandum is
almost beside the point so far as the actual problems are
concerned and how they might impact the environment. In the 1996
memorandum, the retrievable TRU waste inventory for WIPP is
estimated at 1323.70 kilograms. Currently, the EPA WIPP accounts
indicate a total of only about 200 kilograms (rounded to the
nearest 10 kilograms).4 The IEER report, Dangerous
Discrepancies, referenced here and published in 2006, provided a
detailed analysis not of book-physical inventory differences in
plutonium accounts, but of the plutonium that is supposedly
accounted for in waste streams. There is a discrepancy of about
300 kilograms between the national security plutonium account
(the "NMMSS" account) and the waste accounts. The report further
showed that either the WIPP account is wrong or the NMMSS
account is wrong. It also raised the possibility that both may
be wrong. It is also possible that the account of buried TRU
waste is wrong. Both the WIPP account and the buried TRU waste
amounts have huge implications for LANL environmental management
and remediation. Yet, the DOE, NNSA, and LANL responses have not
substantively addressed the issues raised - that is, no analysis
of the 300 kilogram discrepancy has been provided to show that
it does not exist, or at least that the buried waste and WIPP
accounts are correct (in which case the NMMSS waste account
would be wrong by about 300 kilograms). 

Recommendation: LANL cannot be a considered a suitable site for
existing weapons-grade plutonium work, much less expanded work.
The SWEIS should substantively address the analysis in Dangerous
Discrepancies. It should also explore other sites for the work
proposed for LANL, since LANL has ostensibly failed to maintain
its plutonium accounts by an amount equivalent to about 60
nuclear bombs and also failed to respond with a substantive
analysis once the problem was pointed out. 

Data Transparency 

The SWEIS is seriously deficient both in the manner of
presentation of the data and in its failure to acknowledge the
problems with groundwater data. Moreover, the limits of
detection, the measurement uncertainties, and the 95 percent
confidence intervals are not presented. 

Recommendation: The data should be presented on an annual rather
than a multiyear average basis. Measurement uncertainties,
limits of detection, and 95 percent confidence intervals should
be shown for each radionuclide. 

Recommendation regarding Alternatives to Be Considered and
Context 

The SWEIS proposes to greatly expand pit production at LANL.
This expansion is inappropriate given that problems for surface
and groundwater from past pollution are considerable. A new
draft SWEIS should include a full and scientifically defensible
analysis of the source terms for plutonium, americium, and
strontium-90 and the migration of these radionuclides, and a
clear analysis with documentation of the 300 kilogram
discrepancy in plutonium waste accounts. It should analyze other
sites where all national security work now done at LANL and any
proposed expansion of work in view of LANL's failure to maintain
proper plutonium accounts to the tune of 60 nuclear bombs worth
of plutonium. Specifically, it should assess the environmental
and proliferation risks of continuing plutonium activities at a
site where LANL has failed to substantively address large
problems in plutonium accounts even after these problems have
been repeatedly called to its attention. The alternatives of (i)
not pursuing expansion, (ii) of carrying out all nuclear weapon
related activities that involve significant amounts of plutonium
(more than a kilogram) at another site, and (iii) of carrying
out additional activities at another site should also be
examined in the revised SWEIS. 


Endnotes: 

1. Arjun Makhijani, Bad to the Bone, Institute for Energy and
Environmental Research, Takoma Park, Maryland, 2005 at .
 2. Data for Santa Fe water supply wells are reported in Table
F-19 of the SWEIS. 
3. Richard J. Guimond and Everet H. Beckner, "Plutonium in Waste
Inventories," DOE Memorandum, January 30, 1996. 
4. Arjun Makhijani and Brice Smith, Dangerous Discrepancies:
Missing Weapons Plutonium in the Los Alamos National Laboratory
Waste Accounts, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research,
Takoma Park, Maryland, April 21, 2006, p. 15. The report and
other documents related to this analysis can be accessed from . 


Also available: 

+ - list of resources 
+ , SDA article, Feb. 2002 
+ 

Available at EggheadBooks: (Apex Press, 2003) 



Comments to ieer at ieer.org
 Takoma Park, Maryland, USA 

September 20, 2006
 Reposted with typo corrections and minor clarifications
September 21, 2006 
*****************************************************************
 68 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Savannah 
 
                         FR Doc 06-7899 
[Federal Register: September 21, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 183)] 
[Notices] [Page 55177-55178] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr21se06-34]                         
 
River Site AGENCY: Department of Energy.
 
ACTION: Notice of Open Meeting and Retreat.
 
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental 
Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Savannah River 
Site. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. No. 92-463, 86 
Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be 
announced in the Federal Register.
 
 
DATES: Wednesday, October 11, 2006, 3 p.m.-5 p.m.; Thursday, 
October 12, 2006, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday, October 13, 2006, 
8:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
 
ADDRESSES: Charleston Riverview Hotel, 170 Lockwood Boulevard, 
Charleston, SC 29403.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerri Flemming, Closure Project 
Office, Department of Energy Savannah River Operations Office, 
P.O. Box A, Aiken, SC 29802; Phone: (803) 952-7886.
 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of 
the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of 
environmental restoration, waste management, and related 
activities.
 
Tentative Agenda Wednesday, October 11, 2006.
 
3 p.m. Administrative Committee--Membership Candidate Selection.
 
5 p.m. Adjourn. Thursday, October 12, 2006.
 
8:30 a.m. Welcome and Logistics for Education Retreat. 9 a.m. 
Basics of Radiation. 11 a.m. Nuclear Materials 101. 12 p.m. Lunch 
Break. 1 p.m. Nuclear Materials 101. 2 p.m. Waste 101. 3:45 p.m. 
Hazard, Risk and Safety at Savannah River Site. 5 p.m. Adjourn. 
Friday, October 13, 2006.
 
8:30 a.m. Overview of Cleanup Decisionmaking. 10:15 a.m. 
Regulatory Requirement Structure Overview. 12 p.m. Adjourn. A 
final agenda will be available at the retreat Thursday, October 
12, 2006.
 
Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public.
 
Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or 
after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral statements 
pertaining to agenda items should
 
[[Page 55178]] contact Gerri Flemming's office at the address or 
telephone listed above. Requests must be received five days prior 
to the meeting and reasonable provision will be made to include 
the presentation in the agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal 
Officer is empowered to conduct the meeting in a fashion that 
will facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Individuals 
wishing to make public comment will be provided a maximum of five 
minutes to present their comments.
 
Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public 
review and copying at the U.S. Department of Energy's Freedom of 
Information Public Reading Room, 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585 between 9 a.m. and 
4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Minutes 
will also be available by writing to Gerri Flemming, Department 
of Energy Savannah River Operations Office, P.O. Box A, Aiken, SC 
29802, or by calling her at (803) 952-7886.
 
Issued at Washington, DC, on September 18, 2006.
 
Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer.
 
[FR Doc. 06-7899 Filed 9-20-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P

 
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 69 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Oak Ridge 
 
                         FR Doc 06-7900 
[Federal Register: September 21, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 183)] 
[Notices] [Page 55178] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr21se06-35]                         
 
Reservation AGENCY: Department of Energy.
 
ACTION: Notice of Open Meeting.
 
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental 
Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Oak Ridge 
Reservation. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. No. 
92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting 
be announced in the Federal Register.
 
 
DATES: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 6 p.m.
 
ADDRESSES: DOE Information Center, 475 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak 
Ridge, Tennessee.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pat Halsey, Federal Coordinator, 
Department of Energy Oak Ridge Operations Office, P.O. Box 2001, 
EM-90, Oak Ridge, TN 37831. Phone (865) 576-4025; Fax (865) 
576-5333 or e- mail: halseypj@oro.doe.gov or check the Web site 
at http://www.oakridge.doe.gov/em/ssab.
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of 
the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of 
environmental restoration, waste management, and related 
activities.
 
Tentative Agenda: ``The Cowboys Wore White Hats,'' a presentation 
on early waste management practices on the Oak Ridge Reservation 
Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public.
 
Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or 
after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral statements 
pertaining to the agenda item should contact Pat Halsey at the 
address or telephone number listed above. Requests must be 
received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable provision 
will be made to include the presentation in the agenda. The 
Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to conduct the 
meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly conduct of 
business. Individuals wishing to make public comment will be 
provided a maximum of five minutes to present their comments.
 
Minutes: Minutes of this meeting will be available for public 
review and copying at the Department of Energy's Information 
Center at 475 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN between 8 a.m. 
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, or by writing to Pat Halsey, 
Department of Energy Oak Ridge Operations Office, P.O. Box 2001, 
EM-90, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, or by calling her at (865) 576-4025.
 
Issued at Washington, DC, on September 18, 2006.
 
Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer.
 
[FR Doc. 06-7900 Filed 9-20-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P

 
    
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NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this 
material is distributed without profit or payment to those who 
have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for 
non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more 
information go to: 
<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml> 
    
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