***************************************************************** 09/27/06 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 14.229 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 ICH: Why Bush Will Nuke Iran 2 Guardian Unlimited: Rice Suports Diplomat's Talks With Iran 3 Guardian Unlimited: Iranian, EU Negotiators Talk in Berlin 4 Guardian Unlimited: Envoy: Nuclear Talks Enter Crucial Phase 5 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Nuke Negotiator to Meet EU's Solana 6 Guardian Unlimited: Iranian Negotiator to Meet With EU Today 7 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. May Hold Off on Iran Sanctions 8 Guardian Unlimited: Signalling a new tack 9 Bellona: Sources: Moscow selling missiles to Iran to protect Bushehr 10 Bellona: Russian and Iran set date to start controversial Bushehr re 11 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: OIC FMs support IRI peaceful N-tech 12 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Dialogue, only solution to problems 13 AFP: Crunch Iran-EU nuclear talks to start in Berlin 14 AFP: 'Final chance' Iran-EU nuclear talks to continue on Thursday - 15 AFP: US insists any Iranian enrichment suspension must be verified - 16 UPI: New Iranian reactor online by Nov. '07 17 Guardian Unlimited: N. Korea: U.S. Torpedoing Nuclear Talks 18 Korea Herald: U.S. gives 6-party talks 'one last push' 19 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Pyongyang balky, Rice speaks of ˇ®last chance 20 AFP: US warns against North Korea nuclear test 21 UPI: N. Korea demands U.S. troop withdrawal 22 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Australian deal will stabilize uranium supply 23 IHT: Former Russian nuclear chief proclaims innocence after 24 Russian foreign minister pushes diplomacy 25 Independent: 'Oh no, not again'; Meeting stirs up memories of 1979 u NUCLEAR REACTORS 26 US: NRC: NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards to Meet Octobe 27 US: NRC: RIN 3150-AH96 28 RIA Novosti: Inspections do not mean an end to Sakhalin II PSA - min 29 HindustanTimes.com: N-deal down to the wire 30 US: Platts: Areva to supply new steam generators at Prairie Island-2 31 US: News Journal: NRC urges new push on nuclear plant safety problem 32 US: NRC: Nuclear Management Company, LLC, Monticello Nuclear Generat 33 US: NRC: Notice of Sunshine Act Meeting 34 US: Castro Theater: Caldicott book celebration 10-12-6 35 Kyiv Post: Chornobyl shelter put off again 36 ITAR-TASS: Lithuanian Ignalina nuclear plant’s third turbine develop 37 US: NJMG: Lawmakers question safety of nuclear plant 38 US: TVA: Sunshine Act Meeting 39 UPI: Analysis: Nigeria moves on nuclear goal NUCLEAR SECURITY NUCLEAR SAFETY 40 NEWS.com.au: Protests mark Maralinga tests anniversary 41 US: NRC: RIN 3150-AH96 42 US: The Day: Judge Calls 2nd Hearing 43 US: The Day: Whistleblower to Return to Work 44 AU ABC: 50 years after Maralinga atomic tests, Aust 'hasn't learnt'. 45 Reuters: Japan finds radioactive matter around U.S. ship NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 46 US: India News: India can import uranium from Australia without sign 47 Public Citizen: Domenici Bill Won’t Address Fundamental Problems Wit 48 Las Vegas SUN: Senator seeks to speed nuclear waste shipments to Yuc PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY 49 KnoxNews: ORNL to manage $25M grant 50 Knox News: ORNL campus looks good, but everybody isn’t smiling 51 Tri-City Herald: DOE extends $1.8 billion contracts 52 Hanford News: Scientist finds way to detect uranium 53 The Enquirer: Fernald cleanup update tonight 54 DenverPost.com: High court to hear Rocky Flats whistle-blower case 55 DOE: Office of International Regimes and Agreements; Proposed 56 DOE: Office of Science; Biological and Environmental Research 57 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Nevada 58 Rocky Mountain News: Court to hear Flats case 59 Knox News: BWXT worker pleads guilty ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 ICH: Why Bush Will Nuke Iran Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 17:24:54 -0500 (CDT) X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu X-Spam-Class: HAM We should take care, in inculcating patriotism into our boys and girls, that is a patriotism above the narrow sentiment which usually stops at one's country, and thus inspires jealousy and enmity in dealing with others... Our patriotism should be of the wider, nobler kind which recognises justice and reasonableness in the claims of others and which lead our country into comradeship with...the other nations of the world. : Lord Baden-Powell = My kind of loyalty was to one's country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death: Mark Twain = What a stupendous, what an incomprehensible machine is man! Who can endure toil, famine, stripes, imprisonment & death itself in vindication of his own liberty, and the next moment ... inflict on his fellow men a bondage, one hour of which is fraught with more misery than ages of that which he rose in rebellion to oppose: Thomas Jefferson === Read this newsletter online http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/ RSS FEED http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/rssfeed.xml News Syndication You can include the headlines from this newsletter on your own website free of charge http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/syndicate.htm === Number Of Iraqi Civilians Slaughtered In America's War? More Than 250,000 http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11674.htm Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In Bush's War 2708 http://icasualties.org/oif/ The War in Iraq Costs $317,831,023,425 See the cost in your community http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182 === Why Bush Will Nuke Iran By Paul Craig Roberts The neoconservative Bush administration will attack Iran with tactical nuclear weapons, because it is the only way the neocons believe they can rescue their goal of US (and Israeli) hegemony in the Middle East. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15118.htm === Most Iraqis Favor Immediate U.S. Pullout, Polls Show By Amit R. Paley A strong majority of Iraqis want U.S.-led occupation forces to immediately withdraw from the country, saying their swift departure would make Iraq more secure and decrease sectarian violence, according to new polls by the State Department and independent researchers. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15126.htm === Revolution just Ain't what it used to be By Mickey Z. Thomas Jefferson can pronounce: "Every generation needs a new revolution." But that doesn't mean I can. Honest Abe once declared: "Any people anywhere being inclined and having the power have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government, and force a new one that suits them better." Hey, I'd love a government that suits me-and most humans-better, but making plans to "shake off the existing government and force a new one" would just about guarantee you a place on that secret no-fly list. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15130.htm === For God's Sake By Philip J. Rappa Its been said the world has changed since 911. Thats true for our government is indiscernible. Its unrecognizable. It no longer adheres to the principles of our founding papers. It no longer accepts The Bill of Rights as the law of the land. No longer does it recognize treaties, proclamations or conventions. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15132.htm === "Thank you for not putting a bomb in your luggage." By William Blum The Bush and Blair administrations can not admit to the correlation of terrorism with their policies, but those opposed to their wars should never allow them to avoid the issue. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15131.htm === The United States Of Torture By Matthew Yglesias The United States now presents itself as what amounts to the globe's largest and most powerful rogue statea nuclear-armed superpower capable of projecting military force to the furthest corners of the earth, acting utterly without legal or moral constraint whenever the president proclaims it necessary. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15128.htm === Reading the Gas Pump Numbers What Do Falling Oil Prices Tell Us about War with Iran, the Elections, and Peak-Oil Theory By Michael T. Klare What the hell is going on here? Just six weeks ago, gasoline prices at the pump were hovering at the $3 per gallon mark; today, they're inching down toward $2 -- and some analysts predict even lower numbers before the November elections. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15133.htm === At least 34 Killed in U.S. occupied Iraq: A U.S. raid and air strike killed eight people, including seven members of one family, and wounded two others in Baquba http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MOU737628.htm === U.S. Occupation Forces Kill 4 Civilian Women in a Blood-Soaked Morning: Bodies Strewn About Capital, U.S. Raid Kills 4 "Militants", 4 Civilian Women http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/27/iraq/main2042173_page2.shtml === 'Not enough cash for war' : George Bush received a serious rebuke about his wartime leadership this week when his army chief said he did not have enough money to fight the war in Iraq. http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianweekly/story/0,,1882208,00.html === Iraq's blast call for long-term US bases: The Scholars said that in making the comments during a visit to the US Talabani had done "nothing more than express an American demand to keep Washington from having to do it". http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=17616 === Andrew Bacevich : Chickens are home to roost in Iraq: The Bush administration is running out of troops, money and ideas http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15134.htm === Controversial group wins U.S. propaganda contract in Iraq: A public relations company known for its role in a controversial U.S. military program that paid Iraqi newspapers for stories favourable to coalition forces has been awarded another multi-million dollar media contract with American forces in Iraq. http://snipurl.com/xejr === Afghans Kill 25 Suspected "Insurgents": Afghan security forces killed 25 suspected insurgents during a clash Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, while a suicide bombing targeting a NATO convoy wounded one civilian, officials said. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2497360 === Nato occupation forces soldier killed in Taliban attack: A Nato occupation forces soldier has been killed when his patrol came under fire south of the Afghan capital, Kabul. http://www.itv.com/news/world_76f133e266e092d0b6a1e96c622b3774.html === House OKs additional $70 billion for occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan : House lawmakers who remain deeply divided over the course of the war in Iraq have easily approved another $70 billion for the military operations there and in Afghanistan. http://snipurl.com/xejw === Combative Bush Releases Parts of Terror Study : Portions of a National Intelligence Estimate on terrorism that the White House released under pressure on Tuesday said that Muslim jihadists were increasing in both number and geographic dispersion and that current trends could lead to increasing attacks around the globe. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15125.htm === White House refuses to release full NIE: The White House refused Wednesday to release the rest of a secret intelligence assessment that depicts a growing terrorist threat, as the Bush administration tried to quell election-season criticism that its anti-terror policies are seriously off track. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060927/ap_on_go_pr_wh/terrorism_intelligence === Declassified : Key Judgments of the National Intelligence Estimate . Trends in Global Terrorism: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15123.htm === New Iranian Reactor Online By Nov. '07: The Russian nuclear plant being built in Bushehr, Iran, is on track to begin receiving Russian uranium next March, Russian officials said. http://snipurl.com/xek4 === Israel Won't Allow Iran To Produce Nuclear Weapons - PM : "Israel can't accept the possibility of Iranians having nuclear weapons and we will act together with the international forces, starting with the Americans, in order to prevent it," Olmert told The Jerusalem Post daily in an interview. http://snipurl.com/xek7 === Report: Bombing of Gaza power plant war crime: Human rights group B'Tselem determines bombing of power plant in Gaza constitutes war crime and was carried out as 'vengeance' http://snipurl.com/xeka === Gaza a prison, says UN envoy: Israel has turned the Gaza Strip into a prison for Palestinians where life is intolerable, a human rights envoy has told the United Nations Human Rights Council. http://snipurl.com/xeka === Shooting Hizbullah rock hurlers allowed: "IOF troops currently stationed in Lebanon have permission to open fire on stone-throwing Hizbullah supporters," IOF Chief of General Staff Lt.- Gen. Dan Halutz said at Wednesday's cabinet meeting. http://snipurl.com/xekd === Poll: 67% of Israelis want talks with PA gov't including Hamas : A majority of Israelis would support holding negotiations with a Palestinian unity government that includes the Islamic Hamas movement, according to the results of a joint Palestinian-Israeli poll released on Tuesday. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/767519.html === The return of Palestinian refugees is an existential necessity for Israeli Jews: Elias Davidsson argues that it is in the enlightened self-interest of Israeli Jews to accept the Palestinian refugees' right of return http://www.redress.btinternet.co.uk/edavidsson2.htm === Palestinian deputy PM returns occupied W. Bank after release by Israeli court : El-Sha'er's lawyer Osama al-Saadi said that his client was released after being held for more than five weeks without charge. "The court admitted there was not enough evidence to keep him in jail," al-Saadi said http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/27/content_5146371.htm === Criminal charges recommended against Olmert : State report implicates Israeli leader in bribe scandals, questionable real estate deals http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52168 === Hi-tech firm boycotts Israel over 'war crimes': Belgian hi-tech company specializing in development consulting notifies manager of Israeli company seeking cooperation that 'your country has conducted war crimes and is an apartheid regime' http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3308579,00.html === U.S., Syria spar and Rice calls for sanctions: The United States and Syria locked horns on Tuesday, with Washington urging others to join it in imposing sanctions on Damascus and Syria telling America to stop trying to impose its will on Arabs. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15127.htm === World Can't Wait : Drive Out The Bush Regime!: On October 5, people everywhere will walk out of school, take off work, and come to the downtowns & townsquares and set out from there, going through the streets and calling on many more to join us - making a powerful statement: "NO! THIS REGIME DOES NOT REPRESENT US! AND WE WILL DRIVE IT OUT!" http://worldcantwait.net/ === Guantanamo Prisoner Brings Suit in European Court of Human Rights: Boumediene has been tortured and abused at the hands of U.S. forces throughout the course of his imprisonment at Guantanamo. He has been severely beaten and short-shackled, placed in solitary confinement, and deprived of sleep for extended periods of time. http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=73290 === Does America torture? : When Bush refuses to call his "alternative" methods torture, when he wants to clarify "cruel" and "degrading" as allowing waterboarding, he reminds me of what Humpty Dumpty told Alice in Wonderland: "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15129.htm === US slides down competition league : The United States has lost its top slot in a global ranking of economic competitiveness published yesterday because of mounting concern among businesses over its budget deficit and crumbling faith in its institutions. http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article1761727.ece === 3 Minute Video: Real Big Brother: Over 4 million cameras, being retro-fitted w/speaker systems. Yelling out orders to people like a concentration camp. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAuZi8ZiJOg&eurl=Real%20Big%20Brother === Peace & Joy Tom Feeley === Liberty can not be preserved without general knowledge among people." (August 1765) John Adams _____________________________ Change address / Leave mailing list: http://ymlp.com/u.php?feminine+rich@math.missouri.edu Hosting by YourMailingListProvider ***************************************************************** 2 Guardian Unlimited: Rice Suports Diplomat's Talks With Iran From the Associated Press [UP] Wednesday September 27, 2006 10:01 PM AP Photo NYSC109 By BARRY SCHWEID AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned senior European diplomat Javier Solana on Wednesday and renewed U.S. support for his talks with Iran on its disputed nuclear program. Rice said if Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani agreed to a suspension of processing uranium, ``we would be on a course for negotiations.'' But, Rice told reporters, she had told Solana ``clearly this won't go on very much longer.'' ``I did wish Solana well, and we are all awaiting the outcome of these discussions,'' she said while welcoming Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis to her office for talks. Rice said the U.N. Security Council had established a ``pathway'' to sanctions against Iran unless it suspends its enrichment and reprocessing of uranium. The Greek foreign minister, whose government is currently president of the council, said, ``We are waiting to see how the negotiations are going'' before deciding on sanctions. ``When we have the result then we come back and have our discussions about that,'' she said. Earlier, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said whether Iran was agreeable to a temporary and verifiable suspension would not be known until Solana ends his meetings with Larijani. ``It may require several meetings to find out,'' the spokesman said. ``There may be an opportunity here,'' he said. While Iran may be playing for time, he said, the U.S. and other governments were in agreement on holding og if we just give the Iranians a little time and space,'' McCormack said. ``Perhaps they will come through with a positive answer.'' Senior administration officials warned Iran after it did not meet an Aug. 31 deadline to suspend uranium enrichment that the United States would seek sanctions against Iran in the U.N. Security Council, possibly by the end of September. But so far, the U.S. has been short of the council votes needed to impose sanctions on Tehran. The administration's sanctions strategy is to impose a series of increasingly potent penalties against Iran, beginning with curbs on technology that could be used in military programs. The United States and the European Union contend Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran says it is merely seeking more energy with its nuclear work. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 3 Guardian Unlimited: Iranian, EU Negotiators Talk in Berlin From the Associated Press [UP] Wednesday September 27, 2006 11:01 PM AP Photo MFRA103 By STEPHEN GRAHAM Associated Press Writer BERLIN (AP) - Senior Iranian and European Union negotiators held five hours of talks Wednesday on Tehran's disputed nuclear program amid suggestions the U.S. might be willing to defer seeking sanctions for a few weeks if a diplomatic resolution was in sight. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani went into their meeting at a Foreign Ministry facility by the side of Lake Tegel on the outskirts of Berlin without making statements to reporters. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was not participating in the talks, said he was optimistic progress could be made. ``I have the expectation that the talks today will be successful,'' Steinmeier said. ``I think that today we will not get any final news, but hopefully in the course of tomorrow.'' Solana would report back to the six countries trying to persuade Iran to give up its program to enrich uranium, he said, ``and then it will be decided together if there are conditions for a return to the negotiating table.'' The negotiators met for five hours of ``very intense'' talks before adjourning until Thursday, said Solana spokeswoman Cristina Gallach. Germany has joined with the permanent U.N. Security Council members - the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain - in pressing Iran to give up what the U.S. says is a nuclear weapons program. Iran says its program is peaceful. Enriched uranium can be used for power plants or for weapons, depending on the level of enrichment. Solana and Larijani are holding the latest round of talks over a package of incentives the six countries are offering Tehran in return for suspending its uranium enrichment program and returning to full-scale negotiations. Iran missed an Aug. 31 Security Council deadline over the issue. The six are considering seeking sanctions in the UN Security Council if Tehran does not comply. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Solana on Wednesday ``and we do fully support his efforts'' to hold talks with Larijani, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. McCormack said Washington might be willing to defer seeking sanctions for a few weeks if there was a chance for a diplomatic solution. He said that Solana saw an ``opportunity'' in his meeting with Larijani ``if we give the Iranians a little time and space.'' ``Our response was, 'absolutely, if it's a matter of a few days, a few weeks here to see if there is a possibility of keeping open a negotiated diplomatic solution,''' McCormack said in Washington. ``We want to give that every opportunity to succeed.'' The Bush administration's sanctions strategy is to impose a series of increasingly potent penalties against Iran, beginning with curbs on technology that could be used in military programs. --- Associated Press Writer Barry Schweid contributed to this report from Washington. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 4 Guardian Unlimited: Envoy: Nuclear Talks Enter Crucial Phase From the Associated Press [UP] Wednesday September 27, 2006 11:31 PM By FOSTER KLUG Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The chief U.S. envoy to stalled North Korean nuclear disarmament talks said Wednesday that negotiators are entering a crucial phase and suggested Washington is stepping up efforts to break a nearly year-long impasse. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill also urged the North to show it was serious about returning to the talks aimed at ridding Pyongyang of its self-professed nuclear weapons production program. ``I just want to know: Are they serious about making progress in this next round?'' Hill said to an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ``I just want to get some idea of whether they're'' preparing seriously for talks that have been stalled since November. ``We're trying to get ready to fulfill our obligations'' for whenever the talks resume, Hill said. ``I just would like some indication from (North Korea) that they're doing something similar.'' Hill said the next weeks would be ``critical'' and spoke of a ``certain sense of urgency'' involved in efforts to resume negotiations that include both Koreas, China, Russia, Japan and the United States. His comments come as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice contemplates a possible trip to Asia in the next month or so. Rice recently promised to ``make another push to see what we can do'' to resolve the impasse. Hill met this week with his South Korean counterpart, Chun Yung-woo, and has been talking on the phone with his Japanese counterpart. ``When things are stopped for so long, you really want to find ways to restart them,'' Hill said. ``We are in a rather crucial phase. We've not made any progress.'' North Korea, meanwhile, says Washington is responsible for the deadlock, refusing to return until the U.S. lifts financial restrictions imposed for the regime's alleged money laundering and counterfeiting. The North has raised alarms that it might be preparing for a nuclear bomb test. In July, it test-launched seven missiles, including some that might reach the American continent. Despite the sense of urgency he mentioned in his comments, Hill said the United States would not talk with North Korea - officially called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - ``in the absence of the six-party process.'' Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 5 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Nuke Negotiator to Meet EU's Solana From the Associated Press [UP] Wednesday September 27, 2006 11:46 AM AP Photo XNY706 TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's top nuclear negotiator will meet European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana later Wednesday, Iranian state television reported. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted late Tuesday as saying negotiator Ali Larijani would meet Solana on Wednesday but did not elaborate. The broadcast later said the meeting would take place in Berlin. An official at Iran's embassy in Berlin confirmed Larijani was due to arrive in Germany, but would not say who he was meeting. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, in line with embassy rules. Solana's office in Brussels could not immediately confirm the meeting. Mottaki spoke to state TV before departing New York late Tuesday, where he attended the U.N. General Assembly. He arrived back in Iran early Wednesday. Solana and Larijani have been scheduled to hold another round of talks over a package of incentives put forward by Britain, France, Germany, the United States, China and Russia. The six nations want Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment program and return to full-scale negotiations. Iran missed an Aug. 31 Security Council deadline over the issue. The six are considering U.N. sanctions if Tehran does not comply. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 6 Guardian Unlimited: Iranian Negotiator to Meet With EU Today From the Associated Press [UP] Wednesday September 27, 2006 12:31 PM AP Photo XNY706 TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's top nuclear negotiator will meet with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Wednesday evening in Berlin, Iranian state television reported. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted late Tuesday as saying that negotiator Ali Larijani would meet Solana on Wednesday, but he did not elaborate. The broadcast later said the meeting would take place at 6 p.m. local time in Berlin. (noon EDT). An official at Iran's embassy in Berlin confirmed Larijani was due to arrive in Germany, but would not say who he was meeting. The official s uranium enrichment program and return to full-scale negotiations. Iran missed an Aug. 31 Security Council deadline over the issue. The six are considering U.N. sanctions if Tehran does not comply. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 7 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. May Hold Off on Iran Sanctions From the Associated Press [UP] Wednesday September 27, 2006 6:46 PM By BARRY SCHWEID AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration said Wednesday it was willing to defer seeking U.N. sanctions against Iran for a few weeks if there is a chance for a diplomatic resolution of a long-running dispute over Iran's nuclear programs. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned senior European diplomat Javier Solana on Wednesday ``and we do fully support his efforts'' to hold talks with Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. The United States had demanded Iran suspend its uranium processing as a precondition to negotiations. McCormack said whether Iran was agreeable to a temporary suspension would not be known until Solana met with Larijani. ``Their disposition to this point has not been to give clear answers'' and it may require several meetings to find out, McCormack said. And yet, the spokesman said, ``There may be an opportunity here, there may be a little opening if we just give the Iranians a little time and space.'' ``Perhaps they will come through with a positive answer,'' he said. Senior administration officials warned Iran after it did not meet an Aug. 31 deadline to suspend uranium enrichment that the United States would seek sanctions against Iran in the U.N. Security Council, possibly by the end of September. But McCormack said Wednesday that Solana saw an ``opportunity'' in his meeting with Larijani ``if we give the Iranians a little time and space.'' ``Our response was, 'absolutely, if it's a matter of a few days, a few weeks here to see if there is a possibility of keeping open a negotiated diplomatic solution,''' McCormack said. ``We want to give that every opportunity to succeed,'' he said. The administration's sanctions strategy is to impose a series of increasingly potent penalties against Iran, beginning with curbs on technology that could be used in military programs. The United States and the European Union contend Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran disputes the accusation and says it is merely seeking more energy with its nuclear work. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 8 Guardian Unlimited: Signalling a new tack Berlin signals new tack over Middle East Germany is breaking sharply with its own past by deploying a naval force to Lebanon, writes Ian Black Wednesday September 27, 2006 Guardian Unlimited [Germany's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier] Germany's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier: 'Ten years ago nobody would have thought about sending German soldiers to the Middle East.' Photograph: Justine Lane/EPA It's a coming of age of sorts, or at least the smashing of an old and sensitive taboo. In the next few days German warships will take up position in the eastern Mediterranean in the country's biggest naval deployment since the second world war. The mission: to help police the Lebanese coastline to stop arms smuggling by Hizbullah guerrillas. The Bundesmarine flotilla sailed from Wilhemshaven on September 21. It consists of two frigates - the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Karlsruhe - supported by helicopters, supply ships and patrol boats, with about 1,500 men on board. It is due in the Cypriot port of Limassol on October 2, and will assume command of Unifil's multinational naval contingent a week later. This is far from Germany's first overseas military deployment. Since the early 1990s the Bundeswehr has been involved in UN and Nato missions as far afield as the Balkans, Congo and Afghanistan - evidence of an increasingly confident foreign and defence policy. Until unification, post-war (West) Germany's military activities were confined to the Nato alliance, and were strictly within its European area of operations. Article continues In 1992 Helmut Kohl was the first to break the general taboo against deploying troops abroad by sending army medics to support the UN mission in Cambodia. A year later German soldiers were doing good works in warlord-plagued Somalia. But the really significant change came in 1999 when the Social Democrat chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, and his Green (and former pacifist) foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, defied domestic criticism to allow German Tornado bombers to take part in Nato attacks on Serb targets during the Kosovo campaign. The Middle East is a very different matter. The shadow of the Nazi Holocaust has always hung heavily over Germany's relations with both Arab states and Israel. Since Konrad Adenauer's agreement on reparations payments to Israel in the 1950s, Germany has tilted towards the Jewish state when other Europeans have moved in the opposite direction. Still, there have also been embarrassing hints of Arab admiration for Germany precisely because of its terrible anti-semitic past: a former senior Egyptian official bore the first name Hitler; a German ambassador in one Arab capital famously cringed at the approving "heil" salute he received whenever his official car was recognised by a policeman. Germany dispatched Patriot anti-missile batteries to help defend Israel from Saddam Hussein's Scud attacks during the 1991 Gulf war. But there was no misunderstanding about where it stood in the run-up to the 2003 war in Iraq, when Schröder, facing re-election, opposed the US-led campaign, teaming up with France and Belgium to split Nato in one of its worst ever crises. Angela Merkel, the Christian Democratic Union leader, has changed tack in foreign policy since becoming chancellor last year. She has worked to mend fences with Washington and has made no secret of her sympathy for Israel. Polling shows German elites are more favourable to the Jewish state than parallel groups in France and Britain. Still, there is no popular enthusiasm for the naval mission. Merkel's decision was made easier by the fact that Israel actively wanted this to happen. Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, made a startling diplomatic shift by signalling that Israel would welcome an expanded Unifil, despite years of hostility to the UN. "There is perhaps no other area of the world," Merkel told the Bundestag, "where Germany's unique responsibility, the unique responsibility of every German government for the lessons of our past, is so clear." The Israeli request, she added, "is a signal of trust in Germany, the country in whose name the destruction of the Jews and the second world war began". German diplomats admit privately that joining the Italians, French and others in an expanded UN ground mission would have been too difficult. "Sending a naval contingent was a solution that appealed to almost everyone in official Germany," commented Der Spiegel. "It gave politicians a sense of fulfilling their historic duty to protect Israel without asking armed and uniformed Germans to patrol the Israeli border - or, potentially, to fire on armed and uniformed Jews." Viewed from Berlin, this is about Germany playing a role in Europe as well as the Middle East, and tiptoeing round the past. The European Union's largest country has long argued that the union needs to add some military and diplomatic muscle to its economic weight. Germany is at the centre of efforts to get the stalled EU constitution back on track when it takes over the rotating presidency for six months in January. With both Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac written off as lame ducks, Merkel looks like a natural leader. Germany's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, reflected this line of thinking when he addressed the Bundestag before it backed the Lebanon deployment. "Ten years ago, nobody would have thought about sending German soldiers alongside soldiers from other European countries to the Middle East," he said. "Peacemaking was a task that Europeans left to the United States." Still, there are worries that Germany may be looking too close to Israel by doing its bit to help curb Hizbullah, a radical fundamentalist movement with links to Iran and Syria. Merkel has also been more combative than other European leaders in her comments about Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Voices on the left, such as Oskar Lafontaine, have wondered out loud whether Germany might be putting itself at risk of terrorist attacks. Another view is that participating in the UN force may undermine Germany's special status as a shadowy go-between: it is widely assumed that the BND, Germany's foreign intelligence service, is working on how to engineer a swap of the two Israeli soldiers captured by Hizbullah for Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners held in Israel - as it has done before. Still, it is hard to argue with the proposition that Germany playing a bigger, more high-profile international role is a good thing - for Germany and for Europe. It should be good for the Middle East too. Email ian.black@guardian.co.uk Useful links Der Spiegel Süeddeutsche Zeitiung Aftonbladet European Government FAQ's on European issues More European links [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 9 Bellona: Sources: Moscow selling missiles to Iran to protect Bushehr reactor PlantMoscow, pledging to complete the Bushehr reactor, has offered to sell a range of surface-to-air missile systems to protect Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Middle East Newsline reported. Bellona, 26/09-2006 Russian diplomatic and industry sources said Moscow has been negotiating to sell Iran a range of anti-aircraft systems to protect Bushehr from Israeli or US air strikes. The sources said contracts could be signed when Bushehr was ready to begin operations in November 2007. Russia has already installed and manned SAM systems around Bushehr, a diplomatic source said, as quoted by the MOSNEWS website. The current talks regard an air defense umbrella that would protect all strategic sites in Iran. The missile defence system for Bushehr, if truly in the works, would not be without foundation. In 1986, the Israeli air force attacked the construction site of a reactor that Iraq was building in the town of Osirak. After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Pentagon sources told Bellona Web that the Bushehr reactor in Iran, given its proximity to the fighting, could easily be accidently destroyed as collateral damage. Subsequent articles by US publications indicated that the Pentagonn was working on a plan to invade Iran to neutralize its nuclear capabilities. In November 2005, Russia reached agreement for the sale of 29 TOR-M1 short-range anti-aircraft systems to Iran in a deal valued at more than $700 million. The sources told Middle East Newsline that Iran has also sought the strategic S-300PMU SAM system, capable of detecting and intercepting enemy aircraft at a distance of 300 and 150 kilometeres, respectively. Print Notify a friend Copyright © Bellona -- Reprint and copying is recommended if source is stated  Support Bellona's work for the environment - Phone +47 23 23 46 00 | E-MAIL: info@bellona.no ***************************************************************** 10 Bellona: Russian and Iran set date to start controversial Bushehr reactor Despite fears of raising international blood pressures over Iran’s nuclear programme, Russia and Tehran signed a deal in Moscow on Tuesday to launch the Islamic Republic’s nuclear reactor at Bushehr in September next year, officials in Moscow told the BBC. 26/09-2006 The officials say the Russian-built reactor will be fully operational in November 2007. We have agreed with (Rosatom Director Sergei) Kirienko on completion of the construction of the nuclear plant, and a specific time for the delivery of nuclear fuel to Iran, Iranian vice president Gholam Reza Aghazadeh said at a meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov in the Kremlin on Tuesday, according to the MOSNEWS website. Rosatom spokesman Sergey Novikov said the date was fixed in an additional agreement to the original contract to build the reactor. It came after Iranian officials apparently urged their Russian counterparts to speed up work to finish the plant, the BBC reported. Ivanov, quoted by Itar-Tass news agency, said Moscow would stand by its commitments. According to a sideliine agreement signed by Mahmoud Hanatian, vice president of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and Sergei Shmatko, head of Atomstroiproekt, the Russian nuclear agency's international reactor building wing, some 80 tonnes of uranium fuel will be sent to the Bushehr plant by March 2007, although the reactor only requires 75 tonnes to operate for the standard run of four years. It is the fate of those extra 5 tons that have many analysts and western policy-makers worried, as it could be diverted for enrichment. The reactor will physically start up in September 2007 and will begin electical generation by November 2007, the agreement states. Russia recognises Tehran's right to develop nuclear energy After a meeting with visiting Iranian Vice-President Gholamreza Agazadeh, Ivanov said the on-going crisis between the West and Iran to shut down Irans uranium enrichment programme could be solved by negotiation. A compromise could be found which would recognise Tehran's right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but which also addressed the concerns of the international community, he said according to the BBC. "We consider it necessary that Iran should be guaranteed the right to peacefully develop nuclear energy, and also to remove the concerns of the international community regarding obligations under the nonproliferation regime," Ivanov told Aghazadeh. Aghazadeh, who is also head of Iran's nuclear organization, responded that Tehran was satisfied with the agreements signed. "We achieved a good agreement on completing construction of the atomic energy plant at Bushehr, including agreement on a concrete date for directing atomic fuel to Iran," he said. Print Notify a friend Copyright © Bellona -- Reprint and copying is recommended if source is stated  Support Bellona's work for the environment - Phone +47 23 23 46 00 | E-MAIL: info@bellona.no ***************************************************************** 11 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: OIC FMs support IRI peaceful N-tech 2006/09/27 Foreign Ministers of member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on Tuesday called for disarmament of nuclear weapons in the world and expressed support for Iranian peaceful nuclear program. The foreign ministers held their annual coordination meeting on the sidelines of the 61st session of the United Nations general assembly. The foreign ministers studied the problems facing Islamic states and called for solidarity of the Islamic nations to deal with the challenges. They adopted common stance of the member states to thwart the hardships to which the Islamic states are exposed. The United Nations said that the OIC foreign ministers released a statement calling for disarmament (of nuclear arms) and annihilation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The statement expressed concern about the pressure being exerted on Iran for the national nuclear program to generate electricity and said that out-of-balance pressure on Iran will have consequences on security of the Middle East and the entire world. The OIC foreign ministers held the Zionist regime accountable for possessing nuclear weapons and called on the international community to bring the Zionist stockpile of nuclear arms under supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The statement condemned in the strongest terms the Zionist regime's crimes against Lebanese and Palestinian nations and called for alleviating the sufferings of people in Iraq and Afghanistan. sam Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir ***************************************************************** 12 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Dialogue, only solution to problems 2006/09/27 Iranian Ambassador to Paris Ali Ahani said that all Iranian officials urge the need to respect human rights, but that it should be compared not to the democracy practiced in some European states for several centuries, but rather to that of the regional states. He made the remark while speaking to the French state television, Channel 2. "As a country with rich civilization and culture, Iran respects its commitments and international laws. American President George W. Bush called Iran as an Axis of Evil, but the world public opinion, including France dismissed it. "France accept Iran's civilization and culture and developments in the Iranian community is witnessed by a great number of reporters visiting the country. The Iranians are willing to have favorable relations with all states based on mutual respect. We be lieve that difficulties can be solved through dialogue," he added. About President Jacques Chirac's reference to Iran's great civilization and culture, he said that this shows that he is realistic and well acquainted with the region as well as the role of Iranian culture in it. He noted that the French President declared that Iran's nuclear issue can only be solved through talks," he added. "After holding talks with EU3, Iran signed the Additional Protocol to prove its good will, and enforced it as de facto even before the document was ratified by Majlis," he added. The Iranian ambassador said that more than 2,400 times the country's nuclear sites were inspected by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, including some military sites. "Besides, no report on violation of NPT regulations was ever submitted by the IAEA and we have always acted within the framework of the agency," he added. Concerning some claims to enrichment at high level, he said that accurate assessment of IAEA reports dismissed such a possibility and it was clarified that they were related to the formerly polluted parts which were sold to Iran by middlemen. mk Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir ***************************************************************** 13 AFP: Crunch Iran-EU nuclear talks to start in Berlin by Stuart Williams Wed Sep 27, 7:11 AM ET TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran " /> 's top nuclear negotiator has arrived in Berlin for crunch talks with the EU's foreign policy chief in a final chance for the Islamic republic to agree to a nuclear deal offered by world powers. "Mr Ali Larijani is in Berlin with his delegation to meet Mr (Javier) Solana," an Iranian source close to the negotiations told AFP Wednesday ahead of the talks, which state television said would be getting underway in the next hours. The discussions have been billed as a last opportunity for Iran to agree to a suspension of sensitive uranium enrichment activities as demanded by the UN Security Council and stave off the threat of UN sanctions. The deal offered by the five permanent council members plus Germany asks Iran to accept a package of incentives in exchange for it freezing enrichment work the West fears could be chanelled into producing nuclear arms. "The third round of talks between Solana and Larijani was supposed to be held today in New York but due to visa problems for Mr Larijani it will be held today in one of the European countries," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said earlier. "Since there is an atmosphere of understanding between Iran and Europe, we can be optimistic on the results of the meeting," Mottaki was quoted as saying by state television. The official news agency IRNA said that Larijani could also use the occasion to meet German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The question of whether Iran is prepared to suspend uranium enrichment for a limited period of time before or even during full negotiations with world powers remains key to the success of Wednesday's talks. However there was confusion over whether Iran is considering such a step. European diplomats said Larijani made an offer at his last talks with Solana but several Iranian officials have denied any suspension is on the cards. "Such issues will not be addressed in the next negotiations," Atomic Energy Organization deputy head Mohammad Saeedi told the Iranian student news agency ISNA on Tuesday. But the Washington Times also reported Tuesday that Iran was close to agreeing to a secret deal that would have it suspend uranium enrichment for 90 days in order for additional talks to take place with European nations. The US state department spokesman meanwhile spoke of "hopeful" signs from Iran but warned sanctions were still on tap if diplomacy failed. The repeated delays for the latest Larijani-Solana meeting -- they last met September 9-10 in Vienna -- appear to reflect intense diplomatic efforts to ensure the nuclear dossier does not go to the Security Council. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meanwhile again hit out at the West for what he described as its failure to allow Iran access to peaceful nuclear technology. "Today the people will not accept that some countries have warehouses full of nuclear weapons and then tell others that you cannot have a (nuclear) fuel cycle since you may deviate," he said in a speech. Iran's uranium enrichment is particularly controversial as it can be used to make fuel for a nuclear power station but in highly enriched form can also be employed to make the explosive core of a nuclear bomb. Iran insists that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful energy needs, vehemently rejecting US allegations that it is seeking to manufacture nuclear weapons. The negotiations were given a last chance after Washington, under pressure from Europe and China, backed down on its demand for immediate sanctions against Iran for failing to meet an August 31 UN deadline to freeze enrichment. According to European diplomats, Western powers have set the start of October as a final deadline for Iran to give its definitive response to the Security Council offer. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 14 AFP: 'Final chance' Iran-EU nuclear talks to continue on Thursday - by Yannick Pasquet Wed Sep 27, 6:36 PM ET BERLIN (AFP) - Top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and European Union " /> foreign policy chief Javier Solana will on Thursday continue talks billed as a final chance for the Islamic republic to agree to a nuclear deal offered by world powers. The two men held five hours of discussions at a German government villa on Wednesday before breaking off for the night without making any comment at around 10:30 pm (2030 GMT). "The discussions will continue tomorrow at 10:30 am (0830 GMT)," Solana's spokeswoman Cristina Gallach told AFP. She gave no details of the first day of their talks. As the two men had begun their talks after a handshake for the cameras, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a defiant message that Iran " /> would "not back down" on its nuclear rights in the face of pressure from the Western powers. "They want to use suspension (of nuclear enrichment) for propaganda and tell the world that they forced Iran into accepting suspension," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. "They are making a mistake and the Iranian nation will not back down on its rights." European diplomats have portrayed the talks as a last opportunity for Iran to agree to UN Security Council demands to suspend uranium enrichment activities and thus stave off the threat of United Nations " /> sanctions. The deal offered by the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany calls on Iran to accept a package of incentives in exchange for it halting enrichment. The West fears that the enriched uranium could be used to produce nuclear arms, although Iran rejects claims it is trying to develop such weapons. Key to the success of the talks is the question of whether Iran is prepared to suspend uranium enrichment for a limited period of time before or even during full negotiations with world powers. The Washington Times reported on Tuesday that Iran was close to agreeing a secret deal that would see it suspend enrichment for 90 days in order for additional talks to take place with European nations. However there was confusion over whether Iran is considering such a step. Mohammad Saeedi, the deputy head of Iran's atomic agency, denied the reports. "Since no negotiations have started this news cannot be correct and it is utterly baseless and without foundation," Saeedi told AFP by telephone from Berlin before the meeting. "This kind of news will create a propaganda atmosphere and this false propaganda atmosphere will not help solve the issue," said Saeedi. "Therefore -- as we have said before -- we are seriously and in a logical fashion, pursuing our negotiations." European diplomats said Larijani made an offer at his last talks with Solana on September 9-10 in Vienna but several Iranian officials have denied any suspension is on the cards. "Such issues will not be addressed in the next negotiations," Atomic Energy Organization deputy head Mohammad Saeedi told the Iranian student news agency ISNA on Tuesday. Germany, which along with Britain and France has been negotiating with Iran over its nuclear programme, described the meeting as "part of our efforts to find a diplomatic solution". Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki struck an upbeat note. "Since there is an atmosphere of understanding between Iran and Europe, we can be optimistic on the results of the meeting," he was quoted as saying by state television. The US State Department spokesman meanwhile spoke of "hopeful" signs from Iran but warned sanctions were still on tap if diplomacy failed. The repeated delays for the latest Larijani-Solana meeting appear to reflect intense diplomatic efforts to ensure the nuclear dossier is not referred to the Security Council. Iran's uranium enrichment is particularly controversial as it can be used to make fuel for a nuclear power station but in its highly enriched form can also be employed to make the explosive core of a nuclear bomb. Iran insists that its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful energy needs and vehemently rejects US allegations that it is seeking to manufacture nuclear weapons. The negotiations were given a last chance after Washington, under pressure from Europe and China, backed down on its demand for immediate sanctions against Iran for failing to meet an August 31 UN deadline to freeze enrichment. According to European diplomats, Western powers have set the start of October as a final deadline for Iran to give its definitive response to the Security Council offer. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 15 AFP: US insists any Iranian enrichment suspension must be verified - Tue Sep 26, 8:52 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States noted "hopeful" signs from Iran " , on the eve of Tehran's latest nuclear talks with Europe, but warned sanctions were still on tap if diplomacy fails. Intrigue over the talks, due to be held Wednesday in an undisclosed location, was further deepened by a newspaper report here that Tehran was close to announcing a halt to uranium enrichment. The suspension would last 90 days to allow time for more talks with European nations, The Washington Times reported. Asked whether the report was true, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters: "An accurate answer to that question would involve having very clear and accurate insight into the decision-making process of the Iranian regime, which we don't have." McCormack said there were promising signals from Tehran. "I have heard some hopeful statements from the Iranian foreign minister, for example. We'll see if those are borne out," he said. "We certainly hope that the answer is, 'Yes, we will suspend; we will verifiably suspend, in order to get to negotiations.' ... That's certainly our preferred course of action here," he said. But Iran must comply with a suspension of uranium enrichment as outlined by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency " , and the UN Security Council. "The United States will not be at the table for any negotiations absent a suspension as outlined by the IAEA and the Security Council," McCormack said. "That means it has to be a verifiable suspension. And suspension means suspension means suspension.". EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani are tentatively set to meet Wednesday, but the location of the talks remained uncertain, diplomats told AFP. The date could change, as has happened in recent weeks for several EU-Iran meetings, and the site of the meeting was in doubt. The two men had been expected to meet in New York last week but did not. A senior European diplomat said: "They are set to meet tomorrow (Wednesday) in Brussels," but Solana's spokeswoman in Brussels said the meeting would not be held there. A second senior European diplomat said the meeting could be in Berlin. The uncertainty of the timing and place of the Solana-Larijani talks, which were last held in Vienna earlier this month, reflects the delicacy of the diplomacy involved, as the two sides are trying at the 11th hour to stave off a US push for UN Security Council sanctions against Iran. Iran is under pressure as it has defied the Council's August 31 deadline for it to halt uranium enrichment, which makes fuel for civilian nuclear power reactors but also -- in highly refined form -- the raw material for atom bombs, or face sanctions. The United States accuses Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons but Tehran insists that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful energy needs, and that it has a right to enrich uranium under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. According to Tuesday's report in The Washington Times, Iran is close to a secret deal that would have it suspend its uranium enrichment program for 90 days, in order to hold additional talks with several European nations. The suspension of its enrichment program would be kept secret while the additional negotiations take place, unidentified US officials told the daily. US officials opposed to the secret deal told the daily that allowing Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities for 90 days would be giving in to Tehran in its continued defiance of the United Nations " . Keeping the agreement secret, they added, would provide Iran with a face-saving measure, but would be difficult since any halt in the nuclear program would have to be verified by the IAEA. But State Department officials supporting the deal see it as a step toward achieving a complete halt to Iran's enrichment activities, the conservative daily said. US President George W. Bush " is reportedly unhappy with the secrecy demand, officials said. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 16 UPI: New Iranian reactor online by Nov. '07 United Press International - NewsTrack - 9/27/2006 9:53:00 AM -0400 TEHRAN, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- The Russian nuclear plant being built in Bushehr, Iran, is on track to begin receiving Russian uranium next March, Russian officials said. Sergei Shmatko, president of Russia's Atom Stroi Export Co., made the announcement Wednesday in Moscow after meeting with Iranian nuclear officials, Iran's state IRNA news agency reported. Shmatko said construction was due to be completed by next September, with fuel shipments beginning in March, and the site becoming operational by November 2007. The report said the initial shipment would be 163 uranium assemblies weighing about 80 tons. Back in Tehran, the chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ghoulam-Reza Aqazadeh, ruled out any links between ongoing international talks on the country's nuclear program and completion of the Bushehr plant, the report said. Iran has refused to stop uranium enrichment as a condition for restarting talks on an incentives package aimed at more monitoring of its atomic activities. © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 17 Guardian Unlimited: N. Korea: U.S. Torpedoing Nuclear Talks From the Associated Press [UP] Wednesday September 27, 2006 12:01 PM AP Photo UNEB115 By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press Writer UNITED NATIONS (AP) - North Korea accused the United States of torpedoing six-party talks on its nuclear program and then took aim at Japan's new government, saying conservatives were attempting to turn Japanese society to the right and rearm the country. North Korea's harsh denunciation of Japan at the U.N. General Assembly's ministerial meeting came hours after Shinzo Abe's election Tuesday as Japan's youngest postwar prime minister. A nationalist and proponent of a robust alliance with the United States, Abe has called for a more assertive military and an overhaul of Japan's pacifist constitution. There was no mention of the elections in the formal speeches to the assembly by North Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon and Japan's U.N. Ambassador Kenzo Oshima. But at the end of the session, diplomats from both countries exercised their right of reply and traded fresh accusations. While never mentioning the election, or Abe's victory, the North Korea diplomat said Japan's conservative authorities ``are attempting to turn the whole society of Japan into the right, expedite the militarization and legitimize its ... aggression by amending the constitution.'' The diplomat, who was not named, claimed Japan's criticism of North Korea was an attempt to cover up its ambition to attack the country again. ``The Korean people have a deep-seated grudge toward Japan, which has to paid off with blood,'' the diplomat said, repeatedly referring to Japan's more than 40-year occupation of Korea. ``Japan is dangerous because while it is rich in wealth, it is very poor in terms of morality and ethics.'' Japanese diplomat Takahiro Shinyo said ``it was very very unfortunate'' that North Korea kept raising issues from the past. He said the government is prepared to discuss outstanding issues and ``settlement of the past.'' Shinyo noted that in the September 2005 statement issued by the six parties to the nuclear talks, Japan and North Korea committed themselves to take steps to normalize relations. ``Japan has been for more than 50 years, since its membership of the United Nations, a peace-loving country and member, and contributed to international peace and security,'' Shinyo said, urging that the country be judged by its contributions. In Tuesday's formal speech to the General Assembly, North Korea's Choe said his government opposed further nuclear talks and blamed the United States - specifically Washington's accusations about counterfeiting, its imposition of financial sanctions, and its desire for ``global supremacy.'' ``It is quite preposterous that the DPRK, under the groundless U.S. sanctions, takes part in the talks on discussing its own nuclear abandonment,'' Choe said, referring to the North by its acronym. He called it a ``principle that cannot tolerate even the slightest concession.'' Pyongyang has boycotted the six-party talks, involving China, Japan, the Koreas, Russia and the U.S., insisting it will not return unless Washington drops financial restrictions imposed for the regime's alleged complicity in counterfeiting and money laundering. The U.S. has said the North shouldn't link the financial issue to the nuclear talks. The need to resume the talks has taken on added urgency since North Korea test-fired a series of missiles in July. Reports also have suggested the communist regime might conduct a nuclear test to further escalate tension. North Korea boasts that it has nuclear bombs, but the claim has not been independently verified. Many experts believe the North has enough radioactive material to build at least a half-dozen or more nuclear weapons. Choe also rejected Japan's push for a permanent seat on the Security Council, saying this should never be allowed to happen, and he criticized the Security Council itself as irresponsible, unrepresentative and unfair. As for the United States, Choe claimed North Korea has developed nuclear weapons as a deterrent solely for self-defense against pre-emptive strikes by the United States and was eager, in principle, to hold talks. But he said Washington's ``vicious, hostile policy'' made negotiations unacceptable. Choe blamed aggravated tensions on the Korean peninsula on the U.S. military presence in South Korea, a U.S. doctrine of a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the North, large-scale U.S.-South Korean military exercises, U.S. military equipment sales to Seoul and regular U.S. aerial reconnaissance flights over the North. ``It is crystal clear that the U.S. is not in favor of the six-party talks and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,'' Choe said, referring to President Bush's characterization of the North as part of an ``axis of evil.'' The United States shrugged off the denunciation. ``I wouldn't pay too much attention to that. We're trying to step up our work with the South Koreans to make sure we're really in sync,'' U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill told The Associated Press in Washington. Japan's Oshima reiterated his country's condemnation of North Korea's ballistic missile launches on July 4 as a ``reprehensible act,'' noted that Tokyo has imposed financial sanctions and stressed the need to comprehensively resolve the North's nuclear issue. --- Associated Press Writer Paul Alexander contributed to this report from the United Nations Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 18 Korea Herald: U.S. gives 6-party talks 'one last push' U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday she will visit Asia to see whether "one last push" can be made on North Korea, giving the reclusive state an ultimatum to return to six-party talks immediately. "We are in discussions now with South Korea, Japan, and I suspect I'll go to Asia sometime in the next month to six weeks °¶ to take stock and see whether or not one last push to get the six-party talks back on can be made," Rice said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the transcript of which was released by the State Department. But South Korea downplayed the significance of the phrase "last push," saying it is not an ultimatum. "We see it as an emphasis to return to an early resumption of the six-party talks in fear that we may be further losing momentum," said Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Kyu-hyung in a regular press briefing. North Korea is boycotting six-party talks over its nuclear ambitions in protest against financial sanctions by the United States. Despite ongoing efforts by South Korea and others to restart the stalled talks, North Korea is determined to see Washington budge first. In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly session, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su-hon said although his country wished to return to the six-party talks, it was Washington that was blocking the way. "It is quite preposterous that the DPRK, under groundless U.S. sanctions, takes part in the talks on discussing its own nuclear abandonment," Choe said. DPRK, or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is North Korea's official name. He called it a "principle that cannot tolerate even the slightest concession." North Korea mainly objects to U.S. sanctions on Macau-based Banco Delta Asia on suspicions of money laundering for the North. The move has left $24 million of North Korean assets frozen. It remains to be seen whether the latest developments will pave the way for a breakthrough to occur. South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Chun Yung-woo was set to return to Korea early this morning from his meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill. Chun and Hill worked to incorporate a "common and broad" approach to dealing with North Korea. A possible scenario could be for Washington to show some flexibility in talking one-on-one with North Korea and for Pyongyang to withdraw its objections on the money laundering issue. Chun is scheduled to meet Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei this Friday to relay the discussion he had in New York and to seek China's cooperation. Wu arrives in Seoul today. In July, North Korea defied warnings from the international community by test-firing seven ballistic missiles. It led to the United Nations adopting a resolution against the North, giving more power to Washington's hawkish policymakers. In the interview, Rice emphasized that "the current situation isn't really acceptable." She was apparently referring to increasing speculation that North Korea could make an even more dangerous play by testing its nuclear weapons. Most recently, Richard Armitage, a former U.S. deputy secretary of state, said while visiting Seoul this week that there is a 50 percent chance of the North conducting a nuclear test within this year. The United States is moving to implement a package of additional sanctions on the North. Australia and Japan have already announced some measures following the U.N. resolution. Rice said the United States will continue its financial restrictions on North Korea "because they do relate to illicit North Korean activities." She added North Korea always has an opportunity to meet one-on-one with the United States as long as it returns to the talks. While not elaborating on its nuclear capability, North Korea's Choe said his country developed nuclear weapons as a self-defense tool against any pre-emptive strike by the United States. Choe said that Washington was taking advantage of the tension on the Korean Peninsula to reinforce its military forces in Northeast Asia in order to gain world supremacy. (angiely@heraldm.com) By Lee Joo-hee 2006.09.28 ***************************************************************** 19 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Pyongyang balky, Rice speaks of ˇ®last chance' for talks September 28, 2006 KST 12:43 (GMT+9) September 28, 2006 ¤Ń A trip to Asia in the near future by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could determine whether Washington will make one last effort to get North Korea back to the stalled six-party nuclear disarmament talks, Ms. Rice told a U.S. newspaper. Ms. Rice told the Wall Street Journal earlier this week, "I suspect I'll go to Asia sometime in the next month to six weeks to take stock and see whether or not one last push to get the six-party talks back on can be made." Her implication of a deadline is at odds with Seoul's emphasis on a "broad and common" approach with Washington to getting Pyongyang back to the table. Although touted before the recent meeting of presidents George W. Bush and Roh Moo-hyun, that common approach to restarting the talks appears to have made little progress. Ms. Rice also said Washington would continue its policy of squeezing North Korean financing of its weapons and alleged black-marketing programs. "We are going to continue the financial measures because they do relate to illicit North Korean activities," she said. Choe Su-hon, North Korea's vice foreign minister, told the UN General Assembly on Monday that unless Washington lifted those sanctions, Pyongyang would not return to the six-way talks. Asked by the Associated Press to comment, the U.S. delegate to those talks, Christopher Hill, said he hadn't paid much attention to Mr. Choe, adding that he was focused on how to get the talks started again. by Brian Lee africanu@joongang.co.kr> Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use | ***************************************************************** 20 AFP: US warns against North Korea nuclear test Wed Sep 27, 5:23 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States warned that any nuclear test by Stalinist foe North Korea North Koreawould be viewed by world powers as a "very serious" escalation of the showdown over its weapons programs. Christopher Hill, US pointman on stalled six-party nuclear talks with Pyonyang, said the United States had been talking to China, Russia, South Korea South Koreaand Japan about how to deter such a step. "All parties have made it clear that this would be a very, very serious step," Hill told a congressional hearing. "It is a very small piece of the world ... it is frankly speaking, rather shocking that anyone would even think of exploding a nuclear weapon on the Korean peninsula." Pyongyang declared in February 2005 it had nuclear weapons, but there have been no reports of a test. Speculation has been mounting the Stalinist state may be preparing such a step. Last July, North Korea defied international warnings and test fired seven ballistic missiles, including its long-range Taepodong-2, believed to be capable of striking America's western seaboard. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Ricesaid in an interview released Monday that time was running out to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table. Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, was testifying before the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 21 UPI: N. Korea demands U.S. troop withdrawal United Press International - NewsTrack - 9/27/2006 1:11:00 AM -0400 PYONGYANG, North Korea, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- North Korea said Tuesday that the United States should withdraw its soldiers before handing over wartime operational control to South Korea. The official newspaper of the North Korea Worker's Party also suggested that the United States plans to cede control in order to use South Korean forces as shock troops in an invasion of the north, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said. Yonhap reported that Don Oberdorfer, the head of the Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, does not believe that President Bush will send a special envoy to North Korea in an attempt to revive talks on its nuclear program. Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, had suggested sending the president's father, former President George H.W. Bush. At the United Nations, Choe Su Yun, head of the North Korean delegation, suggested that the United States is trying to increase tensions between the two Koreas. © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 22 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Australian deal will stabilize uranium supply September 28, 2006 KST 12:43 (GMT+9) September 27, 2006 ¤Ń Korea's state-run Korea Hydro &Nuclear Power Co. will buy 200 metric tons of uranium annually from Australia over five years starting in 2010 to help prevent a shortage of nuclear-reactor fuel in Asia's third-largest economy. The Korea Electric Power Corp. unit will sign a contract with Energy Resources of Australia Ltd. next month for the uranium, equivalent to 5 percent of the nation's annual demand, Korea's Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said in a statement yesterday in Seoul. Demand for uranium from Australia, holder of 40 percent of the world's known reserves, is rising as countries look to alternatives for gas, oil and coal. Korea Hydro &Nuclear Power operates the nation's 20 nuclear plants, accounting for more than two-fifths of electricity supply. "The deal will help secure a stable supply of uranium for Korea," the ministry said. Korea uses about 4,000 tons of uranium a year, according to the ministry. Financial details were not disclosed. Australia exported $546 million Australian dollars ($412 million) of uranium oxide in the year ended June 30, 2006. Korea gets 45 percent of its electricity from nuclear power plants, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency's Power Reactor Information System Web site. Only the United States, France, Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom operate more nuclear reactors than Korea, according to the Paris-based IAEA. Korea Hydro &Nuclear Power's nuclear reactors have combined capacity of 17.7 gigawatts, according to the company's Web site. Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use | ***************************************************************** 23 IHT: Former Russian nuclear chief proclaims innocence after partner pleads guilty to U.S. charges - iht,europe,Russia Adamov - Europe - International Herald Tribune Former Russian nuclear chief proclaims innocence after partner pleads guilty to U.S. charges The Associated Press WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2006 MOSCOW Russia's former atomic energy minister Yevgeny Adamov proclaimed his innocence again Wednesday on U.S. charges of tax evasion and money laundering, two days after his former partner pleaded guilty to similar charges in a U.S. court. "I am not worried because I am not guilty," Adamov told reporters at a news conference. U.S. prosecutors allege Adamov and Mark M. Kaushansky stole US$9 million from the United States, other countries and corporations by setting up U.S. corporations to which they diverted money that had been intended to improve Russia's nuclear safety. Kaushansky pleaded guilty Monday in a U.S. federal court in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and eight counts of tax evasion. Asked by the judge why he was pleading guilty, Kaushansky said: "I just decided to admit that some tax-related irregularities were made." U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said in a statement Monday that the indictment alleges Adamov was primarily responsible for diverting the money, but that Kaushansky "was most directly involved with the concealment and expenditure of those funds." Adamov told reporters in Moscow that he was a patriot who had tried to help Russia's impoverished nuclear workers and to protect Russia's national interests. He said Kaushansky had "sins" and that Kaushansky indeed failed to pay taxes. Adamov also accused prosecutors of grasping at straws and forcing Kaushansky to plead guilty to justify the cost of their multiyear investigation. "We are witnessing, in front of our very eyes, the destruction of the pretty picture which was constructed and which perfectly confirmed the myth ... that everything in Russia is for sale, that all authorities in Russia are for sale," Adamov said. During his tenure in office, he said, "I never once by my side saw thieves or corrupt officials." Adamov said he had been prepared to cooperate with U.S. investigators, but that they refused to agree to certain conditions — including not insisting that he travel in handcuffs and guaranteeing he would not face physical or psychological pressure. He also accused U.S. investigators of trying to squeeze him for Russian nuclear secrets and classified information. Adamov was fired in 2001 by President Vladimir Putin, and a parliamentary committee accused him of illegally setting up companies inside and outside Russia. He was arrested in Switzerland in May 2005 after being indicted, and U.S. officials sought to have him face trial in the United States, but Russian officials opposed that, arguing that he should face trial on similar charges in his home country. A Moscow court in August sent the fraud and abuse of power case against Adamov back to prosecutors for reworking, citing procedural and other violations, and he has been free on bail since July. He faces up to 10 years in prison in Russia if convicted. Herald Tribune All rights reserved [IHT] ***************************************************************** 24 Russian foreign minister pushes diplomacy United Press International - NewsTrack - 9/27/2006 1:53:00 AM -0400 LOS ANGELES, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that diplomacy is the only solution to the crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Addressing the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles, Lavrov said that Russia would not get involved in destabilizing the Middle East, Interfax reported. "We cannot back ultimatums that would push everybody into a blind alley that would create a new crisis in a region which has already been seriously destabilized. To do so would be to deal a blow to the authority of the UN Security Council," he said. He said that no countries want a nuclear Iran. But he said that "meaningless confrontation" is dangerous. © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 25 Independent: 'Oh no, not again'; Meeting stirs up memories of 1979 uranium disaster September 26, 2006: Chris Shuey, director of the Uranium Impact Assessment Program out of Albuquerque, discusses on Monday the 1979 uranium accident in Church Rock that contaminated the area's water. A forum at El Morro Theater was sponsored by McKinley Community Health Alliance. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent] By Zsombor Peter Staff Writer GALLUP — On July 16, 1979, the earthen dam of a United Nuclear Corporation settling pond in Church Rock gave way, releasing 94 million gallons of radioactive wastewater and 1,100 tons of uranium tailings into the Rio Puerco. According to the McKinley Community Health Alliance, it was the largest release of radioactive material by volume in the country's history. Today, on the brink of what could become the latest round of uranium mining on the Navajo reservation, the next generation of mining companies is touting the safety of the newest techniques. But local activists say they've heard it before, and they're urging locals not to buy it again. To fight the uranium mining industry's latest charge, the Health Alliance brought together a panel of area professors, health care professionals and activists at El Morro Theater Monday evening. There they spoke to a crowd of more than 100 about the history of uranium mining in the area and about the specter of another round. New technology With uranium now fetching upwards of $50 per pound, Monday's panelists feared the renewed enthusiasm with which mining companies have begun pursuing new concessions. And with more than half the world's remaining uranium deposits, according to Johnnye Lewis, director of the UNM Health Sciences Center's Community Environmental Health Program, the Colorado Plateau and the Navajo Nation's Eastern Agency in particular is where many of them are looking. The company troubling them most is the Texas-based Hydro Resources, Inc., which has its eye on a few sites near Church Rock and more near Crownpoint. The Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM) has been fighting its plans since 1994. While the company has a license to proceed from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it's still waiting on a few final permits. If it gets the chance, Hydro Resources won't be digging for uranium in cavernous underground or pit mines as its predecessors did. It will be using a relatively new process called in situ leach mining, a process that injects relatively harmless chemicals into the ground to dissolve the much more dangerous uranium in the sub-surface rock, then brings the mixture to the surface for refining. The good news, said Mansel Nelson, program coordinator for Northern Arizona University's Environmental Education Outreach Program, is that the process does not come with the piles of tailings uranium mining used to. And without having to send miners underground, it keeps them that much safer. The danger, he said, is that the dissolved uranium might seep out of the mining area before it's captured. Throw the Westwater Canyon Aquifer and the 15,000 McKinley County residents who depend on it as their sole source of drinking water into the mix, and Monday's panelists start to worry. Old promises With the new technology comes the promise of improved safety that the companies can restore the in situ mines to pre-mining conditions when they're done and the lure of new jobs. But the record on cleaning up these new mines is not encouraging, Nelson said. And Chris Shuey, director of the Uranium Impact Assessment Program of the Southwest Research and Information Center, sees few lasting gains from uranium mining booms of the past. "We're listening to the same old promises that we've heard in the '50s and '60s," Shuey said. Yet decades after those experiences, he said, hundreds of abandoned mines remain unrestored and thousands of reservation residents still await word on their claims for compensation. Lewis and her colleagues, meanwhile, prepare to study whether the contamination from those rounds of uranium mining played any role in the unusually high rates of kidney failure in the area. The mining companies aren't backing down. One of them, said ENDAUM representative Lynnea Smith, opened up a local office to pursue land claims just months after the Navajo Nation Council approved the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act of 2005, which bans uranium mining on Navajoland. "The companies aren't stopping," she said. "They want the uranium and they want the money." Those who live on the reservation know the potential future they're facing, said Health Alliance representative Jana Gunnell, who presided over the Monday's event. It's the people in Gallup, she said, who might not, and for whom her group organized the evening. Gunnell insisted on the need to say no to Hydro Resources and its peers now, "so that we're not in a position to say, 'Oh no, not again.' " Gallup Independent feedback on this website and Send questions or comments to gallpind@cia-g.com ***************************************************************** 26 NRC: NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards to Meet October 4-6 in Rockville, Maryland 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. 06-118 September 27, 2006 The Nuclear Regulatory Commissions Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) will hold a public meeting Oct. 4-6 in Rockville, Md., to discuss, among other items, two issues related to new reactors: the development of the Master Integrated Plan, and proposed updates to regulatory guides and standard review plan sections. The committee will also discuss the draft final revision 3 to Regulatory Guide 1.7, Control of Combustible Gas Concentrations in Containment. The meeting will be held in Room T-2B3 of the agencys Two White Flint North building, at 11545 Rockville Pike. It will begin at 8:30 a.m. each day and end at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 7 p.m. on Thursday, and 1 p.m. on Friday. A complete agenda will be available on the NRCs Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acrs/agenda/2006/. Anyone with questions or those wishing to make public statements during the meeting should contact Sam Duraiswamy at 301-415-7364. To pursue videoconferencing services, contact Theron Brown, at 301-415-8066. The ACRS advises the Commission on licensing and operation of nuclear power plants and related safety issues. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Wednesday, September 27, 2006 ***************************************************************** 27 NRC: RIN 3150-AH96 FR Doc 06-8270 [Federal Register: September 27, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 187)] [Rules and Regulations] [Page 56344-56346] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27se06-5] Facility Change Process Involving Items Relied on for Safety AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Direct final rule. SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations to clarify a requirement pertaining to items relied on for safety (IROFS). This rulemaking corrects an inconsistency in the regulations pertaining to IROFS. DATES: The final rule is effective on December 11, 2006, unless significant adverse comments are received by October 27, 2006. As detailed in the Procedural Background section, a significant adverse comment is a comment where the commenter explains why the rule would be inappropriate, including challenges to the rule's underlying premise or approach, or would be ineffective or unacceptable without a change. If the NRC receives any significant adverse comments, the NRC will publish a document that withdraws the direct final rule and addresses the comments received in a final rule as a response to the companion proposed rule published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following methods. Please include the following number (RIN 3150-AH96) in the subject line of your comments. Comments on rulemakings submitted in writing or in electronic form will be made available for public inspection. Because your comments will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact information, the NRC cautions you against including personal information such as social security numbers and birth dates in your submission. Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff. E-mail comments to: SECY@nrc.gov. If you do not receive a reply e- mail confirming that we have received your comments, contact us directly at (301) 415-1966. You may also submit comments via the NRC's rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. Address questions about our rulemaking website to Carol Gallagher (301) 415-5905; e-mail cag@nrc.gov. Comments can also be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov. Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. Federal workdays. (Telephone (301) 415-1966). Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at (301) 415-1101. Publicly available documents related to this rulemaking may be viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), O1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee. Selected documents, including comments, may be viewed and downloaded electronically via the NRC rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC after November 1, 1999, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, the public can gain entry into the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Anthony N. Tse, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-6233, e-mail ant@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background NRC's regulations at 10 CFR part 70 govern the domestic licensing of special nuclear material (SNM), including the licensing of uranium enrichment facilities. On September 18, 2000 (65 FR 56211), the NRC added subpart H requirements (Sec. Sec. 70.60 to 70.76) to 10 CFR part 70. Subpart H applies to licensees possessing greater than a critical mass of SNM, such as those engaged in enriched uranium processing, fabrication of uranium fuel or fuel assemblies, enriched uranium hexafluoride conversion, plutonium processing, fabrication of mixed- oxide fuel or fuel assemblies, and the scrap recovery of SNM. Section 70.61 sets forth performance requirements, and requires that the controls needed to meet the performance requirements be designated as IROFS. Section 70.62 requires the establishment of a safety program based on an integrated safety analysis (ISA). Under Sec. 70.65, a summary of the ISA must be submitted to the NRC for approval, and the summary must contain the IROFS upon which the licensee relies in order to meet the performance requirements. In Sec. 70.4, the definition of IROFS specifies that, in addition to the IROFS needed to meet the performance requirements in Sec. 70.61 (i.e., the minimum set), a licensee may designate additional IROFS (i.e., beyond those in the minimum set necessary for compliance with the performance requirements). The only revision to the subpart H requirements now being made is to 10 CFR 70.72(c)(2), as discussed further in this document. Discussion Section 70.72 contains requirements which control changes licensees (subject to subpart H) make to their facilities, and specifies criteria for determining if these changes require the NRC staff's review and approval before they are made. Section 70.72(c)(2) specifies that a licensee may remove an IROFS that is listed in the ISA summary, without prior NRC approval, if the licensee replaces the IROFS with an equivalent replacement of the safety function. Unlike other subpart H provisions (i.e., Sec. 70.72(c)(3) and paragraphs (a)(4) and (a)(5) of Appendix A to Part 70), which distinguish between the minimum set of IROFS needed to meet the performance requirements and the larger set of IROFS a licensee may choose to identify, Sec. 70.72(c)(2) does not make this distinction in stating as follows: (c) The licensee may make changes to the site, structures, processes, systems, equipment, components, computer programs, and activities of personnel, without prior Commission approval, if the change * * * (2) Does not remove, without at least an equivalent replacement of the safety function, an item relied on for safety that is listed in the integrated safety analysis summary. Questions have arisen about whether changes involving licensee- identified IROFS that are not needed to meet the [[Page 56345]] performance requirements in Sec. 70.61 require an equivalent replacement of the safety function. The staff is thus adding the phrase ``and is necessary for compliance with the performance requirements of Sec. 70.61'' to the end of Sec. 70.72(c)(2). This revision clarifies that if an IROFS is not needed to meet the Sec. 70.61 performance requirements, a licensee may remove or replace the IROFS without NRC staff's approval and without showing equivalent replacement of the safety function. This change does not affect IROFS needed to meet performance requirements. If a licensee intends to remove or replace an IROFS needed to meet performance requirements, then the licensee must obtain NRC staff's pre-approval before making the change, unless the licensee has demonstrated with on-site documentation that the replacement or removal of the IROFS could be done with equivalent replacement of the safety function of the IROFS. Procedural Background This rulemaking will become effective on December 11, 2006. However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments by October 27, 2006, the NRC will publish a document that withdraws the direct final rule and addresses the comments received in a final rule as a response to the companion proposed rule published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. Absent significant modifications to the proposed revisions requiring republication, the NRC will not initiate a second comment period on this action. A significant adverse comment is a comment where the commenter explains why the rule would be inappropriate, including challenges to the rule's underlying premise or approach, or would be ineffective or unacceptable without a change. A comment is adverse and significant if: (1) The comment opposes the rule and provides a reason sufficient to require a substantive response in a notice-and-comment process. For example, a substantive response is required when: (a) The comment causes the NRC staff to reevaluate (or reconsider) its position or conduct additional analysis; (b) The comment raises an issue serious enough to warrant a substantive response to clarify or complete the record; or (c) The comment raises a relevant issue that was not previously addressed or considered by the NRC staff. (2) The comment proposes a change or an addition to the rule, and it is apparent that the rule would be ineffective or unacceptable without incorporation of the change or addition. (3) The comment causes the staff to make a change (other than editorial) to the rule. Agreement State Compatibility Under the ``Policy Statement on Adequacy and Compatibility of Agreement State Programs'' approved by the Commission on June 30, 1997, and published in the Federal Register on September 3, 1997 (62 FR 46517), this portion of regulations is designated Category ``NRC'' and therefore is not a matter of Compatibility. Plain Language The Presidential Memorandum dated June 1, 1998, entitled, ``Plain Language in Government Writing'' directed that the Government's writing be in plain language. The NRC requests comments on this direct final rule specifically with respect to the clarity and effectiveness of the language used. Comments should be sent to the address listed under the heading ADDRESSES above. Voluntary Consensus Standards The National Technology Transfer Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-113) requires that Federal agencies use technical standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies unless the use of such a standard is inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. In this direct final rule, the NRC is amending its regulations to clarify that the requirement in Sec. 70.72(c)(2) applies only to the set of IROFS that are necessary to meet the Sec. 70.61 performance requirements (i.e., the minimum set), and does not apply to IROFS beyond those in the minimum set. This action does not constitute the establishment of a standard that establishes generally applicable requirements. Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion The NRC has determined that this direct final rule is the type of action described in categorical exclusion 10 CFR 51.22(c)(2). Therefore neither an environmental impact statement nor an environmental assessment has been prepared for this direct final rule. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement This direct final rule decreases the burden on licensees to update the on-site documentation when a change covered by Sec. 70.72 is made. The annual public burden reduction for this information collection is estimated to average 10 hours for each 8 licensees. Because the burden for this information collection is insignificant, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance is not required. Existing requirements were approved by the Office of Management and Budget, approval number 3150- 0009. Public Protection Notification The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a request for information or an information collection requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid OMB control number. Regulatory Analysis A regulatory analysis has not been prepared for this direct final rule because this rule is considered a minor non-substantive amendment; it has insignificant economic impact on NRC licensees and the public. Regulatory Flexibility Certification In accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), the Commission certifies that this rule does not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This rule merely makes minor changes to the facility change process involving items relied on for safety. Additionally, the 10 CFR part 70 subpart H licensees affected by this rule are large organizations that do not fall within the definition of a small business as defined in the Regulatory Flexibility Act of the NRC's regulations (10 CFR 2.810). Backfit Analysis The NRC has determined that the backfit rule (Sec. Sec. 50.109, 70.76, 72.62, or 76.76) does not apply to this direct final rule because this amendment does not involve any provisions that would impose backfits as defined in the backfit rule. Therefore, a backfit analysis is not required. Congressional Review Act In accordance with the Congressional Review Act of 1996, the NRC has determined that this action is not a major rule and has verified this determination with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB. List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 70 Hazardous materials transportation, Nuclear materials, Packaging and containers, Radiation protection, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Scientific equipment, Security measures. 0 For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of the [[Page 56346]] Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553; the NRC is adopting the following amendments to 10 CFR part 70. PART 70--DOMESTIC LICENSING OF SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL 0 1. The authority citation for part 70 continues to read as follows: Authority: Secs. 51, 53, 161, 182, 183, 68 Stat. 929, 930, 948, 953, 954, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2071, 2073, 2201, 2232, 2233, 2282, 2297f); secs. 201, as amended, 202, 204, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1245, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5845, 5846). Sec. 193, 104 Stat. 2835 as amended by Pub. L. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321, 1321-349 (42 U.S.C. 2243); sec. 1704, 112 Stat. 2750 (44 U.S.C. 3504 note). Sections 70.1(c) and 70.20a(b) also issued under secs. 135, 141, Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2232, 2241 (42 U.S.C. 10155, 10161). Section 70.7 also issued under Pub. L. 95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat. 2951 (42 U.S.C. 5851). Section 70.21(g) also issued under sec. 122, 68 Stat. 939 (42 U.S.C. 2152). Section 70.31 also issued under sec. 57d, Pub. L. 93-377, 88 Stat. 475 (42 U.S.C. 2077). Sections 70.36 and 70.44 also issued under sec. 184, 68 Stat. 954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2234). Section 70.81 also issued under secs. 186, 187, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2236, 2237). Section 70.82 also issued under sec. 108, 68 Stat. 939, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2138). 0 2. In Sec. 70.72, paragraph (c)(2) is revised to read as follows: Sec. 70.72 Facility changes and change process. * * * * * (c) * * * (2) Does not remove, without at least an equivalent replacement of the safety function, an item relied on for safety that is listed in the integrated safety analysis summary and is necessary for compliance with the performance requirements of Sec. 70.61; * * * * * Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of September 2006. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Luis A. Reyes, Executive Director for Operations. [FR Doc. 06-8270 Filed 9-26-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 28 RIA Novosti: Inspections do not mean an end to Sakhalin II PSA - minister 27/ 09/ 2006 MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that inspections of the $20 billion Sakhalin II energy project off Russia's Pacific coast do not necessarily mean the revocation of licenses under a production-sharing agreement (PSA). The Ministry of Natural Resources last Monday annulled the Sakhalin Environmental Expert Review (SEER), passed in 2003, over an alleged threat of mudslides near the project's pipeline. "The ongoing inspections by no means indicate that Sakhalin II's license will be revoked," Sergei Lavrov told an international conference, Sakhalin Oil and Gas, in the administrative center of Sakhalin Island, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 6,500 miles east of Moscow. Some analysts interpret the environmental watchdog's decision to be a form of pressure on the British-Dutch group to conclude a deal with Gazprom. The Russian energy giant has been pursuing a 25+1% share in the Sakhalin project in return for a 50% stake in the massive West Siberian Zapolyarnoye-Neocomian project. But with costs at Sakhalin II spiraling Gazprom has been seeking more advantageous terms. "Suggestions that a revision of the production-sharing agreement is being considered, or that foreigners are being driven out of Russia's energy sector, are groundless," he said. Other conference participants also urged that the situation surrounding the Sakhalin II project not be over-dramatized. In his address to the conference, Sakhalin Energy's CEO, Ian Craig, said any concerns Russian regulatory authorities may have can be properly addressed with minimal disruption. "In this respect," he said, "we look forward to the opportunity for the Company to engage with senior RPN representatives later this week." Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the Federal Service for the Oversight of Natural Resources, cautioned against politicizing the environmental issue around Sakhalin II. "We would like to get rid of the political aspect that some companies are building up [around the Sakhalin II project]," he said, without explaining what he meant by the "political aspect." "Obviously, political discussions are cheaper to conduct than engineering work," he said. Konstantin Pulikovsky, the head of the Federal Service for the Oversight of the Environment, Technology and Nuclear Management, said, "in 2003, when the ecological expertise on the second stage of the project was approved, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office protested its results." Therefore, he said, it was necessary to proceed with any solutions, particularly where they concern environmental violations, from that time forward. He said that he recently inspected an oil loading facility in the Khabarovsk Territory under the Sakhalin I project. "Our inspectors revealed a number of minor violations, and it would only take about a month to eliminate them," Pulikovsky said. Japan's Ambassador to Russia, Yasuo Saito, said the situation could be resolved only through a dialogue between the Russian authorities and investors. "An open dialogue between the Russian authorities and investors is necessary, especially as all key players in the Sakhalin II project have gathered at the Sakhalin Oil and Gas international conference," Saito said. The Sakhalin II project, which is run by the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company and operated by Royal Dutch Shell, comprises an oil field with associated gas, a natural gas field with associated condensate production, a pipeline, a liquefied natural gas plant and an LNG export terminal. The two fields hold reserves totaling 150 million metric tons of oil, and 500 billion cubic meters of natural gas. The inspections, to be held from September 25 until October 20, will cover forest reserves, water facilities adjacent to a pipeline, and the construction of a terminal in Aniva Bay. Particular attention will be paid to recommendations in the state environmental study of the Piltun-Astokhsky and Lunsky license areas, according to the Federal Service for the Oversight of Natural Resources. The revocation means Sakhalin Energy will be unable to execute plans to develop a crucial LNG plant, which will put in jeopardy contracts with Japan, South Korea and the United States on deliveries of liquefied natural gas, due to go into effect in 2008. Royal Dutch Shell has already suspended work on several stretches covering 7 kilometers (4 miles) overall on the 800 kilometer (500 miles) line. Sakhalin Energy comprises Shell Sakhalin Holding (55%), Mitsui Sakhalin Development (25%) and Mitsubishi-controlled Diamond Gas Sakhalin (20%). © 2005 RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 29 HindustanTimes.com: N-deal down to the wire S. Rajagopalan and Pramit Pal Chaudhuri Washington/New Delhi, September 27 THE GOOD news: there is overwhelming support for the Indo-US civil nuclear deal in the US Senate. The bad news: this is why individual senators are tying their pet bills to the Senate vote on the nuclear deal. Two such pet bills now lie between the nuclear deal being put to vote before the Senate goes into recess this weekend. One bill requires the US to allow more IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities. The other bill requires that no Indian nuclear waste must be put in a depository in Nevada. Partisan squabbling over both these bills has made it impossible to get the "unanimous consent proposal" that would allow the nuclear deal to get through this week. Under such a proposal, the senators would limit debate and the number of amendments to the nuclear deal to ensure a speedy vote. The first pet bill is an old problem that has resurfaced. The original nuclear deal legislation had come with an unrelated bill on US compliance with the IAEA's Additional Protocol attached. Rightwing Republican opposition to the language of the attached bill had held up the Senate vote for much of the past month. A compromise reached a fortnight ago was reported to have broken down with Democratic Senator Joe Biden objecting to one of the clauses in the compromise language. Last minute negotiations were on for yet another compromise, said diplomatic sources. The second pet bill is an amendment to the nuclear deal moved by Democratic Senator Harry Reid.    This would require that no civilian nuclear waste from India should be deposited in the Yucca Mountain Depository in Reid's state of Nevada. This is also only tenuously linked to the nuclear deal and is really about a raging environmental debate in Nevada over the Yucca   facility. Ironically, Reid   who is Senate Minority Leader and the seniormost Democratic senator  has publicly said the Indo-US nuclear deal legislation is important and indicated he supports an early vote. On Tuesday, his office claimed he had been among the first to call for a unanimous consent agreement. It blamed Senator Bill Frist the Senate Majority Leader and seniormost Republican senator  for bringing 16 other bills to the Senate floor instead of putting the nuclear deal to an early vote. Frist's office reacted saying, "That is absolutely ridiculous, considering that we could not even get a list of amendments that Senator Reid and the Democrats wanted to add to the US-India nuclear bill." Not providing such a list, said diplomatic sources, would delay any unanimous consent agreement. Reid and Frist also disagree on the form of the unanimous consent vote with Reid holding out for a full day's debate and Frist wanting it restricted to only seven hours. With the nuclear deal mired so deeply in domestic US politics, exacerbated by the fact midterm congressional elections will be held on November 7, Indian diplomats accept matters are largely out of their hands. At least both Republicans and Democrats insist they strongly support the Indo-US nuclear deal, one of them said. Asia News © HT Media Ltd. 2006. ***************************************************************** 30 Platts: Areva to supply new steam generators at Prairie Island-2 Washington (Platts)--26Sep2006 Areva NP will supply replacement steam generators at Prairie Island-2, the company announced September 26. The two steam generators for the 530-MW PWR, operated by Nuclear Management Co. for owner Xcel Energy, will be manufactured at the company's Chalon Saint-Marcel plant, Areva said in a press release. The steam generators are to be delivered in May 2013 and installed four months later, Areva said. Spokeswoman Susan Hess said the contract was worth "several million" dollars but declined to be more specific. In 2004, Areva provided the replacement steam generators for Prairie Island-1. Copyright © 2006 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill Companies] ***************************************************************** 31 News Journal: NRC urges new push on nuclear plant safety problems delawareonline ¦ By JEFF MONTGOMERY, The News Journal Posted Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 1:05 pm A report due for release by the investigative arm of Congress cites “safety culture” oversight at nuclear plants as a critical concern for the Nuclear Regulator Commission, and recommends new and aggressive efforts to track plant management problems. Delaware’s congressional delegation requested the Government Accountability Office study last year, in a move prompted in part by chronic troubles at the Salem/Hope Creek nuclear generating complex along the Delaware River in New Jersey, opposite Augustine Beach. In a report provided to the Delaware lawmakers, GAO investigators cautioned that more than four years have passed since dangerous problems at an Ohio reactor highlighted an NRC “inability to identify deteriorating safety conditions at plants before they resulted in performance problems.” Attempts to develop new management monitoring systems have been hampered by industry resistance and regulator concerns about intrusions into business operations at the nation’s 103 operating plants, the GAO found. U.S. Sen. Joe Biden and Sen. Tom Carper, both Delaware Democrats, and U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, a Delaware Republican, said they were pleased by GAO findings that the NRC has made some improvements to its oversight program. “However, we feel it is imperative that the NRC heed the GAO’s recommendations to aggressively monitor and improve safety culture, a major shortcoming in its current process,” the delegation said in a joint statement. “The public must be convinced that the NRC views safety as its number one priority in overseeing our nation’s 103 nuclear power plants and remains committed to making improvements to the reactor oversight process as needs arise.” The NRC stepped up scrutiny of PSEG Nuclear's Hope Creek and Salem Units I and II in 2003, after complaints about chronic maintenance problems and a workplace environment that discouraged reporting of safety problems. In October, overlooked equipment flaws at Hope Creek led to a steam leak that triggered a shutdown of the 1,100 mega watt reactor and a federal review of reactor vibration problems. For more coverage, see The News Journal on Thursday or www.delawareonline.com Contact Jeff Montgomery at 678-4277 or jmontgomery@delawareonline.com. ***************************************************************** 32 NRC: Nuclear Management Company, LLC, Monticello Nuclear Generating FR Doc E6-15786 [Federal Register: September 27, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 187)] [Notices] [Page 56568] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27se06-142] Plant; Notice of Availability of the Final Supplement 26 to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Regarding the License Renewal of Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, Commission) has published a final plant-specific supplement to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants (GEIS), NUREG-1437, regarding the renewal of operating license DPR-22 for an additional 20 years of operation for the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant (Monticello). Monticello is located on the southern bank of the Mississippi River in the City of Monticello, Wright County, Minnesota, approximately 30 miles northwest of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Possible alternatives to the proposed action (license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative energy sources. As discussed in Section 9.3 of the final Supplement 26, based on: (1) The analysis and findings in the GEIS; (2) the Environmental Report submitted by Nuclear Management Company, LLC; (3) consultation with Federal, State, and local agencies; (4) the staff's own independent review; and (5) the staff's consideration of public comments, the recommendation of the staff is that the Commission determine that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for Monticello are not so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy- planning decisionmakers would be unreasonable. The final Supplement 26 to the GEIS is publicly available at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). The ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room is accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html. The accession number for the final Supplement 26 to the GEIS is ML062490078. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC's PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397- 4209, or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at pdr@nrc.gov. In addition, the Monticello Public Library (220 West 6th Street, Monticello, Minnesota 55362) and the Buffalo Public Library (18 Northwest Lake Boulevard, Buffalo, Minnesota 55313), have agreed to make the final supplement available for public inspection. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Jennifer A. Davis, Environmental Branch B, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop O-11F1, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Ms. Davis may be contacted at 1-800-368- 5642, extension 3835 or via e-mail at jxd10@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of September, 2006. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Rani L. Franovich, Branch Chief, Environmental Branch B, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. E6-15786 Filed 9-26-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 33 NRC: Notice of Sunshine Act Meeting FR Doc 06-8326 [Federal Register: September 27, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 187)] [Notices] [Page 56568-56569] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27se06-143] DATE: Weeks of September 25, October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 2006. PLACE: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. STATUS: Public and closed. MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Week of September 25, 2006 There are no meetings scheduled for the week of September 25, 2006. Week of October 2, 2006--Tentative 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). Week of October 9, 2006--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the week of October 9, 2006. Week of October 16, 2006--Tentative Monday, October 16, 2006 9:30 a.m. Briefing on Status of New Reactor Issues--Combined Operating Licenses (COLS) (morning session). 1:30 p.m. Briefing on Status of New Reactor Issues--Combined Operating Licenses (COLS) (afternoon session), (Public Meetings) (Contact: Dave Matthews, 301-415-1199). These meetings will be Webcast live at the Web address-- . Friday, October 20, 2006 2:30 p.m. Meeting with Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) (Public Meeting) (Contact: John Larkins, 301-415-7360). This meeting will be Webcast live at the Web address-- . Week of October 23, 2006--Tentative Wednesday, October 25, 2006 9:30 a.m. Briefing on Institutionalization and Integration of Agency Lessons Learned (Public Meeting) (Contact: John Lamb, 301-415-1727). This meeting will be Webcast live at the Web address-- . 1:30 p.m. Briefing on Resolution of GSI-191, Assessment of Debris Accumulation on PWR Sump Performance (Public Meeting) (Contact: Michael L. Scott, 301-415-0565). This meeting will be Webcast live at the Web address-- . [[Page 56569]] Week of October 30, 2006--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the week of October 30, 2006. The schedule for Commission meetings is subject to change on short notice. To verify the status of meetings call (recording)--(301) 415- 1292. Contact person for more information: Michelle Schroll, (301) 415- 1662. The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the Internet at: . 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 . 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 . Dated: September 21, 2006. R. Michelle Schroll, Office of the Secretary. [FR Doc. 06-8326 Filed 9-25-06; 9:57 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M ***************************************************************** 34 Castro Theater: Caldicott book celebration 10-12-6 Dr. Helen Caldicott and Peter Coyote Celebrate the Release of Caldicott’s New Book, Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer, at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre on October 12th + Celebration in San Francisco, CA Sep 27, 2006 Dr. Helen Caldicott and Peter Coyote Celebrate the Release of Caldicotts New Book, Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer, at San Franciscos Castro Theatre on October 12th College Park, MD- On October 12th at 7:30, Dr. Helen Caldicott, internationally recognized pediatrician, writer, and speaker, and Peter Coyote, award-winning actor and environmentalist, will celebrate the release of Dr. Caldicotts newest book, Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer, in an intimate evening at San Franciscos historical Castro Theatre. About the event, Dr. Caldicott said, I am thrilled to be in San Francisco celebrating the release of my new bookSan Francisco has always been a second home to me. I hope that people will join me and Peter Coyote, a wonderful environmentalist and friend, to learn about the book and how everyone can work to end the nuclear renaissance that threatens the United Statesand the world. Details Who & What: Dr. Helen Caldicott & Peter Coyote Celebrating the Release of Dr. Caldicotts book, Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer When: Thursday, 12 October 2006 7:30 p.m. Where: Castro Theatre429 Castro Street at Market, San Francisco How Much: $35 in advance ($40 at the door) and $100 for the event and reception following; limited number of senior/student tickets for $20 All attendees will receive a copy of Dr. Caldicotts book, Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer More info: Purchase advance tickets online at www.nuclearpolicy.org or call 202/822-9800. If you are interested in interviewing Dr. Caldicott in conjunction with these events or her new book, Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer, please contact Julie R. Enszer, Executive Director of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute, at 202-822-9800. **** NPRI was established to educate the American public about the greatest single threat to global public health, namely the profound medical, environmental, political, and moral consequences of perpetuating nuclear weapons, nuclear power, and nuclear waste. Dr. Helen Caldicott is the President of NPRI, which is creating a consensus to end the nuclear age by establishing compelling public education campaigns and a pervasive presence in the mainstream media and by sponsoring high-profile symposia. ©2005 NPRI. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 35 Kyiv Post: Chornobyl shelter put off again Thu, Sep 28. 06:48 by Bigmir net by Vlad Lavrov, Kyiv Post Staff Writer Sep 28 2006, 01:54 [The building of a long-awaited confinement arch over the Chornobyl nuclear plant’s infamous No. 4 reactor is in doubt again] © Archive photo The fate of the infamous Chornobyl Reactor No. 4 and the shelter that’s supposed to be built around it. The construction of a long-awaited confinement arch over the Chornobyl nuclear plant’s infamous No. 4 reactor, which exploded in the 1986 accident, is once again hanging in the air, following the plant management’s cancellation of a seemingly never-ending tender to select a contractor. According to an announcement published on the plant’s website, Chornobyl director Ihor Hramotkin decided on Sept. 14 to “annul the tender and reject all bids on a new, safe confinement project.” In an awkward attempt at damage control, the Emergencies Ministry promptly suspended Hramotkin’s decision, while Deputy Prime Minister for Fuel and Energy Andriy Kliuev declared “mutual understanding” with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which is serving as the financial administrator for the Shelter Implementation Plan (SIP). Back in May of this year, Valeriy Kulishenko, the station’s chief engineer in charge of the SIP, told the Post that the tender winner of the tender had been selected in March. But, according to him, the other finalist in the bidding was appealing against the tender result, thereby preventing the signing of a contract that could be worth up to $1 billion in total. The two finalists in the drawn out tender, which was announced in March 2004, were Novarca, a European-Ukrainian joint venture under the management of France’s Vinchi Group, and a United States-Ukrainian consortium under the management of U.S.-based CH2M Hill, according to the Chornobyl plant’s website. According to Kulishenko, even though the winner was selected, the name of the company was never made public because of the pending appeal of the loser. Both the EBRD and CH2M Hill told the Post last May that they couldn’t confirm whether or not a winner of the tender had been selected or not. Oddly, despite the fact that Hramotkin had announced the cancellation of the tender on Sept. 14, his statement was not made public until Sept. 18, after Kliuev’s affirmations that all was well. On Sept. 18, Kliuev’s press service released a statement on the results of a Ukraine-EBRD Joint Commission meeting in which the status of the shelter construction tender was discussed between Kliuev and EBRD Vice President Fabrizio Saccomanni. “There are no problem issues in the relationships with the EBRD … mutual understanding has been reached on all issues,” reads the Sept. 18 statement. Shortly after this annoucement, the Emergencies Ministry published its own statement. “Given that this news might spark controversy, a government commission will be created to study the reasons and motives for [Hramotkin] making this decision, which will give its conclusions and recommendations for further steps. [Hramotkin] took personal responsibility for his decision to cancel the tender,” the ministry said. However, it added that Hramotkin had the right to cancel the tender “as the contract awarding party, in accordance with legislation.” Then, a few days later, on Sept. 22, the ministry released a statement (dated Sept. 15) on the suspension of Hramotkin’s decision. “In order to study the reasons and basis for the decision of the Chornobyl Plant to cancel the tender for drafting, constructing and launching of the new safe confinement, the general director Hramotkin is to suspend it ... and report on it in person to the ministry,” reads the Emergency Ministry statement. Ihor Storozhuk, Kliuev’s spokesperson, told the Post on Sept. 20 that the statement released by their press service claiming “mutual understanding on all the issues” should be considered the government’s official position. Axel Reiserer, spokesman for the EBRD’s London office told the Post on Sept. 19 that the EBRD was planning to call a project donor assembly as early as October to announce the winner. EBRD President Jean Lemierre is scheduled to visit Kyiv next week. To date, around $1 billion has been allocated for the Shelter project by 23 countries, with the United States and EU being the largest donors. The company that wins the tender would be responsible for assembling and mounting a giant 100-meter-high, 150-meter-long and 250-meter-wide arch to cover the plant’s notorious No. 4 Reactor, which was the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident on April 26, 1986. Originally, the winner was to be selected by the end of 2004. According to information provided by the Emergencies Ministry, more than 330 million euros ($418 million) of the project’s funds had already been spent ahead of the tender’s closure. This amount, the ministry said, includes nearly 90 million euros ($114 million) in consulting fees. Both CH2M’s Colorado headquarters and Hramotkin were unavailable for comment. www.bigmir.net © 2004 - 2006, SputnikMedia.net. Contact Kyiv Post ***************************************************************** 36 ITAR-TASS: Lithuanian Ignalina nuclear plant’s third turbine develops problems 27.09.2006, 15.08 VILNIUS, September 27 (Itar-Tass) - The automatic safety system suspended the third turbine of Lithuania’s Ignalina nuclear power plant on Wednesday morning, the chief of the power plant’s information service, Rasa Shevaldina, told Itar-Tass. The nuclear power plant had undergone two-month long routine repairs and maintenance to achieve a capacity output of 750 megawatts two days ago. “The third turbine of the plant’s sole operating reactor has had to be suspended due to a defect,” the official said. Specialists are in the process of establishing the causes. It remains unclear how much time repairs may take. The radiation background has not changed. As it joined the European Union, Lithuania pledged to close down the Ignalina nuclear power plant by the end of 2009. The first Chernobyl-type RBMK reactor was shut down on December 31, 2004, and the second is to go idle in 2009. The Ignalina nuclear power plant accounts for 80 percent of Lithuania’ s electricity production. The energy is exported to Russia’s Kaliningrad Region, the Baltic States, Poland and Belarus. ***************************************************************** 37 NJMG: Lawmakers question safety of nuclear plant North Jersey Media Group Northern New Jersey! [NorthJersey.com] Wednesday, September 27, 2006 By ELISE YOUNG STAFF WRITER Four South Jersey congressmen on Tuesday raised questions about safety at the Oyster Creek nuclear plant, telling federal regulators to prove that a radiation containment wall is stable. "It has come to our attention that Exelon, the operator of Oyster Creek, has failed to properly inspect and monitor water leakage and subsequent corrosion found in the main containment wall of the reactor," the congressmen wrote in a letter to Dale Klein, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "Please indicate why the NRC believes that the containment wall is not in a dangerous state." The NRC and the plant's operator told The Record that Oyster Creek is safe. The plant, one of three in New Jersey, is in Lacey Township, in Ocean County. It supplies 636 megawatts of electricity to 600,000 homes in the Northeast, according to company figures. Plant defends safety "We would not operate unless we could operate safely and reliably," said Rachelle Benson, a spokeswoman for the nuclear plant. "We are confident that dry-well corrosion has been adequately addressed and that the dry well will continue to meet its designed safety function." The containment wall, or liner, was designed to hold water within the dry well. The water, which cools the reactor during refueling, could be a radioactive hazard if released into the environment. The plant opened in 1969 with a 40-year license. Last year it applied for a 20-year extension, and that approval process is now under way. The letter on Tuesday, signed by two Republicans and two Democrats, came less than a week after an NRC inspection report concluded that the plant appears to be suited for extended operation. Critics see threat But opposition remains strong. A coalition of citizens and environmental groups called Stop the License Renewal of Oyster Creek has criticized the NRC for alleged safety oversights and outdated evacuation plans. In February the coalition said an expert of its own concluded that corrosion to the steel wall has imperiled the 90-foot reactor, posing the risk of radiation leakage to 1 million people in Ocean County and beyond. The state Department of Environmental Protection has asked the NRC to consider the threat of terrorism as part of the license renewal. The commission expects to respond by the end of the week. On Tuesday, the letter writers -- Reps. Robert Andrews, Rush Holt, H. James Saxton and Christopher H. Smith -- pointed out that NRC licensing inspectors this month learned that operators had dumped water leaking from the dry well, which is surrounded by the steel containment wall. That water should have been tested, according to NRC requirements. NRC to respond An NRC spokeswoman, Diane Screnci, said the commission was working on a response to the letter. The licensing inspection results, released Thursday, "support a conclusion that the proposed activities will reasonably manage the effects of aging in the systems, structures and components identified in AmerGen's application," she wrote in an e-mail to The Record. AmerGen Energy Co. is the parent company of Exelon Generation of Kennett Square, Pa. Screnci acknowledged that the operator had "found water in drainage collection jugs and dumped them without measuring or evaluating." "After comprehensively reviewing the information, the [NRC inspection] team determined that this issue is not safety-significant," her e-mail said. "The company has committed to monitor these drains for water leakage into the future as part of license renewal." In their letter, the congressmen asked that the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, a unit of the NRC, perform its own evaluation of the containment wall. The committee's work, the letter says, "goes a long way in providing the public with assurances that the NRC has properly conducted all necessary testing and analysis." E-mail: younge@northjersey.com Copyright © 2006 North Jersey Media Group Inc. ***************************************************************** 38 TVA: Sunshine Act Meeting FR Doc 06-8335 [Federal Register: September 27, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 187)] [Notices] [Page 56581] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27se06-155] TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY [Meeting No. 06-05] Time and Date: 10 a.m., September 29, 2006. Walker County Civic Center, 10052 North Highway 27, Rock Spring, Georgia 30739. Status: Open. Agenda Old Business Approval of minutes of July 28, 2006, Board Meeting. New Business 1. President's Report. 2. Report of the Finance, Strategy, and Rates Committee. A. Power supply arrangements with Bristol, Virginia. B. Extension of power supply arrangements with Warren Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation. C. Termination of Limited Interruptible Power (LIP) and Limited Firm Power (LFP) Programs. 3. Report of the Operations, Environment, and Safety Committee. A. Contract with Stone and Webster Construction, Inc., for supplemental maintenance and modifications for TVA nuclear operating units and for Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Unit 1 recovery. B. Revisions to the approval of the contract with Louisiana Energy Services, L.P., for uranium enrichment services for Sequoyah and Watts Bar Nuclear Plants Units 1. 4. Report of the Audit and Ethics Committee. 5. Report of the Community Relations Committee. 6. Report of the Human Resources Committee. A. TVA's contribution to the TVA Retirement System. B. Delegation of authority to the Chief Executive Officer to approve trustees, Retirement System investment managers and their agreements, and retirement plan amendments which do not increase plan liabilities or have a direct cost impact on TVA. C. Renewal and extension of interim human resource and labor relations delegations until December 31, 2006. D. Award of contract to Medco to administer TVA's prescription drug plan for employees and retirees. E. FY 2007 Corporate Scorecard. F. Other. 7. Report of the Corporate Governance Committee. 8. Approval of Committee charters. 9. Information item approved by the Board previously. A. Selection of William Stanley Orser as Interim Chief Operating Officer. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please call TVA Media Relations at (865) 632-6000, Knoxville, Tennessee. Information is also available at TVA's Washington Office (202) 898-2999. People who plan to attend the meeting and have special needs should call (865) 632-6000. Anyone who wishes to comment on any of the agenda in writing may send their comments to: TVA Board of Directors, Board Agenda Comments, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902. Dated: September 22, 2006. Maureen H. Dunn, General Counsel and Secretary. [FR Doc. 06-8335 Filed 9-25-06; 12:58 pm] BILLING CODE 8120-08-P ***************************************************************** 39 UPI: Analysis: Nigeria moves on nuclear goal United Press International - Energy - 9/27/2006 1:58:00 PM -0400 By CARMEN J. GENTILE UPI Energy Correspondent MIAMI, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Nigeria has reiterated its intention to pursue the use of nuclear energy to combat the country's chronic power shortages and tackle its growing energy needs. During his address last week at the U.N. General Assembly, Nigerian Foreign Minister Joy Ogwu -- speaking on behalf of President Olusegun Obasanjo -- told world leaders that Nigeria was keen on building its own nuclear power plant to curtail the regular power outages plaguing both urban and rural residents. "Nuclear energy has become a veritable source for socio-economic development and a reliable source for electricity generation," he said. "In the context of this development and the enormous energy crisis that confronts us in Nigeria, my government has decided to inaugurate the Board of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission. "With the inauguration of the board, our quest for energy self-sufficiency has begun." The announcement followed Obasanjo's remarks last month that the West African country had marked "day one in the timeline of our nuclear electricity program" by declaring its intention to bring online a nuclear power facility within the next 12 years. At the time, the Nigerian leader made sure to note that his country had no ambitions for its programs other than energy production. "I wish to affirm that Nigeria's aspirations for the acquisition of nuclear technology are for purely peaceful applications," he said. "We are unequivocally committed to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty ... [and] shall position our country to derive maximum benefits from the proper application of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes." Analysts note that the country's nuclear intentions would likely meet with little suspicion from the international community, though some question the feasibility of creating a productive nuclear energy plant. Fewer than half of Nigeria's 130 million people have access to electricity and even those areas where the affluent live see regular power outages and rolling blackouts. What is questioned is the need for a nuclear alternative in a country that already boasts the continent's largest oil reserves. Nigeria is the fifth-largest supplier of crude to the United States -- after Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela -- and accounts for 1.075 million barrels per day. Though it is the world's eighth-largest oil exporter, production has been hampered in recent months due to attacks on oil installations by militant groups calling for more equitable profit-sharing from oil revenue with the country's poor, many of who reside in the country's oil-rich Niger Delta. Obasanjo said, however, that nuclear technology would allow Nigeria to "diversify our electricity generation" beyond the country's traditional means of producing power such as hydroelectric plants, which have been running well below capacity for years. Experts such as Jon Wolfsthal, a nonproliferation fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, note that Nigeria faces many obstacles in trying to provide viable nuclear energy to its people. "Countries with primitive energy infrastructures (like Nigeria) have a long way to go toward having a productive nuclear power generator," he said. Nigeria's power grid is considered primitive among international standards and would have to be upgraded to be compatible with a nuclear energy source, he said. "When you build a nuclear power plant you have to have something to hook it up to" he said. Wolfsthal predicted that Nigeria would likely have to spend somewhere between $1 billion and $2 billion to build a single light-water reactor. The project, he noted would have to be contracted out to foreign companies, as Nigeria doesn't have the resources or know-how to build its own reactor. Raising the revenue shouldn't be a problem for Nigeria though, as the country has earned an estimated $300 billion in oil revenue since the 1970s. In addition to costs, Nigeria must also procure the raw uranium needed for refinement in a nuclear reactor. The country does have some uranium deposits, though it is unclear whether they would meet the nation's growing energy needs. © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 40 NEWS.com.au: Protests mark Maralinga tests anniversary September 27, 2006 05:23pm Article from: AAP ANTI-nuclear campaigners have held vigils throughout Australia to mark the 50th anniversary of the first atomic bomb tests at Maralinga. Wreath-laying ceremonies also were held in some capital cities today to mark the anniversary of the first of seven atomic bombs detonated at Maralinga in South Australia's north. The British atomic tests were staged at Maralinga over 13 months from September 27, 1956. Environmental group Friends of the Earth said the legacy of environmental contamination remains half a century after the initial Maralinga test. "Almost the entire Australian continent was dusted with radioactive fallout from the British bomb tests and millions of Australians received small radiation doses," Friends of the Earth spokesman Jim Green said. "The legacy of environmental contamination remains to this day. "The impacts on indigenous communities were severe, including radioactive contamination and forced relocation to missions." The initial British test detonated a 12.9 kiloton atomic device, similar in size to the plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki in Japan during World War II. Mr Green said vigils were held in Adelaide and Melbourne outside BHP Billiton offices - the operators of the Olympic Dam uranium mine in SA's north. "We are calling on BHP Billiton to relinquish its legal privileges, in particular its exemption from the SA Aboriginal Heritage Protection Act in relation to the Roxby Downs uranium mine," Mr Green said. "BHP can choose which Aboriginal groups to consult with, determine the nature and manner of any consultation with Aboriginal communities, and decide the level of protection, if any, that Aboriginal heritage sites receive. In Melbourne, a wreath-laying ceremony was held at the city's War Memorial before anti-nuclear campaigners protested outside BHP's Melbourne headquarters. Sydney activists staged a vigil on the steps of the Sydney Town Hall, while a similar silent vigil was held at Brisbane's Anzac Square. In Alice Springs, a single tree was planted at the Uniting Church lawns in Todd Mall to commemorate the "One Tree" test 50 years ago. Anti-nuclear campaigners in Adelaide staged a mock red carpet ceremony outside BHP Billiton's inner-city office and awarded the company a Blinky Award - a three-eyed goldfish statue which they said was recognition for the company's commitment to "short term profits at the expense of a healthy society and environment". Australian Democrat MP Sandra Kanck said the Maralinga tests took an appalling toll on the local Maralinga people and poisoned a large chunk of Australian bush for the next 250,000 years. She said the legacy of the tests also demanded that a high level of scrutiny be attached to any future exports of uranium from Australia, which could be used in the nuclear arms industry. "Learning from Maralinga means not just continuing to ban the export of uranium to countries that haven't signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but also refusing to sell uranium to countries that have nuclear weapons programs," Ms Kanck said. Maralinga was officially closed in 1967. Remediation to clean-up the site started in 1996 and concluded four years later. [Maralinga / AAP] Going nuclear ... Small protests have been held to mark 50 years since the first of seven atomic bombs was detonated at Maralinga in South Australia's far north. A device similar in size to one dropped on Nagasaki in World War II was exploded on September 27, 1956. Copyright 2006 News Limited. All times AEST (GMT + 10). ***************************************************************** 41 NRC: RIN 3150-AH96 FR Doc 06-8271 [Federal Register: September 27, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 187)] [Proposed Rules] [Page 56413-56414] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27se06-28] Facility Change Process Involving Items Relied on for Safety AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Proposed rule. SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations to clarify a requirement pertaining to items relied on for safety (IROFS). This rulemaking corrects an inconsistency in the regulations pertaining to IROFS. DATES: Comments on the proposed rule must be received on or before October 27, 2006. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following methods. Please include the following number (RIN 3150-AH96) in the subject line of your comments. Comments on rulemakings submitted in writing or in electronic form will be made available to the public in their entirety on the NRC rulemaking Web site. Personal information will not be removed from your comments. Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff. E-mail comments to: SECY@nrc.gov. If you do not receive a reply e- mail confirming that we have received your comments, contact us directly at (301) 415-1966. You may also submit comments via the NRC's rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. Address questions about our rulemaking Web site to Carol Gallagher (301) 415-5905; e-mail cag@nrc.gov. Comments can also be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov. Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. Federal workdays. (Telephone (301) 415-1966). Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at (301) 415-1101. Publicly available documents related to this rulemaking may be examined and copied for a fee at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), Public File Area O1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee. Selected documents, including comments, can be viewed and downloaded electronically via the NRC rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC after November 1, 1999, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/[fxsp0]ADAMS/index.html. From this site, the public can gain entry into the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Anthony N. Tse, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-6233, e-mail, ant@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For additional information see the Direct Final Rule published in the final rules section of this Federal Register. Procedural Background Because NRC considers this action noncontroversial and routine, we are publishing this proposed rule concurrently as a direct final rule. The direct final rule will become effective on December 11, 2006. However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments on the proposed rule by October 27, 2006, then the NRC will publish a document to withdraw the direct final rule. If the direct final rule is withdrawn, the NRC will address the comments received in response to the proposed revisions in a subsequent final rule. Absent significant modifications to the proposed revisions requiring republication, the NRC will not initiate a second comment period for this action if the direct final rule is withdrawn. A significant adverse comment is a comment where the commenter explains why the rule would be inappropriate, including challenges to the rule's underlying premise or approach, or would be ineffective or unacceptable without a change. A comment is adverse and significant if: (1) The comment opposes the rule and provides a reason sufficient to require a substantive response in a notice-and-comment process. For example, a substantive response is required when: (a) The comment causes the NRC staff to reevaluate (or reconsider) its position or conduct additional analysis; (b) The comment raises an issue serious enough to warrant a substantive response to clarify or complete the record; or (c) The comment raises a relevant issue that was not previously addressed or considered by the NRC staff. (2) The comment proposes a change or an addition to the rule, and it is apparent that the rule would be ineffective or unacceptable without incorporation of the change or addition. (3) The comment causes the staff to make a change (other than editorial) to the rule. List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 70 Hazardous materials transportation, Nuclear materials, Packaging and containers, Radiation protection, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Scientific equipment, Security measures. For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 553; the NRC is proposing to adopt the following amendments to 10 CFR part 70. PART 70--DOMESTIC LICENSING OF SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL 1. The authority citation for part 70 continues to read as follows: Authority: Secs. 51, 53, 161, 182, 183, 68 Stat. 929, 930, 948, 953, 954, as amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as amended, (42 U.S.C. 2071, 2073, 2201, 2232, 2233, 2282, 2297f); secs. 201, as amended, 202, 204, 206, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1245, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5845, 5846). Sec. 193, 104 Stat. 2835 as amended by Pub. L. 104-134, [[Page 56414]] 110 Stat. 1321, 1321-349 (42 U.S.C. 2243); sec. 1704, 112 Stat. 2750 (44 U.S.C. 3504 note). Sections 70.1(c) and 70.20a(b) also issued under secs. 135, 141, Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2232, 2241 (42 U.S.C. 10155, 10161). Section 70.7 also issued under Pub. L. 95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat. 2951 (42 U.S.C. 5851). Section 70.21(g) also issued under sec. 122, 68 Stat. 939 (42 U.S.C. 2152). Section 70.31 also issued under sec. 57d, Pub. L. 93-377, 88 Stat. 475 (42 U.S.C. 2077). Sections 70.36 and 70.44 also issued under sec. 184, 68 Stat. 954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2234). Section 70.81 also issued under secs. 186, 187, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2236, 2237). Section 70.82 also issued under sec. 108, 68 Stat. 939, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2138). 2. In Sec. 70.72, paragraph (c)(2) is revised to read as follows: Sec. 70.72 Facility changes and change process. * * * * * (c) * * * (2) Does not remove, without at least an equivalent replacement of the safety function, an item relied on for safety that is listed in the integrated safety analysis summary and is necessary for compliance with the performance requirements of Sec. 70.61; * * * * * Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of September, 2006. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Luis A. Reyes, Executive Director for Operations. [FR Doc. 06-8271 Filed 9-26-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 42 The Day: Judge Calls 2nd Hearing theday.com Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 Full evidentiary session sought in whistleblower case By Patricia Daddona Day Staff Writer\, Millstone\/business trends E-mail: p.daddona@theday.com Phone No.: (860) 701 - 4324 Published on 9/27/2006 in Business » Business Local A state judge has ordered a second hearing on Oct. 18 to determine whether a regulatory agency's handling of a whistleblower case violates state law and undermines safety at Millstone Power Station. Judge George Levine, who sits on the Court of Tax and Administrative Appeals in New Britain Superior Court, held the first hearing Monday in the case of whistleblower Sham Mehta of East Lyme and ordered a full evidentiary hearing. Anti-nuclear activist Nancy Burton, director of the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone, has charged that the state Department of Public Utility Control has violated state law by not implementing its prosecutorial unit's recommendation to fully reinstate Mehta in his job at Millstone within 30 days. Instead, 265 days had passed when Burton complained. Since Burton filed her complaint, the state agency has filed a draft decision and held oral arguments on the case and intends to rule today on whether Mehta will get a full hearing and be reinstated in an office or an actual substitute position at Millstone. Mehta has alleged that Millstone owner Dominion retaliated against him by eliminating his job after he raised security concerns about a disabled intruder alert system at the nuclear complex in Waterford. He is on paid leave but has not been allowed back onto the site or provided access to company e-mail and computers, despite the state agency's recommendation to do so. Burton also claims that the failure to resolve Mehta's case and his absence from Millstone create a chilling effect on other workers, making them less likely to speak up and so, potentially endangering them and the public. Both Dominion and the DPUC called on Monday for Levine to dismiss the case. Arguing for the DPUC, Assistant Attorney General Robert Marconi stated in a brief that Burton and the coalition have no standing to invoke the rights of an alleged whistleblower and that Burton's complaint failed to specify any actual problems with plant safety and security. Like Dominion's attorney, Bradford Babbitt, Marconi also stated that only the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has jurisdiction over security matters. The state law Burton invokes also no longer applies to Millstone, which is no longer a public utility but privately owned by Dominion, Babbitt wrote in his brief. The U.S. Department of Labor's division of Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found no evidence of retaliation by Dominion, but Mehta has appealed the federal ruling to an Oct. 24 hearing before OSHA. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is also considering Mehta's complaint, has not yet ruled on it, spokesman Neil Sheehan said Monday. The court hearing is set for 10 a.m. in New Britain Superior Court. Privacy Policy | Contact Us at 1 (860) 442-2200 | New London, CT | © 1998-2006 The Day Publishing Co. [Beacon Locator] ~ EL ***************************************************************** 43 The Day: Whistleblower to Return to Work theday.com Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 State will do full investigation By Patricia Daddona Day Staff Writer\, Millstone\/business trends E-mail: p.daddona@theday.com Phone No.: (860) 701 - 4324 New Britain — A whistleblower who lost his job after reporting security concerns at Millstone Power Station will be back on the job in two weeks as a state regulator proceeds with a full investigation into his complaint of retaliation. Nine months after Millstone owner Dominion eliminated East Lyme resident Sham Mehta’s job in a department reorganization, the state Department of Public Utility Control today ordered the company to place him in an equivalent post at the nuclear power station pending resolution of his case. As a worker who investigates employees' concerns, Mehta had reported last year to Dominion that a security fence alarm system was routinely disabled because of repeated false alarms. Within a year, Mehta found his position eliminated and he was not rehired for other posts within the company. Mehta has been on paid leave but not allowed access to the site, despite a recommendation from the DPUC’s prosecutor that he be reinstated at the company. In a meeting this morning, state commissioners voted unanimously but with little comment for a full investigation, finding that there are “too many unresolved issues” concerning the loss of Mehta’s job and the restructuring of his department, said DPUC Spokeswoman Beryl Lyons. The state agency found that the state’s whistleblower’s statutes do apply in this case, and that a full probe is needed because Dominion has not demonstrated “by clear and convincing evidence” that the job loss was unconnected to his reporting of concerns. The call for a full investigation directly contradicts a recent finding by the federal Department of Labor’s Connecticut division that Dominion’s actions were credible. Dominion has until Oct. 13 to provide the state agency with a list of positions at Millstone that provide the same pay and benefits and the same or similar opportunities for advancement as Mehta’s old job, which no longer exists. Privacy Policy | Contact Us at 1 (860) 442-2200 | New London, CT | © 1998-2006 The Day Publishing Co. [Beacon Locator] ~ EL ***************************************************************** 44 AU ABC: 50 years after Maralinga atomic tests, Aust 'hasn't learnt'. 27/09/2006. ABC News Online The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) believes the nation has not learned from the mistakes of nuclear testing at Maralinga in south-western South Australia. Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first British atomic bomb test at Maralinga. Witnesses have spoken about how the bombs made them sick, and one Aboriginal man says the tests burned his skin. The ACF's nuclear campaigner David Noonan says considering what happened at Maralinga, Australia should not be mining uranium or thinking about selling the substance to China. "Here at home we're under pressure for international nuclear waste dumping and we have a very large scale nuclear waste dump in South Australia already, at that Maralinga site, with the inappropriate burial of plutonium," he said. "Our interest in the uranium dollar is pushing Australia back through a peak, many of the same mistakes communities have tried to avoid over the past 50 years." Another Aboriginal man says flora and fauna near his community were destroyed in the British atomic tests. Bruce Lennon was a five-year-old at the time. He says the ground shook and his family saw bright lights in the sky at night. Mr Lennon was sick for weeks after the testing, with flu-like symptoms and a rash. But he was most affected by the desolation of the landscape. "It's like walking around in the Garden of Eden. And then all of a sudden it's gone," he said. "Like the flora and the fauna, the fruit trees and all those kinds of things. As far as I can recall it never really recovered." Maralinga was officially closed in 1967. Remediation work at the site began in 1996 and was completed four years later. ***************************************************************** 45 Reuters: Japan finds radioactive matter around U.S. ship 27 Sep 2006 11:49:59 GMT27 Sep 2006 11:49:59 GMT # Wednesday it found radioactive matter from water samples taken around a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine off its eastern coast, but the amount was small and posed no harm to humans or the environment. The government is conducting further tests to see if the particles were emitted from the submarine, said an official from the Education Ministry, which also oversees science and technology issues. Two types of radioactive particles were found from the ocean water samples around the USS Honolulu shortly after it left Yokosuka, a U.S. navy base 45 km (30 miles) south of Tokyo, earlier this month, the official said. He said he had no information on where the submarine was now. U.S. Navy officials were unavailable for comment. The findings come after a Japanese mayor agreed to hosting a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in June, a proposed deployment that had sparked public worry about safety. The move was agreed by the Japanese and U.S. governments last October, but the mayor of Yokosuka initially opposed it because of local fears over the first nuclear carrier to be deployed in Japan. The United States wants the nuclear-powered vessel to replace the USS Kitty Hawk, a diesel-powered aircraft carrier scheduled to be decommissioned in 2008. Japan is host to about 50,000 U.S. troops, and military bases are often unpopular with local residents, who complain of noise, pollution and crime. ***************************************************************** 46 India News: India can import uranium from Australia without signing NPT - Last update: Wednesday, 27th September 2006 It might be possible for India to import uranium from Australia without signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Tuesday. Canberra could end up following the lead of the US government and skirting the NPT requirement with a bilateral safeguards agreement, he said. Wed have to see all of that (US-India deal) in operation to work out whether this was really going to be a satisfactory solution, Downer told national broadcaster ABC. It sounds like, on balance, quite a good idea. But whether it would be such a good idea that we would sell uranium to India, I dont know. At the moment, I think its best we stick with our current policy. On Monday Prime Minister John Howard flagged a softening in Australias policy requiring importers to be NPT signatories. Certainly our policy to date has been to prohibit sales to countries which are not signatories to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Howard said. But as time goes by, if India were to meet safeguard obligations, some Australians would see it as anomalous that we would sell uranium to China, but not India. China, which is a signatory to the NPT, in April signed a contract to import uranium from Australia. Australia has 40 percent of the worlds known reserves and is the top exporter. Uranium prices have almost quadrupled in the past three years. The value of Australias exports, 546 million Australian dollars (US$412 million) in the year to June 30, are expected to reach 790 million Australian dollars (US$592 million) this fiscal year. Howard visited India in March and was pressed by Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh to allow sales of uranium. He agreed to send a delegation to India and the US to study the agreement between Washington and Delhi to share nuclear power technology. The Indian government refuses to sign the NPT because it restricts nuclear weapons to those countries in possession of them when it was drawn up in 1970. - DPA Copyright © IndiaeNews.com. Reproduction of news articles or any ***************************************************************** 47 Public Citizen: Domenici Bill Won’t Address Fundamental Problems With Yucca Mountain Dump Site or DOE Mismanagement; Nuclear Waste Should Instead Be Secured at Reactor Sites Sept. 27, 2006 Statement of Michele Boyd, Legislative Director of Public Citizens Energy Program Sen. Pete Domenicis (R-N.M.) bill on the management of spent nuclear fuel will not solve the fundamental problems at the proposed high-level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The bill introduced today is the third proposal in the past six months that aims to turn around this flawed project. Yet none of these proposals address the fact that Yucca Mountain cannot meet the basic public health and safety standards that were originally established for licensing the site. Rather than addressing the fact that the site is unsuitable for geologic storage of spent fuel, the bill would: + Pop the cap on the amount of nuclear waste that can legally be stored at the site, even though public health standards cannot be met with the current limit of 70,000 metric tons; + Allow the Department of Energy (DOE) to move spent fuel to Yucca Mountain for surface storage before the site is licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as a permanent repository, making it virtually impossible to have an unbiased, scientific analysis of DOEs license application; + Require the NRC to decide on the storage license within 18 months of receiving the application, an unreasonably short time period given that the NRCs license for the Private Fuel Storage interim storage facility in Utah took six years; + Allow DOE to begin construction of surface facilities and other infrastructure before the site is licensed; + Codify the NRCs waste confidence rule, which states that there will be a solution for nuclear waste, thereby bypassing what should be a scientific and technical determination; and + Provide DOE with unfettered access to utilities ratepayer fees, despite the fact that more than $8 billion has been squandered thus far on the project. Meanwhile, the Yucca Mountain project remains mired in scientific fraud and mismanagement. DOEs flawed scientific and quality assurance practices, which are crucial to sound science and engineering, have cast serious doubt on the validity of the work performed on Yucca Mountain. A report by the DOEs Office of Inspector General from August 2006 concluded that DOEs Corrective Action Program to identify and resolve the ongoing quality assurance problems is not working. Even the new director of the DOE office in charge of Yucca, Ward Sproat, recently stated that the project has a quality problem in terms of the culture and people and how they view their responsibilities for quality. Sen. Domenici claims that this bill links Yucca Mountain with the Bush Administrations proposed reprocessing scheme, the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), and the proposed interim storage provision in the Senates FY2007 Energy & Water Appropriations to produce a plan for comprehensive spent fuel management. But the fact is that none of these proposals are viable. Meanwhile, spent fuel at every nuclear power plant remains a safety and security risk. Instead of wasting hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars on the flawed Yucca Mountain site, on a dangerous scheme to reprocess nuclear waste and on unnecessary away-from-reactor interim storage, money should be focused on improving the safety and security of waste storage at reactor sites. More than 100 national and grassroots public interest groups are advocating for Principles for Safeguarding Nuclear Waste at Reactors, a proposal to harden the waste at reactor sites and address the vulnerability of spent fuel pools. To read Principles for Safeguarding Nuclear Waste at Reactors, click here. ### ***************************************************************** 48 Las Vegas SUN: Senator seeks to speed nuclear waste shipments to Yucca Mountain Today: September 27, 2006 at 13:5:14 PDT By ERICA WERNER ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - A Senate committee chairman said Wednesday that he wants to start shipping nuclear waste to Nevada's Yucca Mountain in 2010, seven years ahead of the Bush administration's schedule. A bill by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., would mandate construction of a surface storage facility at the site that could hold nuclear waste until the long-delayed underground dump is ready - not until 2017, at earliest, according to the current schedule. The delays are costing the public because the Energy Department was obligated to start accepting waste from nuclear utilities beginning in 1998. More than 50,000 tons of the material is waiting at commercial reactors around the country. Domenici's bill would seek to reduce that multibillion-dollar liability by creating an aboveground facility that could receive high-level waste from the Defense Department starting in 2010 and spent fuel from civilian reactors the next year. "Our nation needs nuclear waste and it will be managed safely both for current and future reactors," said Domenici, who heads the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. His is the latest proposal aimed at making up for delays at Yucca Mountain, whose problems include lawsuits and a lack of money. The dump site is about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Domenici also wants to create interim storage facilities at various federal sites. He envisions his plans working in coordination with an administration proposal to revive nuclear fuel reprocessing, which could reduce the amount of waste needing to be stored. With Congress in its final legislative week, Domenici said he does not expect his plan to advance this year. -- All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 49 KnoxNews: ORNL to manage $25M grant By Staff reports September 27, 2006 OAK RIDGE — The Department of Homeland Security had provided a $25 million grant for a regional pilot program that will be managed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., announced today. The project is known as the Southeast Regional Research Initiative. In a prepared statement released to the news media, Wamp said, "With this funding Oak Ridge can develop regional systems and solutions to address security and preparedness issues that can have national implications. This is a great opportunity for East Tennessee." ORNL will distribute the funding as needed to other partners in the regional project and coordinate the work with the Department of Homeland Security, Wamp said. "Staying on the forefront of research and development is vital for our security," he said. © 2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel ***************************************************************** 50 Knox News: ORNL campus looks good, but everybody isn’t smiling By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com September 27, 2006 Shiny new buildings have revitalized the appearance of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, but are they masking a problem with employee morale? That’s how some are interpreting the results of an employee survey conducted earlier this year by The Gallup Organization. A copy of the results was forwarded to me recently. I’m no expert on interpreting surveys, but it does appear that a goodly number of ORNL employees question the priorities of management, don’t feel their work is appropriately recognized or appreciated, and aren’t as satisfied as one might expect of those working at such a prestigious institution. Some lab employees are anxious to share their thoughts on mismanagement or policies and directives they think are pointing the lab in the wrong direction. But they’re not so anxious to go public with their criticisms. That’s why employee surveys are conducted anonymously. Tom Wilbanks, who heads the Corporate Fellows Council, an elite group of senior scientists and engineers at ORNL, said he thinks the survey needs to be taken seriously. "What I would say is the results do suggest that we have some problems with staff morale and stuff happening in the workplace that need to be addressed if the lab is going to perform as well as wanted in the future," Wilbanks said this week in a brief telephone interview. "The message is there are some challenges on the people side of the lab, and the new leadership in HR (human resources) is helping to uncover these and focus some attention on them." Wilbanks said the corporate fellows are working on a report to management that relates somewhat to the survey results. One of the conclusions is that staff morale is making it more difficult to recruit top scientists to the Oak Ridge laboratory, he said. Asked for management’s view of the employee survey, the lab provided this statement from ORNL Director Jeff Wadsworth: "Our purpose for taking this survey was to get an independent benchmark for what our employees are thinking. We are not pleased or disappointed, but rather a little smarter about issues we need to work on.’’ Billy Stair, the lab’s communications director, said he had already taken heed of the survey response that showed people weren’t getting the kind of regular recognition and feedback they wanted. While some employee responses at ORNL were less positive than Gallup’s national database acquired from other workplaces, Stair said that didn’t necessarily mean there’s a negative effect on lab productivity. "You can be very successful in some aspects of a company or laboratory and still maybe not grade out as high in some aspects of a survey," he said. ORNL scientists have been outspoken for years about the lab’s high overhead costs, which reportedly make it more difficult to compete with other institutions, particularly universities, for research projects. There also are complaints about heavy-handed bureaucracy, with some irritants originating at Department of Energy headquarters in Washington and others tied to the lab’s managing contractor, UT-Battelle. Scientists by their nature are an independent lot, and some of them believe the endless chain of approvals — to submit proposals, to attend conferences, etc. — is overdone and, in some cases, unnecessary. One researcher suggested it was like a child having to ask permission to go to the bathroom. From the feedback I receive, lab employees are pleased and very proud of the modernization program enacted by UT-Battelle over the past six years. Indeed, the laboratory has never looked better. But employees apparently want that same kind of energy applied to other concerns. Senior writer Frank Munger covers the Department of Energy for the News Sentinel. He may be reached at 865-342-6329 or at munger@knews.com. This column is also available in the opinion section of knoxnews.com. © 2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel ***************************************************************** 51 Tri-City Herald: DOE extends $1.8 billion contracts Published Wednesday, September 27th, 2006 By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer The Department of Energy has extended two of its prime contracts at Hanford for up to two more years at an estimated cost of $1.8 billion. The extensions came as contracts for Fluor Hanford and CH2M Hill Hanford Group were set to expire at the end of the month, which is the end of the federal fiscal year 2006. The extensions were expected, as DOE prepares three requests for proposals for work primarily in central Hanford. "The extensions will ensure uninterrupted site activities while the competitive procurements are completed," DOE said in an announcement. It also gives some job assurance to the 3,500 Fluor employees and 1,100 CH2M Hill employees. DOE plans to first issue a request for proposals for site services now provided by Fluor, such as fire protection, maintaining utilities and information technology. DOE then plans to award new contracts for the cleanup work now done by Fluor and to operate Hanford's tank farms, which is work now done by CH2M Hill. The contract extension for Fluor "continues the momentum of accelerated cleanup," Ron Gallagher, Fluor Hanford president, said in a message to employees Tuesday. The two-year extension to Fluor's 10-year contract is valued at about $1.3 billion. However, its value will depend on congressional appropriations. Planned work in the next two years includes: n Demolishing another of the most contaminated buildings at the Plutonium Finishing Plant -- the building where liquid waste was held. n Consolidating the remainder of the radioactive sludge at the K East Reactor basin, moving all the K East sludge to the K West Basin and designing a system to treat it. n Digging up 60 percent of all the drums of transuranic, or plutonium-contaminated waste, that was temporarily buried until a national repository opened. Some of that waste already has been retrieved from the ground. n Installing new systems to clean up contaminated ground water or prevent it from reaching the Columbia River and installing 30 new monitoring wells. n Demolishing 10 industrial buildings in central Hanford that pose a major environmental risk because of contamination in the buildings or in the soil beneath them. n Removing 700 gallons of liquid sodium from the Fast Flux Test Facility. CH2M Hill's contract extension is valued at $500 million. CH2M Hill operates the tank farms, where 53 million gallons of radioactive and hazardous chemical waste are stored in underground tanks. The waste is left from the past production of plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program. "This extension continues our role in cleanup at the largest and most complex environmental site in the nation," said Mark Spears, CH2M Hill president, in a message to employees. Among the work the company will focus on in the next two years is further developing innovative waste treatment methods and new ways to retrieve radioactive waste from Hanford's oldest tanks for storage in newer double-shell tanks, he said. CH2M Hill has held the tank farm contract since buying Lockheed Martin Hanford Corp. in late 1999. DOE said work planned for the next two years includes: n Finishing work already started to retrieve waste in four single-shell tanks and starting and finishing solid-waste retrieval in as many as four additional tanks. n Continuing maintenance and operation of the tank farms, including major facilities such as an evaporator that reduces liquids in tanks to provide more space for waste storage. n Continuing work to determine whether bulk vitrification could be used to treat some tank waste and supplement the capacity of the $12.2 billion vitrification plant under construction. n Reducing tank farm operation costs by being more efficient and upgrading systems and equipment. DOE announced the contract extensions Tuesday afternoon, but had not yet released the contract documents by Tuesday evening. They are expected to be posted at www.pr.doe.gov or www.hanford.gov/cpc/. © 2006 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 52 Hanford News: Scientist finds way to detect uranium This story was published Wednesday, September 27th, 2006 By John Trumbo, Herald staff writer Uranium glows in the dark, but to get a really good glow, drop the temperature in the material to be examined by a few hundred degrees - Celsius. Zheming Wang, a scientist at Richland's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has shown, literally, that uranium can't hide when exposed to ultraviolet light if the conditions are close to minus 267 degrees Celsius. Wang recently revealed details about his super-cold uranium detection system at the 232nd meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco. What Wang learned is that the colder the temperature, the clearer the greenish-yellow images become. He uses cryogenic fluorescence spectroscopy in reading the glow from uranium in contaminated soil. The process makes it possible to detect contamination at a former nuclear fuel manufacturing site more easily, according to a press release from the lab. The super-cold environment makes the glowing images fluoresce five times stronger than at room temperature, Wang discovered. The process also revealed other fluorescent spectra that were not visible at room temperatures. The cryogenic process means scientists will be able to "see" and distinguish different forms of uranium in contaminated soil. By freezing the soil and hitting it with a UV black light, they will be able to find contaminates such as uranium-carbonate, which moves easily through soil and is a pollutant to water sources. Wang and his team developed the super-cold ultraviolet light system at the W.R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory in Richland. © 2006 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 53 The Enquirer: Fernald cleanup update tonight Cincinnati.Com Last Updated: 5:17 am | Wednesday, September 27, 2006 BY PEGGY O'FARRELL | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER CROSBY TWP. - Residents can find out where cleanup of the old Fernald uranium foundry stands at 6 p.m. today. Johnny W. Reising, who is overseeing the U.S. Department of Energy project, will give visitors an update, said Jeffrey Wagner, spokesman for Fluor Fernald, the contractor carrying out the cleanup project. The deadline for cleaning up the toxic waste site, which is contaminated by nearly 40 years of uranium refining, is Dec. 31. The $4.4 billion cleanup project will convert most of the 1,030-acre site into an undeveloped nature park that will include wetlands, prairie and forest areas. A water treatment plant will remain in operation to clean up the Great Miami Aquifer, which was contaminated by uranium runoff. Fluor Fernald officials now say the cleanup should be completed by the end of October. "There's not much left to do," Wagner said. "It's just the details, and making sure everything is in the condition we had promised." As the cleanup winds down, workers have found more contaminated soil than expected, he said, and are removing that. Some will be shipped off-site by rail. In addition to removing contaminated soil, workers have to decontaminate and ship construction equipment off-site and tear down the few remaining structures. Once all of the contaminated soil is shipped, workers will have to dismantle the rail line and pack it up, he said. Workers are in the process of closing off the eighth and last disposal cell on the site, Wagner said. The last truckloads of contaminated soil were placed in the cell last week, he said. Tonight's meeting will be held on top of the waste disposal cells. The cells offer "a great view" of the site, Wagner said. E-mail pofarrell@enquirer.com What: Public meeting on the Fernald cleanup project When: 6 p.m. today. Visitors should arrive by 5:50 p.m. Wear sturdy shoes, and adults should bring photo ID. Where: Fernald Closure Project, 7400 Willey Road, Crosby Township. Copyright © 1995-2006 ***************************************************************** 54 DenverPost.com: High court to hear Rocky Flats whistle-blower case Article Last Updated: 09/26/2006 10:31:35 PM MDT By Denver Post staff and wire reports The U.S. Supreme Court will use a 17-year-old case involving Colorado's Rocky Flats to clarify the ability of whistle-blowers to sue and collect from private contractors for the misuse of federal funds. The high court agreed Tuesday to hear an appeal of a $4.2 million award in a lawsuit brought in 1989 by James Stone, a former engineer for Rockwell International Corp. During the 1970s and '80s, Rockwell was a contractor at Rocky Flats, a nuclear weapons plant north of Golden that has since been demolished. Stone's suit claimed Rockwell lied to the government about its performance during its tenure at Rocky Flats in order to qualify for more than $22 million in performance awards. The U.S. Energy Department later joined the suit. The suit was filed under the federal False Claims Act, which allows a whistle-blower to sue over alleged fraud against the government and collect a percentage of any money awarded. A federal jury in 1999 awarded Stone and the government $1.4 million, which under federal law was tripled to $4.2 million. The False Claims Act entitled Stone to claim roughly a third of the money. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the award in 2001. The Boeing Co. - which now owns Rockwell - is seeking to overturn the $4.2 million award. It contends Stone does not qualify as a whistle-blower under federal law because he was not the "original source" of information about Rockwell's alleged misdeeds and therefore should not share in the award. Stone's attorneys argue that the 10th Circuit concluded that he had direct and independent knowledge about a number of problems at Rocky Flats. The Bush administration joined Stone in urging the Supreme Court not to hear the appeal. In agreeing to review the case, the Supreme Court declined to address the larger issue raised by some business groups as to whether the False Claims Act is unconstitutional. The court is expected to rule by July. All contents Copyright 2006 The Denver Post or other copyright ***************************************************************** 55 DOE: Office of International Regimes and Agreements; Proposed FR Doc E6-15804 [Federal Register: September 27, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 187)] [Notices] [Page 56508] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27se06-68] Subsequent Arrangement AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of proposed subsequent arrangement. SUMMARY: This notice is being issued under the authority of Section 131 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2160). The Department is providing notice of a proposed ``subsequent arrangement'' under the Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy between the United States and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and the Agreement for Cooperation Concerning Civil Uses of Atomic Energy between the United States and Norway. This subsequent arrangement concerns the retransfer of eight irradiated fuel rod segments containing a total of 124.4 grams of U.S.- origin uranium, 5.74 grams of which is U-235, and 11.48 grams of U.S.- origin plutonium, from the Institutt for Energiteknikk, Kjeller, Norway, to the CEA/CEN Cadarache, LECA/STAR research center, Saint Paul-Les-Durance, France. The segments, irradiated at the Halden Boiling Water Reactor, are being retransferred for the purpose of post irradiation examination. CEA/CEN Cadarache, LECA/STAR research center is authorized to receive nuclear material pursuant to the U.S.-Euratom Agreement for Cooperation. In accordance with Section 131 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, we have determined that this subsequent arrangement will not be inimical to the common defense and security. This subsequent arrangement will take effect no sooner than fifteen days after the date of publication of this notice. Dated: September 21, 2006. For the Department of Energy. Anatoli Welihozkiy, Acting Director, Office of International Regimes and Agreements. [FR Doc. E6-15804 Filed 9-26-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 56 DOE: Office of Science; Biological and Environmental Research FR Doc E6-15828 [Federal Register: September 27, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 187)] [Notices] [Page 56508-56509] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27se06-69] Advisory Committee AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. [[Page 56509]] SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee. Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Monday, October 16, 2006, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ADDRESSES: Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, MD 20852. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. David Thomassen (301-903-3251; david.thomassen@science.doe.gov) Designated Federal Officer, Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, SC-23/Germantown Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-1290. The most current information concerning this meeting can be found on the Web site: http://www.science.doe.gov/ober/berac/announce.html . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Meeting: To provide advice on a continuing basis to the Director, Office of Science of the Department of Energy, on the many complex scientific and technical issues that arise in the development and implementation of the Biological and Environmental Research Program. Tentative Agenda Monday, October 16, 2006 Comments from the Office of Science Report by Dr. Jerry Elwood, Acting Associate Director of Science for Biological and Environmental Research Report on BERAC review of Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) Experiments Reports on progress toward long term Performance Assessment Rating Tool (PART) Measures Update on Genomics: GTL program New business Public comment (10 minute rule) Public Participation: The one-day meeting is open to the public. If you would like to file a written statement with the Committee, you may do so either before or after the meeting. If you would like to make oral statements regarding any of the items on the agenda, you should contact David Thomassen at the address or telephone number listed above. You must make your request for an oral statement at least five business days before the meeting. Reasonable provision will be made to include the scheduled oral statements on the agenda. The Chairperson of the Committee will conduct the meeting to facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Public comment will follow the 10-minute rule. Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public review and copying within 30 days at the Freedom of Information Public Reading Room, IE-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Issued in Washington, DC on September 21, 2006. Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. E6-15828 Filed 9-26-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 57 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Nevada FR Doc E6-15829 [Federal Register: September 27, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 187)] [Notices] [Page 56509] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27se06-70] 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), Nevada Test Site. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Wednesday, October 11, 2006; 5 p.m.-8 p.m. ADDRESSES: 7710 West Cheyenne Avenue, Conference Room 130, Las Vegas, Nevada. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Snyder, Deputy Designated Federal Officer, P.O. Box 98518, Las Vegas, Nevada 89193. Phone: (702) 295-2836; E-mail: snyderk@nv.doe.gov. 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: Approval of three letters pertaining to budget allocation, budget prioritization, and membership recruitment. Committee updates. 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 presentations pertaining to agenda items should contact Kelly Snyder at the telephone number listed above. The request 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. This notice is being published less than 15 days prior to the meeting date due to programmatic issues that had to be resolved prior to the meeting date. 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 Kelly Snyder at the address listed above. Issued at Washington, DC on September 22, 2006. Rachel Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. E6-15829 Filed 9-26-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 58 Rocky Mountain News: Court to hear Flats case By Rocky Mountain News September 27, 2006 The U.S. Supreme Court said Tuesday it will hear a 17-year-old case involving the operators of the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant and an engineer-turned- whistleblower awarded $4.2 million. Boeing Co., owner of Rockwell International, wants to overturn the award won by James S. Stone, who accused the company of lying to the U.S. Department of Energy about environmental problems. Boeing argues the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made it too easy to win suits under the U.S. False Claims Act, which lets whistleblowers sue on behalf of the federal government. The dispute centers on the requirement that whistleblowers be the "original source" of information about wrongdoing. Boeing said in its appeal that Stone possessed only "background" information. site map--> Subscribe | E-mail alerts| Corrections 2006 © The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 59 Knox News: BWXT worker pleads guilty Man sentenced to 1-year probation for removing classified data from Y-12 By JAMIE SATTERFIELD, satterfield@knews.com September 27, 2006 Stupid? Probably. Spy? Never. Retired U.S. Navy man Everett Ashley Blauvelt Jr. had no intention of betraying his country when he played fast and loose with "secret restricted data" at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, defense attorney Tom Dillard said Tuesday. "It was just a bad mistake," Dillard said. Blauvelt, 61, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Guyton to a misdemeanor charge he removed classified information from Y-12, where components for the country's nuclear weapons arsenal are made, while working there as an employee of contractor BWXT in 2000. Guyton sentenced Blauvelt to a one-year probationary term. "He's relieved that his six-year ordeal is over," Dillard said after the hearing. "He's certainly sorry for what happened." According to documents filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Dake, Blauvelt worked for BWXT as a "shift technical adviser" and "held secret and Q-security clearances." His job gave him access to classified information including documents labeled "secret restricted data" because of references to nuclear weapon making and the potential to cause "serious damage" to national security, Dake told Guyton. The exact nature of the information at issue in Blauvelt's case was not disclosed in court records, although some of it apparently involved data on fellow employees. "Mr. Blauvelt was familiar with the rules and regulations concerning access to and possession, use and storage of classified information," Dake wrote. "He served in the United States Navy for 27 years, held a security clearance and dealt with classified information." At some point in late 2000, an allegation was made to Blauvelt's bosses that he had "compiled a database containing detailed personal and sensitive information about co-workers," Dake wrote. A search of Blauvelt's office revealed "two diskettes containing personal and potentially compromising information," including "information classified at the secret restricted data level," according to court records. The search also yielded "the presence of an unauthorized device on an unclassified and networked computer that would permit sending and receiving emails outside of the authorized and monitored system," Dake wrote. "Classified information was also found on this unclassified and networked computer, a strictly forbidden practice." According to court records, Blauvelt was escorted off the Y-12 complex on Dec. 12, 2000. When agents with the FBI and the Department of Energy's Counterintelligence Unit showed up at his home armed with a search warrant, they found Blauvelt "attempting to erase data from his computer," Dake wrote. It's not clear why Blauvelt broke the security rules, but Dillard insisted -- and the Justice Department agreed in allowing a misdemeanor plea -- that there is no proof that Blauvelt intended to market the classified information. © 2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************