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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI's N-activities under int'l law 
2 AFP: Incoming UN chief calls on Iran to halt enrichment 
3 AFP: Iran to step-up sensitive nuclear activities - MP
4 [NYTr] N.Korea Returns to Negotiating Table
5 Los Angele Times: Why North Korea Loves the Bomb
6 washingtonpost.com: N. Korea Agrees to Return To Talks - 
7 SF Chronicle: Nuclear negotiations
8 AFP: NKorea to rejoin talks on nuclear program 
9 AFP: N.Korea to return to talks if US sanctions discussed 
10 AFP: SKorea names new key ministers in wake of North's nuclear test 
11 UPI: Analysis: N. Korea to return to nuke talks
12 UPI: N.Korea hinges nuclear talks on sanctions
13 UPI: North Koreans celebrate nuclear test
14 US: UCS: Clean Energy Ballot Initiative Expected to Save $1.1 Billio
15 TorontoSun.com: Watchdog fears for troops
16 IAEA: Statement to the Sixty-First Regular Session of the United 
17 Yokwe Net: ISLANDS HISTORY: "The Big Bang at Enewetak"              
18 UPI: Claim: Drugs leak exposed Brit secrets
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
19 US: NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meeting to Discuss Rancho Seco License T
20 Calgary Sun: TransCanada delays nuke plant refurbishment
21 US: newsobserver.com: Siren test fails for Shearon Harris nuclear pl
22 FT.com: World urged to build more N-plants
23 US: Rutland Herald: Emergency siren test set for 8 a.m. Nov. 8
24 US: SouthofBoston.com: Appeal filed in Pilgrim relicensing
25 US: PRN: Constellation Energy: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Re
26 US: NRC: NRC Renews Operating Licenses for Nine Mile Point Units 1 a
27 US: NRC: Petition for rulemaking
28 US: NRC: Petition for rulemaking (Massachusetts
29 Prague Daily Monitor: Temelin second unit to be shut down longer tha
30 US: NRC: NRC Announces Opportunity to Request a Hearing on License R
31 ITAR-TASS: Group of Chernobyl veterans suspend hunger strike in Star
32 US: Decatur Daily: NRC chief: Industry will need 90,000 workers by 2
33 US: The Day: Whistleblower Accepts Job at Millstone  
34 US: UPI: Analysis: Poll shows war hit energy supply
35 US: Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Southeast to see job surge from ne
 
                          NUCLEAR SECURITY
 
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
36 US: Radiological Toxicity of DU
37 Depleted Uranium Weapons - a BBC investigation 
38 [NYTr] BBC Investigates Depleted Uranium Weapons
39 BBC: Depleted uranium risk 'ignored'
40 US: NRC: NRC to Meet with New Jersey Hospital Officials to Discuss A
41 AFP: Canada failed soldiers exposed to Gulf War toxins - ombudsman -
42 US: East Texas Weekly Community Newspaper: Whistleblowers not popula
43 CBC: Soldiers' Kuwait health complaints mishandled: ombudsman
44 Canadian Press: Combat engineers exposed to Gulf War contaminants - 
45 icScotland: 'Gulf War cancer link suppressed'
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
46 RGJ.com: Yucca Meeting
47 US: globeandmail.com: Uranium glowing as it soars to new high
48 AU ABC: Nuclear dump opponent urges health monitoring. 
49 US: NRC: NRC Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste to Meet in Rockvill
50 LasVegasNOW.com: DOE Adds Yucca Mountain Info Session Amid Nevada Co
51 KVBC: Nevada critics of Yucca Mountain complain about info sessions
52 icNorthWales: We'll give millions to save economy from Wylfa fallout
53 US: The Australian: Strategic strikes by uranium big guns
54 reviewjournal.com: DOE adds Yucca meeting in Reno
 
                           PEACE
 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
55 ScrippsNews: Labs look at recycling weapons-grade plutonium for ener
56 DOE: U.S. DOE Awards Contract for Management and Operation of 
57 Idaho Statesman: Transmission-line plan could benefit Idaho's nuclea
58 Tri-City Herald: Generating station has shutdown 
59 washingtonpost.com: Nuclear Cleanup Site Has Cities Cleaning Up Fina
60 DDN: Fernald site clean, contractor declares
61 Columbus Dispatch: Study would show whether Piketon enrichment plant
62 Paducah Sun: DOE still part of VanderBoegh suit - 
63 Knox News: Oak Ridge project retools legacy of 'Atoms for Peace'    
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
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 1 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI's N-activities under int'l law 

  2006/11/01   
  
Ambassador to Britain Rassoul Movahedian said Tuesday that
Islamic Republic of Iran was ready to confront sanctions sought
to be imposed by the West and had mapped out different
strategies.

 In an interview with the Newspaper `Asharq Alawsat', Movahedian
warned countries seeking to impose sanctions on Iran to be ready
to accept its consequences.

 Stressing the need to bolster ties between Iran and the Arab
world, he warned of adverse effects should sanctions be imposed
on Iran's peaceful nuclear activities.

 Dismissing the hue and cry over possible sanctions on Iran, he
said "Imposition of sanctions on account of the country's
peaceful nuclear program would have no legal basis as Iran is
simply exercising a right granted it under international law."

 Arguing that Tehran has not violated international law, rules
or regulations with its nuclear activities, Movahedian said
"Sanctions imposed on Iran will be unfair, improper and
discriminatory." 

Asked why Iran was insistent on continuation of its uranium
enrichment work despite pressure from the West, the Ambassador
said that as a "signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty Iran
has the right to engage in peaceful nuclear activities as are
all other signatories."

 He went on to say that Iran's nuclear activities are carried
out under surveillance of the International Atomic Energy
Agency. It would be useless for Iran to sign the NPT and be
bound by certain obligations if it could not enjoy the right
guaranteed there into engage in peaceful nuclear activities, the
Envoy said.

 He said Iran pursues its nuclear activities by relying on
domestic skill and resources to achieve its scientific goals.

 M.H.Z   

  Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran 
Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. 
E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir     
*****************************************************************
 2 AFP: Incoming UN chief calls on Iran to halt enrichment 

 Wednesday November 1, 06:27 PM 

MOSCOW (AFP) - The newly-designated UN secretary general, Ban
Ki-Moon, called on Iran to halt uranium enrichment and accept
alternative incentives proposed by six world powers, Russian
news agencies reported.

"Iran must halt enrichment of uranium and accept the proposal of
the six" powers, the agencies quoted Ban as telling Russian
journalists following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir
Putin.

Ban, who is also currently the foreign minister of South Korea,
afterwards held a meeting Advertisement
[ src=]  with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who
repeated Moscow's reservations about a European draft UN
resolution imposing sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program.

"We cannot support measures that are essentially aimed at
isolating Iran from the outside world, at isolating the very
people who are called upon to conduct negotiations on the
nuclear program," Lavrov told reporters after his meeting with
Ban.

He said Russia, like the United States and Europe, had no
interest in Iran acquiring sensitive nuclear technologies and
wanted to ensure that UN nuclear inspectors got access to
Iranian facilities to verify that this was not the case.

But he added that the European draft "goes far beyond the agreed
framework" established by the five permanent UN Security Council
members and Germany for alleviating international worry over
Iran's nuclear intentions.

Lavrov's comments mirrored remarks he made on October 26, when
he stated that the European draft resolution on Iran "clearly
does not further the objectives that the six powers agreed on
earlier".

The United States has accused Iran of seeking secretly to
develop nuclear weapons under cover of its nuclear energy
program, a charge Tehran has consistently denied. Washington has
also led calls for tough sanctions on Iran.

Russia, which is helping Iran build its first nuclear reactor,
has maintained that only IAEA inspections can determine
independently what Iran's nuclear activities aims are and has
insisted that negotiations are best way to ensure Tehran does
not move to develop nuclear weapons. 

AFP
*****************************************************************
 3 AFP: Iran to step-up sensitive nuclear activities - MP

Wednesday November 1,

  [Iranian technicians at the uranium conversion facilities in
Isfahan]   
  
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran is preparing new uranium enriching
centrifuges less than a week after starting up its second such
cascade despite the threat of UN Security Council sanctions, an
influential MP has said.

"Other cascades are underway and we have plans to build many
centrifuges in order to supply our nuclear fuel," Kazem Jalai,
parliament's national security commission rapporteur, was quoted
as saying by student news agency ISNA Wednesday.

Iran on Saturday confirmed it had successfully enriched uranium 
from a new cascade of 164 centrifuges, the second to be installed 
at the Natanz nuclear plant in central Iran.

Enriched uranium is at the core of the dispute over Iran's 
nuclear programme, as it can produce nuclear fuel and, in highly 
refined form of around 90 percent, be developed to a nuclear 
bomb. 

But Iran says it aims to reach only five percent enrichment in 
order to make fuel.

Iran would need thousands more such centrifuges to enrich uranium 
on an industrial scale and its current uranium enrichment work is 
on a research level only.

"Even if we make 10 164-centrifuge cascades, it still remains at 
the level of research and development and we want to reach a 
certain phase in this level and then start the industrial work," 
Jalali said.

The UN Security Council's five veto-wielding members -- Britain,
China, France, Russia and the United States -- as well as from
Germany have been discussing a draft UN resolution on sanctions
put forward by European countries.

Jalali said that Iran would "react to such unfair resolutions",
adding that a bill was heading to parliament that would suspend
inspections by the UN's the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) in the event of sanctions.

The former head of Iran's nuclear dossier, Hassan Rowhani, who
is a close aid to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
also said that Tehran could suspend IAEA inspections if
sanctions were applied.

"Approval of such a resolution will not remain unanswered and it
is possible that one of (Iran's) moves could be a reduction of
cooperations with the IAEA," Rowhani was quoted as saying by the
semi-official news agency Mehr. 

AFP
*****************************************************************
 4 [NYTr] N.Korea Returns to Negotiating Table
 
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 20:54:38 -0500 (EST)

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Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Foreign Policy in Focus - Nov 1, 2006
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3660


FPIF Commentary

North Korea Returns to the Negotiating Table

by John Feffer

North Korea's decision to return to the negotiating table is a win-win-win
situation, at least temporarily. The United States, China, and even North
Korea gain from the announcement. However, the boost given to each countrya
modest October surprise for the Bush administration, a diplomatic
achievement for China, and a stronger negotiating position for North
Koreawill not carry over into the negotiations themselves. A decision to
talk, after all, does not translate automatically into a decision to
compromise. 

The resumption of the Six-Party Talks is a small but much-needed bright
spot in the otherwise dismal foreign policy record of the Bush
administration. In May 2003, 67% of Americans were satisfied with America's
place in the world, according to a Gallup poll. But a just-released Program
on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) poll shows a complete reversal in
attitudes. Now, 68% of Americans are dissatisfied with America's global
position. Foreign policy is a huge albatross around the neck of the
administration, and numerous Republican Party candidates in the upcoming
midterm elections are trying to distance themselves from their leadership's
policies.

On North Korea, according to the PIPA poll, 55% of Americans believe that
the United States should talk to North Korea without preconditions. This
percentage barely changed as a result of the October nuclear test. After
all, North Korea's test simply confirmed that the Bush administration
policy was just not working. The restarting of the Six-Party Talks has come
just in time to salvage some small diplomatic victory for the
administration.

But with October marking one of the highest death tolls for U.S. soldiers
in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, with the Taliban gaining power again in
Afghanistan, and with numerous domestic scandals, this small success in
East Asia will not likely affect the mid-term elections.

China probably gains more than the United States has from this development.
After the nuclear test, Washington pundits predicted a major setback for
Beijing's soft power approach to multilateralism. China was instrumental in
convening the Six-Party Talks and mediating between the United States and
North Korea . With its nuclear test, North Korea not only defied China's
explicit warnings, it jeopardized Beijing's whole economic project of
turning its northeastern provincesalong with North Korea's Rajin portinto
an economic hub. Short of outright war, there's nothing worse than
sanctions to put a damper on regional investment. Brokering the recent
seven-hour discussions between U.S. and North Korean diplomats, China has
again proven that it holds the key to Northeast Asia's future.

Finally, North Korea itself is a winner. Pyongyang didn't achieve the
bilateral negotiations it's been clamoring for with the United States , but
no doubt some face-to-face meetings will take place on the outskirts of the
multilateral negotiations. More importantly, North Korea has a stronger
bargaining position at the table. It has more of a nuclear program (though
how much more remains uncertain) and will likely ask for more in return.

Whether South Korea gains anything from the return to the talks remains to
be seen. Getting back to the table has required the expenditure of much
diplomacy and no small amount of arm-twisting. The prospect of a Chinese
energy cutoff and the impact of the various sanctions certainly pushed
North Korea to the table without achieving its coveted bilateral talks. And
the prospect of an end to the non-proliferation regime has certainly pushed
the United States toward some small measure of compromise.

But the Six-Party Talks still suffer from the same two problems. North
Korea can't have a nuclear deterrent and trade it away at the same time.
And the United States can't both negotiate a regime-saving agreement with
North Korea and push for regime collapse at the same time.

In 1994, when the two sides faced the same two competing paradoxes, a
face-saving compromise was achieved. North Korea traded away its nuclear
program but probably kept an insurance policy, namely some processed
plutonium. The Clinton administration signed the Agreed Framework but sold
it to Congress by reassuring American politicians that the regime in
Pyongyang wouldn't be around in 2003 when the light-water reactors were due
to go on-line.

Today, North Korea is further along with its nuclear program and the Bush
administration is more unyielding in its attitude toward evil regimes.
However, this time around, China is more actively involved in mediating the
crisis, and South Korea has more to offer if a settlement is within reach.

Still, the current Six-Party Talks will only succeed if both Pyongyang and
Washington come to an arrangement that is as flexible as the Agreed
Framework. The Bush administration must finally accept the possibility of
negotiating an agreement. Pyongyang must be willing to give up its nuclear
program. Both sides will no doubt harbor their secretsperhaps a cache of
processed plutonium on the one hand and a persistent desire for regime
collapse on the other. Without resolving these central contradictions,
however, the Six-Party Talks will go in precisely the same direction as
before: nowhere.

[John Feffer is the Co-Director of Foreign Policy In Focus (www.fpif.org)
for the International Relations Center. This commentary also appeared in
Joongang Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper.]
       
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 5 Los Angele Times: Why North Korea Loves the Bomb
 
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 10:51:58 EST

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Los Angeles Times

------------------------------------------------------
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-ramberg1.1nov01,0,2578032
.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

Why North Korea loves the bomb
Its nuclear weapons program plays a major role in propping up Kim Jong Il's 
repressive regime.

By Bennett Ramberg
BENNETT RAMBERG served in the State Department's Bureau of Politico-Military 
Affairs in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. E-mail: 
Bennettramberg@aol.com
November 1, 2006

ON ITS FACE, North Korea's announcement that it plans to return to the 
six-party nuclear talks marks a victory of sorts for diplomacy. Working with its 
allies, the United States fashioned a package of U.N. resolutions, economic 
sanctions and the threat of more to get Kim Jong Il back to the bargaining table. 

Ultimately, though, the talks will bear fruit only if North Korea concludes 
that eliminating its nuclear program better ensures regime survival. The 
history of nuclear disarmament, coupled with North Korea's unique strategic 
circumstance, suggest that the possibility remains a long shot. 

Compare the North Korean case with three countries that surrendered nuclear 
ambitions � South Africa, Libya and Ukraine � and one comes es to the conclusion 
that Pyongyang has yet to reach the requisite underpinnings to do likewise.

Under the veneer of a peaceful nuclear explosives program to dig harbors and 
oil storage facilities, South Africa � under President P.W. Botha  � 

manufactured six atomic bombs. The true motivations included international isolation 
fed by apartheid and the belief that such weapons would deter a Soviet and Cuban 
threat along South Africa's borders. 

Libya never acquired nuclear weapons but spent decades trying. Its leader, 
Moammar Kadafi, sought to buy a weapon from China, enrichment equipment from 
France, reactors from the U.S., a nuclear-armed submarine from the Soviet Union 
and to annex uranium-laden land from Chad. 

Tripoli had some success in the 1990s when the smuggling network of Pakistani 
nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan provided the rudiments of a nuclear 
centrifuge program and weapons designs, which added to Libya's other black-market 
acquisitions. 

Kiev did not strive for the bomb; the bomb fell into its lap when Ukraine 
became a nuclear-armed successor state to the Soviet Union. The arsenal included 
about 3,000 tactical nuclear weapons plus 1,240 strategic nuclear warheads 
mounted on 176 intercontinental ballistic missiles, making Ukraine the holder of 
the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal.

What moved these three nations to disgorge their nuclear capital, and what 
are the implications for North Korea? In South Africa's case, the withdrawal of 
Soviet and Cuban forces lifted the bomb's raison d'être. Botha's successor, 
F.W. de Klerk, viewed nuclear weapons elimination as one requirement to end the 
country's international isolation.

For Libya, such isolation, following the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, posed an 
increasing strategic burden. Oil revenue plummeted, leaving the economy in 
disarray. Tripoli, which had been a promoter of terrorism, found itself a target of 
the new breed of Islamic terrorism, which international assistance could help 
suppress. Then there was the threat of a preemptive U.S. strike, coupled with 
events in Iraq. Ending its program provided the lure to get the West to deal.

Ukraine concluded that nuclear status would undermine national identity and 
security. It would tie Kiev to Moscow's atomic command-and-control system, 
keeping the newborn country within Russia's orbit. Maturation and upkeep would be 
a needless economic burden. A nuclear course also would jeopardize economic 
and political ties with the West.

All three nations came to the conclusion that denuclearization would enhance 
security and prosperity. The roots of North Korea's program, coupled to the 
nature of the regime, promote a far different judgment in Pyongyang.

Stirred by U.S. threats to use nuclear weapons to end the Korean War, 
Pyongyang's impulse to take the plunge gained traction during the 1962 Cuban missile 
crisis. North Korea concluded that it would not suffer Cuba's fate — 
"abandonment" by its Soviet ally. Only juche � self reliance  � would do. After getting 
a research reactor from Moscow in the 1960s, indigenous talent generated 
additional plants. 

For Kim Jong Il, nuclear weapons provide a means to preserve his fiefdom. 
They generate international tension that justifies the garrison state. They 
compensate for conventional military weaknesses, providing a hedge against 
perceived U.S. military designs. They furnish leverage to extract international 
humanitarian assistance and economic investment from a nervous South Korea. And they 
provide an economically failing regime a marquee to demonstrate strength, 
resolve and modernity. 

Unlike Libya, South Africa and Ukraine, North Korea has not arrived at the 
point necessary for abandoning its nuclear ways: a willingness to reduce 
self-imposed political isolation. Rather, it continues to view isolation and its 
nuclear buttress as the key to regime preservation. 

This is a fact we likely will have to live with, talks or no talks.

Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times  


*****************************************************************
 6 washingtonpost.com: N. Korea Agrees to Return To Talks - 

A Surprise Reversal In Nuclear Dispute

By Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, November 1, 2006; Page A01

NK 
agreed yesterday to return to the six-nation nuclear disarmament
talks, just three weeks after it conducted its first test of a
nuclear device.

The country's unexpected decision, which was announced by
Chinese and U.S. officials in Beijing, will end Pyongyang's
year-long boycott of the talks, which have dragged on
intermittently for more than three years. Fourteen months ago,
North Korea agreed in principle to dismantle its nuclear
programs, but hard bargaining is still necessary to determine
the sequence and timing of the incentives it expects in return.

[After seven hours of meetings with North Korean and Chinese
officials, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill
tells reporters that there is potential for ] After seven hours
of meetings with North Korean and Chinese officials, Assistant
Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill tells reporters that
there is potential for "substantial progress" in resolving the
nuclear issue. (By Greg Baker -- Associated Press) 
 
Pyongyang had refused to return to the talks until the United
States separately negotiated an end to a crackdown on North
Korea's counterfeiting of U.S. currency. But that demand
disappeared Tuesday during seven hours of meetings, set up by at
Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, involving U.S., North
Korean and Chinese officials. North Korea instead agreed to a
long-standing U.S. proposal to deal with the counterfeiting
issue through a working group of the six-party talks.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill emerged from
the meetings to say that there was the potential for
"substantial progress" in resolving an issue that has raised
tensions throughout the region, including the possibility of a
nuclear arms race. U.S. officials were privately puzzled by the
mercurial government's change of heart, though they said they
hope the universal condemnation of North Korea's nuclear test
and the swift imposition of U.N. sanctions had played a role.

"In the wake of their test, it became very clear that there were
going to be costs and consequences for their actions and that
they faced even greater isolation from the rest of the
international community," State Department spokesman Sean
McCormack said. The talks are expected to resume either this
month or in December.

Some analysts and diplomats have faulted the Bush administration
for being inflexible and ideological during earlier rounds,
making it difficult to reach agreement. David Straub, a former
State Department official who was part of the U.S. delegation to
some of the talks, said North Korea probably shifted tactics to
deflect international pressure and divide the nations at the
negotiating table. Unless both the United States and North Korea
"bring significantly different approaches to the talks, the
talks will again amount to nothing," he said. "Indeed, both will
almost certainly take even tougher lines."

President Bush, meeting with reporters in Washington, praised
China's role in setting up the meeting. "We'll be sending teams
to the region to work with our partners to make sure that the
current United Nations Security Council resolution is enforced,
but also to make sure that the talks are effective, that we
achieve the results we want," Bush said.

Last Wednesday, the Chinese government contacted the U.S.
Embassy in Beijing and proposed a trilateral meeting involving
North Korea, the United States and China. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice on Friday authorized Hill to cut short the
meetings he had in the South Pacific and to slip into Beijing on
an unannounced visit. U.S. officials agreed to try the Chinese
idea but had little expectation it would yield a breakthrough.

In January, Hill held a 2 1/2 -hour meeting in Beijing with the
Chinese and North Koreans to try to restart the talks, but that
effort was not successful.

This time, Hill had seven hours of meetings -- including, at one
point, with Kim Gye Gwan, the North Korean vice foreign minister
who is Hill's counterpart in the talks, and other North Korean
officials. Hill said he told Kim that the United States would
never accept North Korea as a nuclear power, nor would any other
nation. Hill also told Kim that the U.N. Security Council
resolution imposed after North Korea's nuclear test was an
"international obligation" and not up for discussion before the
resumption of the talks.

The meetings were described as very businesslike. Kim wanted
assurances that a Treasury Department action against a Macau
bank suspected of money laundering for North Korea would be
addressed in the six-party talks. The United States had earlier
suggested setting up a working group to address the issue, and
Hill reaffirmed that idea. Kim said that was acceptable,
according to Hill.

U.S. officials have maintained that the Treasury case was simply
an excuse by North Korea to avoid making the strategic choice of
giving up its nuclear programs. In earlier talks, Pyongyang had
demanded light-water reactors in exchange for abandoning its
programs. Though that possible incentive is mentioned in a
September 2005 "statement of principles" to guide nuclear
negotiations, the United States has insisted that it is only a
theoretical possibility that could come at the end of the
verified dismantling of North Korea's nuclear facilities.

North Korea set no conditions for returning to the six-party
talks on its nuclear program, Hill said. "For us it was very
important that no one should create conditions for attending the
talks," he said.

Michael J. Green, who oversaw Asian affairs at the White House
until last year, said it was significant that North Korea agreed
to return without getting relief from the Treasury action or the
U.N. sanctions.

"The Chinese exerted real pressure," Green said. He added that
he expects China to push North Korea to offer something concrete
at the upcoming rounds of talks, such as a moratorium on future
tests, a full detailing of its nuclear programs or the return of
international inspectors at its Yongbyon facility.

"North Korea is going to cling tenaciously to its nuclear
weapons," Green said, but the existence of U.N. sanctions will
facilitate coercive diplomacy.

North Korea has blamed the impasse on the U.S. Treasury action
against a bank in Macau called Banco Delta Asia, which the
department had identified as the main conduit for bringing North
Korean-made counterfeit U.S. bills into the international
system. The Treasury had determined that senior officials at the
Macau bank accepted large deposits of cash and agreed to place
the bogus money into circulation.

The bank is also reputed to hold the private accounts of North
Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his family.

The Washington Post: | | | | | | | 
*****************************************************************
 7 SF Chronicle: Nuclear negotiations
 
EDITORIAL Nuclear negotiations
 
Wednesday, November 1, 2006

AFTER MONTHS of dismissing international efforts to get it to
the negotiating table, it is welcome news that North Korea has
finally agreed to participate in six-nation nuclear disarmament
talks. 

Never missing an opportunity to politicize anything, the Bush
administration crowed that North Korea's agreement to return to
talks was a "vindication of the strategy the president has
adopted." 

But there are too many unknowns before anyone -- least of all a
White House that has been known to prematurely declare victory
-- can conclude that this latest development will do anything to
defuse a new and unpredictable nuclear threat. 

At this stage, it is hard to know exactly what North Korea's
motivations are. Did the regime of Kim Jong Il agree to
participate simply to buy time? Did it do so just to placate its
former ally China? Or did it do so because it genuinely fears
the potential impact of further economic sanctions? 

It's also impossible to know whether the multilateral strategy
will yield results. So far, it has not. Many observers,
including U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., believe that the
highest levels of the U.S. government should be negotiating
directly with the North Koreans, rather than leaving talks to an
assistant secretary of state such as Christopher Hill. 

"Anyone we don't like, we don't meet with," Feinstein told The
Chronicle Editorial Board last week, referring to the Bush
administration's refusal to talk directly to Syria, Iran or
North Korea. "It's a big mistake in this world." 

But multilateral talks are better than no talks at all. To
increase their effectiveness, it is time for all the governments
involved to participate at the highest levels. It surely will
take more diplomatic firepower from the United States than an
assistant secretary to forestall a potential nuclear
catastrophe. 				

Page B - 8                      

The San Francisco Chronicle] 

�2006 San Francisco Chronicle 
*****************************************************************
 8 AFP: NKorea to rejoin talks on nuclear program 

 by Simon Martin Wed Nov 1, 2:36 PM ET                   

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea" /> North Koreaconfirmed it would 
return to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks after a year-long 
boycott, as the chief US envoy stressed that the world needed to 
see progress at the next round. 

 The announcement came less than a month after the reclusive
communist state stunned the world with its first atom bomb test. 

"The DPRK (North Korea) decided to return to the six-party talks
on the premise that the issue of lifting financial sanctions
will be discussed and settled between the DPRK and the US," the
North Korean foreign ministry said. 

World leaders welcomed North Korea's decision to rejoin the
talks, which it had boycotted since November 2005 in protest at
US financial sanctions, but the breakthrough was also greeted
with some skepticism. 

Christopher Hill, the lead US representative to the talks, said
in Beijing he had told North Korean envoy Kim Kye-Gwan that
Washington was willing to consider the matter. 

"I said we would be prepared to create a mechanism or working
group and to address these financial issues," he said. He
stressed that it was too soon to celebrate and warned further
stalling from Pyongyang would not be acceptable. 

"We must achieve progress in these (next) sessions," he told
reporters at Beijing's international airport, adding it "will be
very difficult and we have a long way to go." 

The six-way talks, which began in 2003, bring together North and
South Korea" /> South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United
States. 

North Korea agreed in September 2005 to scrap its nuclear
programs in exchange for energy and security guarantees, but
later quit talks in protest at US sanctions aimed at barring it
from the international banking system. 

Pyongyang angered the international community in July when it
test-fired seven missiles, a move that prompted weapons-related
UN sanctions. 

Last month's underground nuclear test earned the North further
global censure and led the UN Security Council to slap another
round of financial, trade and military sanctions on Pyongyang. 

US President George W. Bush" /> President George W. Bushled
international praise of this week's diplomatic breakthrough,
saying he was "very pleased with the progress made." 

North Korea's Asian neighbours, while welcoming the news, were
more circumspect. 

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan would keep up its
tough sanctions against North Korea -- which include a ban on
all imports from the country. 

"Japan imposed sanctions because (North Korea) has not made a
sincere response to the issue of its missile launch, nuclear
test and abductions (of Japanese civilians)," Abe told
reporters. 

South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun" /> Roh Moo-Hyun, under fire
at home for his "sunshine" policy of engagement with the North,
signalled he would pursue the policy by appointing close allies
to handle foreign affairs and relations with Pyongyang. 

The new South Korean UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, in Russia
for talks with President Vladimir Putin" /> Vladimir Putin,
called on North Korea to let UN nuclear inspectors back into the
country and halt activities linked to weapons tests. 

He also said the United States and Japan must prepare for the
"normalization of relations with North Korea" if Pyongyang meets
these demands. 

The European Union" /> European Unionalso hailed North Korea's
decision. A statement by the Finnish presidency of the bloc
stressed its backing for peaceful efforts to resolve "security
issues" with North Korea. 

Officials in Seoul said the talks on ending the North's nuclear
programs would likely resume after a series of bilateral
meetings among the key players on the sidelines of an
Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam on November 18-19. 	 		 			

Copyright � 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 9 AFP: N.Korea to return to talks if US sanctions discussed 

 by Simon Martin Wed Nov 1, 8:04 AM ET 		 	 

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea" /> North Koreahas confirmed it will 
return to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks after a year-long 
boycott, as the chief US envoy stressed that the world needed to 
see progress at the next round. 

The announcement that Pyongyang had agreed to return to the 
negotiating table came late Tuesday in Beijing, less than a month 
after the reclusive communist state stunned the world with its 
first atom bomb test. 

Officials in Seoul said the talks on ending the North's nuclear 
programs would likely resume after a series of bilateral meetings 
among the key players on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit 
in Vietnam later this month. 

World leaders welcomed North Korea's decision to rejoin the 
talks, which it had boycotted since November 2005 over the US 
imposition of financial sanctions, but the breakthrough was also 
greeted with some skepticism. 

"The DPRK (North Korea) decided to return to the six-party talks 
on the premise that the issue of lifting financial sanctions will 
be discussed and settled between the DPRK and the US within the 
framework of the six-party talks," the North Korean foreign 
ministry said. 

Christopher Hill, the lead US representative to the talks, said
Tuesday in Beijing that he had told North Korean envoy Kim
Kye-Gwan that Washington was willing to consider the matter. 

"They made very clear that these were not conditions but they
wanted to hear that we would address the issue of the financial
measures in the context of the talks," Hill said after talks
with Kim and Chinese envoy Wu Dawei. 

"And I said we would be prepared to create a mechanism or
working group and to address these financial issues." 

But he added: "As someone who has been involved in this, I have
not broken out the cigars and the champagne quite yet." 

The six-way talks -- which began in 2003 -- bring together North
and South Korea" /> South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the
United States. 

North Korea agreed in September 2005 to scrap its nuclear
programs in exchange for energy and security guarantees. 

But it walked out of the negotiations two months later in
protest at unilateral US sanctions aimed at blocking its access
to the international banking system. 

Before heading home to the United States on Wednesday, Hill said
further stalling from Pyongyang would not be acceptable. 

"This next session has to be very carefully planned because we
must achieve progress in these sessions," Hill told reporters at
Beijing's international airport. 

"We'll see if we can make some progress... (but it) will be very
difficult and we have a long way to go." 

Pyongyang angered the international community in July when it
test-fired seven missiles, a move that prompted weapons-related
UN sanctions. 

Last month's underground nuclear test earned the North further
global scorn and led the UN Security Council to slap another
round of financial, trade and military sanctions on Pyongyang. 

US President George W. Bush" /> President George W. Bushled
international praise of the diplomatic breakthrough, saying he
was "very pleased with the progress made". 

South Korea and Japan also welcomed the news, but Japanese
Foreign Minister Taro Aso cautioned that the decision could not
be embraced "with open arms" and that sanctions would remain in
place. 

In Seoul, Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan said the talks
were "most likely to take place following high-level
coordination" on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation ( APEC" /> APEC) summit on November 18-19 in Hanoi. 

But he added that Pyongyang still faced tough punishment for its
nuclear activities. 

"If the talks bear fruit, the United Nations" /> United
NationsSecurity Council would adopt a new resolution to ease the
sanctions but the mere fact that North Korea decided to return
to the talks will not result in eased sanctions," Yu said. 

South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun" /> Roh Moo-Hyun, under fire
at home for his "sunshine" policy of engagement with the North,
signalled he would pursue the policy by appointing close allies
to handle foreign affairs and relations with Pyongyang. 

Chief presidential security adviser Song Min-Soon was named
foreign minister to replace Ban Ki-Moon, who will be the next
United Nations secretary general, while Lee Jae-Joung will take
over the unification ministry. 

Both are seen as advocates of engagement with the North. 	 		 			

Copyright � 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 10 AFP: SKorea names new key ministers in wake of North's nuclear test -
     
 Wed Nov 1, 1:17 AM ET 		 	 

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun" /> has named a 
new ministerial team to handle foreign affairs, relations with 
North Korea" /> and security, less than one month after the 
North's nuclear test. 

 Chief presidential security adviser Song Min-Soon was named
foreign minister to replace Ban Ki-Moon, who will be the next
United Nations" /> secretary-general. 

Song is seen as a close presidential aide and strong supporter
of his controversial "sunshine" policy of engagement with the
communist state. 

The new unification minister in charge of relations with the
North is Lee Jae-Joung, who like his predecessor Lee Jong-Seok
supports engagement with Pyongyang. 

Taking over as defence minister from Yoon Kwang-Ung is army
chief of staff Kim Jang-Soo. Kim Man-Bok, first deputy director
at the National Intelligence Service (NIS) spy agency, becomes
director in place of Kim Seung-Kyu. 

The incumbent defence and unification ministers as well as the
NIS chief all resigned last week, giving Roh an opportunity to
reshuffle the key posts in his cabinet in the wake of the
North's October 9 atom bomb test. 

Song, a 58-year-old career diplomat, was previously South Korea"
/> 's lead delegate to the six-nation talks on ending North
Korea's nuclear programme. 

Pyongyang confirmed earlier Wednesday that it would return to
the talks it had boycotted for the past year in protest at US
financial curbs. 

Lee Jae-Joung, 62, is a former university president and former
legislator from the ruling Uri party. Until Wednesday, he had
served as senior vice chairman of the National Unification
Advisory Council. 

Kim Man-Bok has held various NIS posts over the past 30 years. 

Copyright � 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 11 UPI: Analysis: N. Korea to return to nuke talks
     
 United Press International - Intl. Intelligence - 

11/1/2006 7:42:00 AM -0500

 By LEE JONG-HEON UPI Correspondent

SEOUL, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- North Korea Wednesday said it would
return to the long-stalled multilateral talks on its nuclear
drive, reviving hope of a diplomatic resolution to the deepening
nuclear crisis. 

But prospects are not good, as the nuclear-armed North is
expected to seek bigger concessions from the U.S.-led allies and
to try and use the negotiations to buy time to make more atomic
bombs and ease U.N.-imposed sanctions. 

In a statement, the North's Foreign Ministry said Pyongyang
would rejoin the six-party talks on its nuclear programs on the
condition that its financial concerns would be addressed in the
negotiations. 

"The DPRK (North Korea) decided to return to the six-party talks
on the premise that the issue of lifting financial sanctions
will be discussed and settled between the DPRK and the United
States within the framework of the six-party talks," the
ministry said, adding the decision was made at a three-way
meeting in Beijing Tuesday with China and the United States. 

But the North defended its Oct. 9 nuclear test as a
"self-defensive" measure to cope with the U.S. nuclear threat,
indicating Pyongyang would not give up its nuclear ambitions
before Washington moved to ease its security concerns. 

North Korea "took a self-defensive counter-measure against the
U.S. daily increasing nuclear threat and financial sanctions
against it," said the statement carried by the North's state-run
Central News Agency. 

South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and
Russia have held five rounds of six-way talks to resolve the
nuclear tension since the eruption of the dispute in late 2002,
but little progress has been made. The latest meeting was held
in November in Beijing. 

The North's decision to join the six-party talks represents an
about-face from its earlier position. 

The country had said it would not return to the six-party talks
until the United States lifted sanctions on the Banco Delta Asia
which were believed to have blocked Pyongyang's cash flow, a
demand rejected by the United States, which said the financial
issue must be separated from the nuclear talks. 

Pyongyang has boycotted the six-party talks since late last
year, when the United States slapped restrictions on the
Macau-based bank accused of laundering money for North Korea. 

Under the U.S. measure, BDA froze $24 million of North Korea's
holdings in some 50 accounts and cut off transactions with the
communist country, a move believed to have been financially
devastating for Pyongyang. 

South Korea welcomed the North's decision to return to the
six-party talks as a move to ease the nuclear crisis and
military tensions on the Korean peninsula. 

"The government welcomes the North's agreement on the resumption
of the six-way (talks)," Seoul's Foreign Ministry said in a
statement. 

South Korea hopes the resumed six-nation talks will occur
shortly, and pave the way for the denuclearization of the
peninsula, it said. A ministry official said the next round of
talks is likely to take place as early as next week. 

But many analysts in Seoul remain doubtful the resumed talks
will bear fruit. 

"As a nuclear-armed state, the North is expected to demand (to)
change the six-nation talks into an overall arms reduction
negotiation that would deal (with) the reduction of the United
States' nuclear arsenal," said Nam Sung-wook, a North Korea
specialist at Korea University in Seoul. 

After the North declared itself a nuclear power last year, it
called for nuclear disarmament talks with the United States. 

Nam and other analysts say the North is also expected to call
for separate direct negotiations with the United States under
the framework of six-party talks to discuss U.S.-led financial
sanctions on the North. 

"The North is likely to try to win more concessions other than
the lifting of financial sanctions," Nam said, adding it is part
of the North's tactics to put the ball back in Washington's
court. 

Buoyed by the North's move, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun
vowed to press ahead with his policy of engaging North Korea,
despite criticism by the conservative camp. 

On Wednesday, Roh named Lee Jae-joung, former lawmaker of the
ruling Uri Party, as unification minister, replacing Lee
Jong-seok, who stepped down in the wake of the North's nuclear
test. 

Lee Jae-joung is a strong advocate of "sunshine" policy of
peaceful engagement with the North and opposed to any tough
measures against the communist neighbor. 

In addition to the resumption of the six-party talks, Roh is
seeking summit talks with the United States, China, Japan and
Russia on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
summit slated for Nov. 18-19 in Vietnam to discuss the North's
nuclear standoff.

� Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
 12 UPI: N.Korea hinges nuclear talks on sanctions
     
 United Press International - NewsTrack - 

        11/1/2006 7:07:00 AM -0500

PYONGYANG, North Korea, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- The North Korean
government said Wednesday its decision to resume nuclear
disarmament talks was based on the United States easing economic
sanctions. 

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said the
country would resume talks with South Korea, China, the United
States, Japan and Russia "on the premise that the issue of
lifting financial sanctions will be discussed and settled." 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced the diplomatic
breakthrough Tuesday, and said talks would resume soon, although
a date was not set. 

The U.S. sanctions were imposed on a Macao-based bank the Bush
administration contends was fueling a North Korean money
laundering and counterfeiting operation. 

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe praised North Korea's
decision and China's role in getting the talks resumed after
nearly a yearlong standoff, the Kyodo news agency reported. 

However, asked if the talks would lead to Japan lifting its own
sanctions on North Korea, Abe said "Not at all," Kyodo reported.

� Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
 13 UPI: North Koreans celebrate nuclear test
     
United Press International - NewsTrack - 

11/1/2006 12:59:00 PM -0500

PYONGYANG, North Korea, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- North Koreans, facing
threatened sanctions and near universal denunciation, are
celebrating last month's test of the country's first nuclear
device. 

North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-Il, led the rallies throughout
the capital, Pyongyang, the London Telegraph said Wednesday. 

As the celebrations on the nuclear weapon testing were being
conducted, North Korea agreed to return to the "six-party talks"
with South Korea, China, the United States, Russia and Japan.
The talks focus on North Korea's ending its nuclear program, The
Telegraph of London said. 

Since the Oct. 9 underground test, North Korea has reportedly
increased security along the border with South Korea to prevent
intelligence leaks, report said. 

The United Nations is debating what types of sanctions to
impose, The Telegraph said.

� Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
 14 UCS: Clean Energy Ballot Initiative Expected to Save $1.1 Billion on 
Electric Bills by 2025
 	 
October 31, 2006

Union of Concerned Scientists

Initiative Would Reduce Global Warming Emissions and Bring More
Jobs to Washington 

WASHINGTONA new analysis of the long-term effects of Washington
State's Initiative 937, which requires larger utility companies
to invest in renewable energy and adopt low-cost energy
conservation practices, finds that the ballot measure is
expected to result in $1.13 billion in cumulative savings on
consumer electricity bills in Washington by 2025. 

The new study from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) shows
that the measure would cut electricity costs by 2.9 percent
compared to a increased reliance on fossil fuels such as coal
and natural gas.  

"Voting 'yes' on the Clean Energy Initiative will pay off over
time with lower electric bills, economic growth, and a cleaner
environment for our children and our grandchildren," said report
co-author Jeff Deyette, a clean energy researcher at UCS. 

The Washington Clean Energy Initiative: Effects of I-937 on
Consumers, Jobs, and the Economy, projects that passage of I-937
would likely save the average Washington household nearly $1.50
per month on electricity from 2008-2025.  By 2025, monthly
savings would approach $4 (in 2005 dollars). 

The report also projects that the initiative will create 2,000
new jobs in manufacturing, construction, operation, maintenance
and other industries by 2025, 2.6 times the employment
opportunities that fossil fuel-based energy generation would
provide. 

I-937 would bring $138 million in additional income to
Washington and increase the state gross product by $148 million.
 Investments in renewable energy would bring $2.9 billion in new
capital to the state.  Rural landowners would receive $30
million in income from wind power leases while local communities
would reap $167 million in new property taxes and payments from
renewable energy. 

"This report confirms what we've been saying all along: I-937
will bring cleaner and cheaper energy to the people, farms and
businesses of this state," said Yes! on I-937 campaign director
Chris McCullough. "It's the right answer for Washington." 

I-937 also promises environmental benefits to the state.  By
2025, I-937 would prevent 4.6 million metric tons of
heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions from entering the
atmosphere  the equivalent of taking 750,000 cars off the road. 
I-937 will also reduce harmful air, water and land problems that
would otherwise occur during the extraction, transportation, and
burning of fossil fuels. 

The report uses projections from industry experts, the U.S
Department of Energy, and the Northwest Power and Conservation
Council.   

  Reporters: Join our to receive breaking news from UCS.

For general media inquiries, please call our press office at
202-331-5420.

Press Contacts:

 EMILY ROBINSON Press Secretary 202-331-5427

RICH HAYES Media Director 202-331-5437

� Union of Concerned Scientists 
Page Last Revised: 10/31/06   
*****************************************************************
 15 TorontoSun.com: Watchdog fears for troops
 
Wed, November 1 / 06   

editor@tor.sunpub.com
  
Exposure to toxic materials in Gulf War might be repeated in
Afghanistan: Ombudsman
 																 								
By KATHLEEN HARRIS, OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA -- Canada's military watchdog says health concerns of
soldiers exposed to toxic material while serving in the Gulf War
were largely ignored, and he worries the situation isn't much
better for those serving in Afghanistan. 																			

 In a special report to be released today, called "Heroism
Exposed: An Investigation Into the Treatment of 1 Combat
Engineer Regiment Kuwait Veterans," Yves Cote said he's troubled
that legitimate concerns from Canadian personnel deployed to
Kuwait in 1991 weren't given the "weight and respect" they
deserved. 																			

 And the national defence ombudsman said troops in Afghanistan
aren't adequately alerted to environmental and health risks in
the theatre of operations. 																			

 Cote conducted 350 interviews, including 261 with veterans of
the Kuwait deployment, in his three-year investigation.
																			

 The probe stems from retired Maj. Fred Kaustinen, former deputy
commanding officer of 1 Combat Engineer Regiment, who claimed
members of his regiment were "systematically ignored" after
exposure to hazardous material. 																		 									
 									
 On July 11, 1991, an ammunition depot caught fire and regiment
members were exposed to exploding munitions, including depleted
uranium, while monitoring the fire and bringing the flames under
control. 																			

 They later suffered various ailments, including constant
headaches, emphysema, brain tumours and liver failure.
																																				 															 								
shopping for surplus tanks
 																								Next story: Ottawa: Out with a capital
'O'
 																 								 							 						   						  [ /]   
Copyright � 2006, Canoe Inc.All rights reserved.        
 Proprietor and Publisher - Sun Media (Toronto) Corporation, 333
King St. E., Toronto, ON, M5A 3X5 Test--> 		   	 
*****************************************************************
 16 IAEA: Statement to the Sixty-First Regular Session of the United 
Nations General Assembly
 
+ [IAEA.ORG :: Atoms for Peace] 

30 October 2006 | New York, USA 
 		
by IAEA Director General Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei

In the coming year, the International Atomic Energy Agency will
commemorate its 50th anniversary. There is much to be learned by
looking back on this half century of Atoms for Peace in its many
applications - from the days of the first power reactor
operations, safeguards inspections and safety standards, all the
way to our programme today. 

As we commemorate this anniversary, our goal is to broaden
awareness of the scope of the IAEA�s mission and activities -
our contributions to development, nuclear safety and security,
and nuclear non-proliferation - and to provide forums to review
the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. 

Nuclear Power Technology 

Growing Expectations for Nuclear Power
 For the past five decades, the role of nuclear power has been
shaped by many factors such as growing energy needs, economic
performance, the availability of other energy sources, the quest
for energy independence, environmental factors, nuclear safety
and proliferation concerns, and advances in nuclear technology. 

In the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident, the continued
viability of nuclear power was viewed with skepticism for almost
two decades. But recently we have seen rising expectations
regarding the future role of nuclear power, particularly among
many developing countries. The rapid growth in global energy
demand is putting a premium on all energy sources. Climate
change concerns have highlighted the advantages of nuclear power
in terms of its minimal greenhouse gas emissions. And the
sustained nuclear safety and productivity record over the past
twenty years has made nuclear operating costs relatively low and
stable. 

There are currently 442 nuclear power reactors operating in 30
countries, and they supply about 16 per cent of the world�s
electricity. To date, the use of nuclear power has been
concentrated mostly in industrialized countries. But of the 28
new reactors currently under construction, 16 are in developing
countries. And while the highest percentage of existing reactors
is in North America and Western Europe, recent expansion has
been primarily in Asia and Eastern Europe. 

Energy for Development and Global Energy Security
 Recently, the IAEA has begun emphasizing the role of "energy
for development" - since it is becoming more and more clear that
without energy there can be no development, and without
development there is misery that can often lead to violence. The
energy shortage in developing countries is a staggering
impediment to development. To give you some perspective, it is
enough to mention that the countries of the OECD, on average,
consume electricity at a rate roughly 100 times that of the
world�s least developed countries. 

The IAEA offers energy assessment services that build a State�s
capability for energy analysis and energy planning, taking into
account the country�s economic, environmental and social
development needs. These services treat all energy supply
options equally. They are in increasingly high demand, and we
have been expanding our capacity to offer them. 

The G8 Summit in St. Petersburg this summer emphasized the
importance of "global energy security". During my participation
at the expanded summit there, I emphasized that, in my view,
global energy security means fulfilling the energy needs of all
countries and peoples - including the 1.6 billion people who
have no access to electricity, and the 2.4 billion who continue
to rely on traditional biomass fuels. 

I also emphasized at that meeting that, in my view, the current
global organization of energy resource management and
distribution is quite fragmented - in terms of both geographical
coverage and the types of energy resources managed. Global
structures for setting norms, oversight and management exist in
most other key areas of human activity - such as trade, civil
aviation, labour relations and health. However, no similar
structure currently exists for energy. 

It is important to note that, as a sophisticated technology,
nuclear power requires a correspondingly sophisticated
infrastructure. For new countries considering nuclear power, it
is essential to ensure that such necessary infrastructure will
be available. This infrastructure includes many components -
from industrial infrastructure such as manufacturing facilities,
to the legal and regulatory framework, to the institutional
measures to ensure safety and security, to the necessary human
and financial resources. The IAEA recently published guidance on
the infrastructure needed for countries to introduce nuclear
power, and we are working to define a set of milestones for the
development of this infrastructure, to assist us in prioritizing
our support for those Member States. 

Naturally, nuclear energy might not be the choice of all
countries - and some, such as Germany and Sweden, have decided
to phase out their nuclear power programmes. Other countries
have also adopted a policy against the use of nuclear power.
However, for those Member States that choose to use nuclear
power as part of their energy mix, there is much the Agency can
do to make this option accessible, affordable, safe and secure. 

Technical Cooperation Programme 

For fifty years, technical cooperation (TC) has been a principal
mechanism for implementing the IAEA�s basic mission of Atoms for
Peace. But fifty years ago, many of the Member States that
participated in the Technical "Assistance" Programme lacked all
but the most rudimentary capabilities for applying nuclear
science and technology. The IAEA role involved a one-way
transfer of technology to developing Member States to help them
establish basic scientific and technical capabilities. 

Today, our technical cooperation programme has evolved to a
partnership that hinges on cooperation - the sharing of
knowledge and expertise to promote sustainable growth and human
security, in ways that contribute to many of the Millennium
Development Goals. Many Member State institutions now have
capabilities equal to or exceeding those of the Agency. As a
result, experience gained in one Member State is often shared
with other Member States through a variety of mechanisms. In
Asia, Latin America and Africa, countries that were once heavily
dependent on the Agency for advanced scientific expertise are
now regional leaders in helping other countries in their regions
to make use of the varied peaceful nuclear applications. 

Nuclear Applications 

Much of the IAEA�s scientific work is focused on the transfer of
peaceful nuclear technology in the fields of health,
agriculture, industry, water management and preservation of the
environment. The Agency works to build up Member State
scientific and technical capacities in a manner that supports
their national development priorities. The IAEA also has
projects that are designed to support regional priorities, such
as the New Partnership for Africa�s Development (NEPAD). 

These efforts are making a difference. Let me offer two brief
examples. 

Combating Cancer: An Integrated Approach
 For many years, IAEA assistance in the field of radiotherapy
has been used to cure or mitigate the effects of cancer.
Recently, however, the Agency began working on an ambitious
scale, through its Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy
(PACT), to integrate radiotherapy into a broader "cancer
control" framework encompassing cancer prevention, diagnosis and
treatment. Over the past year, relationships have been built
with the leading organizations in the field of cancer control
and research - including the World Health Organization, the
International Agency for Research in Cancer, the International
Union Against Cancer, and other national and international
bodies and professional societies - in order to assist Member
States with comprehensive cancer control programmes.
Collaborative efforts are now underway to create model
demonstration sites for cancer control in five countries. These
sites will be used to attract additional donors, by raising the
profile of cancer as a global health concern. 

Water Resources Management
 With Agency assistance, Member States are using isotope
hydrology to address problems of water shortages and the
depletion of groundwater resources through overuse. An excellent
example is the active participation of Chile, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru and Uruguay last year in a
regional TC project for managing groundwater resources in Latin
America. As a result of this project, hydro-geological maps were
developed, conceptual models were validated, and associated
databases were made available and are now in use in
participating institutions. 

Nuclear Safety and Security 	 

The safety and security of nuclear activities around the globe
remain key elements of the IAEA�s mandate. It is clear that the
sustained effort to build a global nuclear safety regime is
paying off. Operational safety performance at nuclear power
plants remains strong. Occupational radiation protection
indicators once again showed improvement over the past year. And
we are continuing to make strides in strengthening physical
protection at nuclear facilities and enhancing the security of
nuclear material and radioactive sources worldwide. 

But nuclear safety is not an issue that can ever be regarded as
"fixed". The strong, steady safety performance of recent years
is reassuring. But the sporadic recurrence of events of concern
make clear that the promotion of a strong safety culture - for
both operators and regulators - should always be viewed as a
"work in progress". 

Radiological Protection of Patients
 The IAEA has for some time been emphasizing the need to better
protect medical patients from inadvertently receiving excessive
radiological doses. In the past three years, the number of
Member States participating in projects in this area has
increased more than threefold, from 21 to a current total of 78
States. The Agency is continuing its efforts to promote better
safety performance in this area, including through improving
access to related training. 

Nuclear Security and Protection Against Nuclear Terrorism
 The IAEA�s nuclear security programme continues to progress at
a rapid pace. The Agency is helping Member States to implement
the new strengthened regime of nuclear security. Capacity
building activities in the past year have included: nuclear
security training courses, with participation from 88 States;
the supply of detection and monitoring equipment; the
procurement of physical protection equipment to improve the
security of nuclear power plants and other installations; and
assistance in protecting locations containing highly radioactive
sources. 

The Agency�s Illicit Trafficking Database now has 93 States
participating. Analysis of this database is providing insight
into trends, risks, and trafficking methods and routes. The
number of incidents - more than 100 per year for the past three
years - demonstrates a persistent problem with trafficking,
thefts, losses and other unauthorized activities involving
nuclear or radioactive material. The number of incidents
involving detection of materials at borders has increased
substantially in recent years. This is clearly due, in part, to
the increased deployment by States of detection and monitoring
equipment. 

Nuclear Verification 

The nuclear non-proliferation and arms control regime continues
to face a broad set of challenges. 

The number of States with safeguards agreements and additional
protocols under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (NPT) has steadily increased. We now have a total of 78
States with additional protocols in force. However, over 100
States - including 25 with significant nuclear activities - have
yet to bring additional protocols into force. And 36
non-nuclear-weapon States party to the NPT have not yet
fulfilled their obligation to bring into force safeguards
agreements with the Agency. For the nuclear verification regime
to be effective and credible, we must have the necessary
authority. I would urge all States to bring these instruments
into force. 

Implementation of Safeguards in the Democratic People�s Republic
of Korea
 Since the end of December 2002, when IAEA verification
activities were terminated at the request of the Democratic
People�s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Agency has been unable to
draw any conclusions regarding the DPRK�s nuclear activities. 

The reported nuclear test carried out earlier this month by the
DPRK is a matter of deep and serious concern. The breaking of a
de-facto global moratorium on nuclear explosive testing that has
been in place for nearly a decade and the addition of a new
State with nuclear weapon capacity is a clear setback to
international commitments to move towards nuclear disarmament.
The Security Council has made it clear that the DPRK should
abandon its nuclear weapons programme in a verifiable manner.
This event also reemphasizes the urgent need to establish a
legally binding universal ban on nuclear testing through the
early entry-into-force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban
Treaty. It also underscores the importance of finding a
negotiated solution to the current situation. The resumption of
dialogue between all concerned parties is indispensable and
urgent. 

The IAEA stands ready to work with the DPRK - and with all
others - towards a solution that addresses the needs of the
international community to ensure that all nuclear activities in
the DPRK are exclusively for peaceful purposes, while addressing
the security and other concerns of the DPRK. 

Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic
Republic of Iran
 The implementation of the NPT safeguards agreement in the
Islamic Republic of Iran has been on the agenda of the IAEA
Board of Governors for more than three years, and lately also on
the agenda of the United Nations Security Council. On 31 July
2006, the Security Council adopted resolution 1696, in which it
called upon Iran to take the steps required by the Board in its
resolution of 4 February 2006. These steps included the
necessity of the IAEA continuing its work to clarify all
outstanding issues relating to Iran�s nuclear programme, and the
re-establishment by Iran of full and sustained suspension of all
its enrichment related and reprocessing activities. In my report
of 31 August to the Board and to the Security Council, regarding
Iran�s fulfillment of the requirements of that resolution, I
stated that Iran had not suspended its enrichment related
activities, nor was the IAEA able to make progress on resolving
the outstanding issues, issues that require certain transparency
measures on the part of Iran. The IAEA continues therefore to be
unable to confirm the peaceful nature of Iran�s nuclear
programme, which is a matter of serious concern. 

In this context, I still hope that, ultimately, through dialogue
between Iran and its European and other partners, conditions
will be created to engage in a long overdue negotiation to
achieve a comprehensive settlement that would, on the one hand,
supplement IAEA verification efforts in addressing international
concerns about the peaceful nature of Iran�s nuclear programme,
while on the other hand addressing Iran�s security and other
concerns. 

New Framework for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle 

The increase in global energy demand is driving a potential
expansion in the use of nuclear energy. And concern is mounting
regarding the proliferation risks created by the further spread
of sensitive nuclear technology, such as uranium enrichment and
spent fuel reprocessing. 

The convergence of these realities points to the need for the
development of a new framework for the nuclear fuel cycle. 

For the last two years, I have been calling for the development
of a new, multilateral approach to the nuclear fuel cycle, as a
key measure to strengthen non-proliferation and cope with the
expected expansion of nuclear power use. The establishment of a
framework that is equitable and accessible to all users of
nuclear energy acting in accordance with agreed nuclear
non-proliferation norms will be a complex endeavour that needs
to be addressed through progressive steps. 

The first step would be to establish mechanisms for assurances
of supply of fuel for nuclear power reactors - and, as needed,
assurance of supply for the acquisition of such reactors. The
second step would be to limit future enrichment and reprocessing
to multilateral operations, and to convert existing enrichment
and reprocessing facilities from national to multilateral
operations. 

A broad range of ideas, studies and proposals have been put
forward on this topic. At the IAEA General Conference last month
we organized a special event, in which experts from all relevant
fields discussed ways and means to move forward. A report on
this special event was submitted to the General Conference, and
the IAEA Secretariat, in consultation with Member States, will
continue to work on identifying options and alternatives to move
this concept forward. 

Fifty years after the Atoms for Peace initiative, the time has
come to think of a new framework for the use of nuclear energy -
a framework that accounts for both the lessons we have learned
and the current reality. This new framework should in my view
include: 
  1. innovative nuclear technology that is inherently safe,
proliferation resistant and more economical; 
  2. universal application of comprehensive safeguards and the
additional protocol; 
  3. concrete and rapid progress towards nuclear disarmament; 
  4. a robust international security regime; and 
  5. an effective and universal nuclear safety regime. 

Conclusion 

Wherever we turn in today�s world, it is evident that the
intertwined issues of security and development continue to be
the most daunting challenges facing humanity. And it is becoming
more evident that the International Atomic Energy Agency has an
important role to play in both fields. 

The staff and management of the IAEA continue to do their utmost
to make the Agency effective and efficient in carrying out its
mission. But in all its areas of activity, the IAEA also remains
dependent on your shared commitment and partnership. I look
forward to continuing that partnership in the years to come. 

I would like, in closing, to express my appreciation to the
Secretary General, Kofi Annan, for the vision and leadership he
brought to the United Nations and its organizations over the
past ten years. His support for the IAEA and its mission has
been greatly appreciated, and I wish him well for the future. 

Let me conclude by expressing my sincere appreciation to the
Government of Austria, which continues to be a welcoming and
gracious host to the IAEA. 		 

More DG Statements � Copyright �, International Atomic Energy
Agency, P.O. Box 100, Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria 
Telephone (+431) 2600-0; Facsimilie (+431) 2600-7; E-mail: 
*****************************************************************
 17 Yokwe Net: ISLANDS HISTORY: "The Big Bang at Enewetak"                                                                               

Everything Marshall Islands :: http://www.yokwe.net
 
Nov 02, 2006 - 04:36 AM                                                                 

[Nuclear] THIS WEEK IN MARSHALL ISLANDS HISTORY: "The Big Bang at 
Enewetak"
 
Fifty-four years ago, on November 1, the first nuclear fusion 
device ever deployed was detonated at the U.S. Atomic Energy 
Commission's (AEC) Pacific Proving Ground (PPG) at Enewetak 
Atoll, in the Marshall Islands.
 
"The immense ball of flame, cloud of dark dust, evaporated steel 
tower, melted sand for 1,000 feet, 10 million tons of water 
rising out of the lagoon, waves subsiding from a height of 80 
feet to seven feet in 3 miles, were all repeated in various 
degrees, 43 times on Enewetak." -(US Department of Energy) 

The Mike Shot, the first of two tests in the Operation Ivy 
series, was not a bomb in the combat sense. Read full article: 
'THIS WEEK IN MARSHALL ISLANDS HISTORY: "The Big Bang at 
Enewetak"'                            

*****************************************************************
 18 UPI: Claim: Drugs leak exposed Brit secrets
     
 United Press International - Security &Terrorism - 

11/1/2006 11:27:00 AM -0500

LONDON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A New Mexico drug bust revealed a
crucial leak of British nuclear secrets, a British newspaper has
claimed. 

The London Daily Express newspaper reported Sunday that details
of Britain's super-secret Trident submarine-launched nuclear
missile program were discovered on computer drives hidden in a
mattress that were found in an Oct. 17 drug among other
classified materials from the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory.
They were in the possession of a female technician who worked at
LANL. 

The British Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI-6 and
the CIA "want to know if the woman stole the material to feed a
drug habit, or if she was working for a terror group or a
foreign intelligence service," the newspaper said. 

"To fix this problem isn't rocket science -- or even nuclear
science," Danielle Brian, executive director of the
Washington-based Project on Government Oversight, said in a
statement this week. "As POGO recommended in 2001, the entire
weapons complex should have gone media-less immediately by
removing the capacity of classified computers to copy data onto
disks of any kind. There is simply no excuse for Los Alamos to
continue to have this vulnerability." 

POGO said it had received internal emails circulated among U.S.
Department of Energy officials that revealed British diplomats
in Washington had contacted the U.S. National Nuclear Security
Administration of the Department of Energy to ask for a
clarification of the Daily Express report.

� Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
 19 NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meeting to Discuss Rancho Seco License Termination Plan
 
News Release - Region IV - 2006-02 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY 
COMMISSION 

Office of Public Affairs, Region IV No. IV-06-024           
October 31, 2006 CONTACT:     Victor Dricks Phone: 817-860-8128 
E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov  

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public
meeting in Rancho Cordova, Calif., on Nov. 14 to discuss the
license termination plan for the Rancho Seco nuclear plant. The
plant, located near Herald, Calif., permanently ceased operation
in 1989. 

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in a meeting room at the
Mariott Courtyard Hotel, 10683 White Rock Road, Rancho
Cordova.	The NRC and the owner of the plant, the Sacramento
Municipal Utility District, will make short presentations on the
license termination plan for the facility, answer questions and
accept public comments. 

The license termination plan is available at the NRCs Public
Document Room or electronically through the Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System (ADAMS) using accession number
ML061460053. Help in using ADAMS is available by calling
1-800-397-4209.   
  
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, November 01, 2006 	   
*****************************************************************
 20 Calgary Sun: TransCanada delays nuke plant refurbishment
             
Wed, November 1, 2006
 														 					
UPDATED: 2006-11-01 01:10:25 MST

 TransCanada Corp will defer refurbishing one of the units at
its Bruce Power nuclear plant in southwestern Ontario until
2010, the company said yesterday. 													

 "Based on results of recent inspections, it is now expected the
steam generators in Unit 4 can continue to operate until 2010,"
chief executive Hal Kvisle said. 													

 "It will then need to be replaced." 													

 The Bruce unit, a joint venture between TransCanada, uranium
giant Cameco Corp. and other partners, had been slated for major
renovations in 2007. 													

 TransCanada has spent about $800 million on the restart of two
idled Bruce units which were out of commission for nearly a
decade. 													

 The project is on target and on budget. 													

 Earlier, the Calgary-based gas pipeline operator and power
producer saw third-quarter net profits fall to $293 million from
$427 million in the same quarter a year earlier, when the
company booked one-time gains. 												 						
 														 												 						 													

 But excluding those items, its earnings moved ahead of 2005 by
$9 million. 													

 TransCanada's energy unit reported its third quarter earnings
rose $25 million from $98 million, a significant increase as a
result of growth initiatives in power generation and natural gas
storage, what Kvisle called an "increasingly significant
component" of its business. 													

 A natural gas storage depot in Edson, Alta., is expected to be
operating by the end of 2006. 													

 "We think TransCanada is becoming a powerful force in Alberta
natural gas markets: Once the Edson storage project is complete
this quarter, TransCanada will control approximately one third
of the natural gas storage capacity in Alberta," said Dominique
Barker of Credit Suisse -- North America. 													

 TransCanada is expected to complete a transaction to take over
the Northern Borders pipeline to the U.S. midwest. 													

 "TransCanada will control or influence a majority of the gas
pipelines leaving Alberta," Barker said.
																								 												 					 					 					 					
Copyright � 2006, Canoe Inc.All rights reserved.                                 
*****************************************************************
 21 newsobserver.com: Siren test fails for Shearon Harris nuclear plant
 
Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Raleigh � Durham � Cary � Chapel Hill   

This siren at the Shearon Harris plant is one of the 81 within
10 miles that failed to activate. 

Photo Courtesy of Progress Energy   

John Murawski, Staff Writer 

All 81 emergency sirens within a 10-mile radius of the Shearon 
Harris nuclear plant were inoperable Monday morning and again 
Tuesday morning, according to Progress Energy, the plant's 
operator.

The simultaneous failure of all sirens within the nuclear
facility's emergency planning zone was a first in the
19-year-history of the plant in southwestern Wake County.

The siren system at Shearon Harris is tested every 12 hours by a
computer. The tests indicated that the device that signals all
the sirens, called a "repeater," had failed to activate Monday
and Tuesday, Progress Energy said in a notice to federal
regulators.

Progress Energy officials are repairing the malfunction.
Plant operators can manually override the device to activate the
sirens during an emergency.

The malfunction comes while nuclear critics are intensifying
scrutiny of nuclear plant safety as electric utilities planthe
nation's first new nuclear reactors in three decades.

"It's a key part of their safety and public protection system,"
said nuclear critic Jim Warren, director of Durham-based N.C.
Waste Awareness and Reduction Network.

Progress Energy notified emergency preparedness officials in the
four counties within the 10-mile emergency planning zone
surrounding the Shearon Harris plant.

The zone covers parts of Wake, Chatham, Harnett and Lee
counties, and includes Jordan Lake as well as the towns of Apex,
Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Moncure and New Hill.

In addition to the daily testing of the siren communications
system, which does not sound the alarm, the sirens undergo a
low-volume test every three months and a full-volume test once a
year. Staff writer John Murawski can be reached at (919)
829-8932 or murawski@newsobserver.com.   

 � Copyright 2006, The News & Observer Publishing Company
*****************************************************************
 22 FT.com: World urged to build more N-plants

By Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent 

Published: November 1 2006 22:36 | Last updated: November 1 2006
22:36

For the first time in its 32-year history, the International
Energy Agency will next week urge governments around the world
to help speed the construction of new nuclear power plants.

Although several countries, including India, China, the US and
France, are already planning more nuclear plants, and others
such as the UK are in the early stages of backing new reactors,
others oppose any addition to nuclear capacity, including
Germany and Spain.[Advertisement] 

However, Fatih Birol, IEA chief economist, said: “We need a
decision almost tomorrow if we are going to act before we reach
a point of no return in climate and security of supply.”

In an interview ahead of the release of the agency’s World
Energy Outlook, he said politicians needed to persuade reluctant
voters that nuclear power was safe and necessary. They also need
to create investment climates conducive to investors. 

The IEA report – the first to offer advocacy rather than
analysis – comes after the Group of Eight last summer asked
the agency to come up with guidance on how governments could
bolster energy security and combat global warming.

It will argue that nuclear power is as an “essential tool”
for meeting energy security and climate change goals for all
countries other than those in which it is illegal, such as in
Austria.

The agency found nuclear power to be cost competitive with coal
and gas, its main rivals, and concluded that there were enough
uranium deposits to meet renewed demand. 

Mr Birol said the $17,000bn (€13,318bn) the IEA calculated the
world needs to invest in energy until 2030 had risen
significantly because of cost inflation and would be revised
upwards. The report looks into whether the increased investments
energy companies have made in the past five years have gone to
building more capacity or just covered the rise in costs.

“We are on an energy path that is vulnerable, dirty and
expensive,” the report says. Mr Birol said the goal was to
“prepare an alternative path ... to a cleaner, safer, less
costly system”. 

The report will push for greater energy efficiency, especially
in transport and home electrical appliances, and advocate
renewable energy, especially biofuels for transport and wind for
power generation.

A small group of companies lead the field of reactor technology.
Areva of France is one of the biggest manufacturers of reactors
in Europe, while Westinghouse and GE have strong positions in
the US market. 

In Europe, new nuclear plants are likely to be built and
operated by larger energy suppliers, led by Electricite de
France, Eon and RWE. In the US there is a larger range of
private-sector players, such as Duke Energy. In China, India and
Russia any expansion would be undertaken by state-owned groups. 

Additional reporting by Rebecca Bream

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 23 Rutland Herald: Emergency siren test set for 8 a.m. Nov. 8

Rutland Vermont News & Information
 	 	 	 	 	 
November 1, 2006 

                
BRATTLEBORO � Emergency siren tests in Windham County will last
several minutes longer than usual next month, according to the
owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency requires the sirens,
which would alert residents in case of natural, chemical or
nuclear accidents, to be tested for a three minute stretch
annually. The sirens are typically only tested for about 60
seconds once a month.

The extended siren test will affect towns that fall within the
10-mile emergency planning zone around the Vernon-based reactor.

In Vermont, the longer siren will be heard on Nov. 4 in
Brattleboro at noon and in Vernon at 8 a.m.
   


*****************************************************************
 24 SouthofBoston.com: Appeal filed in Pilgrim relicensing

: Reilly, advocacy group fight judges decision 

The Patriot Ledger 400 Crown Colony Drive P.O. Box 699159 Quincy, 
MA 02269-9159 (617) 786-7000 

By JULIE JETTE The Patriot Ledger 

PLYMOUTH - Attorney General Thomas Reilly and a citizens group 
that critiques the Pilgrim nuclear power plant have stepped up 
efforts to press for greater oversight of the plants nuclear 
waste storage.

Entergy Corp., the New Orleans-based company that owns Pilgrim,
is seeking to extend the plants life from 2012, when its
license to operate currently expires, to 2032.

Reillys office and Duxbury-based Pilgrim Watch are pressing the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission to require Entergy to examine the
possible results of an accident in the plants spent-fuel pool
as part of its application for a license extension.

Both Pilgrim Watch and Reillys office filed appeals yesterday
of a decision by a panel of administrative judges who rejected
their request to force Entergy to address their spent-fuel pool
concerns in its relicensing application.

Waste storage is an issue for nuclear plants because all were
built assuming that the federal government would build a
permanent, centralized waste storage site. The planned building
of a storage site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada has been delayed
for years.

Pilgrim currently stores its spent fuel in a pool inside the
building that holds its reactor. That pool will be full by 2012,
the year in which the plants license expires, and Entergy will
have to come up with another storage plan if the plant continues
to operate. But the relicensing process doesnt specifically
consider waste-storage issues.

Pilgrim spokesman David Tarantino said regulators have
repeatedly rejected attempts to bring spent-fuel concerns into
the relicensing process. He said the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission has other opportunities for the public to raise
concerns about waste storage.

��It seems to me there are avenues available to them, so I dont
understand why they dont take advantage of those other
avenues, Tarantino said of Reilly and Pilgrim Watch. 

The relicensing process requires plant operators to examine
nonmoving parts of plants that could be affected by aging, as
well as the environmental impact of running the plants for an
additional 20 years.

Molly Bartlett, a lawyer who is pressing Pilgrim Watchs case on
a voluntary basis, said the group believes the fact that the
fuel is being stored in the pool for longer than intended - and
at a higher density than expected - means Entergy should include
discussion of the environmental impact of a potential fire in
the pool as part of its environmental analysis.

��We think that warrants a new look into the safety of these
spent-fuel pools, she said.

Reillys office is trying to attack the issue on two fronts - by
appealing the rejection of its contention by the panel of
judges, and by asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to
change its rules for the relicensing process to require a look
at spent-fuel storage.

��Attorney General Reilly believes that federal environmental
law requires the NRC to address concerns about reactor fuel
storage risk, said Reilly spokeswoman Beth Stone.

Reillys request to change the relicensing rules could take
years, a spokeswoman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.

��Its reviewed as expeditiously as possible, but its not a
quick process, said the spokeswoman, Diane Screnci.

Julie Jette may be reached at .

Copyright 2006 The Patriot Ledger Transmitted Wednesday, November 
01, 2006 

The Patriot Ledger, 400 Crown Colony Drive P.O. Box 699159, 
Quincy, MA 02269-9159 Telephone: (617) 786-7000
*****************************************************************
 25 PRN: Constellation Energy: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Renews 
Operating License for Constellation Energy's Nine Mile Point 
Nuclear Station 

OSWEGO, N.Y., Oct. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Constellation 
Energy (NYSE: CEG) today announced that the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) has granted its Nine Mile Point 
Nuclear Power Station, LLC renewed operating licenses for both 
generating units. The renewed licenses permit both units to 
operate an additional 20 years. This allows Unit One to run until 
2029 and Unit Two until 2046. Constellation Energy operates both 
units, and owns 100 percent of Unit One and 82 percent of Unit 
Two. Long Island Power Authority owns 18 percent of Unit Two. 

(PHOTO: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061031/CLTU529) 

"Constellation Energy is extremely grateful for the strong and 
unwavering support it has received from our community during the 
license renewal process," said Tim O'Connor, vice president, Nine 
Mile Point Nuclear Station. "Obtaining approval is a solid vote 
of confidence by all of our stakeholders. It's a successful 
outcome for both the community and Constellation Energy." 

The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 provides for the option to renew
nuclear operating licenses for an additional 20 years after
expiration. Constellation Energy submitted the renewed operating
license application for both units on May 26, 2004. The NRC has
been reviewing the application since that time. The NRC
conducted a thorough inspection of Nine Mile Point's operations
and maintenance as well as a comprehensive review of the plant's
ability to continue to meet safety and environmental standards.
The NRC concluded there is reasonable assurance that
Constellation Energy will effectively manage the aging of the
plants' systems, structures and components for an additional 20
years of safe operation. 

"Nine Mile Point is a critical piece of New York State's
infrastructure and a source of safe and emissions-free
electricity for the millions of people who call the Northeast
home," said O'Connor. "The electricity generated at Nine Mile
Point is critical to meeting the current and future needs of not
just our region, but also the entire state of New York. Our
state's economic health is highly dependent on a reliable and
adequate supply of electricity." 

Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station has a generation capacity of
1,757 megawatts, or enough energy to supply two million
households annually. 

Constellation Energy benefits from its lengthy experience as a
successful operator of nuclear power plants. It holds the
distinction of being the first energy company in the nation to
be granted a renewed operating license by the NRC for its
Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in southern Maryland. In
addition to its Nine Mile Point and Calvert Cliffs nuclear
facilities, Constellation Energy also owns the R.E. Ginna
Nuclear Power Plant near Rochester, N.Y. 

Constellation Energy (http://www.constellation.com/), a FORTUNE
200 company with 2005 revenues of $17.1 billion, is the nation's
largest competitive supplier of electricity to large commercial
and industrial customers and the nation's largest wholesale
power seller. Constellation Energy also manages fuels and energy
services on behalf of energy intensive industries and utilities.
It owns a diversified fleet of more than 100 generating units
located throughout the United States, totaling approximately
12,000 megawatts of generating capacity. The company delivers
electricity and natural gas through the Baltimore Gas and
Electric Company (BGE), its regulated utility in Central
Maryland. 

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/084087.html
Website: 
  
Copyright � 1996-2003 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights
Reserved. 
*****************************************************************
 26 NRC: NRC Renews Operating Licenses for Nine Mile Point Units 1 and 2 for an Additional 20 Years
 
News Release - 2006-13 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office 
of Public Affairs     Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 
20555-0001     E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 06-137     October 31, 
2006   

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating
licenses of the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2,
for an additional 20 years. 

Nine Mile Point is located on the shore of Lake Ontario about
five miles northeast of Oswego, N.Y. The licensee, Nine Mile
Point Nuclear Station LLC (now a subsidiary of Constellation
Nuclear), submitted its license renewal application May 26,
2004. With the renewal, the license for Unit 1 is extended until
Aug. 22, 2029, and the license for Unit 2 is extended until Oct.
31, 2046. 

The NRCs environmental review for this license renewal is
described in a site-specific supplement to the NRCs Generic
Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear
Power Plants (NUREG-1437, Supplement 24), issued in May. The
review concluded there were no environmental impacts that would
preclude renewal of the licenses for environmental reasons.
Public meetings to discuss the environmental review were held
near the plant Sept. 21, 2004, and Nov. 17, 2005. 

After carefully reviewing the plants safety systems and
specifications, the staff concluded that there were no safety
concerns that would preclude license renewal, because the
licensee had demonstrated effectively the capability to manage
the effects of plant aging. The Safety Evaluation Report Related
to the License Renewal of the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station,
Units 1 and 2 (NUREG-1900) was published in June. In addition,
NRC conducted inspections of the plant to verify information
submitted by the licensee. The reports relating to the Nine Mile
Point renewal are available on the NRC Web site at this address:
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applicati
ons/nine-mile-pt.html. 

On Aug. 2, the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards - an
independent body of technical experts which advises the
Commission - issued its recommendation that the operating
licenses for Nine Mile Point be renewed. That recommendation is
contained in Report on the Safety Aspects of the License Renewal
Application for the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Units 1 and
2. This document is available on the NRC Web site at this
address:
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acrs/letters/2006/.
 

	The Nine Mile Point renewals bring the total number of renewals
to 46 reactor units. A complete listing of renewal applications
can be found on the NRC Web site at
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal.html.   
  
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, November 01, 2006          
*****************************************************************
 27 NRC: Petition for rulemaking

[Docket No. PRM-35-20]
 
                        FR Doc E6-18363 
[Federal Register: November 1, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 211)] 
[Proposed Rules] [Page 64168-64169] From the Federal Register 
Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr01no06-24]                         
 
E. Russell Ritenour, Ph.D.; Receipt of Petition for Rulemaking 
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; Notice of receipt.
 
SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received and 
requests public comment on a petition for rulemaking dated 
September 10, 2006, filed by E. Russell Ritenour, Ph.D. 
(petitioner) on behalf of the American Association of Physicists 
in Medicine (AAPM). The petition has been docketed by the NRC and 
has been assigned Docket No.
 
PRM-35- 20. The petitioner is requesting that the NRC amend the 
regulations that govern medical use of byproduct material to 
revise what it calls the ``grandfather'' provision to recognize 
individual diplomates of certifying boards that were previously 
named in these regulations before October 25, 2005.
 
 
DATES: Submit comments by January 16, 2007. Comments received 
after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, 
but assurance of consideration cannot be given except as to 
comments received on or before this date.
 
 
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following 
methods. Please include the following number (PRM-35-20) in the 
subject line of your comments. Comments on petitions 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. Attention: Rulemaking 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 comments 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:http://www.regulations.gov. Hand deliver comments to 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm 
on Federal workdays.
 
Publicly available documents related to this petition may be 
viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC 
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 also available electronically at the NRC's 
Electronic Reading Room at http://www.[fxsp0]nrc.gov/reading-rm/ 
adams.[fxsp0]html. From this site, the public can gain entry into 
the NRC's Agencywide Documents 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. A copy of the petition can be found in 
ADAMS under accession number ML062620129. A paper copy of the 
petition may be obtained by writing to Michael T. Lesar, Chief, 
Rulemaking, Directives and Editing Branch, Division of 
Administrative Services, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael T. Lesar, Office of 
Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555. Telephone: 301-415-7163 or Toll-Free: 1-800-368-5642 or 
e-mail: MTL@nrc.gov.
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background The NRC has received a 
petition for rulemaking dated September 10, 2006, submitted by E. 
Russell Ritenour, Ph.D. (petitioner) on behalf of the American 
Association of Physicists in Medicine. The petitioner requests 
that the NRC amend 10 CFR part 35, ``Medical Use of Byproduct 
Material.'' Specifically, the petitioner requests that 10 CFR 
35.57, ``Training for experienced Radiation Safety Officer, 
teletherapy or medical physicist, authorized medical physicist, 
authorized user, nuclear pharmacist, and authorized nuclear 
pharmacist'' be revised to recognize medical physicists certified 
by either the American Board of Radiology (ABR) or the American 
Board of Medical Physics (ABMP) on or before October 24, 2005, as 
``grandfathered for the modalities that they practiced as of 
October 24, 2005.'' The NRC has determined that the petition 
meets the threshold sufficiency requirements for a petition for 
rulemaking under 10 CFR 2.802. The petition has been docketed as 
PRM-35-20. The NRC is soliciting public comment on the petition 
for rulemaking.
 
Discussion of the Petition The petitioner notes that a revision 
of 10 CFR part 35 was published on April 24, 2002 (67 FR 20249), 
that contained new T requirements for individuals to become 
authorized as an RSO, AMP, authorized user (AU), and authorized 
nuclear pharmacist (ANP).
 
The petitioner states that these requirements provide the 
following three pathways for an individual to become authorized: 
(1) An individual may be certified by a specialty board whose 
certification process is recognized by the NRC or an Agreement 
State as meeting NRC's T requirements (a recognized board.) (2) 
Approval based on an individual's T (alternate pathway.) (3) 
Identification of an individual's listing on an existing NRC or 
Agreement State license. The petitioner refers to this option as 
the ``grandfathering'' pathway.
 
The petitioner states that the Advisory Committee on the Medical 
Uses of Isotopes (ACMUI) expressed the concern during briefings 
on February
 
[[Page 64169]] 19, 2002, to the Commission on the proposed 
amendments to Part 35 that if the requirements for recognition of 
specialty board certifications were to become effective as 
drafted, there could be potential shortages of individuals 
qualified to serve as RSOs, AMPs, ANPs, and AUs because they 
would no longer meet T requirements under the certification 
pathway. The petitioner also states that the ACMUI was concerned 
that the specialty boards might be ``marginalized'' and that 
ACMUI urged the Commission to address T issues associated with 
recognition of specialty boards. The petitioner notes that the 
NRC modified the regulation by reinserting Subpart J until 
October 24, 2005.
 
The petitioner requests that 10 CFR 35.57 be amended to recognize 
medical physicists certified by either the ABR or ABMP on or 
before October 24, 2005, ``as grandfathered for the modalties 
that they practiced as of October 24, 2005.'' The petitioner also 
states that this amendment ``should be independent of whether or 
not a medical physicist was named on an NRC or an Agreement State 
license as of October 24, 2005.'' The petitioner states that 10 
CFR 35.57 should also be amended to recognize all individuals 
certified by the named boards in Subpart J for RSOs who have 
relevant work experience even if an individual has not been 
formally ``named'' as an RSO and that these individuals ``need to 
be grandfathered as an RSO by virtue of certification providing 
the appropriate preceptor statement is submitted.'' The 
petitioner states that although the AAPM, ABR, and ABMP recognize 
that it was never the NRC's intent to deny recognition to any 
currently practicing medical physicist or to minimize the 
importance of a certifying board, these organizations remain 
concerned about the NRC staff's method used to grant recognized 
status to the process used by certifying boards. The petitioner 
is concerned that the effective date assigned by the staff once 
it recognizes a board's process may force individuals certified 
prior to that date to have to pursue the alternate pathway. The 
petitioner indicates that it has affirmed with the ABR and ABMP 
that they believed that existing diplomates' certifications 
(i.e., certificates issued before October 25, 2005) would 
continue to be recognized by the NRC or an Agreement State. The 
petitioner believes that medical physicists have demonstrated 
competence to practice through ABR or ABMP certification and 
remains concerned that the effective date assigned by the NRC 
staff after it recognizes a board's process may force individuals 
certified before that date to pursue the alternate pathway. The 
petitioner believes that the current provision places an undue 
burden on the medical community and could result in a shortage of 
AMPs and RSOs.
 
The petitioner notes that the AMP is a recent addition to 
licenses granted under 10 CFR part 35 and Agreement State 
regulations.
 
The petitioner describes the previous regulations before the 
concept of the AMP was introduced as ``inconsistent.'' The 
petitioner believes this inconsistency was the basis for the 
requirement to list an AMP on licenses. The petitioner also 
states that this requirement specifies that an individual must 
have a statement signed by a ``preceptor AMP'' attesting that the 
individual is capable of acting independently for the specified 
modality. The petitioner indicated that without medical 
physicists listed on licenses prior to the new regulation, there 
is limited opportunity for a medical physicist to serve as a 
preceptor. The petitioner believes that for a medical physicist 
to be ``grandfathered'' under the new regulation, the individual 
must have been listed on a license as of the effective date of 
the regulation. The petitioner has stated that its suggested 
amendment to Sec. 35.57 would allow individuals to serve as AMPs 
or preceptor AMPs without having to be recognized via the 
``alternate pathway.'' The petitioner also notes that licensees 
can specify only one individual as an RSO under the current 
provisions, unlike the position of AU for which there are 
typically multiple individuals named on a license. The petitioner 
believes this makes it more difficult for an AMP or other Board 
diplomates to have acquired the requisite grandfather status 
before October 24, 2005. The petitioner has stated that the NRC 
should recognize individuals who were certified by a board listed 
in former Subpart J for Sec.  35.50 (RSO) and Sec.  35.51 (AMP) 
prior to October 24, 2005.
 
The petitioner concluded that its proposed amendment should be 
enacted expeditiously to permit individuals certified by the 
boards listed in Subpart J to continue practicing medical physics 
and serving as RSOs to assure the continuation of high quality 
patient care.
 
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day of October 2006.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Annette L. Vietti-Cook, Secretary of the Commission.
 
[FR Doc. E6-18363 Filed 10-31-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 28 NRC: Petition for rulemaking (Massachusetts

[Docket No. PRM-51-10]
 
                        FR Doc E6-18364 
[Federal Register: November 1, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 211)] 
[Proposed Rules] [Page 64169-64170] From the Federal Register 
Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr01no06-25]                         

 
Massachusetts Attorney General; Receipt of Petition for 
Rulemaking AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; notice of receipt.
 
SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing 
for public comment a notice of receipt of a petition for 
rulemaking, dated August 25, 2006, which was filed with the 
Commission by Diane Curran on behalf of Massachusetts Attorney 
General. The petition was docketed by the NRC on September 19, 
2006, and has been assigned Docket No.
 
PRM-51- 10. The petitioner requests that the NRC revoke certain 
regulations in their entirety, and revoke other regulations to 
the extent that these regulations, in the petitioner's view, 
state, imply, or assume that the environmental impacts of storing 
spent nuclear fuel in high-density pools are not significant; 
issue a generic determination to clarify that the environmental 
impacts of high-density pool storage of spent fuel, will be 
considered significant; and require that any NRC licensing 
decision concerning high-density pool storage of spent nuclear 
fuel be accompanied by an environmental impact statement that 
addresses the environmental impacts of this storage and 
alternatives for avoiding or mitigating any environmental 
impacts. The petitioner is seeking the generic treatment of spent 
fuel pool hazards because he believes that a pool accident at any 
operating nuclear power plant in the New England and Mid-Atlantic 
states could significantly affect the health, environmental, and 
economic well-being of Massachusetts.
 
 
DATES: Submit comments by January 16, 2007. Comments received 
after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, 
but the Commission is able to assure consideration only for 
comments received on or before this date.
 
 
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this petition by any one of 
the following methods. Please include PRM-51-10 in the subject 
line of your comments. Comments on petitions 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 any
 
[[Page 64170]] information in your submission that you do not 
want to be publicly disclosed.
 
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 petition may be 
viewed electronically on the public computers located at the 
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), Room 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.[fxsp0]nrc.[fxsp0]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 PDR Reference staff at 
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. A copy 
of the petition can be found in ADAMS under accession number 
ML062640409. A paper copy of the petition may be obtained by 
contacting Betty Golden, Office of Administration, Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington DC, 20555-0001, telephone 
301-415-6863, toll-free 1-800-368- 5642, or by e-mail 
bkg2@nrc.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael T. Lesar, 
Chief, Rulemaking, Directives and Editing Branch, Division of 
Administrative Services, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Telephone: 
301-415-7163 or Toll Free: 1-800- 368-5642.
 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background The petitioner states that 
this petition for rulemaking is a companion to the contentions 
filed by the Massachusetts Attorney General on May 26, 2006, 
before the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) in the 
license renewal proceedings for the Pilgrim and Vermont Yankee 
nuclear power plants, and raises the same substantive concern as 
those contentions, namely, that spent fuel stored in high- 
density fuel storage pools is much more vulnerable to fire than 
the NRC's NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement 
for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants'' (May 1996) (GEIS) 
concludes. The petitioner states that the petition relies on and 
incorporates by reference the legal and technical assertions made 
in the Massachusetts Attorney General's contentions. The 
Massachusetts Attorney General's Request for a Hearing and 
Petition to Intervene With Respect to Entergy Nuclear Operations 
Inc.'s Application for Renewal of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear 
Plant Operating License can be found in NRC's ADAMS system at 
accession number ML061640032.
 
The petitioner has filed this petition in the event that the ASLB 
rules that certain NRC regulations render the petitioner's 
contentions inadmissible.
 
Petitioner's Request The petitioner requests that the NRC: Revoke 
10 CFR 51.53(c)(2) and 51.95(c), and Table B-1 of appendix A to 
10 CFR part 51; and revoke 10 CFR 51.23(a) and (b), 51.30(b), 
51.53, 51.61, and 51.80(b) to the extent that these regulations 
state, imply, or assume that the environmental impacts of 
high-density pool storage are insignificant and therefore need 
not be considered in any National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA) analysis. The petitioner assets that the revocation 
of these regulations, which according to the petitioner, 
``codify'' the use of the GEIS by the NRC, is necessary to ensure 
compliance with NEPA in the Pilgrim and Vermont Yankee license 
renewal cases. In this regard, the petitioner asserts that new 
and significant information, provided by the petitioner, shows 
that spent nuclear fuel stored in high-density fuel storage pools 
is much more vulnerable to fire than the GEIS concludes.
 
Issue a generic determination that the environmental impacts of 
high-density pool storage of spent fuel, including the 
environmental impacts of accidents arising from this storage, are 
significant.
 
Amend its regulations concerning severe accident mitigation 
alternatives (SAMAs). The petitioner requests that the body of 
SAMAs that must be discussed in an environmental impact statement 
or related supplement or in an environmental assessment, under 10 
CFR 51.53(c)(3)(ii)(L) and Table B-1 appendix A to 10 CFR part 51 
(Postulated Accidents: Severe Accidents) must include 
alternatives to avoid or mitigate the impacts of high-density 
pool fires.
 
Require that any NRC licensing decision that approves 
high-density pool storage of spent fuel at a nuclear power plant 
or any other facility must be accompanied by an environmental 
impact statement that addresses the environmental impacts of 
high-density pool storage of spent fuel at that nuclear plant or 
facility, and presents a reasonable array of alternatives for 
avoiding or mitigating those impacts.
 
Conclusion The petitioner asserts that a generic rulemaking would 
be the most effective means to ensure broad protection of public 
health and the environment. The petitioner states that NRC's 
conclusion regarding the degree of vulnerability of high-density 
spent fuel storage pools to fire is contained in numerous NEPA 
and other licensing documents, and affects many licensing 
decisions. Consequently, the petitioner asserts that this NRC 
conclusion should be revoked ``across the board'' to ensure that 
future NRC licensing decisions are not based on inadequate 
consideration of environmental risks or measures for avoiding or 
reducing those risks. Moreover, the petitioner asserts he has an 
interest in seeking generic treatment of spent fuel pool hazards 
because he believes that a pool accident at any one of the 
operating nuclear power plants in the New England or Mid-Atlantic 
states could have a significant effect on the health, 
environmental, and economic well-being of the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts.
 
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day of October 2006.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Annette L. Vietti-Cook, Secretary of the Commission.
 
[FR Doc. E6-18364 Filed 10-31-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 29 Prague Daily Monitor: Temelin second unit to be shut down longer than planned - 

Ceske Budejovice, Oct 31 (CTK) - 

The second unit of the Temelin nuclear power station will be out 
of operation longer than planned owing to the completion of all 
tests after refueling, Temelin spokesman Milan Nebesar told CTK 
Tuesday. 

The second unit stopped supplying electricity to the grid in 
September when a regular replacement of a quarter of its fuel 
started. The first unit is running without any restrictions. 

Technicians are now preparing the second unit for relaunch and 
connection to the distribution network. But Nebesar was not able 
to say when it will happen. 

"At the moment, the delay reaches roughly 10 days," Nebesar said. 

The fuel showed bigger deviations than the technicians expected 
and therefore will be monitored during operation. At the same 
time, energy company CEZ, which runs the power station, and the 
fuel supplier resorted to adjustments in the design of the new 
fuel to eliminate the deviations, Nebesar said. 

Temelin could also possibly resort to more frequent shutdowns on
individual units for refueling in the following period during
which the adjusted fuel would be used, he added. 

One Temelin unit running at full capacity generates roughly
24,000 megawatt hours of electricity a day. The output that both
units produce in 11 days can cover roughly the annual
consumption of a city with 100,000 citizens. Even a short-term
substitution of such a source costs CEZ millions of crowns. 

"The reason is that the firm has to offset the deficit by
production in coal-fired power stations, which costs much more.
Another cost related to that is a higher consumption of emission
allowances that are not necessary for production in a nuclear
power station," Atlantik FT analyst Petr Novak said. 

He added the increased costs of electricity production cannot be
reflected in final prices for customers. 

"Prices are set every year in an auction and wholesalers are not
interested in costs," Novak said. 

Problems with fuel at Temelin have been criticised by both Czech
and Austrian environmentalists who say the difficulties are
caused by the fact that the power station is an untested,
prototype facility with two 1,000 MW turbines. 

The activists say that the fuel problems are probably one of the
reasons why CEZ changed its fuel supplier. US company
Westinghouse, whose contract with Temelin will expire in 2010,
will be replaced by Russia's TVEL. The contract is worth several
billion crowns. 

cjl/er 

This story copyright 2006 CTK Czech News Agency. 

The Czech Republic's English-
 
*****************************************************************
 30 NRC: NRC Announces Opportunity to Request a Hearing on License Renewal Application for Susquehanna
Nuclear Power Plant

News Release - 2006-13 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office 
of Public Affairs     Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 
20555-0001     E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 06-138     October 31, 
2006   

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is announcing the opportunity
to request a hearing on an application to renew the operating
license for the Susquehanna nuclear power plant, Units 1 and 2,
for an additional 20 years. 

The Susquehanna Steam Electric Station is located seven miles
northeast of Berwick, Pa. PPL Susquehanna, LLC, submitted the
renewal application Sept. 15. The current operating licenses for
Susquehanna expire July 17, 2022, for Unit 1 and March 23, 2024,
for Unit 2. 

The NRC staff has determined that the application contains
sufficient information for the agency to formally docket, or
file, the application and begin its technical review. Docketing
the application does not preclude requesting additional
information as the review proceeds; nor does it indicate whether
the Commission will grant the application. 

A notice of opportunity to request a hearing will be published
soon in the Federal Register. The deadline for requesting a
hearing is 60 days following publication. Petitions may be filed
by anyone whose interest may be affected by the license renewal
and who wishes to participate as a party in the proceeding. 

NRC staff will conduct a public meeting Nov. 15 in the vicinity
of the plant to discuss the license renewal process and the
scope of the agencys environmental review for the license
renewal application. More information about that meeting is
contained in the Federal Register notice, and an additional
announcement will be made closer to the date. 

A request for hearing and a petition for leave to intervene must
be filed with the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001, Attention:
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Requests may also be
submitted by facsimile to (301) 415-1101 or e-mail to
HEARINGDOCKET@nrc.gov. A copy should also be submitted to the
NRC Office of General Counsel, by facsimile to (301) 415-3725 or
e-mail to OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov. 

Information about the license renewal process can be found on
the NRC Web site at
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal.html.
The Susquehanna renewal application is online at
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applicati
ons/susquehanna.html. An NRC review schedule for the Susquehanna
nuclear plant will also be posted on the NRC Web site which will
identify the deadline for requesting a hearing.   
  
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, November 01, 2006 	   
*****************************************************************
 31 ITAR-TASS: Group of Chernobyl veterans suspend hunger strike in Stary Oskol

01.11.2006, 12.05

STARY OSKOL (Belgorod region), November 1 (Itar-Tass) -- A group
of veterans, who became disabled after the Chernobyl nuclear
disaster, suspended a hunger strike in Stary Oskol, the Belgorod
region. They went on a hunger strike, demanding to repay the
debt on compensations, partaker in the action of protest Igor
Malinovsky told Itar-Tass on Wednesday. 

According to him, the decision to suspend the hunger strike had
been taken, after chief of the Federal Committee on Labor and
Employment Mikhail Topilin called from Moscow. The official
noted the repayment of the debt will be considered shortly and
offered to come to the Russian capital to discuss all problems. 

At first, eight Chernobyl veterans from Stary Oskol went on a
preventive hunger strike on Monday with demands to pay
compensations they are entitled to by the law. Various courts
satisfied fully their claims to get benefits, which were
stipulated for them in the federal legislation as to partakers
in the elimination of the nuclear disaster aftermath at the
Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but these rulings remained
unfulfilled. 

A source in the Belgorod regional administration told Itar-Tass
that payments for indemnifying the health damage to partakers in
the elimination of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster should be
effected by the state and financed from the federal budget. The
law does not stipulate funds from the regional budget for these
purposes. 

The similar actions of protest have already been held in the
Belgorod region more than a year ago. Then a big group of
Chernobyl veterans sought for apartments they are entitled to by
the law. Their demands were satisfied a month after the
beginning of the action of protest. 

� ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 32 Decatur Daily: NRC chief: Industry will need 90,000 workers by 2011

www.decaturdaily.com

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2006   
  
By Holly Hollman DAILY Staff Writer hhollman@decaturdaily.com � 
340-2445 

ATHENS  Parents, there will be jobs waiting for your children
in the nuclear industry, so start pushing math and science. 

With the nuclear industry's interest in starting nearly 30 new
reactors, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Dale Klein said
Tuesday that the industry will need 90,000 workers between now
and 2011. 

"We need to encourage K-12 to emphasize science and
engineering," Klein said after a tour of the Browns Ferry
Nuclear Plant. "We need to recruit more women and minorities.
We've got fewer going into science and engineering than other
countries. That has serious implications in keeping us
competitive." 

Klein said 14 entities have expressed interest in starting 29
new reactors. Many of those proposed sites are in the Southeast,
including one at Southern Company's Plant Vogtle near
Waynesboro, Ga., and Entergy Nuclear's Grand Gulf station near
Vicksburg, Miss. He said TVA also is evaluating whether to start
Watts Bar's Unit 2. 

Klein said the NRC is basing its new construction office in
Atlanta due to new reactor interest in the Southeast. 

Klein said the restart of Browns Ferry's Unit 1, scheduled for
May 2007, is as "close to a new plant as one can get." 

Overseeing that restart, he said, has helped prepare the NRC
staff for regulating the construction of new reactors. 

"Whether we'll see 30 new reactors depends on the economic
demand," Klein said. "The Department of Energy says demand will
be up by 50 percent by 2025." 

More reactors means more spent fuel, but the proposed waste
repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., has not broken ground. 

Klein said the DOE plans to submit a license application to the
NRC for Yucca Mountain in June 2008. 

"I believe we can build new plants whether or not Yucca Mountain
opens," Klein said and added that other countries, such as
France and Japan, recycle their spent fuel. 

The recycled fuel contains both uranium and plutonium but
reduces the amount of waste. 

"The DOE is looking at new reactor concepts to burn more of the
waste so there is less to dispose of," he said. 

The industry needs scientists to help develop such technology,
so educators need to reinforce excitement in science and
engineering careers, he said. 

"We can't all be singers and video game developers," Klein said. 
Copyright 2005 THE DECATUR DAILY. All rights reserved.

*****************************************************************
 33 The Day: Whistleblower Accepts Job at Millstone  

theday.com
 	
 Wednesday, Nov 1, 2006        										 										 									
  
  By Patricia Daddona Day Staff Writer\, Millstone\/business 
trends E-mail: p.daddona@theday.com Phone No.: (860) 701 - 4324   
  
The whistleblower at Millstone Power Station in Waterford has 
accepted a job there pending the outcome of a full investigation 
set to be conducted by the state Department of Utility Control. 

Sham Mehta of East Lyme will start in the position of shift 
technical advisor at Millstone on Monday, said his lawyer, Hank 
Murray of Hartford. The post has high advancement potential but 
requires the passing of a test. 

The state utility regulator has ordered a full hearing into 
Mehta's claims of retaliation after he lost his job in 
Millstone’s Employee Concerns Program after he reported 
concerns about a security fence alarm system he found routinely 
disabled because of repeated false alarms. 

Within a year, Mehta found his position eliminated, and was not 
rehired for other company posts. Millstone owner Dominion has 
argued it acted properly in reorganizing the Employee Concerns 
department, and stated that Mehta failed to qualify for other 
positions at the company. 

When ordering the probe, the state agency also ordered Mehta 
reinstated while the case is pending in a job that is equivalent 
to his old one and carries the same pay and benefits. Dominion 
last month supplied a list of three jobs, but only the shift 
technical adviser offer was unconditional, as required by the 
state agency. 

Dominion confirmed that Mehta accepted the offer on Tuesday. 

The state division of the U.S. Department of Labor has found in 
Dominion’s favor, but Mehta has appealed that case, which will 
be heard on Dec. 11.
   
New London, CT  |  © 1998-2006 The Day Publishing 
Co. [Beacon Locator] ~ YN ~                   
*****************************************************************
 34 UPI: Analysis: Poll shows war hit energy supply
     
 United Press International - Energy - 

11/1/2006 4:58:00 PM -0500

 By KRISHNADEV CALAMUR
 UPI Energy Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Less than a week before the United
States votes in midterm elections, Republicans and Democrats
appear deeply divided over the effect the war in Iraq has had on
U.S. energy supplies, a UPI-Zogby International poll reveals. 

The interactive poll conducted Oct. 20-23 found that of those
who identified themselves as Democrats (2,996 respondents), 87
(2.9 percent) said the war had made the U.S. energy supply more
secure, 2,494 (83.3 percent) said it was less secure and 343
(11.5) percent said it made no difference. 

Among those who said they were Republicans (2,107), 694 (23.1
percent) said the war made energy supplies more secure, 480 (16
percent) less secure and 1,631 (54.4 percent) said the war made
no difference to energy supply. 

Among self-identified independents (2,107), who are considered a
key bloc ahead of Tuesday's elections, 230 (10.9 percent) said
supply was more secure; 1,110 (52.7 percent) less secure and 666
(31.6 percent) said it made no difference. 

A total of 8,097 likely voters participated in the poll, which
has a margin of error of 1.1 percentage points, also shows that
more than half the U.S. population says the war has made the
U.S. energy supply less secure. 

Of those likely voters, 4,079 (60.4 percent) said energy
supplies were less secure, 1,009 (12.5 percent) said they were
more secure and 2,637 (32.6 percent) said the war made no
difference to the energy supply. 

The results come less than a week before the midterm elections
that many polls predict will see Democrats making significant
gains in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S.
Senate. 

"It's hard for Americans given the increased price of gas, home
heating and their electricity bills to not recognize that we are
paying a price for energy security," Denis McDonough, senior
fellow at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank
in Washington, told United Press International in a telephone
interview. "There's no question energy is on top of the list"
head into the elections. 

Energy security has been a key theme of the Bush administration
since the president said the United States was "addicted to
oil." Diversification of energy supplies has been a pivotal part
of the administration's energy strategy and U.S. President
George Bush has emphasized that a move away from oil can help
both economically and strategically. 

"We get oil from some countries who don't particularly care for
us," he said last month at a conference on renewable fuels in
St. Louis. "They don't like what we stand for." 

He added: "A lot of times those national security issues are
involved with countries that have oil. They have something we
want, and so there's a national security issue when it comes to
the status quo." 

Tuesday's poll results are only likely to heighten those fears.
As the nation prepares to vote, the crisis over Iran's nuclear
program remains unresolved and tensions with Russia over its
energy policies are likely to persist as those countries can
make use of high energy prices to dictate their foreign and
domestic policies. 

Although the price of oil has dropped more than 20 percent since
its $78 levels in September, they're still hovering around the
$60 limit amid demand from the United States, China and India.
The United States is the No. 1 consumer of the world's daily
production of 85 million barrels per day. And until cheaper
alternate sources can be brought into the market, oil is
expected to fulfill much of the U.S. energy needs until 2030. 

In this environment, it is essential U.S. sources of oil remain
stable. The top five sources of U.S. oil are, in descending
order, Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria. Of
these Canada and Mexico can be seen as politically stable. 

Venezuela has a populist leader, Hugo Chavez, who has more than
once threatened to cut off supplies to his largest customer, the
United States, and under his reign, Venezuela's oil exports to
the United States have actually fallen. Nigeria has seen
production cuts estimated to be as much 50 percent because of
militant unrest over the distribution of oil revenues. Which
leaves Saudi Arabia. 

Although the kingdom, the world's No. 1 producer of oil, has
traditionally been a reliable partner to the United States,
anti-U.S. sentiment has grown in the region. And the war in Iraq
has, according to the UPI-Zogby poll, made Saudi Arabia and
other U.S. allies such as Egypt and Jordan less secure. 

The poll showed 1,345 respondents (16.5 percent) said those
nations had become more stable because of the war, 3,681 (45.1
percent) said they were now less stable, and 2,364 (28.9
percent) said the war made no difference to those nations'
stability. 

Indeed, more than three years after the start of the Iraq war,
the country's oil production numbers have not yet reached
pre-war levels and the CIA has said the war has made the threat
of international terrorism worse. 

"Part of the rationale going into war was that Iraq's oil
resources could be used to reduce dependence on other sources,"
McDonough said. "Unfortunately, we've seen exactly the opposite
happen." 

-- 
� Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
 35 Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Southeast to see job surge from new nuke plants | 

ajc.com
 		 
Metro Southeast to see job surge from new nuke plants Will bring 
90,000 positions by 2011, NRC official says
 		 	
By STACY SHELTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 11/01/06                                                                                                                                  

The nation's top nuclear regulator said Wednesday that the 
Southeast will be the biggest economic beneficiary of a surge of 
new nuclear power reactors to be built in the United States over 
the next five years. 

This next generation of nuclear power reactors is expected to add 
90,000 total jobs by 2011  most in the Southeast, where most of 
the new units are planned, said Dale Klein, chairman of the U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Klein said that Atlanta, already home to nuclear-minded Southern
Company and a federal nuclear standards board, will continue to
be a hub for new activity. 

The NRC, an independent agency that regulates commercial nuclear
plants, has a regional operation in Atlanta and has already
established a national headquarters with 11 employees in Atlanta
to oversee construction of new reactors nationwide. 

The Construction Inspection Office opened last month in the
Richard B. Russell Federal Building in downtown Atlanta. 

� 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 
*****************************************************************
 36 Radiological Toxicity of DU
 
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 03:01:47 -0600 (CST)

X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu
X-Spam-Class: HAM

http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/DU-Radiological-Toxicity-WHO5nov01.htm

-------

5th November 2001

Radiological Toxicity of DU
  
By

K. BAVERSTOCK, C. MOTHERSILL & M. THORNE 
(Repressed World Health Organisation (WHO) Document)
 
Full Document and Abstract

Abstract:

Background: The military use of depleted uranium (DU) and/or recycled
uranium (RU) has given rise to public concern as to the impact on public
health of exposure to environmental sources. Exposure to soluble natural
uranium, through drinking water and the food chain, is ubiquitous. After
military use, DU / RU are present in the environment either as metal or as
oxide dusts. Due to the low specific activity of uranium, the potential
effects of exposure are generally attributed to chemical toxicity. Insoluble
particulates may be an exception.

Results: DU/RU dusts are a mixture of oxides of differing solubility, such
that, if retained in the lung, partial dissolution occurs over the time
scale of about a month. As DU has been shown to be capable of transforming
human cells to a tumourigenic phenotype without the involvement of
radiation, such particles present a unique radiological/chemical toxic
hazard. The bystander effect may be of relevance where an alpha-particle
emitter of low specific activity is distributed over the lung.

Conclusions: The health risks of exposure to DU/RU are likely to be only
partially reflected by the radiation dose per received. Further work on the
chemical transforming ability of DU, the potential for an interaction
between its chemical and radiological toxicities and the significance of the
bystander effect in this context is required to fully estimate the public
health significance of exposure to DU/RU.

[1] Disclaimer

The ideas and views expressed herein are those of the author and should not
be taken to necessarily represent those of the World Health Organization.

 

 

1. 0 Introduction

 

The military use of depleted, and or reprocessed uranium, in Iraq and the
Balkans, as penetrators in various munitions and as armour, has raised
questions as to the radiological toxicity of these forms of uranium.
Although it should be emphasized that there is no established evidence (as
opposed to media claims) that links exposure to the environmental residuum
of these weapons to diseases that would normally be associated with
radiation, that populations live close to contaminated zones inevitably
gives rise public health concerns. In addition, claims of illness in
military personnel who have served in theatres where DU has been employed
are currently being investigated. In this connection the UK Royal Society
(RS 2001) have examined the health hazards of DU munitions to military
personnel and the United Nations Environmental Programme has carried out an
environmental assessment. (UNEP 2001)

This paper is concerned with the health implications of exposure to DU after
its military use. Although the primary emphasis is with its radiological
toxicity, aspects of chemical toxicity are also addressed.

Various studies on employees in the Uranium processing industry (eg. Ritz
1999; Archer 1981; Cardis and Richardson 2000; Dupree, Cragle et al. 1987;
Checkoway, Pearce et al. 1988; Kathren and Moore 1986, Kathren, McInroy et
al. 1989; Loomis and Wolf 1996; McGeoghegan and Binks 2000; Ritz,
Morgenstern et al. 2000) do not present a clear picture of the health
effects of exposure to uranium due to small numbers and potentially
confounding exposures. However, associations with lymphopoietic, lung, bone
and kidney malignancies cannot be ruled out. At the same time, uranium is
also ubiquitous in the natural environment. It is often argued that this
natural exposure can be used as a "benchmark" for exposures such as that to
DU after its military use. We show here that this is not necessarily the
case, and that both the chemical form and the route of entry into the body
may have a critical influence on toxicity.

Following military use, DU will be distributed in the environment either as
the metal, in anything from whole armaments to fragments and shards, or as
oxide particulates with diameters ranging from the order of microns to
nanometres. The dissolution of the metal into aqueous solution will be a
slow process, leading to the contamination of groundwater and soils over a
period of several hundred years. Uptake by plants from contaminated soils
will be limited, as uranium is relatively strongly excluded from root uptake
(Sheppard and Evenden 1988). Overall, the natural uranium content of soils,
plants, animals and drinking water will be somewhat increased over the area
in which the depleted uranium is dispersed. In these circumstances, the
chemical toxicity of the additional uranium is of much greater interest than
its radiological toxicity. Furthermore, chemical toxicity will only be of
importance if the depleted uranium is present at concentrations that are
comparable to, or higher than, those of available natural uranium (i.e.
excluding that component of natural uranium that is incorporated in
uraniferous minerals and hence is not available for uptake). In most soils
this concentration is a few parts per million. (WHO 2001)

 

1.1 The origins of depleted uranium and its military application

 

Uranium is a naturally occurring element with isotopes of long radioactive
half life and, therefore, low specific activity. The principal isotopes in
natural uranium are 238U, 235U and 234U. Depleted uranium (DU) is a waste
product of non-nuclear enrichment processes (e.g., gaseous diffusion of
uranium hexafluoride) in which the content of 235U in natural uranium is
enriched, leaving the DU with a reduced content of the lower atomic weight
isotopes. The enriched uranium can be used to generate 239Pu by partially
"burning" it in a nuclear reactor. After extraction of the 239Pu and other
radioisotopes of elements other then uranium, the residual uranium can be
enriched for further burning and plutonium production, generating additional
uranium depleted of the lower atomic weight isotopes. As this material,
which has been subject to nuclear processes, is potentially contaminated by
isotopes generated by the neutron flux in the reactor (e.g. technetium,
plutonium, neptunium, americium) it should be distinguished from the
material arising from the first enrichment process, and here it is termed
reprocessed uranium (RU).

In terms of its physical properties, uranium is a dense and hard metal that
is pyrophoric. It is these properties that give the effectiveness at
penetrating armour and destroying tanks and their occupants. On burning,
uranium produces a dense smoke, which, in a confined space, is rapidly
suffocating.

1.2 Initial considerations in estimating the toxicities of environmentally
distributed DU and RU

The isotopic composition of an element makes no substantial difference to
its chemical properties but may influence its radiological properties though
modification of its specific activity. Since 235U and 234U have higher
specific activities than 238U, the radiological toxicity of DU is expected
to be lower than that of natural uranium by about 40%.

The specific activity of RU will depend on the extent to which the uranium
is contaminated by fission products and other nuclides produced by the
neutron flux in a nuclear reactor, and not removed by the subsequent
processing.

There are only very limited animal and human data on the radiological and
chemical toxicities of DU and none relating to RU, but there is much more
abundant evidence from the ubiquitous exposure to natural uranium,
particularly in terms of its chemical toxicity. These data can be used as a
reliable guide to the effects to be expected from DU, provided account is
taken of the chemical form and route of entry into the human body. Limited
epidemiological data are available from studies of workers in uranium
milling plants who were exposed to dusts containing uranium. Studies of the
behavior of inhaled dusts in the lung have resulted in models from which the
radiation doses to lung and other body tissues can be calculated. Such
models provide both absorbed and equivalent doses in Gy or Sv per Bq of
inhaled dust, contingent on the solubility and size distribution of the dust
particles. Thus, if the specific activity (Bq/ unit mass) of the inhaled
material, characterized by its solubility and particle size distribution, is
known, the radiation doses to the lung and other tissues can, in theory, be
estimated. (ICRP 1995).

The burning of uranium produces a mixed oxide dust, part of which is
relatively soluble in lung fluids and a part of which is insoluble. As the
burning of DU arises almost exclusively in military operations, reliance has
to be placed on the limited data released by the military authorities. Much
of this information is summarized in a US Department of Defense Report
(CHPPM 2000). According to this report, DU burns on impact with a hardened
target, such as the armour of a tank. The extent of burning depends upon the
characteristics of the impact and factors such as the degree of
fragmentation of the DU. The extent of release of DU oxides to the wider
environment also depends on the particular situation. In some cases, where
the DU penetrates the target, most of the DU oxides will be retained within
the structure of the target. However, a hardened target may lead to
fragmentation and burning of the DU in the open and a release of the DU
oxide dusts to the environment.

Of relevance to environmental exposures to DU/ RU are the following:

Total mass of DU/ RU delivered into the environment. 
Proportion of that mass that hits a "target". 
Proportion of the material hitting the target that burns to produce DU/RU
oxide dusts. 
Proportion of that dust that is released to the wider environment. 
Mobility and lifetime of the dust in the environment. 
Exposure of humans to the dust and its respirability. 
Proportion of DU/ RU dust that is soluble in the lung. 
Particle size distribution of the DU/ RU oxide dust. (This is also related
to solubility.) 
Specific activity of DU/RU oxide dust for each of the radionuclides present.

 

1.3 Evaluating the extent of DU/ RU oxide contamination of the environment

 

In any given instance of environmental contamination by DU/ RU, the
situation will need to be assessed by environmental monitoring. However, the
CHPPM report gives some indications that would allow an initial "desk"
assessment, from readily obtainable information, to be made. Given that the
total mass used is available, the CHPPM report estimates that, for an aerial
attack about 10% of penetrators hit a target. It can, therefore, be assumed
that about 90% of the material will be on the ground or buried, in a
metallic form. In a tank-to-tank battle the proportion of hits on targets
will be greater.

The extent to which the DU hitting a target burns, and the fraction of oxide
released to the environment depends on the circumstances and could be
anything from a few to several tens of percent. According to CHPPM, a
representative figure could be 70% burned, up to half of which is released
as highly insoluble oxides. (RS 2001)

Little quantitative information exists on particle-size distribution.
Generally, it is concluded that a substantial fraction falls within the
respirable size range and that ultra-fine particles, which have a tendency
to coalesce, are also formed. (RS 2001)

The CHPPM report has little to say on the question of RU. It notes that
traces of other nuclides, notably plutonium, neptunium and americium are
contained in some of the so-called DU used in armour and some munitions but
that this additional activity "adds less than one percent to the internal
radiation risks." However, the report leaves open the question of whether,
in the case of all munitions, this 1% is a maximum.

It can, therefore, be concluded that environmental contamination by DU/ RU
does have a potential for both chemical and radiological toxicity, thus
creating the necessity for assessing the public health impact for those
living in contaminated zones.

 

2.0 Exposure Routes and Biokinetics of Uranium

 

Because of the importance of uranium separation, enrichment and fabrication
in both military and civil applications of nuclear power, there is over
fifty years of experience in working with the metal and a wide variety of
its chemical compounds. Over that period, tens of thousands of workers have
been exposed, both by ingestion and inhalation. In consequence of this
operational experience and complementary experimental studies on both humans
and animals, there is comprehensive understanding of the biokinetics and
toxicology of uranium. This understanding is relevant to an appreciation of
the specific issues relating to the use of depleted uranium in projectiles
and armour.

Uptake of ingested uranium from the gastrointestinal tract is relatively
low. Even for soluble salts of the element or for uranium incorporated in
food, the fractional gastrointestinal absorption (f1) is less than about
0.05. Results from a recent study on uranium in drinking water from Finland
(Kurttio, Auvinen et al., in press) find a value for f1@ 0.003. This is the
first human study for which this value has been determined. It is possible
that some uranium in well water is in an insoluble form and that this
accounts for the relatively low value of f1. For insoluble salts, such as
UO2, the fractional absorption is much less, typically less than 0.01 (ICRP,
1995).

The uptake of inhaled uranium to the systemic circulation can be much
greater. Typically, about 60% of inhaled material is deposited in the
respiratory system, with the remainder lost upon exhalation (ICRP, 1994).
For soluble salts of uranium, almost all the deposited material is
transferred to the systemic circulation on a time scale of a few days. For
insoluble uranium, the situation is rather different. Mechanical processes
clear the majority of uranium in the upper respiratory tract, including the
bronchial tree, on a time scale of hours to days. The cleared material is
swallowed and is almost entirely lost by faecal excretion. However,
insoluble salts of uranium deposited in the deep lung (the pulmonary
parenchyma) are typically retained with a biological half life of around 100
days (or longer for high-fired UO2). Clearance of this material occurs by
both mechanical clearance, often of particles ingested by phagocytes, and by
solubilisation. A few percent of inhaled insoluble material reaches the
systemic circulation by dissolution. A further small fraction may be
translocated as particles to the tracheo-bronchial lymph nodes and from
there to the systemic circulation (ICRP 1994, ICRP 1995).

Once uranium has reached the systemic circulation, its subsequent
biokinetics is well described by the model developed by the ICRP (ICRP 1995)
(see Figure 1).

A large fraction of uranium that enters the systemic circulation is taken up
and retained in mineral bone. Smaller fractions exchange with the liver and
general soft tissues. Although there is a very limited degree of excretion
from the liver to the gastrointestinal tract, almost all excretion is in the
urine. It is the urinary excretion component that is of specific relevance
to the chemical nephro-toxicity of uranium. This urinary excretion path is
illustrated schematically in Figure 2 (based on Leggett 1989).

In body fluids, the main form of uranium is thought to be the uranyl ion,
UO2++ (Leggett 1989). However, in the blood plasma approximately 40% of
uranium is present as transferrin complexes and 60% as low molecular weight
anionic complexes. These low molecular weight anionic complexes are filtered
rapidly by the glomerulus and enter the lumen of the kidney tubule. The
rapidity of this process may be illustrated by noting that, in the first 24
hours after entry of uranium nitrate into the systemic circulation, around
80% will have been filtered by the glomerulus (Leggett 1989).

As the filtered uranium complexes pass along the renal tubules they are
subject to a fall in pH. This results in their partial dissociation. Whereas
some complexed uranium plus a proportion of the uranyl ions produced on
dissociation is excreted in the urine, the remainder of the uranium binds to
the luminal membranes of the renal tubules. The bound uranium is removed
from the luminal membranes by combining with ligands in the urine, shedding
of microvilli, sloughing of dead cells, or entering cells. The rate of loss
by each of these processes is thought to be dependent on the magnitude of
the exposure to uranium, such that the fraction of uranium retained in the
kidneys increases with increasing administered amount (Leggett 1989).

It is thought that the mode of entry of uranium into renal tubule cells may
be primarily by endocytosis. Intracellular accumulation is mainly in
lysosomes, with microcrystals formed at high concentrations. Destruction of
the lysosomes then releases these microcrystals into the cytosol.

Although intracellular uptake is primarily into lysosomes, smaller amounts
of uranium accumulate in the nucleus, mitochondria and other intracellular
organelles. (Leggett 1989)

Overall, uranium-containing debris may be retained for an extended period in
the lumen of the tubule or in reticuloendothelial cells.

Retention of uranium in the kidney is known to give rise to a variety of
biochemical effects that may have implications for the clinical toxicity of
the element (Leggett 1989). These include the following:

Binding to the brush-border membrane may reduce reabsorption of sodium,
glucose, proteins, amino acids, water and other substances; 
Structural damage to plasma and lysosomal membranes may occur, the latter
resulting in the release of damaging enzymes; 
Mitochondrial dysfunction and defects of energy production may occur; 
Transport of calcium may be affected, leading to accumulation of that
element in renal tubule cells. 
At an overall tissue level, the kidney may develop tolerance to uranium
exposure after repeated or chronic exposure, but this is associated with
regenerated cells with a degraded brush border. Impairment of function can
be associated with such tolerance. For example, tolerant animals have been
observed to exhibit high urine volumes and a diminished glomerular
filtration rate. It has been concluded that acquired tolerance to acute
affects does not prevent chronic damage. (Leggett 1989)

Conventionally, it has been assumed that if kidney concentrations of uranium
are maintained at less than 3 m g/g, symptoms of clinical toxicity will be
avoided. However, this limiting concentration was based on tests of limited
sensitivity and on criteria for toxicity that are less stringent than would
now be employed. In view of these considerations, it has been suggested
(Leggett 1989) that it may be prudent to lower this long-standing level by
one order of magnitude.

 

3.0 The Relative Significance of Chemical and Radiological Toxicity for
Depleted Uranium

 

The oxide particulates may be much more refractory to dissolution than the
metal, if they are primarily composed of UO2. Refractory particles inhaled
at the time of their production or subsequently, as a result of
resuspension, could be of greater significance radiologically than through
the chemical toxicity of their uranium content. This is because such
particles can be retained in various organs and tissues, including the
respiratory and reticuloendothelial systems, irradiating their surroundings.
If such particles are leached only slowly, they will contribute to only a
limited degree to an increase of uranium concentrations in the kidneys.

The distribution and retention of inhaled radioactive refractory
particulates has been studied extensively. In particular, a great deal of
work has been undertaken on high-fired PuO2. Particles, with aerodynamic
diameters of up to a few tens of micrometres are readily inhaled. Particles
with aerodynamic diameters of more than a few micrometres are mainly
deposited in the upper part of the respiratory tract (the nasal passages,
trachea and larger bronchi) and are largely cleared by mechanical action on
a time scale of a few hours. Smaller particles penetrate more deeply into
the lungs and sub-micrometre particles are deposited mainly in the
respiratory tissues (the pulmonary parenchyma) comprising the bronchioli and
alveoli. (ICRP 1994)

Material deposited in the alveoli is beyond the limits of the region from
which direct mechanical clearance can occur (ICRP 1994). Therefore,
clearance from this region is due mainly either to solubilisation or to
incorporation and transport of particles in phagocytes (the alveolar
macrophages). These macrophages may either migrate to the bronchial region
and be mechanically cleared, or they may penetrate the alveolar interstitium
and be carried to the regional lymph nodes.

In the 1970s, there was considerable interest in whether such focal sources
of radiation (hot particles) were of greater concern than homogeneous
irradiation of respiratory tissues to a similar average radiation dose. In
general, it was found (Burkart and Linder 1987) that such focal sources were
no more radiotoxic than uniform irradiation and could be substantially less
toxic. The latter result was attributed to cell sterilisation effects around
the focal sources, as sterilised cells are incapable of reproduction and
cannot be the precursors of cancer. However, some caution should be
exercised in interpreting the results that were obtained, because the work
was largely based on the assumption that only cells that are hit by
radiation tracks can be transformed to neoplastic precursors. More recent
studies have demonstrated a bystander effect, in which unirradiated cells
close to irradiated cell populations can exhibit genetic alterations. It
may, therefore, be prudent to examine again the question of whether focal
sources of irradiation could induce a spectrum of effects that differs from
that induced by more uniform irradiation. In the specific context of
uranium, it is of interest also to consider whether the enhanced soluble
uranium concentrations that could exist in the vicinity of individual
particles or aggregates could interact synergistically with the localised
irradiation of tissues, particularly if some of the effects of irradiation
are mediated by substances released from the irradiated cells.

In considering whether such effects could occur, it is appropriate to
recognise that particles could accumulate or aggregate in interstitial
tissues of the lung, in pulmonary lymph nodes or in reticuloendothelial
tissues. In the context of reticuloendothelial tissues, an analogy can be
drawn with the colloidal radiographic contrast medium Thorotrast (ThO2).
This was found to give rise to substantial aggregates in the liver, spleen
and bone marrow, and excesses of both liver cancer and leukaemia have been
observed in the exposed populations (Van Kaick, Muth et al. 1986). However,
too much weight should not be placed on this analogy, as the masses of
Thorotrast used were large (around 25 g per patient) and it was introduced
directly into the systemic circulation giving enhanced opportunities for
aggregation and deposition into reticuloendothelial tissues.

 

4.0 Heath impacts of uranium

 

4.1 Inhalation of uranium oxide dusts

 

Breathing uranium containing dusts is an established occupational hazard
with which clear health consequences are associated. Most information
relates to uranium miners, whose exposure to uranium ore dusts is compounded
by collateral exposure to radon daughter products. The much greater activity
concentrations of radon daughters in air leads to relatively larger doses to
the lung than from the uranium itself, and thus the established yield of
lung cancer from such exposures is attributed to radon. However, workers in
uranium milling plants, where the radon daughters are not so abundant, also
show indications of increased disease that could be due to radiation (Cardis
and Richardson 2000). Lung cancer is elevated in a number of studies (see
Cardis and Richardson 2000; Ritz 1999; Checkoway, Pearce et al. 1988; Loomis
and Wolf 1996), although it should be noted that the situation is compounded
by exposures other than to internal a -emitters and, in individual studies,
numbers are generally small.

In the most recently reported study of uranium plant workers at Springfields
in the UK (McGeoghegan and Binks 2000), where uranium ore was handled, there
was a substantial healthy worker effect and no absolute excess or trend with
dose for lung cancer.

In other stages of the uranium processing industry, where soluble uranium
may be inhaled as aerosols, there are indications of increases in
lymphopoietic (Loomis and Wolf 1996, Ritz, Morgenstern et al. 2000) brain,
kidney, breast, prostate (Loomis and Wolf 1996) and upper aerodigestive
tract (Ritz, Morgenstern et al. 2000) cancers.

In a response to an editorial (McDiarmid 2001) in the British Medical
Journal, Alvarez has drawn attention to health effects seen among uranium
process workers, as described in an unpublished report (see
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/letters/322/7279/123). As noted, (Ritz 1999) there
were positive associations for several cancer sites with chemicals used in
the uranium processing industry. It is, therefore, clear that working in the
uranium processing industry is associated with a number of different types
of cancer, but whether this is due to insoluble or soluble uranium or other
chemicals used in the processing is not clear.

The uranium dusts encountered in the milling process may be more insoluble
than the dusts generated by burning DU and are almost certainly of different
particle size distribution. Burning metal has the tendency to produce
sub-micron particles as well as the more usual 1 to 10 micron Activity
Median Aerodynamic Diameter particles that are generally associated with
radiological toxicity. Such sub-micron particles present some features that
may be significant in evaluating the toxicity of DU (as opposed to natural
uranium). These ultra-fine particles may be more soluble in physiological
fluids, thus creating a local environment of enhanced uranium concentration
in the cells proximal to the particle of DU-oxide. In this respect it is
notable that DU-UO2 2+ cation is capable of transforming human osteoblast
cells in culture to a tumourigenic phenotype (Miller, Fuciarelli et al.
1998). Similar transformation can be achieved with nickel and, to a lesser
extent, with lead, leading to the conclusion that this transformation may
have little to do with the radioactivity of DU. This conclusion is confirmed
by the small fraction (0.0014%) of cells hit by alpha particles at the
uranium concentrations used.

It is relevant to note that nickel is an established carcinogen (IARC 1990)
and has been shown to induce a genomic instability similar to that induced
by radiation (Coen, Mothersill et al. 2001).

Partially soluble dust particles, either because of chemical composition or
size, produce a unique situation in which a volume of tissue a few cell
diameters in radius, around the particle will be subject to both a
relatively high concentration of UO22+ and the occasional alpha particle
from decay of the 238U. A 1m m particle of pure 238U weighs 5.8x10-6m g and
on average emits 2 alpha-particles per year. Assuming that over a period of
weeks half the material dissolves and is retained within a volume of radius
3 cell diameters, or 30m m, the concentration of UO22+ in this tissue volume
is about 20m g/g or 0.8mM  well in excess of the 10m M concentration at
which cellular transformation associated with (or leading to) tumour
formation in nude mice was seen.

For a total intake of 1 mg of such a dust and assuming that 25% is retained
for a long period in the lung of which 50% behaves as a Class M (ICRP 1994)
material and dissolves relatively slowly, the remainder being insoluble,
there would be about 0.4 x 108 such foci with 20% (8 x 106) also
experiencing one alpha passage in the first month. This is not a situation
that has been experienced in any exposure situation for an alpha or any
other emitter in the lung. It is not possible to extrapolate the risk of
such an exposure from human experience. In particular the risk to the lung
of exposure to DU dusts cannot be inferred from the experience gained from
uranium miners, or from survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, upon which the
current ICRP radiological protection standards are based.

A second factor is the potential for small particles to become trapped in
the interstitial spaces where they may form aggregates. Clearance is likely
to be to the local tracheobronchial lymph nodes (TBLN), where they may be
retained indefinitely.

A significant excess of lymphatic and haemopoietic cancers, other than
leukaemia, (4/1.02) in uranium mill workers, whose concentration of uranium
in urine was elevated, is noted (Archer, Wagoner et al. 1973). It is
suggested that these malignancies could have resulted from an accumulation
of long-lived radioactive materials in the lymph nodes.

However, Baverstock and Thorne (Baverstock and Thorne 1989), in reviewing
evidence for consequences of irradiation of the lymphatic system from
material retained in the tracheobronchial lymph-nodes, concluded that, in
spite of the real possibility of substantial doses, there was little reason
to expect an excess of lymphatic leukaemia. They noted, however, that their
arguments could not be wholly conclusive.

Furthermore, small particles (10 to 100nm) are capable of passing through
the pulmonary blood vessels into the blood stream. Experience with directly
injected colloidal particles of thorium oxide, in the form of the x-ray
contrast medium Thorotrast, shows that such particles have a tendency to
aggregate in reticuloendothelial tissues, where they are retained, if
insoluble, over long periods. In the case of Thorotrast, the long-term
consequences were liver cancer and leukaemia. Doses from the injection of
Thorotrast are likely to have been very much larger than could be obtained
from inhaling DU smoke, as the direct transfer through pulmonary blood
vessels is only a minor lung clearance route.

Overall, there seems to be a compelling case for investigating whether
uranium, internally incorporated through inhalation, has a combined chemical
and radiological carcinogenic potential, which can potentially lead to
cancers in the lung and other parts of the body, including the lymphatic
system, the bone marrow, the bone and the kidney. Therefore, the extent to
which DU, present in the environment as dust and smoke from burning metal,
is able to cause these consequences, though a combined radiological and
chemical effect, is a matter for further research.

The implications of the bystander effect also need to be considered in this
context. It has been convincingly demonstrated that changes, similar to
those caused directly by irradiation, can be wrought in cells growing close
to a cell that has been irradiated, or even if they receive activating
signals in medium harvested from irradiated cells, even though the changed
cells experienced no ionising event. Such changes include genomic
instability, widely associated with the cancer process, and even mutations,
also widely believed to be related to cancer induction (Mothersill and
Seymour 2001). The basis for this phenomenon is not well understood, but it
has been demonstrated that a calcium pulse occurs and resolves within 5
minutes of exposure of non-irradiated cells to medium harvested from exposed
cells. Alpha particle radiation is known to be a potent cause of bystander
effects, particularly in the form of genomic instability and, since heavy
metals can also cause instability (Coen, Mothersill et al. 2001), there is a
strong case that the mixed radio-chemical exposure may be acting in this
context.

As directly inflicted DNA damage is precluded as a cause of the bystander
effect, it can be inferred that a chemical agent is transmitted from the
irradiated cell and that this changes the state of the recipient cell in an
apparently irreversible manner. A recent study (Belyakov, Malcolmson et al.
2001), using micronucleus formation as an endpoint and a micro-beam facility
capable passing a single alpha particle through the nucleus of a specific
cell, showed a three-fold increase in damaged cells within the environment
of the irradiated cell. Typically, 5000 cells were scored with some 100
excess damaged cells. However, excess affected cells were found at distances
of mm from the irradiated cell and thus the number of potentially affected
cells per particle can be very large. Within 1 mm radius of the irradiated
cells there are approximately 106 cells, thus if the same ratio of affected
cells applied some 2 x 104 could be affected.

The bystander effect is predominant at low tissue doses, where few cells
experience an alpha particle passage. At higher doses, recipient cells
increasingly experience alpha passages themselves, with a high probability
of cell killing and almost certainty of inducing other changes, thus
reducing the relative effectiveness of the bystander effect. For this
reason, uranium particles, which emit few alphas, would have a greater
chance of inducing effects through the bystander mechanism than "hotter"
particles.

The implication of the combined chemical and radiological transforming
capability of uranium and the bystander effect, means that, in estimating
its significance in causing cancer, the simple assumptions, based on
committed effective dose, ie (committed absorbed dose to the lung, modified
by a radiation weighting factor for the fact that the radiation arises from
alpha particles) as has been adopted in recent reports by the Royal Society
(RS 2001), the WHO (WHO 2001) and UNEP (UNEP 2001) would be an inadequate
basis for predicting risks.

 

4.2 Other considerations

 

The usual assumption, based on the specific activity of uranium, standard
tissue and radiation weighting factors (ICRP 1991) and the distribution of
uranium between different tissues, is that impairment of kidney function
will always be more important that any carcinogenic effect. This assumption
can, however, be questioned on two grounds, namely the potential for synergy
between chemical and radiation toxicities, and the bystander effect, as
discussed above.

In the experiments with osteoblasts (Miller, Blakely et al. 1998), the
concentration of UO2++ was 10m M, which is close to the 0.3m g/g level in
the kidney assumed to be below the threshold for toxic effects. In the
transformation assay, this produced a ten-fold increase in the tumourigenic
phenotype with about 1 in 105 cells being hit by an alpha particle. It is
feasible to explain the transformation in the osteoblasts by the bystander
effect alone, but the similar level of transformation brought about by the
same concentration of nickel ions cannot be explained radiologically.

If there is indeed a synergistic effect between the chemical and
radiological properties of uranium, why is exposure to naturally occurring
uranium apparently without radiological health consequence? One answer to
this question is that natural uranium is almost entirely ingested. The
fraction of even soluble uranium crossing the GI tract is low (typically
around 0.02, see ICRP Publication 69 (ICRP 1995)), most being excreted in
faeces. In the occupational context, the primary route of entry will be
inhalation of aerosols. Where the uranium is soluble, the transfer to blood
of deposited material is rapid and complete (ICRP 1995). Potentially much
higher body burdens could be acquired in this way.

Among the soft tissues in which systemic uranium locates are the testes.
This raises the prospect of hereditary effects arising from systemic
burdens. The non-specific nature of the location of uranium at the cellular
and sub-cellular levels implies that all testicular cells are at some degree
of risk, including the spermatogonial stem cells. The relevance of the
transforming effect observed for uranium is problematic. If that
transforming ability is mediated by mutations then a synergy may also be
expected here. In the Miller study (Miller, Blakely et al. 1998), changes in
gene expression and sister chromatid exchanges were observed, leaving the
question open.

 

5.0 Practical public health implications of the use of DU/RU in two theatres
of war, the Balkans and Iraq/Kuwait.

 

Ammunitions containing DU and RU have been used in the Balkans and
Iraq/Kuwait. Comparing the two instances there are important differences
that have a bearing on public exposure to DU/RU. (RS 2001). In the Balkans,
the ammunition was exclusively fired from aircraft, whereas in Iraq the
tank-to-tank battles also took place. In air-to-ground fire, fewer DU/RU
rounds hit targets such as tanks, most, as much as 90 to 95%, becoming
buried in the ground. Thus, only 5 to 10% was at risk of fragmentation and
burning. In Iraq/Kuwait, a larger percentage will have hit hardened targets
and burned to produce the oxide smoke and dust. The United Nations
Environment Programme has carried out an environmental assessment in Kosovo
(UNEP 2001).

Metallic DU/RU buried in the ground will slowly dissolve (over centuries) so
somewhat enhancing the natural level of uranium in the natural environment.
It is legitimate to place the risks of this exposure in the context of
naturally occurring uranium levels in the environment and it seems unlikely
that the small increase in uranium levels this will entail (except in the
circumstance that a penetrator lodges in very close proximity to a drinking
water well) will constitute a hazard to health. Given the climatic
conditions in the Balkans, it seems unlikely that re-suspension of the dusts
resulting from the 5 to 10% of munitions burning will lead to prolonged
exposure of the population by this route although in the first year or two
hot summer weather may have led to some resuspension. In any case weathering
and leaching of the dust on the ground will result in a lowering of its
potential toxicity. The health risks to the civilian populations,
peacekeeping troops and aid workers in Balkans are, therefore, likely to be
minimal in the future, the principal risks being confined to those who were
on the ground during the actual time of use of the weapons, namely a small
minority of the indigenous population and the Serbian troops.

The situation in the Iraq/Kuwait theatre, for which there is no
environmental assessment, is somewhat different. Given the higher percentage
of burned DU/RU in the tank-to-tank fire, the generally dry and arid
climatic conditions of the area and the presence of a civilian population at
the time of the battles, the potential for exposure to dusts and smoke of
the combatants and civilian populations present during and after the battles
is much greater. However, these exposures have to be seen against the
background of other exposures to potentially toxic agents associated with
this war. Although exposure to DU may have played a role in the induction of
any health effects demonstrated to have been induced, it may prove difficult
to disentangle its effects in this multiple exposure situation and make
clear attributions of specific health consequences to specific agents.
Nevertheless, continued exposure to re-suspended DU/RU dusts could have
posed and could continue to pose, a health hazard to the civilian population
in the regions affected by the hostilities. As the soluble component is
"weathered" away the risks will tend to converge towards those predicted on
the basis of the ICRP lung model, taking into account the particle size
distribution and any influence of the bystander effect.

 
=========

References

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ARCHER, V. E., WAGONER, J. K. and LUNDIN, F. E., 1973, Lung cancer among
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BAVERSTOCK, K. F. and THORNE, M. C., 1989, Radiological protection and the
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CHECKOWAY, H., PEARCE, N., CRAWFORD-BROWN, D. J. and CRAGLE, D. L., 1988,
Radiation doses and cause-specific mortality among workers at a nuclear
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CHPPM, 2000, Follow-up DoD Exposure Report; Depleted Uranium in the Gulf II,
US Department of Defence. Available at:
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/chppm_du_rpt_index.html 

COEN, N., MOTHERSILL, C., KADHIM, M. and WRIGHT, E. G., 2001, Heavy Metals
of Relevance to Human Health Induced Genomic Instability. In Press.

DUPREE, E. A., CRAGLE, D. L., MCLAIN, R. W., CRAWFORD-BROWN, D. J. and TETA,
M. J., 1987, Mortality among workers at a uranium processing facility, the
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of Work, Environment & Health, 13, 100-107.

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Protection, Publication 60, Annals of the ICRP

ICRP, 1994, Human Respiratory Tract Model for Radiological Protection
Publication 66, Annals of the ICRP. 24 (nos 1 - 3).

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Uranium in the tissues of an occupationally exposed individual. Health
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I., VDISDNEN, S.B., PENTTILD, I.M., KOMULAINEN, H., in press, Renal effects
of uranium in drinking water. Environmental Health Perspectives, in press.

LEGGETT, R. W., 1989, The behavior and chemical toxicity of U in the kidney:
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materials production plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 1947-1990. American
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1946-95. Journal of Radiological Protection, 20, 111-137.

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J. W., HAMILTON, M. M., PARLETTE, E., John, T. S., GERSTENBERG, H. M. and
HSU, H., 1998, Transformation of human osteoblast cells to the tumorigenic
phenotype by depleted uranium-uranyl chloride. Environmental Health
Perspectives, 106, 465-471.

MILLER, A. C., FUCIARELLI, A. F., JACKSON, W. E., EJNIK, E. J., EMOND, C.,
STROCKO, S., HOGAN, J., PAGE, N. and PELLMAR, T., 1998, Urinary and serum
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759-767.

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556-566.

RITZ, B., 1999, Radiation exposure and cancer mortality in uranium
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Radioact. 8 255 - 285

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Royal Society, London, UK.

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Assessment, Switzerland.

VAN KAICK, G., MUTH, H., KAUL, A., WESCH, H., IMMICH, H., LIEBERMANN, D.,
LORENZ, D., LORENZ, W., L\HRS, H., SCHEER, K. E., WAGNER, G. and WEGNENER,
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and Thorotrast, Munich, Urban und Schwarzenberg.

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Health Organisation, Protection of the Human Environment, Geneva,
Switzerland.

======

Keith Baverstock World Health Organization
European Centre for Environment and Health
Hermann Ehlers Strasse 10
D-53113 Bonn, Germany
Tel: +49/228  2094 430 Fax: +49/228  2094 201
e-mail: kba@ecehbonn.euro.who.int 

Carmel Mothersill Dublin Institute of Technology,
Kevin Street, Dublin8, Ireland
Tel. +353-1-4027509, Fax. +353-1-4023393
e-mail: cmothersill@rsc.iol.ie 

Mike Thorne Mike Thorne and Associates Limited
Abbotsleigh, Kebroyd Mount, Ripponden, Halifax,
West Yorkshire, HX6 3JA, UK
Tel/Fax: +44-01422825890
e-mail: MikeThorneLtd@aol.com 

===========

http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/DU-Radiological-Toxicity-WHO5nov01.htm

===========
*****************************************************************
 37 Depleted Uranium Weapons - a BBC investigation 
 
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 03:24:15 -0600 (CST)

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1st November 2006
BBC RADIO 4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/

--

1st November 2006
BBC RADIO 4
TODAY PROGRAM

Depleted Uranium Weapons - a BBC investigation 

by 

Angus Stickler

BBC RADIO FOUR - TODAY PROGRAM
("Today" is the BBC's Early Morning Flagship National Radio News Program)

BBC TRANSCRIPT

A BBC investigation can reveal that the US and UK military have continued to
use depleted uranium weapons despite warnings from scientists that it poses
a potential long-term cancer risk to civilians. A former senior scientist
with the United Nations has told the BBC that studies showing that it was
carcinogenic were suppressed from a seminal World Health Organisation
report. The US has refused to fund major research and has been criticised
for failing to cooperate with UN attempts to conduct a post conflict
assessment in Iraq.

Angus Stickler reports:

When depleted uranium bullets are fired, the rounds can rip through the tank
armour. And once inside - on contact with air they combust exploding into a
10,000 degrees centigrade ball of fire.

Both the US and UK used depleted uranium in Iraq. The US fired 320 tons in
Gulf War I - and possibly as much as 2,000 tonnes in Gulf War II. But its
use is highly controversial - blamed as one of the possible causes of cancer
and birth defects. It's this that prompted the Untied Nations' World Health
Organisation to conduct a major assessment of the post conflict hazards. The
findings were published in 2001. Dr Mike Repacholi retired as the
Coordinator of the W.H.O. Radiation and Environmental Health Unit in June of
this year. He oversaw the project.

He says, "Depleted uranium is basically safe - you can touch depleted
uranium for hours and not cause and radiation damage you can ingest it and
it's excreted through the body - 99 per cent of it goes within about a day -
you would have to ingest a huge amount of depleted uranium dust to cause any
adverse health effect."

The W.H.O. assessment warns that children should be restricted from going
into post conflict areas. The monograph - as it is called - is now used by
some as the definitive document on the potential health hazards of depleted
uranium. But now this BBC investigation has been told - its findings may
skewed.

Dr Keith Baverstock - now retired - was a senior radiation advisor with 12
years experience at the W.H.O - part of Dr Repacholi's editorial team at the
time. He came across research indicating that depleted uranium is a
potentially dangerous carcinogen:

"When you breathe in the dust the deeper it goes into the lung the more
difficult it is to clear. The particles that dissolve pose a risk - part
radioactive - and part from the chemical toxicity in the lung - and then
later as that material diffuses into the rest of the body, and into the
blood stream a potential risk at sites like the bone marrow for leukaemia,
the lymphatic system and the kidney" according to Dr Baverstock.

Health warnings suppressed

This is called genotoxicicty says Dr Baverstock, it could take decades
before evidence of cancer starts to emerge. As part of the W.H.O. team he
submitted these findings - based on peer reviewed research conducted by the
United States Department of Defense - for inclusion into the monograph. It
received short shrift. Dr Repacholi says this was with good reason.

It was the committee's general conclusion that this data did not
substantiate that there was a health effect at this stage. Was the science
that was in that report - which was research that came effectively from the
US Department of Defense - was it wrong?

DR REPACHOLI: We want a comprehensive report - we want to include everything
that we can - but we don't want fairytale stuff - it wasn't collaborated by
other reports - that was felt to the level that science would say this was
established.

ANGUS STICKLER: My understanding is that at the time that there were eight
published peer reviewed research studies - attesting to the genotoxic nature
of uranium - all of which could have been included in the monograph?

REPACHOLI: Yep - these - er - papers were speculative at the time and W.H.O.
will only publish data that they know is established.

STICKLER: Shouldn't the World Health Organisation err on the side of
caution?

REPACHOLI: W.H.O is a conservative organisation there's no doubt - it's not
a leader in this sort of thing - it's not out there saying wow we should be
concerned about this, this and this - it's not there to do that.

Dr Baverstock disagrees. He says the W.H.O stance that this is inconclusive
science is not safe science. He attempted to take the issue further.

DR BAVERSTOCK: When it wasn't included in the monograph - I with two other
colleagues prepared a paper for the open literature and the W.H.O did not
permit me to submit that paper for publication.
ANGUS STICKLER: Why not - what reasons were you given?
BAVERSTOCK: Well ha - I still have not had a reason as to why that paper was
not allowed to be published.
STICKLER: Could it be the case that the science you're talking about is
unsafe - in that you're - as a scientist - a bit miffed that they didn't
include what you wanted them to include?
BAVERSTOCK: No I'm not miffed about it at all - we use this kind of
laboratory testing in many systems to screen chemicals and to know whether
things are going to be dangerous or not.
STICKLER: Why do you think your study was - as you say - suppressed?
BAVERSTOCK: It is naive to think that in institutions like the United
Nations one is free from political influences - the member states have their
own agendas.
STICKLER: What you seem to be saying there is that the W.H.O. was
pressurised by the likes of the United States to come to the right
conclusion?
BAVERSTOCK: I think that could be the case - yes.

It's ironic that the major player that Dr Baverstock believes was behind the
decision block publication of his study - was the nation state that
conducted the research he was citing: The United States' Department of
Defence Armed Forces Radiobiological Research Institute: a credible State
laboratory. A point I put to Dr Repacholi.

DR REPACHOLI: The problem that W.H.O had and it went right up to the
Director General's office that it was finally disapproved at that level was
that on the basis of the evidence that we have - we can't conclude that it
is harmful - and to have a paper from another W.H.O staff member that says
we absolutely think it's harmful - makes W.H.O look a bit odd.
STICKLER: With the greatest respect - that's going to have very little truck
with someone who may get seriously ill because of depleted uranium the fact
that the W.H.O. may look a bit odd?
REPACHOLI: No the odd part is that it looks like W.H.O. is not in control of
its shop.

There is undoubtedly a massive gulf between the views of these two
scientists. Dr Repacholi - however - denies that pressure was brought to
bear on the W.H.O.

The findings of the US Department of Defense research - are now in the
public domain: depleted uranium is genotoxic - it chemically alters DNA and
could be a precursor to tumour growth. Since 2001, there have been numerous
studies supporting the findings.

We asked for an interview with the scientist who conducted these studies -
Dr Alexandra Miller - the US Department of Defense refused. The BBC has been
told that she applied to the US Army Research Programme to do further work
on the effects of depleted uranium in 2004, five and six. All the
applications were turned down.

Iraqi cancer increase

This is the Isotope Geo-science laboratory at the British Geological Survey.
Its equipment has been used by the British Government to conduct the most
extensive research so far - into depleted uranium contamination of UK
troops. Professor Randall Parrish says there are worrying signals coming
from Iraq - from civilian populations.

"I've been to several international conferences where I've heard Iraqi
medical physicians summarise health statistics on the occurrence of birth
defects and non Hodgkin's Lymphomas and the rise in incidents in these kind
of effects especially in the area of southern Iraq and the Basra area
appears quite alarming on the basis of the figures that I've seen -
significant data - that would suggest that we should be erring on the side
of caution here - and it ought to be investigated" Professor Parrish told
us.

Professor Parrish has recently completed another research study - as yet
unpublished - but it shows that if inhaled - depleted uranium remains in
high concentrations in the body - a potential hazard - for decades. The
priority now, he says, is to ascertain whether it poses a real risk to
humans - the people of Iraq.

PROFESSOR PARRISH: If we want to get to bottom of this issue as to whether
populations and people are really suffering - we have to conduct
environmental and health assessments - in places where people are exposed
and we can I think solve this problem if sufficient resources and the will
is there to actually address the problem.
AHGUS STICKLER: Do you think the will is there on the part of the
politicians?
PARRISH: Unless we can conduct additional work - this issue of DU and the
politics of it will continue to hang over many governments for years and
years and years to come.

Professor Parrish is prepared to undertake research on behalf of any member
state that wishes to fund him.

In the meantime the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP has trained a
team of Iraqi scientists ready to carry out a detailed assessment. But
despite having political allies in Washington Henrik Slotte chief of the
UNEP post conflict branch - says his work can't progress further without
co-operation from the US.

HENRIK SLOTTE: Without the coordinates and clear information about what was
used and when - it is impossible to start working on depleted uranium in the
field - it's like looking for a needle in the haystack.
ANGUS STICKLER: Are they providing you with all the information you've
requested?
SLOTTE: In the case of Iraq we have requested and the reply has been that
this is an issue that concerns many parts of that administration and it will
take some time for them to come back in writing.
STICKLER: You do now have a team of Iraqis now ready to go in - wouldn't it
be helpful for them to have this information now?
SLOTTE: Yes it would.
STICKLER: Are there any indications that they are going to get this
information shortly?
SLOTTE: There are no indications.

Depleted Uranium according to a growing body of scientists is carcinogenic -
a health hazard not just to Saddam Husain's republican guard - but Iraqi
civilians for generations to come. It's been used in other theatres of
conflict too - Afghanistan and Lebanon - and calls for action are now
gaining ground. Not just with fervent campaigners - but eminent scientists,
academics, and lawyers too - depleted uranium munitions they say should be
banned under international law as potential weapons of indiscriminate
effect.

=======

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/international/uranium_20061101.sht
ml

=======
*****************************************************************
 38 [NYTr] BBC Investigates Depleted Uranium Weapons
 
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 12:18:47 -0500 (EST)

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Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
sent by Tim Murphy (activ-l)

BBC RADIO 4 - Nov 1, 2006
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/international/uranium_20061101.shtml

TODAY PROGRAM
("Today" is the BBC's Early Morning Flagship National Radio News Program)


Depleted Uranium Weapons - a BBC investigation 

by Angus Stickler

BBC TRANSCRIPT

A BBC investigation can reveal that the US and UK military have continued to
use depleted uranium weapons despite warnings from scientists that it poses
a potential long-term cancer risk to civilians. A former senior scientist
with the United Nations has told the BBC that studies showing that it was
carcinogenic were suppressed from a seminal World Health Organisation
report. The US has refused to fund major research and has been criticised
for failing to cooperate with UN attempts to conduct a post conflict
assessment in Iraq.

Angus Stickler reports:

When depleted uranium bullets are fired, the rounds can rip through the tank
armour. And once inside - on contact with air they combust exploding into a
10,000 degrees centigrade ball of fire.

Both the US and UK used depleted uranium in Iraq. The US fired 320 tons in
Gulf War I - and possibly as much as 2,000 tonnes in Gulf War II. But its
use is highly controversial - blamed as one of the possible causes of cancer
and birth defects. It's this that prompted the Untied Nations' World Health
Organisation to conduct a major assessment of the post conflict hazards. The
findings were published in 2001. Dr Mike Repacholi retired as the
Coordinator of the W.H.O. Radiation and Environmental Health Unit in June of
this year. He oversaw the project.

He says, "Depleted uranium is basically safe - you can touch depleted
uranium for hours and not cause and radiation damage you can ingest it and
it's excreted through the body - 99 per cent of it goes within about a day -
you would have to ingest a huge amount of depleted uranium dust to cause any
adverse health effect."

The W.H.O. assessment warns that children should be restricted from going
into post conflict areas. The monograph - as it is called - is now used by
some as the definitive document on the potential health hazards of depleted
uranium. But now this BBC investigation has been told - its findings may
skewed.

Dr Keith Baverstock - now retired - was a senior radiation advisor with 12
years experience at the W.H.O - part of Dr Repacholi's editorial team at the
time. He came across research indicating that depleted uranium is a
potentially dangerous carcinogen:

"When you breathe in the dust the deeper it goes into the lung the more
difficult it is to clear. The particles that dissolve pose a risk - part
radioactive - and part from the chemical toxicity in the lung - and then
later as that material diffuses into the rest of the body, and into the
blood stream a potential risk at sites like the bone marrow for leukaemia,
the lymphatic system and the kidney" according to Dr Baverstock.

Health warnings suppressed

This is called genotoxicicty says Dr Baverstock, it could take decades
before evidence of cancer starts to emerge. As part of the W.H.O. team he
submitted these findings - based on peer reviewed research conducted by the
United States Department of Defense - for inclusion into the monograph. It
received short shrift. Dr Repacholi says this was with good reason.

It was the committee's general conclusion that this data did not
substantiate that there was a health effect at this stage. Was the science
that was in that report - which was research that came effectively from the
US Department of Defense - was it wrong?

DR REPACHOLI: We want a comprehensive report - we want to include everything
that we can - but we don't want fairytale stuff - it wasn't collaborated by
other reports - that was felt to the level that science would say this was
established.

ANGUS STICKLER: My understanding is that at the time that there were eight
published peer reviewed research studies - attesting to the genotoxic nature
of uranium - all of which could have been included in the monograph?

REPACHOLI: Yep - these - er - papers were speculative at the time and W.H.O.
will only publish data that they know is established.

STICKLER: Shouldn't the World Health Organisation err on the side of
caution?

REPACHOLI: W.H.O is a conservative organisation there's no doubt - it's not
a leader in this sort of thing - it's not out there saying wow we should be
concerned about this, this and this - it's not there to do that.

Dr Baverstock disagrees. He says the W.H.O stance that this is inconclusive
science is not safe science. He attempted to take the issue further.

DR BAVERSTOCK: When it wasn't included in the monograph - I with two other
colleagues prepared a paper for the open literature and the W.H.O did not
permit me to submit that paper for publication.

ANGUS STICKLER: Why not - what reasons were you given?

BAVERSTOCK: Well ha - I still have not had a reason as to why that paper was
not allowed to be published.

STICKLER: Could it be the case that the science you're talking about is
unsafe - in that you're - as a scientist - a bit miffed that they didn't
include what you wanted them to include?

BAVERSTOCK: No I'm not miffed about it at all - we use this kind of
laboratory testing in many systems to screen chemicals and to know whether
things are going to be dangerous or not.

STICKLER: Why do you think your study was - as you say - suppressed?

BAVERSTOCK: It is naive to think that in institutions like the United
Nations one is free from political influences - the member states have their
own agendas.

STICKLER: What you seem to be saying there is that the W.H.O. was
pressurised by the likes of the United States to come to the right
conclusion?

BAVERSTOCK: I think that could be the case - yes.

It's ironic that the major player that Dr Baverstock believes was behind the
decision block publication of his study - was the nation state that
conducted the research he was citing: The United States' Department of
Defence Armed Forces Radiobiological Research Institute: a credible State
laboratory. A point I put to Dr Repacholi.

DR REPACHOLI: The problem that W.H.O had and it went right up to the
Director General's office that it was finally disapproved at that level was
that on the basis of the evidence that we have - we can't conclude that it
is harmful - and to have a paper from another W.H.O staff member that says
we absolutely think it's harmful - makes W.H.O look a bit odd.

STICKLER: With the greatest respect - that's going to have very little truck
with someone who may get seriously ill because of depleted uranium the fact
that the W.H.O. may look a bit odd?

REPACHOLI: No the odd part is that it looks like W.H.O. is not in control of
its shop.

There is undoubtedly a massive gulf between the views of these two
scientists. Dr Repacholi - however - denies that pressure was brought to
bear on the W.H.O.

The findings of the US Department of Defense research - are now in the
public domain: depleted uranium is genotoxic - it chemically alters DNA and
could be a precursor to tumour growth. Since 2001, there have been numerous
studies supporting the findings.

We asked for an interview with the scientist who conducted these studies -
Dr Alexandra Miller - the US Department of Defense refused. The BBC has been
told that she applied to the US Army Research Programme to do further work
on the effects of depleted uranium in 2004, five and six. All the
applications were turned down.

Iraqi cancer increase

This is the Isotope Geo-science laboratory at the British Geological Survey.
Its equipment has been used by the British Government to conduct the most
extensive research so far - into depleted uranium contamination of UK
troops. Professor Randall Parrish says there are worrying signals coming
from Iraq - from civilian populations.

"I've been to several international conferences where I've heard Iraqi
medical physicians summarise health statistics on the occurrence of birth
defects and non Hodgkin's Lymphomas and the rise in incidents in these kind
of effects especially in the area of southern Iraq and the Basra area
appears quite alarming on the basis of the figures that I've seen -
significant data - that would suggest that we should be erring on the side
of caution here - and it ought to be investigated" Professor Parrish told
us.

Professor Parrish has recently completed another research study - as yet
unpublished - but it shows that if inhaled - depleted uranium remains in
high concentrations in the body - a potential hazard - for decades. The
priority now, he says, is to ascertain whether it poses a real risk to
humans - the people of Iraq.

PROFESSOR PARRISH: If we want to get to bottom of this issue as to whether
populations and people are really suffering - we have to conduct
environmental and health assessments - in places where people are exposed
and we can I think solve this problem if sufficient resources and the will
is there to actually address the problem.

AHGUS STICKLER: Do you think the will is there on the part of the
politicians?

PARRISH: Unless we can conduct additional work - this issue of DU and the
politics of it will continue to hang over many governments for years and
years and years to come.

Professor Parrish is prepared to undertake research on behalf of any member
state that wishes to fund him.

In the meantime the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP has trained a
team of Iraqi scientists ready to carry out a detailed assessment. But
despite having political allies in Washington Henrik Slotte chief of the
UNEP post conflict branch - says his work can't progress further without
co-operation from the US.

HENRIK SLOTTE: Without the coordinates and clear information about what was
used and when - it is impossible to start working on depleted uranium in the
field - it's like looking for a needle in the haystack.

ANGUS STICKLER: Are they providing you with all the information you've
requested?

SLOTTE: In the case of Iraq we have requested and the reply has been that
this is an issue that concerns many parts of that administration and it will
take some time for them to come back in writing.

STICKLER: You do now have a team of Iraqis now ready to go in - wouldn't it
be helpful for them to have this information now?

SLOTTE: Yes it would.

STICKLER: Are there any indications that they are going to get this
information shortly?

SLOTTE: There are no indications.

Depleted Uranium according to a growing body of scientists is carcinogenic -
a health hazard not just to Saddam Husain's republican guard - but Iraqi
civilians for generations to come. It's been used in other theatres of
conflict too - Afghanistan and Lebanon - and calls for action are now
gaining ground. Not just with fervent campaigners - but eminent scientists,
academics, and lawyers too - depleted uranium munitions they say should be
banned under international law as potential weapons of indiscriminate
effect.
       
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*****************************************************************
 39 BBC: Depleted uranium risk 'ignored'
 
Last Updated: Wednesday, 1 November 2006
 
[A British tank in Basra, Iraq (file image)] 
                                
Both British and US troops have used depleted uranium in Iraq                                                            

UK and US forces have continued to use depleted uranium weapons 
despite warnings they pose a cancer risk, a BBC investigation has 
found. 

Scientists have pointed to health statistics in Iraq, where the 
weapons were used in the 1991 and 2003 wars. 

A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2001 said they 
posed only a small contamination risk. 

But a senior UN scientist said research showing how depleted 
uranium could cause cancer was withheld. 

The UK Ministry of Defence said that there was no evidence 
linking depleted uranium use to ill health. 

Depleted uranium is extremely dense and hard, and is used for 
armour-piercing bullets or shells. 

Fears over health implications led to a study by the WHO in 2001. 

There is no scientific medical evidence to link depleted uranium 
with the ill health of people living in the Gulf region UK 
Ministry of Defence          

Dr Mike Repacholi, who oversaw work on the report, told Angus 
Stickler of BBC Radio Four's Today programme that depleted 
uranium was "basically safe". 

"You would have to ingest a huge amount of depleted uranium dust 
to cause any adverse health effect," he said. 

'Risk from particles' 

But Dr Keith Baverstock, who worked on the project, said research 
conducted by the US Department of Defense suggested otherwise. 

DEPLETED URANIUM                 

Has a reduced proportion o isotope Uranium-235 Less radioactive 
than natural uranium and very dense Military uses include 
defensive armour plating, armour-penetrating ordnance Can be 
inhaled as dust or ingested in contaminated food and water near 
impact sites Used in Iraq, the former Yugoslavia           

He described a process known as genotoxicity, which begins when 
depleted uranium dust is inhaled. 

"The particles that dissolve pose a risk - part radioactive - and 
part from the chemical toxicity in the lung," he said. 

Later, he said, the material enters the body and the blood 
stream, potentially affecting bone marrow, the lymphatic system 
and the kidneys. 

The research was not included in the WHO report, and Dr 
Baverstock believes it was blocked. 

Mr Repacholi said the findings were not collaborated by other 
reports and it was not WHO policy to publish "speculative" data. 
He denied any pressure was brought to bear. 

But other senior scientists have pointed to worrying health 
statistics in Iraq, which show a rise in cancer and birth 
defects. 

Prof Randy Parrish of the Isotope Geosciences Laboratory in the 
UK said environmental and health assessments were needed in Iraq 
to establish the facts. 

Iraqi scientists trained by the UN are seeking to carry out such 
an assessment, but Henrik Slotte of the United Nations 
Environmental Programme said without clear information from the 
US on what was used and where, it was "like looking for a needle 
in a haystack". 

He said there was "no indication" this information was 
forthcoming from the US. 

A spokesman for the UK's Ministry of Defence, meanwhile, told the 
BBC that there was "no scientific or medical evidence" to link 
depleted uranium use to sickness in Iraq. 

He said the MOD was aware of recent research into the effects of 
depleted uranium at cellular level, but that it had to be guided 
by "the professional advice of the Health Protection Agency and 
the International Commission on Radiological Protection".                       
*****************************************************************
 40 NRC: NRC to Meet with New Jersey Hospital Officials to Discuss Apparent Violation 

News Release - Region I - 2006-05 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY 
COMMISSION 

Office of Public Affairs, Region I No. I-06-057                          
November 1, 2006 CONTACT:     Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil 
A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331                     E-mail: 
opa1@nrc.gov  
  
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with officials
of St. Peters University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., to
discuss an apparent violation of NRC requirements. The apparent
violation was found during an NRC inspection at the hospital on
Aug. 2. 

The meeting, called a pre-decisional enforcement conference,
will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 8, in the NRC Region I office,
475 Allendale Road in King of Prussia. The conference is open to
the public for observation. If necessary, portions will be
closed to discuss security aspects of the apparent violation.
The NRC staff will be available to answer questions before the
meeting is adjourned. 

The hospital is licensed by NRC to use radioactive materials for
treatment and diagnosis, including the use of a High Dose Rate
Afterloader (HDR), which uses radioactive sources -- in this
case iridium-192 -- that are placed near tumors to treat cancer.
During a tour of the facility, the NRC inspector found that
although the HDR unit was locked to the treatment room floor,
the keys to the lock were readily accessible in a cabinet above
the unit, and the treatment room was not locked and no staff
member was in the vicinity. This is an apparent violation of NRC
regulations, which require that the source be secured from
unauthorized removal. 

The hospital immediately took action to store the keys away from
the unit, and then took further action to assure the unit was
stored in a locked cabinet when not in use. 

The decision to hold a pre-decisional enforcement conference
does not mean that the NRC has determined a violation has
occurred or that enforcement action will be taken. Rather, the
purpose is to discuss the apparent violation, including its
causes and safety significance; to provide the hospital with an
opportunity to point out any errors that may have been made in
the NRC inspection report; and to enable the hospital to outline
its proposed corrective action. 

	No decision on the apparent violation will be made at this
conference. That decision will be made by NRC officials at a
later time, after considering the information developed during
the inspection and the information provided by the hospital at
the conference.   
  
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, November 01, 2006 	   
*****************************************************************
 41 AFP: Canada failed soldiers exposed to Gulf War toxins - ombudsman -
                           
 Wed Nov 1, 3:06 PM ET 		 	 

OTTAWA (AFP) - Canada failed to protect, and later treat Gulf 
War" /> Gulf Warveterans suffering from exposure to toxins, 
including depleted uranium, in Kuwait 15 years ago, military 
ombudsman Yves Cote said. 

 Members of 1 Combat Engineer Regiment were exposed to harmful
substances throughout their deployment to Kuwait in 1991, and
their "significant health concerns" were later "systematically
ignored," he said in a report. 

"It troubles me greatly that the legitimate health concerns of
these proud veterans were not given the weight and respect that
they deserved," Cote said. 

"The core issue is one of trust," he said. "Our military members
need to know, and truly believe, that if they go on a mission
healthy and return sick, Canada will take care of them and their
family." 

Cote's three-year investigation found that soldiers were
"exposed to toxic environmental materials of various kinds for
which they were not adequately prepared and about which they
were not adequately informed." 

And, their health concerns "were not taken seriously when they
returned to Canada from Kuwait," he said in a statement. 

Retired Major Fred Kaustinen claimed members of his unit were
exposed to hazardous material on July 11, 1991, when an open-air
ammunitions depot caught fire in an American compound close to
theirs, causing widespread injuries. 

Canadian soldiers entered the compound to help and were
themselves exposed to potentially dangerous substances contained
in exploding munitions, particularly depleted uranium, he said. 

Also, the soldiers inhaled "thick smoke" over six months from
Kuwait's burning oil wells, ignited by retreating Iraqi forces,
the report states. 

The soldiers suffered a variety of ailments since returning to
Canada, including constant headaches, emphysema, brain tumors,
seizures and liver failure. 

A private even described coughing up black mucous during a
medical examination. 

Extreme summer heat (up to 50 degrees Celsius), insecticides
sprayed within their living quarters, and exposure to "unknown
contaminants" in a former Iraqi hospital, were suspected as
likely causes of their illnesses. 

Cote made nine recommendations to improve the military's
response to the health concerns of its soldiers, noting it is
still not communicating risks to soldiers now deployed in
Afghanistan" /> Afghanistan. 

Canada has some 2,300 troops based in southern Kandahar region
hunting down former Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants as part of a
NATO" /> NATO-led force. 

Copyright � 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 42 East Texas Weekly Community Newspaper: Whistleblowers not popular in D.C.
 
  Vol.10 No.416     Wednesday, November 01, 2006   

 by Jim Hightower

It�s not easy being a whistleblower �- especially when the head 
honcho of the federal agency charged with protecting 
whistleblowers is a blockhead. 

His name is �- aptly enough �- Scott Bloch. He�s another of 
George W�s political appointees with no particular competence for 
the job. His previous post was at the Justice Department�s �task 
force for faith-based initiatives.� Bloch has been a bumbler �- 
he�s under investigation for sexual bias in the workplace and 
retaliation against employees who disagree with his policies. He 
even has a whistleblower complaint against him by his own staff! 
And in his first month on the job, he blithely tossed out more 
than 1,000 legitimate whistleblower cases, apparently so he could 
claim progress in reducing his agency�s backlog. 

But Bloch�s most blockheaded move was his treatment of Leroy 
Smith, who had been named 2006 �Public Servant of the Year.� 
Smith was being honored for blowing the whistle on federal prison 
factories that expose inmates and staff to deadly toxics. In 
September, Smith was flown to Washington for the big ceremony, 
media were invited, lawmakers were coming, a roomful of catered 
food was laid out, and the doors to the event were swinging open 
when �- Slam! �- Bloch abruptly canceled the event. 

He claimed that he had to cancel because another agency official
had suffered a �sudden� death in her family. But the death was
not sudden. �It�s kind of fishy,� said a disappointed Smith.
What really caused this petulant reaction by Bloch, the guy
who�s 
supposed to prevent retaliation against whistleblowers? It seems
he learned that Smith was going to a press conference after the
ceremony to decry the difficulties of being a federal
whistleblower �- and that would not be good for Bloch�s image.
He later mailed the award to Smith. 

To help whistleblowers fight such blockheads, contact the
watchdog group, PEER, 
at 202-265-7337.   
  
  Copyright � 2001-2006 East Texas Review Newspaper All Rights 
Reserved.

 517 South Mobberly Longview, TX 75602 903.236.0406
*****************************************************************
 43 CBC: Soldiers' Kuwait health complaints mishandled: ombudsman

Canada
 			 				 					Story Tools: E-MAIL | PRINT | Text Size: S M L XL
Last Updated: Wednesday, November 1, 2006 | 9:33 PM ET 

Canada's armed forces were sharply criticized Wednesday by the
military ombudsman for mishandling health complaints by
Canadian soldiers exposed to burning oil wells in Kuwait in
1991. 

In his report released in Ottawa, Yves Coté said hundreds of
Canadian troops were exposed to radiation from depleted uranium
shells after coalition forces ejected occupying Iraqi troops.
They also continually inhaled thick black smoke from burning oil
wells set ablaze by retreating Iraqi forces.   [Yves Cote,
Canada's national defence ombudsman, outlines his report at a
news conference in Ottawa on  Wednesday.] Yves Cote, Canada's
national defence ombudsman, outlines his report at a news
conference in Ottawa on Wednesday.
(Tom Hanson/Canadian Press) 

Many of the Canadians suffered from ill health almost
immediately, Coté found. Others suffered from a variety of
conditions, including liver failure, emphysema, constant
headaches and brain tumours. 

In his report, entitled Heroism Exposed, Coté said neither the
armed forces nor the Department of National Defence paid enough
attention to the legitimate complaints of Canadian soldiers. 

"The legitimate health concerns of soldiers were not given the
weight they deserved," Coté said during a news conference. "If
we send our [soldiers] abroad healthy and they return sick, they
need to know that Canada, their country, will take care of
them." 

He said one senior non-commissioned officer who was sent to
hospital in Kuwait City was treated upon his return to his
regiment as "a disease, an outcast." 

Protective equipment lacking: ombudsman 

Nor were the troops adequately prepared for the environmental
hazards of their mission, the ombudsman found. 

"The Canadian Forces were aware that burning oil wells posed
air-quality issues and some provision was made to protect
personnel," Coté's report said. "However, these measures were
partial and not universally applied. Adequate supplies of
protective equipment to guide personnel on the ground were also
lacking." 

Coté also criticized the defence department for poor record
keeping, saying Ottawa could not provide him with a full list of
soldiers who had served in Kuwait, or even more recent
operations in Afghanistan. 

However, the ombudsman said, there had been notable improvements
in recent years to the armed forces' ability to prepare soldiers
for environmental risks on the battlefield. 

Coté stressed that his report was not intended to establish a
connection between soldiers' health problems and exposure to
toxins, but was an examination of the response to those
complaints by officials and superior officers. 							 Continue

CBC Newsworld's Doug Dirks
speaks with former Deputy Commanding Officer Maj. Fred Kaustinen
(Ret'd) 						 					 (Runs: 3:53)
 					 						
Canada's military ombudsman                                     
Ombudsman's report                                                                                                              

(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the 
content of external sites - links will open in new window)                              
	 	 			 	 							 							 								
Copyright � CBC 2006                             
*****************************************************************
 44 Canadian Press: Combat engineers exposed to Gulf War contaminants - ombudsman
 	 	
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press

Published: Wednesday, November 01, 2006                                                                         

OTTAWA (CP) - Canadian combat engineers serving in Kuwait in the
aftermath of the first Gulf War were exposed to a noxious
cocktail of chemicals, including depleted uranium, the Canadian
Forces ombudsman said Wednesday. 

In a scathing 46-page report, Yves Cote concluded the army did
little to protect soldiers from the environmental hazards posed
by burning oil wells, set alight by retreating Iraqi forces in
1991. 

There's no definite link between exposure to the smoke, as well
as to burning ammunition containing depleted uranium, and health
concerns raised by soldiers after the deployment, Cote said. 

But the military systematically ignored complaints from many of
the roughly 350 soldiers who took part in the Kuwait mission,
his report concludes. 

"The Canadian Forces was aware that burning oil wells posed air
quality issues; however, the provisions that were made to
protect personnel were limited and not universally applied,"
said Cote. 

"Also ground personnel lacked an adequate supply of protective
equipment. Following our investigation, I also found the
legitimate health concerns . . . were not given the weight and
respect they deserved." 

The initial complaint that prompted the investigation by the
military watchdog came from the unit's former second-in-command. 

"This is fantastic," retired Maj. Fred Kaustinen said of the
report's findings. 

"We have a world-class health system in Canada and we have
world-class soldiers. 

"Somehow these world-class soldiers were denied our own health
system. It's great that a leader in our system has stepped up
and said these guys didn't get what they deserved." 

During a three-year investigation, begun under Cote's
predecessor Andre Marin, former engineers complained of a
variety of health issues, including breathing trouble,
unexplained headaches and tumours. 

Cote also discovered that the medical files of some soldiers who
served in Kuwait have key pieces of information missing -
documents that soldiers were assured would be there should they
ever report any health concerns. 

"At some point in time there were pieces of paper that may have
been on an individual's files that were removed, but this may
not be a sinister move," said Cote. 

Given that 15 years have passed, it could have been a
bureaucratic exercise or an oversight, he said. 

Six years ago, a board of inquiry into concerns Canadian
peacekeepers in Croatia were exposed to toxic chemicals in 1993
found that information was deliberately removed from the medical
files of those soldiers. A non-commissioned officer was
disciplined over the incident involving troops who served in the
Medak Pocket. 

The Croatian investigation also found that the Defence
Department did not keep proper track of who served in the Balkan
operation. It recommended better recordkeeping, a measure that
has yet to implemented six years later. 		 		  		


Cote not only discovered deployment lists for the engineers in 
Kuwait to be incomplete, but also records of who has been serving 
in Afghanistan.

He said it's important, especially if soldiers currently overseas 
ever need a paper trail to present to Veterans Affairs for 
benefits and compensation.

Like their Croatian counterparts, engineers who served in the 
Gulf have had trouble applying for benefits "primarily because 
they were unable to document the fact that they had served in 
Kuwait and had been exposed to various environmental toxins," 
said Cote's report.

Kaustinen said someone should be asking the government why it is 
reluctant to recognize these illnesses.

For years, the health of many soldiers who took part in 
peacekeeping or support operations - conflicts that were not 
quite peace and not quite war - have been dismissed as 
stress-related.

Critics have also attempted to link the ailments with exposure to 
depleted uranium shells - munitions that are coated with spent 
nuclear fuel in order to make it easier for them to penetrate 
armoured vehicles.

Cote's report appears to be the first official acknowledgment by 
anyone connected with the Defence Department that Canadian troops 
were exposed to the potentially hazardous residue.

Scientists have long been concerned about the health effects of 
soldiers inhaling depleted uranium dust, which is leftover in the 
aftermath of the exploded shell.

In 2002, the Defence Department offered to test Canadian veterans 
for radioactive contamination. To date, only 228 out of 4,262 who 
served in the Gulf have taken up the offer and no abnormal 
readings having been found.

Cote said the combat engineers should be recognized for their 
bravery, especially for helping U.S. soldiers stamp out a July 
1991 fire at an ammunition depot in Doha, where they evacuated 
many casualties who had been exposed to burning rounds containing 
depleted uranium.

The ombudsman met Tuesday with Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, 
who promised to develop an action plan to implement Cote's nine 
recommendations.
c The Canadian Press 2006

                                                 
� 2006 CanWest Interactive, a division of . All rights
*****************************************************************
 45 icScotland: 'Gulf War cancer link suppressed'
           
Nov 1 2006
  
Evidence that depleted uranium munitions used by British and US
forces in the Gulf War could cause cancer among civilians was
suppressed from a key United Nations report, it has been claimed.

Keith Baverstock, a British scientist who worked as a radiation
adviser with the UN's World Health Organisation (WHO), said
evidence which he presented to a major assessment of the
post-conflict hazards following the 1991 war was withheld.

In an interview for the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Dr
Baverstock said he had uncovered research indicating that
depleted uranium (DU) was a potentially-dangerous carcinogen.

The research had been carried out by the US Department of
Defence Armed Forces Radiobiological Research Institute. However
the scientist who headed the WHO review, Mike Repacholi, refused
to include it in the final report, published in 2001, as it was
not corroborated by other reports.

He told Today he had not wanted "fairy-tale stuff" in the final
document, which concluded that DU was basically safe, although
it advised that children should be restricted from going into
areas where it was used.

Dr Baverstock said when he tried to present the research in a
separate paper written with two other colleagues, he was blocked
by the WHO - although the information was subsequently released
into the public domain. He said that he had never been given a
reason, although he suggested that there may have been
"political influences" behind the decision.

"It is naive to think that in institutions like the United
Nations one is free from political influences - the member
states have their own agendas," he said. Asked whether he was
suggesting that WHO was pressurised by countries like the US, he
said: "I think that could be the case - yes".

Dr Repacholi said the decision went right up to the office of
the director general of the WHO, but he denied it was the result
of political pressure. He said that there had been concern that
Dr Baverstock's paper contradicted the main report findings.

Professor Randall Parish of the Isotope Geo-science laboratory
at the British Geological Survey, said the incidence of birth
defects and Non Hodgkin's Lymphomas in Iraq suggested more
research was needed on the issue.


But in a statement to the programme, a Ministry of Defence
spokesman said there was no scientific or medical evidence to
link DU with the ill health of people living in the Gulf region.
  	
      	
� owned by or licensed to Scottish & Universal
Newspapers Limited 2006.
icScotland is a trade mark of Scottish & Universal Newspapers
Limited.
*****************************************************************
 46 RGJ.com: Yucca Meeting

Nevada, USA  775-788-6200    November 01, 2006 		 		 		 		 			
	 	 		 	 
Posted: 11/1/2006 

An Energy Department spokesman called the meetings 'listening
sessions,' to collect comments for environmental studies on
waste-handling at Yucca Mountain and building a railroad to the
site through Lyon, Mineral and Esmeralda counties.

'If someone believes there is not enough information, they
should make that one of the comments,' said Allen Benson, Energy
Department and Yucca Mountain project spokesman in Las Vegas.
'We believe we are providing adequate and sufficient information
for people to give the kind of input we need to complete these
environmental assessments.'

Meetings were set this week in Amargosa Valley and Las Vegas,
followed by sessions later this month in Caliente, Goldfield,
Hawthorne, Fallon. A Nov. 27 meeting has been added in Reno.

The environmental reports are due out next year, Benson said.

Kevin Kamps, spokesman for the Nuclear Information and Resource
Service, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group, complained
that information at the Washington meeting was 'scattered.'

'We can't talk to each other, we can't hear from each other
about concerns,' Kamps told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 'It
think it is by design.'

The Energy Department announced earlier this month it was
reconsidering building a rail line through western Nevada to
Yucca site, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The north-south route dubbed the Mina Corridor had been studied
in the 1990s but shelved after the Walker River Paiute Indians
refused access to their reservation. The tribe reconsidered this
year.

The Energy Department had said it favored plans to build a
longer east-west rail line from Caliente, near the Utah border,
across rural Nevada to the nuclear dump site. The cost of the
so-called Caliente Corridor route has been estimated at $2
billion.

There currently is no rail line to the Yucca site, which
Congress and the Bush administration picked in 2002 as the place
to entomb 77,000 tons of radioactive waste now being stored at
nuclear reactors in 39 states. The project has been stalled by
funding shortfalls and questions about quality control during
site selection.

------ 
 Reno Gazette-Journal network: | | | 
*****************************************************************
 47 globeandmail.com: Uranium glowing as it soars to new high

METALS 		 

Cameco woes spark unprecedented rise
 	 	 	 	 			 			 			 		 			 			 			 		 			 			
JOHN PARTRIDGE INVESTMENT REPORTER                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Uranium prices have soared an unprecedented 7 per cent in a week
to a record high after the flooding of an unfinished Cameco
Corp. mine in northern Saskatchewan -- estimated to hold as much
as 17 per cent of the world's supplies -- threatened to postpone
production until 2009 or later. 

The fissile metal, which is priced weekly by Ux Consulting Co.
of Roswell, Ga., the bible of the nuclear fuel business, surged
to $60 (U.S.) a pound in the spot market, an increase of $4 from
the previous week. It was the biggest weekly gain for uranium on
record. 

"It's probably the largest monthly increase in the history of
the market," Ux Consulting president Jeff Combs said when
reached at his office. 

"You can certainly say it's the biggest one-week jump."	 	 			
			 			 			 			 			 	 		 	 	 	 	 	 		 				 			 			 	 	 	 						
And there is more to come. The $60 spot price "obviously" does
not reflect the full impact of the Cigar Lake debacle, Mr. Combs
said. 

Analysts responded by hoisting their price forecasts for
uranium, the key raw material for nuclear fuel, and for the
shares of several of its producers. The Cigar Lake mine's
production -- 18 million pounds a year, ultimately -- is
designed to replace production due to be retired down the road.
It is the largest new mine on the drawing board anywhere in the
world. 

Ux Consulting also said the Cigar Lake flood is "almost certain
to take its place as one of the most important developments in
the history of the uranium market." This is because of the
potential size of the disruption to supply and the fact that it
comes at a time when supply is already very tight, especially
for the 2008-to-2010 period. 

Uranium prices have shot up more than sixfold in the past five
years, fuelled by growing demand for nuclear power and an
already large gap between demand and supply. 

Saskatoon-based Cameco, the world's largest producer of uranium,
was scheduled to release its third-quarter financial results
last night. The company is expected to have more to say about
the prognosis for Cigar Lake during a conference call today to
discuss the quarterly results. 

It disclosed Oct. 25 that a rock fall at the unfinished mine had
triggered a massive flow of water that has since flooded the
entire underground network that had been excavated to date. 

Cameco owns 50 per cent of Cigar Lake, French-controlled Areva
Resources Canada Inc. owns 37 per cent, and two Japanese firms
own the balance. 

Until its recent run, uranium's previous high was about $43 a
pound, set back in 1978. That's about $110 in today's
inflation-adjusted dollars, and some uranium bulls figure the
metal will eclipse that level over the next couple of years. 

Analyst Brian MacArthur of UBS Securities Canada Inc. is not
quite so optimistic. 

But as part of a general review of metals prices sent to clients
yesterday, he ratcheted up his forecast for uranium to $71 a
pound for next year, a hike of 23.5 per cent, and to $75 for
2008, up 25 per cent. 

Citing the Ux Consulting report and Cigar Lake, analyst Bart
Jaworski at investment dealer Raymond James in Vancouver said in
a note to clients yesterday that he has raised his uranium price
forecasts to $75 a pound from $60 for 2007, to $80 from $60 for
2008 and to $80 from $55 for 2009. 

Mr. Jaworski also increased his targets for several other
uranium producers, whose share prices have already benefited
from Cameco's troubles. 

He raised his rating on sxr Uranium One Inc. to "strong buy"
from "outperform" and his price target to $16 (Canadian) a share
from $10.50. He also raised his price target for Energy Metals
Corp., already a "strong buy," to $11 from $9. 

Mr. Jaworski has added $3.75 to his price target for Denison
Mines Inc., taking it to $21.50 a share, while leaving it at
"market perform," and is now looking for Strathmore Minerals
Corp. shares to hit $3 instead of $2.50 in the next year, even
though he has cut his rating on the stock to "outperform" from
"strong buy" to reflect "recent share price appreciation." 	 	

Globemedia Publishing Inc., 444 Front St. W., Toronto, Canada M5V 
2S9 Phillip Crawley, Publisher                                       
*****************************************************************
 48 AU ABC: Nuclear dump opponent urges health monitoring. 

01/11/2006. ABC News Online

An Alice Springs alderman is starting a 30-year protest against
a nuclear waste facility by asking people to track any impact on
their health.

 Jane Clark is against the Federal Government's plans to place a
nuclear facility in the Northern Territory.

 She says people should monitor their health over the next three
decades, so any effects from the planned nuclear facility can be
recorded.

 "What I'd like people to do is after they've sat down, and it
takes about half an hour to record your family medical history,
is then to take a photograph of your family and post that either
through the website or deliver it into my office and if we get a
large number of people who have done this then we'll put it
together as an exhibition," she said. 




*****************************************************************
 49 NRC: NRC Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste to Meet in Rockville, Maryland, Nov. 13-16
 
News Release - 2006-13 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office 
of Public Affairs     Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 
20555-0001     E-mail: No. 06-139     November 1, 2006   


The Nuclear Regulatory Commissions Advisory Committee on Nuclear
Waste (ACNW) will meet Nov. 13-16 in Rockville, Md., to discuss,
among other items, seismic issues and review methodologies
related to the proposed Yucca Mountain repository, and results
from the recently completed report from the Liquid Radioactive
Release (Tritium) Lessons Learned Task Force. The ACNW working
group on decommissioning lessons learned will meet on the second
day. 

The committee reports to and advises the Commission on all
aspects of nuclear waste management. 

The session on Monday will run from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Tuesdays working group meeting will run from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30
p.m. Wednesdays session will run from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and
Thursdays session will run from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The meeting
will be held in Room T-2B3 of the agencys Two White Flint North
Building, at 11545 Rockville Pike. 

Anyone requiring the use of video teleconferencing to observe
the meeting should contact Theron Brown, at 301-415-8066 to
ensure availability. A complete agenda will be available on the
NRCs Web site at this address:
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acnw/agenda/2006/.
Individuals interested in making statements or those seeking
more information should contact Antonio Dias at 301-415-6805.   
  
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, November 01, 2006 	   
*****************************************************************
 50 LasVegasNOW.com: DOE Adds Yucca Mountain Info Session Amid Nevada Complaints

News for Las Vegas, Nevada - 

The federal Energy Department is adding another public meeting
about revised plans for a radioactive waste dump in Nevada while
state officials and anti-nuclear advocates complained that a
first meeting wasn't informative.    

Energy Department officials call the meetings "listening
sessions."    

They say they're designed to kick off environmental impact
studies on waste-handling at Yucca Mountain -- and the
possibility of building a railroad to the site through Lyon,
Mineral and Esmeralda counties.    

But the first session Monday in Washington, DC, drew complaints
that there wasn't enough detail to comment.    

One lawyer for Nevada says nobody could have a way of knowing
whether they would be affected or not.    

A meeting November 27th in Reno has been added to meetings later
this week in Amargosa Valley and Las Vegas -- followed by
sessions later this month in Caliente, Goldfield, Hawthorne and
Fallon.          

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.) 

All content � Copyright 2000 - 2006 WorldNow and KLAS. All
*****************************************************************
 51 KVBC: Nevada critics of Yucca Mountain complain about info sessions

State officials and anti-nuclear advocates are complaining about 
how the Energy Department's sharing revised plans for a proposed 
radioactive waste dump in Nevada. Energy Department organizers 
call a series of upcoming meetings "listening sessions." 

They say they're designed to kick off environmental impact 
studies on waste-handling at Yucca Mountain and the possibility 
of building a railroad to the site through Lyon, Mineral and 
Esmeralda counties. 

But the first session Monday in Washington, DC, drew complaints 
that there wasn't enough detail to comment. One lawyer for Nevada 
says nobody could have a way of knowing whether they would be 
affected or not. 

Meetings later this week will be in Amargosa Valley and Las 
Vegas, followed by sessions later this month in Caliente, 
Goldfield, Hawthorne and Fallon. 

Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, 

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)   
  

      All content � Copyright 2000 - 2006 WorldNow and KVBC. All
Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 52 icNorthWales: We'll give millions to save economy from Wylfa fallout
                                                             
Nov 1 2006
  
By David Jones    

ASSEMBLY enterprise minister Andrew Davies is pledging that new
European cash will go to a flagship project to revitalise the
under-threat economy of north west Wales.

He said yesterday that some of the �1.3bn Convergence funding
for West Wales and the Valleys coming on stream from next year
will go to the new Mon a Menai regeneration initiative.

Mon a Menai is being launched by the Welsh Assembly and local
authorities in a bid to head off a virtual collapse of the
economy of Anglesey and parts of Gwynedd in the wake of the
closure of Wylfa nuclear power plant in 2010 and uncertainty
over the future of the Anglesey Aluminium smelter at Holyhead
after that.

But Mr Davies was unable to put a figure on how much the two
counties might expect  saying that depends on what happens to
the smelter and other factors.

"We also need to carry out more detailed work on what the
priorities are going to be, and until we know that it will not
be possible to put any figure on it," he said.

Mr Davies said no-one was giving up on efforts to secure the
future of Anglesey Aluminum and attempts were being made to
secure a medium-to-long term, reasonably-priced energy resource
to replace the electricity currently generated for the smelter
by Wylfa.
   	
Defending the record of the European-funded Objective 1 programme 
in north west Wales, he said it had boosted employment, increased 
investment and rejuvenated communities - but he admitted there 
was still much work to be done to raise local prosperity levels 
which are lagging badly behind most other areas of the UK.

Pointing to projects like the CAST advanced software development 
technium at Bangor, which had benefited from Objective 1 funding, 
he added that it takes time for that sort of investment to start 
feeding through to the local economy in terms of jobs and wealth 
generation.

And he agreed that the new EU Convergence funds are needed to 
further strengthen the North Wales economy.

Caernarfon AM Alun Ffred Jones said there was a great deal of 
uncertainty over how the new Convergence-funded projects will be 
delivered and he feared that local control will be lost, perhaps 
with the Assembly taking a more central role.

"There is a lack of clarity about how projects will be developed 
at the local level and a suspicion that projects will be 
developed by the Assembly government," he said.

Mr Davies acknowledged the success of partnerships and said they 
would continue to play a "crucial role" in bringing forward 
project ideas for the new Convergence programme.

Over the past six years Gwynedd Economic Partnership has seen 100 
Objective 1 projects approved, securing �71.9m of EU funding and 
total investment of �163m, creating 1,680 new jobs, and 
safeguarding a further 2,332.

Partnership chairman Coun Dewi Lewis said: "With a new period of 
European funding ahead the challenge facing us now is to ensure 
that the quality regional projects that have been promised for 
Gwynedd come to fruition. To do this, we must learn the lessons 
of the past few years and make sure that the funding we secure 
really does add value and build on Gwynedd's successes."

                                                                                Copyright and Trade Mark Notice                                                                                                         
West & North Wales Limited 2006 icNorthWales is a trade mark of 
Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales Limited. Please read our 
Terms and Conditions and Privacy Statement before using this 
site.                                                                                                         
*****************************************************************
 53 The Australian: Strategic strikes by uranium big guns

 Robin Bromby November 02, 2006 

IT was another heady day for the uranium sector -- two foreign
players taking strategic stakes in a new float and two juniors
seeing heavy trading after exploration announcements.

 Northern Uranium closed its $4 million initial public offering
early and oversubscribed nothing new in that, but the real
interest was that Canada's Mega Uranium and France's Areva had
each taken a 6.25 per cent stake in the company. 

It is a further sign that consolidation has a way to run in the
already fractured uranium sector, where more than 80 listed
companies have that metal as at least part of their portfolios. 

Already Paladin Resources has taken over Valhalla Uranium and is
rumoured to be eyeing Queensland's big uranium fish, Summit
Resources. 

Mega has shown a voracious appetite for Australian territory. 

Earlier this year it swallowed South Australian uranium explorer
Hindmarsh Resources and is now in the final stages of digesting
West Australian play Redport. 

It is also in joint venture wih Southern Gold in South
Australian uranium leases. 

French nuclear group Areva, known here as Cogema, has more
reason than usual to get involved in future nuclear supplies
after its 37 per cent owned Cigar Lake mine in Canada was closed
after flooding. 

Northern will list on November 15 after going to the market with
leases that straddle the West Australian and Northern Territory
border. 

But investors were also looking for any news from companies that
are already trading. 

Aura Energy shares jumped 49 per cent yesterday, climbing 9.5c
to 29c, on news that drilling had confirmed widespread uranium
mineralisation at its project near Mt Magnet in Western
Australia. 

Its intersections included grades up to 0.04 per cent and most
of the mineralisation was within 2m of surface. 

But Far East Capital's Warwick Grigor said the share spurt was a
further sign of "stupidity" in the market. 

He said of the 31 holes drilled, only 20 per cent graded higher
than 0.02 per cent. 

"A more pertinent release would have said '70 per cent of the
holes were very much below economic grades'," Mr Grigor said.
"This release, and the reaction of the market, is typical of the
naivety we are seeing." 

There was also heavy trading in Dioro Exploration shares after
it said it had identified uranium anomalies near Newman, Western
Australia. 

Dioro rose 0.4c to 7.3c. 

� The Australian           
*****************************************************************
 54 reviewjournal.com: DOE adds Yucca meeting in Reno
 
  Nov. 01, 2006

Hearings, comment time fall short of requests    

By STEVE TETREAULT <br/>STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department added a public meeting in
Reno later this month to discuss new designs for a Yucca
Mountain repository and a possible Northern Nevada railroad
corridor for nuclear waste. 

The department on Tuesday also extended the official public
comment period on both matters until Dec. 12, a 15-day
extension. 

The DOE announcement fell short of what the state of Nevada and
activist groups had requested as the government embarks on a
round of environmental impact studies for the proposed changes. 

Besides Reno, state officials had sought meetings in cities
across Northern Nevada, and also in Sacramento, Calif., and Salt
Lake City, areas could be affected by rail shipments of nuclear
waste along the so-called "Mina corridor" that the DOE is
preparing to study. 

Under the Mina route proposal, the nuclear waste would travel
south near or through the small towns of Winnemucca, Silver
Springs, Hawthorne, Mina, Goldfield and Amargosa Valley and then
northeast to the repository. 

The state plans to register growing irritation over the
department's schedule for the Yucca Mountain "scoping" meetings
and their format, said Bob Loux, executive director of the
Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects. 

"Certainly this is not enough," Loux said. "DOE is making a
deliberate attempt to reduce the affected public from any
effective involvement in the process. 

"There are thousands of people in the Interstate 80 corridor
where the bulk of shipments would be coming through who don't
know what is going on," Loux said. 

The added hearing in Reno coupled with the extra time for
Nevadans to comment at public meetings or on the
www.ocrwm.doe.gov Web site "provides the public with sufficient
opportunity to provide us comments," DOE spokesman Allen Benson
said. 

DOE was required only to hold a single public meeting, Benson
said. "So clearly we are going beyond what was required," he
said. 

The additional meeting will be Nov. 27 at the University of
Nevada, Reno. Nuclear waste could travel through the downtown of
that city under a scenario DOE plans to examine, according to
activists. 

The Energy Department has scheduled a scoping meeting from 4
p.m. to 7 p.m. today in Amargosa Valley at the Longstreet, state
Route 373. 

Another meeting is scheduled for the same time Thursday in Las
Vegas at the Cashman Center, 850 Las Vegas Blvd. North. 

Meetings also will be held next week in Caliente, Goldfield,
Hawthorne and Fallon. 

At the sessions, information about new repository designs and
maps of the proposed Mina route will be presented on poster
boards, with project officials on hand to answer questions.
Members of the public will be able to register comments to
official recorders at the sites. 

But Loux said the format is not informative based on comments he
heard from people who attended an initial meeting in Washington
on Monday. 

He said the DOE and contractor officials gave conflicting
answers to questions about repository blueprints and the status
of multipurpose canisters DOE plans to employ to ship and store
the radioactive waste. 

"All in all, this whole process is really a disaster," Loux
said. 	   

    
Copyright � Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2006
 Stephens Media GroupPrivacy Statement
*****************************************************************
 55 ScrippsNews: Labs look at recycling weapons-grade plutonium for energy |

By SUE VORENBERG

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Finding a way to get rid of 34 tons of extra weapons-grade
plutonium poses an interesting challenge. 

The United States and Russia _ under an arms reduction treaty _
can't just drop it off at the dump or toss it in the garbage. 

And the people who might want to take it off their hands _ say,
North Korea and Iran _ probably wouldn't do anything nice with
it. 

One option in the United States is to carefully treat it, then
store it at the nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada,
if it ever opens. 

Or, if you're one of New Mexico's national laboratories, you can
look at doing something even stranger with it _ recycling it
into commercial power. 

The United States and Russia cleared a major diplomatic hurdle
in September that gets both closer to getting rid of the deadly
material through recycling. The two countries agreed on
liability protection for the United States so it can help Russia
with its part of the equation. 

Both countries have been working on efforts to use plutonium to
create a recycled nuclear fuel called MOX, or mixed oxide, which
can power commercial nuclear plants. But the programs have been
stalled for the past several years because there are risks
involved and there was no liability agreement to protect either
country in case something went wrong with the recycled product,
said Randall Erickson, former program manager at the nuclear
nonproliferation program office at Los Alamos National
Laboratory. 

Since the early 1990s, Los Alamos and Sandia national
laboratories have been working on various aspects of making MOX
a reality in the United States. 

It's tricky, because you have to keep the material out of the
wrong hands and you have to tweak it before it can be used in
commercial power reactors. 

Still, Erickson said he appreciates the ironic twist of turning
material for nuclear bombs into something more positive. 

"Somebody coined the term that we're taking megatons of nuclear
weapons materials and turning it into megawatts to light the
cities," Erickson said. 

The 34 tons could power a nuclear plant for more than 34 years,
he said. 

Not everyone agrees that turning bomb materials into fuel is a
good idea, including the Washington-based Union of Concerned
Scientists, said Edwin Lyman, a senior staff member. 

"On the surface, it sounds like a good idea, but if you start
looking at it in any detail, you realize it can't fulfill that
promise," Lyman said. "When you use plutonium in a light-water
(power) reactor, there are characteristics that increase the
likelihood of certain accidents." 

That could include uncontrollable chain reactions leading to a
Chernobyl-like accident, Lyman said. 

Los Alamos scientists, however, say they've found a mixture of
one-third plutonium and two-thirds uranium will work in
conventional power plants without damaging them, Erickson said. 

Los Alamos has been testing recycled fuel in France as a first
step in the U.S. program. The French purified the unclassified
combination of plutonium and uranium in 2004 and 2005 and turned
it into fuel for a reactor in South Carolina. 

That reactor has been test-burning the fuel since summer 2005,
Erickson said. 

"Everything is performing as they anticipated," he said. "In
truth, this technology was not a major leap." 

That doesn't mean the plutonium is completely secure, Lyman
argued. 

"There's an issue about whether reactor sites will have to
increase security because of the threat of fuel being stolen,"
Lyman said. 

Also, plutonium fuel creates different nuclear byproducts as it
breaks down and it burns hotter than uranium, so it will put
more stress on a conventional power plant system, Lyman said. 

"You just don't want to do anything to increase the risks,"
Lyman said. "The MOX program has always been the more dangerous,
riskier option." 

Either way, the United States and Russia are years away from
actually burning the 34 tons of plutonium in commercial
reactors, Erickson said. 

After the test is finished, the United States will have to build
its own MOX fuel fabrication facility and a facility to take the
weapons-grade plutonium and break it down into a powder. Those
facilities are slated for the Savannah River Site in South
Carolina, Erickson said.
 
Scripps Media Center and Scripps Howard News Service
*****************************************************************
 56 DOE: U.S. DOE Awards Contract for Management and Operation of 
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to the Fermi Research 
Alliance, LLC
 
  November 1, 2006
 
BATAVIA, ILLINOIS -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has
awarded a new $1.575 billion, five-year contract for management
and operation of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) to
the Fermi Research Alliance, LLC (FRA), owned jointly by the
University of Chicago (UChicago) and Universities Research
Association, Inc. (URA). 

The quality of the new contract is a direct consequence of the
competition process, DOE Under Secretary for Science Dr.
Raymond L. Orbach said today at a ceremony at Fermilab where he
made the announcement of the contractor.  The partnership
between UChicago and URA will enhance organizational depth and
capability, promising improvements in performance and
accountability." 

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert also participated in the
ceremony. 

As a new independent entity, FRA was supported in its proposal
by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern
University, Northern Illinois University and the Illinois
Institute of Technology. 

UChicago and URA bring a combined 100 years of experience in the
management and oversight of DOE laboratories which, when
combined with the contributions of Illinois leading research
universities, will provide a strong foundation for continued US
leadership in high energy physics and offer a strong team for
attracting the International Linear Collider (ILC) to the U.S. 

FRA is led by a Board of Directors chaired by UChicago President
Robert Zimmer and comprised of university presidents and
national and international science and industry leaders.  FRA
provides DOE with single-point accountability at the corporate
level for laboratory performance, oversees the Laboratory
Director and his management team, and ensures that FNAL has the
capabilities needed for its scientific mission. 

Under the new contract, FRA has designated industrial partner
EG&G/URS as a subcontractor to provide business management,
environmental, health and safety and quality assurance
capabilities and resources needed to deliver the most science
per taxpayer dollar. 

The FRA proposal to DOE contained 28 new initiatives aimed at
improving corporate governance and resources, attracting the
proposed ILC to the lab, attracting world-class scientists and
engineers, strengthening communication and collaboration between
FNAL, ANL and the high energy physics community, and improving
management, assessment and performance.  Within these
initiatives, FRA proposed the establishment of centers for
advanced accelerator and physics research and the creation of a
center for analyzing data from the Large Hadron Collider which
will leverage FNALs state-of-the-art Feynman and Grid Computing
Centers. 

FRA, together with its designated subcontractor and the leading
Illinois research universities, has pledged 19 commitments
totaling $12.1 million over the term of the five-year contract,
primarily to enhance mission support, business operations and
educational development. 

The new contract contains a number of provisions intended to
provide incentives for outstanding performance.  The contract
contains award term provisions under which the department may
recognize outstanding performance through phased extensions of
the contract for up to a total of 20 years, if the contractor
meets specific performance levels established by DOE.  The
contract also contains incentive fee provisions under which FRA
can earn a maximum total fee of up to $3.55 million a year for
outstanding performance during the initial five-year term and
the first five years of any award term extensions. 

The initial contract term will be January 1, 2007, to December
31, 2011. 

Media contact(s): Sandra Geib, (630) 252-2420 Jeff Sherwood, 
(202) 586-5806     [ ]   

  U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | 
Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403
   
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 57 Idaho Statesman: Transmission-line plan could benefit Idaho's nuclear lab

11-01-2006                                                                                      
                 
Two will run through southeastern region; another will cross
northern part of state
 				 						 	 		 	 	 									 				
By Mike Griffel
 				
Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 11/01/06

A Canadian company's plan to build electrical transmission lines 
might provide a way for Idaho National Laboratory to sell nuclear 
power someday, a lab spokesman says. 

TransCanada's NorthernLights project includes three electrical
transmission lines in the Pacific Northwest by 2012, including
two that would run through southeastern Idaho.

The two high-voltage, direct-current lines  one from Montana,
the other from Wyoming  would come together in southeastern
Idaho and weave south to Las Vegas. They will carry energy from
coal, wind power and other sources.

"This project will provide electricity for fast-growing
electricity markets in the southwestern U.S. with access to
low-cost, environmentally attractive generation resources," said
Shela Shapiro, of TransCanada, an energy company.

Each of the 3,000-megawatt lines through Idaho will run about
1,000 miles at a cost of $1.5 billion per line. 

One line will pass near the Idaho National Laboratory. Lab
officials are examining what opportunities the line could bring.

The line would give the lab access to the Western electrical
grid, said John Lindsay, director of communications and public
affairs. 

INL researchers are working to develop the next-generation
nuclear power plant. If a plant is built at the lab and INL can
generate electricity, the lab could potentially sell that power
via the NorthernLights line.

"This particular proposal could give us the opportunity to
provide electrical energy and earn some revenue," Lindsay said.

Several things must fall in place for that to happen. The INL
still needs the money  and the OK  to build the nuclear plant.

Lindsay said that is still 15 or 20 years away.

In the meantime, he said, INL will act as an information source
for the NorthernLights project team. 

The governors of Idaho, Montana and Nevada recently signed a
memorandum of understanding authorizing their states to work
collectively in a coordinated siting and permitting process. 

TransCanada completed a feasibility study in 2005 and is working
on getting the project approved by various agencies and groups.

The third line will begin in Alberta, pass through a corner of
far northern Idaho, and swing west to run through Washington,
Oregon and Northern California. Shapiro said the company could
begin construction by 2009 if all goes well. The company hopes
the lines will be operational by 2012. 

"We are excited about this project, and it is moving in the
right direction," she said.

The Idaho Statesman contributed to this story.                                                                                                  
	 	 		 		 		 	 		 				 	
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 58 Tri-City Herald: Generating station has shutdown 

Published Wednesday, November 1st, 2006 

By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer 

The Columbia Generating Station finished a record run of 486
days, generating more than $486 million worth of power before
shutting down early Tuesday. 

The nuclear power plant automatically shut down at 4:45 a.m.
when monitoring equipment suggested a problem existed with
systems that control the flow of steam to the plant's main
turbine. The plant uses nuclear reactions to create steam to
spin turbines that drive the plant's 1,250-megawatt generator. 

The new operating record is 24 percent longer than the previous
record of 393 days of operation ending in July 2004. 

In recent years, the Columbia Generating System has been
emphasizing worker training and performance, said spokesman Brad
Peck. It also has worked on a backlog of maintenance projects
that were not related to safety, he said. 

Both may have contributed to the record run, he said. 

Energy Northwest, which owns the plant, expects it to be
off-line for a matter of days. The reason why the safety system
triggered the shut down was not known Tuesday afternoon, but the
plant has experienced past difficulties with the digital system
that controls the steam flow to the turbine. 

As long as the system is shut down to investigate and repair the
cause of Tuesday's problem, workers will make other repairs.
That includes preventive maintenance on an emergency
high-pressure core spray service water pump. 

Because the plant generates power worth about $1 million each
day, Energy Northwest will keep the shut down as brief as
possible. 

When the plant starts up, the next run will not set another
record. The plant is planned to operate until about May, when a
shutdown for refueling is planned. Refueling is done every two
years and requires the plant to be down for about a month. 

� 2006 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
 59 washingtonpost.com: Nuclear Cleanup Site Has Cities Cleaning Up Financially -

Effort That Began In 1989 Has Been An Economic Boon

By Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, November 1, 2006; Page A03

RICHLAND, Wash. -- Out on the Hanford nuclear reservation, a 
fantastically poisoned plateau where the federal government 
brewed up most of the plutonium for its nuclear arsenal, the 
cleanup is going rather badly.

Now in its 17th year, the nation's largest and most complex 
environmental remediation project is costing many billions of 
dollars more than expected and will continue far longer than 
experts once predicted.
       
[Houses are being built all over the Tri-Cities area of eastern
Washington state near the Hanford nuclear reservation, where a
costly cleanup has been going on since 1989. The effort has
proved lucrative for area residents.] Houses are being built all
over the Tri-Cities area of eastern Washington state near the
Hanford nuclear reservation, where a costly cleanup has been
going on since 1989. The effort has proved lucrative for area
residents. (By Blaine Harden -- The Washington Post) 

That dismal forecast is music to the ears of local residents.

"The silver lining is all local, where there are no consequences
for failure and no misdeed goes unrewarded," said Robert
Alvarez, a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies in
Washington and a former Energy Department official who monitored
the cleanup during the Clinton era.

By almost every measure, except the radiation and chemical
illnesses suffered by some Hanford workers, five decades of
making bombs were a blessing to Pasco, Kennewick and Richland --
neighboring towns along the Columbia River that call themselves
the Tri-Cities.

The area was transformed from a poor, mostly empty rural
backwater to a highly educated, solidly middle-class center for
nuclear technology, albeit one that bordered North America's
most dangerous radioactive dump.

When plutonium production halted in 1989, with the fall of the
Berlin Wall, there was widespread local fear that the Tri-Cities
would themselves fall into penury. But cleaning up Hanford's
colossal nuclear mess is proving more lucrative -- for the
locals -- than making it in the first place.

What's more, said Michele S. Gerber, a Cold War historian who
has written a critical history of Hanford and now works for one
of the private contractors cleaning up the 586-square-mile site,
the effort is a more stable engine for job creation, housing
construction and business investment than making plutonium,
which tended to wax and wane with foreign security threats and
international nuclear treaties.

"I think the cleanup will last a hundred years," she says.

With taxpayers footing the bill, the failure to make progress in
sanitizing the Hanford site means that more and more federal
spending will be showered on the sagebrush semi-desert in
eastern Washington, and that residents can look forward to more
decades of growth, prosperity, rising real estate values and
better restaurants.

At Hanford, the bungled big-ticket project of the moment is a
gargantuan factory that would, if it ever works, transform
high-level waste into glass logs suitable for long-term storage
elsewhere. The plant has already cost $3.4 billion but has yet
to process a single gallon of the 53 million gallons of deadly
high-level waste stored in 177 underground tanks.

Construction stalled this year when the Energy Department
discovered that factory designers had underestimated the risk of
earthquakes. Now, department officials say the earliest the
plant can start up is 2019, by which time it will have cost
$12.2 billion, more than double the estimate of three years ago.
 

The Washington Post Company: 	 	
*****************************************************************
 60 DDN: Fernald site clean, contractor declares

DaytonDailyNews.com
		 	 			
After $4.4 billion project, nature preserve to replace 
once-polluted uranium plant site.
 		 	 		 		 	 	 		 	 	
By Steve Bennish Staff Writer 

Wednesday, November 01, 2006                                                                                                                                           
		 		 		 	 	 			 				 				 				 					 							 						 				 			
Flour Fernald, the contractor cleaning the former Fernald uranium 
production plant site, said it had completed its contract with 
the Department of Energy as of Sunday. 

Once a final punch list of tasks is concluded before the new
year, the $4.4 billion cleanup will have ended and the
1,050-acre site will be ready for new life as a public nature
preserve, Flour spokesman Jeff Wagner said Monday.

It will remain under DOE management. 

The Fernald Preserve in Hamilton County northwest of Cincinnati
could be unveiled by summer and will be open to birders and
wildlife observers, students who want to learn about the history
of the nation's atomic bomb industry, and those who simply want
to enjoy a natural landscape, Wagner said. A visitors center
will house history exhibits and a community meeting room. 

With soil cleanup that included excavating and shipping 1
million tons of waste from six waste pits and the dismantling of
325 buildings, the site now consists of 400 acres of woodlots,
327 acres of prairie, 33 acres of savannah and 140 acres of open
water and wetlands. There won't be any sports fields or all
terrain vehicle traffic allowed at the site, Wagner said. "It
would be a destination for students or folks working on master's
degrees to learn about what Fernald did during the Cold War," he
said. 

Pumping operations to clean uranium contamination from the Great
Miami Aquifer will continue at least 10 years until drinking
water standards are met, Wagner said. 

Lisa Crawford, 50, president of watchdog group FRESH for the
past 22 years, lives within a mile of the site. She said she
felt "excited, emotional, but great" about the cleanup's
imminent closure. "It's just huge." 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 			 	 	
	 	 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	 		 			
Copyright �2006 Cox Ohio Publishing, Dayton, Ohio, USA. All
By using DaytonDailyNews.com, you accept the terms of our
*****************************************************************
 61 Columbus Dispatch: Study would show whether Piketon enrichment plant can be given 
new life

Editorials

Columbus, Ohio, USA

Wednesday, November 01, 2006 

A plant that would recycle spent nuclear-fuel rods, to be housed
on contaminated ground that can�t be used for much else, could
turn out to be beneficial for Pike County and the world. 

But that can�t be known for sure, and nothing can happen until a
thorough study is conducted. The new nonprofit Southern Ohio
Nuclear Integration Cooperative, or SONIC, may provide the
answers if it is successul in winning a federal grant for a
study. The group was put together by the Southern Ohio
Diversification Initiative, an area economic-development group
and a businessman. 

Such a recycling plant would be a crucial part of President
Bush�s proposed Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. He hopes to
prevent countries from enriching uranium for nuclear weapons
while claiming that it�s fuel for peaceful nuclear power plants,
as Iran is suspected of doing. 

Under the proposal, countries that already enrich uranium,
including the United States, would give developing countries the
uranium rods to run power plants. Those countries would send
back the depleted rods to be recycled and to dispose of the
waste. That would save money and resources for countries trying
to modernize, while slowing the spread of nuclear weapons. 

It�s a worthy idea, but still highly theoretical. The technology
to recycle rods is years off, if it can be done at all. Plus,
sites would have to be selected and facilities built. That�s
where Piketon comes in. 

The proposed site, one of 13 under consideration by the
Department of Energy, is the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant,
which closed in 2001. The plant, built after World War II,
enriched uranium for use in commercial nuclear plants. But Cold
War-era workers started to get sick; they unwittingly were
handling uranium laced with plutonium, used to make nuclear
weapons. Plutonium is thousands of times more radioactive than
uranium. 

The U.S. Department of Labor so far has paid 2,263 death and
illness claims to plant employees who developed
radiation-related cancers and other ailments. Those payments
were a long time in coming. The federal government�s callous
treatment of those workers has bred much distrust among
residents. 

Because of that, SONIC�s hush-hush approach isn�t exactly
winning hearts and minds in Pike County. The group has refused
to share the grant application with residents and The Dispatch
and won�t meet with residents until after the grant is awarded. 

Of course, there will always be people who rabidly oppose
nuclear energy, no matter how safe it becomes. But others simply
need information to make up their minds. 

County residents might come around if offered some statistics on
how many jobs the plant might create and on the development it
might bring with it. About 18.6 percent of Pike County residents
live under the poverty level. For September, the county�s
unemployment rate was 7.6 percent, or thirdhighest out of Ohio�s
88 counties. 

But more important, before any plans move forward, SONIC and the
Department of Energy will need to reassure residents that the
plant�s operations will be safe and that Piketon will not become
the graveyard for unwanted radioactive material from around the
world. 

�2006, The Columbus Dispatch

*****************************************************************
 62 Paducah Sun: DOE still part of VanderBoegh suit - 

Paducah, Kentucky 

By Joe Walker
 jwalker@paducahsun.com 270.575.8656 Wednesday, November 01, 2006 

The Department of Energy is deemed an employer and should not be
dismissed from a complaint alleging the former Paducah Gaseous
Diffusion Plant landfill manager lost his job in retaliation for
his complaints about potential radiation problems at the
landfill, the Department of Labor says. 

DOL Administrative Law Judge Larry Merck on Monday denied an
Energy Department motion for dismissal in the case of Gary
VanderBoegh, who made the allegations. DOE lawyers had argued
that VanderBoegh didnt establish an employer-employee
relationship. 

But Merck ruled that DOE is listed in the Energy Policy Act of
2005 as an employer, and the question of whether DOE interfered
or failed to act with regard to VanderBoeghs employment is an
issue of fact to be determined later. A hearing in the case is
scheduled for Jan. 30. 

VanderBoegh filed the complaint in April against DOE and its new
cleanup contractor Paducah Remediation Services, plus immediate
past contractors Bechtel Jacobs, Dura Tec and WESKEM.

VanderBoegh, who worked for WESKEM, claims the defendants denied
him the right to bid for the work as a grandfathered employee
and ignored his qualifications and experience. He had been plant
landfill manager for 14 years. 

Among other things, the complaint alleges he lost his job when
PRS took over April 24 because he complained about radiation
problems at the landfill. 

DOE previously said its policy is to maintain safe cleanup and
that the PRS contract gives preference to hiring incumbent
workers. 

*****************************************************************
 63 Knox News: Oak Ridge project retools legacy of 'Atoms for Peace'                                      

November 1, 2006                                                                

If you report on Oak Ridge, you never get too far away from the 
nation's nuclear history. It is, after all, the Atomic City - 
lest any of us forget. 

With that note, here's a news item: 

Nuke specialists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are 
disassembling a tiny reactor once associated with the Atoms for 
Peace program. They're repackaging the unit's uranium fuel. 

The little reactor was part of the U.S. Atomic Energy Agency's 
traveling exhibit, and it debuted in Vienna in 1963. After that, 
it went to Belgrade, Madrid, Lisbon, Utrecht, Dublin, Ankara, 
Teheran, Taipei, Manila, Seoul and Bucharest. 

The reactor was taken from its storage location at the Y-12 
National Security Complex and transferred to ORNL several weeks 
ago. The uranium fuel, which apparently is highly enriched and of 
potential weapons use, will be repackaged and prepared for 
storage in a high-security uranium storehouse that's under 
construction. 

The project is a reminder of the way things were during the 1950s 
and '60s. After President Eisenhower made his "Atoms for Peace" 
speech at the United Nations in 1953, the United States spread 
the word of nuclear energy and helped established a positive - 
perhaps an idealistic - nuclear interest around the globe. 

The Atoms for Peace program never led to peace or nuclear
disarmament, as was a stated goal, because of U.S.-Soviet Cold
War suspicions. 

But it did spread the use of nuclear technology in countries big
and small. In retrospect, Atoms for Peace could be blamed for
one of the biggest concerns facing us today: an abundance of
nuclear materials in harm's way. 

The Oak Ridge reactor project is part of Y-12's effort to
"de-inventory" 9720-5, a warehouse loaded with all sorts of
nuclear paraphernalia and strategic materials in various shapes
and forms. Workers are getting rid of junk, consolidating stocks
of weapons-grade uranium and getting ready for the move into the
new $500 million storage complex. 

BWXT recently confirmed a Sept. 22 fire at the 9720-5 warehouse,
which critics - such as the Project On Government Oversight -
said was worrisome because of the facility's vulnerability to
fire and the potential consequences. 

A Y-12 spokesman said workers responded properly and that plans
were in place to handle just such an event. The small fire,
which involved the 30-year-old wrapping on a package of enriched
uranium, was quickly extinguished with powdered graphite (known
as coke), he said. 

However, a report by the staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board indicated that preparations weren't exactly
perfect. 

"The coke that was used to extinguish the fire was not
pre-staged as a planned control for this activity but rather had
to be obtained from another area of the warehouse," the board's
staff said. 

Might that have been a bigger issue with a bigger fire? 

During a recent interview with Howard Baker following the death
of his long-time friend and adviser, Alvin Weinberg, I asked the
former senator to reprise a story about Eugene Wigner - a Nobel
laureate and Weinberg's mentor dating to the World War II
Manhattan Project. 

Wigner was concerned about U.S. civil defense preparations
during the Cold War, an area in which he devoted much time and
effort. In fact, Wigner returned to ORNL for a year in the
mid-1960s to head the lab's research on civil defense for atomic
war. 

As the story goes, Baker received an unexpected call from
Wigner. 

"In this deep Germanic accent, he said he had something he must
tell me," Baker recalled. 

The senator said he'd be delighted to have such a conversation,
and not long after that, Wigner showed up at Baker's home in
Huntsville - riding in the "sissy seat" of a Harley-Davidson
motorcycle driven by Connie Chester, a civil defense researcher
at ORNL. 

Baker listened to their spiel. Then the senator used the
occasion to ask Wigner about Albert Einstein, knowing they were
colleagues and had conferred on such weighty matters as use of
the atomic bomb. 

"What was he really like?" Baker asked. 

Wigner responded: "I worked with Albert a long time. To tell you
the truth, he was a wonderful idea man, but he was a terrible
mathematician. I had to do all his mathematics." 

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
    
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have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for 
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information go to: 
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