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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 Guardian Unlimited: Olmert Calls for 'One Voice' on Iran 
2 Guardian Unlimited: Bush, Putin Discuss Iran in Quick Call
3 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI ready for talk if US changes mood 
4 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI to celebrate nuclear victory 
5 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI has not violated NPT 
6 AFP: Iran to 'resist to end' on nuclear - Ahmadinejad 
7 IAEA: Report on Iran Nuclear Safeguards Sent to IAEA Board
8 AFP: For US, differences over Iran amount to 'sausage making' -
9 UPI: Iran's nuclear claims not yet confirmed
10 UPI: Iran, Syria set lofty terms for U.S. talks
11 Guardian Unlimited: IAEA Finds Traces of Plutonium in Iran 
12 [NYTr] N.Korea Has Fuel for Up to 8 Nuclear Bombs, oh my!
13 Guardian Unlimited: Democrats Urge N. Korea Nuclear Talks 
14 Korea Herald: Envoys meet on North nukes   
15 Korea Herald: Seoul, Beijing ready for bilateral talks   
16 APEC seeks trade breakthrough, progress seen on N.Korea crisis
17 AFP: US envoy says progress on date for NKorea talks 
18 AFP: US envoy says progress on date for NKorea talks
19 UPI: Agreement on date for six-party talks
20 UPI: Seoul urges softer U.S. stance on N.Korea
21 Guardian Unlimited: Rice: N. Korea Talks May Not Be Imminent 
22 [NYTr] Lawmakers Concerned About U.S.-India Nuclear Trade Deal
23 Guardian Unlimited: US denies cracks in UK alliance 
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
24 US: NRC: New NRC Resident Inspector Assigned to Millstone Nuclear Pl
25 US: NRC: Notice of Sunshine Act Meetings
26 US: newsobserver.com: Extension sought for nuclear plant
27 US: Platts: NRC and former Davis-Besse worker close to settlement
28 US: Platts: NRC commissioner visits Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear plan
29 US: Platts: Progress Energy applies to renew Harris nuclear plant li
30 US: JOURNAL NEWS: Indian Point emergency preparation tested during s
31 IRNA: Plutonium had been old type of fuel for research reactor, IAEO
32 washingtonpost.com: Lawmakers Concerned About U.S.-India Nuclear Tra
33 New Matilda:  Nuclear Debate: Part Two: The Problems
34 US: recordonline.com: Tide could turn for Indian Point
35 TheStar.com: Nuclear deal penalty could be costly - NDP
36 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Subcommittee Meeti
37 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards: Meeting Notice
38 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS)
39 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) Subcommitte
40 Energia: Romania To Build More Nuclear Reactor To Limit Energy Depen
41 US: Hudson Valley News: Indian Point 2 Safely Shuts Down   
42 US: Orlando Sentinel: Nuclear power: Promise beyond polarized debate
 
                          NUCLEAR SECURITY
 
43 Japan Times: Banned goods to North listed
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
44 US: [du-list] shafting the vets
45 AU ABC: Indemnity cover stalls handover of ex-nuclear test site
46 US: Brattleboro Reformer: VY radiation limits are under review
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
47 reviewjournal.com: Yucca Mountain plan gets warm welcome at hearing
48 NLTB: Experts: Reid's Senate position helps poise Yucca Mountain fig
49 US: St. Paul Pioneer Press: Plant's nuclear waste plan challenged
50 US: Salt Lake Tribune: State forks over $844K for Goshute, PFS lawye
51 US: Wake Weekly: Rolesville eyed as nuclear waste dump?
52 US: PE.com: Much activity in Wyle Labs testing efforts
53 US Senator Harry Reid for Nevada
54 KRNV.com: Senator Reid Voted In As Senate Majority Leader
55 KVBC: Public safety leaders meeting to discuss Yucca Mountain
 
                           PEACE
 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
56 Las Vegas SUN: 'Mushroom cloud' blast destined for Nevada desert, se
57 ContraCostaTimes.com: Group sues Energy Department
58 Daily Princetonian: None hurt in small radioactive leak
59 DOE: U.S. Department of Energy and IBM to Collaborate in Advancing S
60 Hanford News: Hanford facilities may find new use
61 Knox News: Munger: The cost of cleanup measured in words
62 Knox News: Comments heard on Complex 2030
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
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 1 Guardian Unlimited: Olmert Calls for 'One Voice' on Iran 

From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Wednesday November 15, 2006 4:31 AM

AP Photos DCPM106-107, CARF102 

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD 

Associated Press Writer 

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called on
the international community Tuesday to ``speak with one voice''
to halt the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran. 

Appearing before the largest annual gathering of Jewish
community leaders in North America, he called on moderate Arab
states to ``unite their common interest in preventing Iran from
undermining stability in the Middle East.'' 

``If Iran achieves the ability to produce nuclear weapons, as we
know it is seeking to do, we will enter a new era of instability
unlike any the world has ever seen,'' Olmert told several
thousand members of the United Jewish Communities, an umbrella
group for dozens of organizations. 

Israel wants peace, he said, but ``no longer can the
international community afford to hesitate, contemplate or waver
in its dealings with this defiant state.'' 

Olmert's appearance came a day after he received reassurances
from the Bush administration in Washington that it is not
backing down from its view that Iran and its nuclear program are
a world threat. 

Israel is worried that political fallout from last week's
Republican election defeat and rising calls for U.S. engagement
with Iran may soften President Bush's resolve against a country
whose leader has said the Jewish state should be wiped from the
map. 

With Olmert at his side following a White House meeting Monday,
Bush told reporters that a nuclear-armed Iran not only would
threaten Israel but loom as an ``incredibly destabilizing''
threat to the region and the world. 

In his remarks Tuesday, Olmert called Bush ``a great friend ...
of Israel'' but said America must have the support of the
international community to ``defuse this mortal threat.'' 

It was Olmert's first appearance before the group since an
inconclusive war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. The
audience was silent when he said, ``despite all that has been
said and written, we stood up to the challenge.'' 

But he was loudly applauded at other points, including when he
said Israel will not tolerate ``those who challenge Israel's
right to exist.'' 

Olmert thanked Jewish organizations for raising hundreds of
millions of dollars to assist reconstruction efforts, and said
tourism bolstered the nation's spirit in a time of war. 

``Our fates are intertwined,'' he said. ``We may be separated by
a vast ocean, but our hearts beat together.''	 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 2 Guardian Unlimited: Bush, Putin Discuss Iran in Quick Call

From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Wednesday November 15, 2006 7:46 PM

AP Photo MOSB121 

By JENNIFER LOVEN 

Associated Press Writer 

MOSCOW (AP) - President Bush, eager for Russian help in ongoing
nuclear disputes with North Korea and Iran, tended to the
sometimes frosty Washington-Moscow relationship Wednesday by
paying a quick call on President Vladimir Putin. 

Bush paused to visit the Russian leader for an hour and a half
at an airport stopover on his way to Asia for an eight-day trip
that includes stays in Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia. Bush
has meetings scheduled with several important allies, including
Putin, on the sidelines of a summit of Pacific Rim leaders in
Hanoi, Vietnam, later this week. But only Putin rated a social
call as well. 

Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Alexei Gromov as
saying the two presidents discussed the Iranian nuclear program,
the situation in the Middle East and nuclear nonproliferation. 

Gromov also confirmed that a bilateral agreement on Russia's
accession to the World Trade Organization was being readied for
signing in Hanoi. 

National security adviser Stephen Hadley, talking to reporters
aboard Air Force One after Bush left, said that the president's
get-together with Putin ``was a social meeting as we said it
would be. This was a refueling stop.'' 

But Hadley also said that they ``talked a little bit about
proliferation generally'' with regards to Iran and North Korea.
He also said that he spoke with his Russian counterpart, Igor
Ivanov, about efforts to find an agreement on a new U.N.
security resolution on Iran. 

``We had a good discussion about that,'' Hadley said. ``I think
basically the strategy that all of the countries who are working
on this is to come up with a resolution themselves. I think the
Russians think it's sound.'' 

When Bush and his wife, Laura, landed, they were greeted on a
red carpet on the tarmac by Putin and his wife, Lyudmila. The
Russian president presented Mrs. Bush with a bouquet of yellow,
orange and red flowers and the foursome exchanged kisses. 

Inside the marble-floored Vnukovo Airport terminal, the two
couples took seats in ornate armchairs for photographers, a
table nearby laid with lunch. The Bushes presented their hosts
with a gift of a jumbo photograph of the four of them in one of
the golf-cart sized electric cars that the Russians made
available to leaders attending the Group of Eight summit Putin
hosted in St. Petersburg in June. 

The brief gathering was billed by White House advisers as not
much more than a greeting between friends while Bush accepted
the Russian generosity of allowing Air Force One to refuel in
Moscow halfway through the 19-hour flight to Singapore. But the
rarity of a president flying east to Asia, rather than west, no
doubt reflected that the Washington-Moscow relationship needs a
little extra care lately. 

Russian officials described the meeting as cordial. As Bush was
boarding his plane to resume his journey, he got a hug from
Putin. 

Russia voted for U.S.-backed United Nations sanctions on North
Korea after it conducted a nuclear weapons test. Now Washington
is seeking to overcome Russian reluctance toward an upcoming
vote on U.N. sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear
program. 

At the United Nations in New York, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton
said, ``We've been trying to get sanctions in the Security
Council against Iran's nuclear weapons program and we've been
having a lot of difficulty with Russia in particular, so I hope
they had a chance to talk about that issue.'' 

``The key thing is for Russia to internalize that the fight
against nuclear proliferation is more important than commercial
contracts and that we're all safer when we don't enable
countries like Iran and North Korea in their pursuit of nuclear
weapons,'' he said. 

Bolton added: ``However simple it is to say, there are a lot of
people who think the commercial aspect of their relationship
with Iran and North Korea is more important. We've got to keep
pounding away on it because it's not just Iran and North Korea.
Other countries are watching and if those two countries succeed
in getting and keeping nuclear weapons, other countries will
draw a bad conclusion.'' 

Hadley played down any differences that might exist between
Washington and Moscow on Iran. 

``Look we have these struggles on these resolutions all the time
and they result in a lot of press stories about 'disarrary in
the international communities,' but I would remind you that over
the last few years, when the time has come the international
community has pulled together,'' he said. 

``You know it's a little bit like sausage making. It's not
pretty and a lot of it spills out to the public, but I think the
international community has held together on this issue and I
think it will again.'' 

The Bush administration has sharpened criticism of democratic
erosion under Putin this year, particularly with the murder last
month of a reporter critical of Russian policy in Chechnya.
Objections include a Russian law restricting charity groups. 

Russia's escalating spat with Georgia, a former Soviet republic,
has also clouded relations with the United States. Putin, aware
of cooling relations with the United States and Europe, also has
been working to build Russia's influence in its neighborhood and
in Asia. 

On Russia's side, relations have been strained by delays in an
agreement with Washington for Moscow's entry into the WTO, a
longtime Russian goal. Now, after 12 years of negotiations, the
countries are moving toward signing a bilateral pact in Hanoi. 

Russia's trade ministry said the minister, German Gref, expects
to sign the long-anticipated WTO deal Sunday with U.S. Trade
Representative Susan Schwab. 

Putin and Bush also are due to meet again Sunday in Hanoi. 

--- 

AP writer Steve Gutterman in Moscow contributed to this report. 
		 	 	   

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 3 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI ready for talk if US changes mood 

  2006/11/15   
  
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that IR. of Iran
will hold dialogue with America if it changes its behavior.
 
"If American government rectifies its behavior, we will talk
with it too; American statesmen have some special kind of
behavior; they consider themselves as masters of the world and
we are against this approach; Tehran stresses that it will go
into dialogue with all, including Americans, under special
conditions and our minimum condition is that there should be no
compromise on rights of the Iranian nation," said Ahmadinejad in
a press conference.
 
He said Iran will hold dialogue with any state, excluding the
Zionist regime because of the fact that it has no legal base.
 
He adde that Iran's diplomacy is based on friendship and
dialogueand there is a good reason for possible violation of the
rule.
 
Ahmadinejad further said Iran will draw up and establish new
monetary and banking regulations in the world, if necessary.
 
"Iran has prepared itself to meet any circumstances," he
declared.
 
The president said Iran is among the most powerful states in the
world because of the support of the public opinion. "And that's
why our enemies in the world are against public opinion."   

  Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran 
Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. 
E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir     
*****************************************************************
 4 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI to celebrate nuclear victory 

  2006/11/15   
  
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that IR. of Iran
will soon celebrate a nuclear victory thanks to the efforts of
Iranian youth and experts.
 
President Ahmadinejad, who arrived in the western city of
Sanandaj Wednesday morning heading a high-ranking delegation for
a two-day visit, made the disclosure while addressing local
residents at Shahid Malek-Nia Stadium.
 
"The passage of time will be in favor of the Iranian nation
while western states will move backward with every passing day.
They (have no alternative) but to acknowledge the rights of the
Iranian nation," he said.
 
"The Iranian nation is taking a major step towards accessing
peaceful nuclear energy with every passing day. "Certain
colonial states have monopolized nuclear energy andtry to impose
their own demands on other states...they do not want other
nations to achieve progress," he added.
 
The president moreover said that whenever and wherever weapons
of mass destruction are found, their origins can be traced to
America and its allies, adding that their depots are full of
chemical weapons and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs).
 
"The Iranian nation desires progress and is kind. Our people do
not use bullying."
 
Ahmadinejad said Kordestan was a respected province and its
residents known in history for their defense of their homeland.
 
Ahmadinejad in this provincial visit will travel to its various
cities and meet with local residents to discuss their problems.
 
Sanandaj, capital of the western province of Kurdestan, has a
population of over 400,000 people.
 
President Ahmadinejad's current visit is his 20th to various
provinces of the country since the start of the initiative. The
cabinet have already visited the provinces of Tehran, South
Khorasan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Ilam, Qom, Hormuzgan, Bushehr,
Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari, Lorestan, Golestan, Kohgilouyeh and
Boyer Ahmad and Khorassan Razavi, Zanjan, Markazi, Qazvin and
Hamedan, East Azarbaijan, North Khorassan and Ardebil.   

  Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran 
Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. 
E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir     
*****************************************************************
 5 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI has not violated NPT 

  2006/11/15   
  
An Iranian diplomat on Wednesday said that a report released
Tuesday by the chief of the United Nations nuclear watchdog on
Iran's nuclear activities confirms Tehran has not violated the
NPT or other international law or regulation on nuclear
non-proliferation.
 
Commenting on the report of International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) Director-General Mohammed ElBaradei, the diplomat, who
requested anonymity, said that Iran had provided all necessary
means to verify its nuclear activities by allowing IAEA
inspectors access to its nuclear sites.
 
"Iran has made it possible for them (IAEA inspectors) to examine
its activities in its nuclear facilities and to verify materials
found therein," said the diplomat.
 
ElBaradei's report is be discussed in a meeting of the IAEA
Board of Governors in Vienna on November 22-23.
 
The report points to the fact that all nuclear activities of
Iran are conducted under the full supervision of the IAEA and
that Iran is fully cooperating with the body in accordance with
its commitments as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT), said the diplomat.
 
He added that the report confirms that America's allegations of
ambiguity in IRI's motivations for pursuing a nuclear program
are without basis.
 
It also shows that the move of referring Iran's nuclear case to
the UN Security Council was "unreasonable," stressed the
diplomat.
 
He reminded that the IAEA had conducted 2,400 person-day
inspections on Iran's nuclear sites and facilities which are
sufficient to remove all doubts on the peaceful nature of its
activities.
 
And even then, he added, "Tehran is willing to remove all
remaining ambiguities pursuant to its commitments through
further cooperation and interaction with the IAEA." 

Referring to that part in ElBaradei's report which had to do
with Iran's nuclear enrichment activities in its facilities in
Natanz, central Iran, the diplomat said the report also confirms
that IAEA inspectors had been given full access to the
facilities and had found no incriminatory evidence.
 
"In addition to the initial 10, 20 and 164 centrifuges an
additional 164 centrifuges have been installed and UF6 gas is
being tested in these centrifuges since October 6," said the
diplomat.
 
He quoted ElBaradei in his report as saying that construction of
a 40mw heavy water reactor in Arak's Khandab facility, 293km
southwest of the capital Tehran, was underway and that IAEA
inspectors were monitoring operations through inspections and
satellite images.
 
ElBaradei said in his report that some of the remaining
questions on the history of Iran's P1 and P2 facilities could
not be answered as Tehran was not implementing the NPT
Additional Protocol.
 
In other words, said the diplomat, the report indicated that
"Iran was not committed to answering those questions." However,
he added, ElBaradei assured in his report that the UN nuclear
watchdog would make further efforts to remove all ambiguities
through additional interaction with Iran.
 
It was also said in the report that the IAEA needed more time
and further mulling to reach conclusions on a number of other
investigations it was making on Iran's nuclear activities.
 
As for the traces of plutonium which ElBaradei mentioned in the
report, the diplomat said that the UN nuclear watchdog was still
mulling a few questions regarding previous tests conducted and
Iran's response to the IAEA submitted on Nov 13 in this regard. 
 
  Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran 
Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. 
E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir     
*****************************************************************
 6 AFP: Iran to 'resist to end' on nuclear - Ahmadinejad 

 by Siavosh Ghazi Wed Nov 15, 7:55 AM ET 		 	 

TEHRAN (AFP) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed that Iran" 
/> Iranwould "resist to the end" on its nuclear programme, after 
sparking fresh Western concern by revealing plans to massively 
ramp up sensitive atomic work. 

 "The Iranian people will resist to the end to defend their
nuclear right," Ahmadinejad told thousands of supporters in a
speech in Sanandaj, the capital of Iran's Kurdestan province,
broadcast live on state television Wednesday. 

"Thanks to God, time is on Iran's side and with every passing
day they (the great powers) are having to take a step backwards
and recognise Iran's right while the Iranian people take a step
forward to the summit of technology." 

Ahmadinejad on Tuesday said Iran was ultimately aiming to
install 60,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium to make nuclear
fuel on an industrial scale, which the United States said would
be enough to make a nuclear weapon. 

Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful and that it has
every right to the full nuclear fuel cycle, rejecting US
accusations that its civilian energy drive masks a programme to
make a nuclear bomb. 

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack described
Ahmadinejad's remarks -- made at a news conference Tuesday -- as
a "cold jolt" adding that "what that leads to is an Iranian
nuclear weapon". 

The installation of 60,000 centrifuges would take several years
but would enable the Islamic republic to enrich uranium on an
industrial scale to make its own nuclear fuel. 

Iran had previously said it is looking to install 3,000
centrifuges by March 2007. It currently has two cascades of 164
centrifuges apiece at its Natanz plant to enrich uranium on a
research scale. 

The United States is leading a drive to impose UN sanctions
against Iran over its failure to suspend uranium enrichment, but
has hit stalemate amid opposition from China and Russia to a
European-proposed draft resolution. 

Uranium enrichment can be used both to produce nuclear fuel and
make the warhead of an atomic bomb. Iran can currently enrich
uranium to levels of 5 percent, enough for fuel, but a bomb
requires levels of some 90 percent. 

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel" /> Israel, Iran's
arch-enemy, said in Los Angeles the world had "reached the
pivotal moment of truth" on Iran's nuclear programme and warned
"we cannot afford to wait". 

The latest report by the UN nuclear watchdog obtained by AFP in
Vienna on Tuesday mentioned the presence of traces of plutonium,
a possible weapons material, at an Iranian waste storage site. 

The body said it was now examining Iran's response to the
findings. 

However Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's representative to the
International Atomic Energy Agency" /> International Atomic
Energy Agency(IAEA), played down the report, which he said
contained nothing new. 

"The report proves that the case will go on normally at the IAEA
and this document shows that there is no justification for
Security Council intervention or interference from any other
organisation," he told state radio. 

The report also urged full Iranian cooperation with the IAEA as
"a prerequisite for the agency to be able to confirm the
peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme". 

The Kurdestan speech by Ahmadinejad, who ditched his trademark
beige jacket for a traditional Kurdish coat for the occasion,
was his first in his latest regional tour aimed at bringing the
government's message to the people. 

He also issued a warning to the Democrats, the political rivals
of US President George W. Bush who seized control of Congress in
elections earlier this month, to force a drastic change in US
policy on the Middle East. 

"The (current) failure is that of American policy, a policy of
aggression, intervention and the utilisation of force. I tell
those who recently came to power that if you do the same, the
same destiny awaits you." 

In a message to Bush and his allies, Ahmadinejad added: "I tell
those who are still partially in power to use the time you have
left to serve the American people. What are you doing in
Afghanistan, Iraq and in the region? 

"Renounce this behaviour as otherwise the destiny of all
oppressors in the world awaits you too." 	 		 			

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 7 IAEA: Report on Iran Nuclear Safeguards Sent to IAEA Board

 Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic
Republic of Iran. Its circulation is restricted, and unless the
IAEA Board decides otherwise, the Agency can not authorise its
release to the public."/> 

+ [IAEA.ORG :: Atoms for Peace] 
 
Staff Report
 15 November 2006 

  + Story Resources 
  + Media Advisory: Press Arrangements 
  + IAEA Board of Governors 
  + IAEA & Iran 
  + August 2006 Report [pdf] 
  + News Reports

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei has circulated his
latest report to the upcoming meeting of the IAEA Board of
Governors on the Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement
in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Its circulation is restricted,
and unless the IAEA Board decides otherwise, the Agency can not
authorise its release to the public. 

The report focuses on activities since 31 August 2006, the date
of the Director General´s previous report. On 31 July, 2006 the
Security Council (in resolution 1696) requested "by 31 August a
report from the Director General of the IAEA primarily on
whether Iran has established full and sustained suspension of
all activities mentioned in this resolution, as well as on the
process of Iranian compliance with all the steps required by the
IAEA Board and with the above provisions of this resolution, to
the IAEA Board of Governors and in parallel to the Security
Council for its consideration. 

The November report was circulated to the Agency´s Member States
on 14 November 2006. The IAEA Board is scheduled to consider the
implementation of safeguards in Iran at meetings beginning 23
November 2006 at the Agency´s headquarters. 

See Story Resources for more information. 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: 
*****************************************************************
 8 AFP: For US, differences over Iran amount to 'sausage making' -
     
 Wed Nov 15, 7:09 PM ET 		 	 

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AFP) - The United States downplayed 
differences with partners on proposed UN nuclear-related 
sanctions on Iran" /> Iranas "sausage making" and said an 
agreement would eventually be reached. 

 President George W. Bush" /> President George W. Bush's national 
security advisor Stephen Hadley" /> Stephen Hadleymade the remark 
as he stressed the need for a UN resolution on sanctions ahead of 
exploratory talks on Iran between Washington and five other major 
powers. 

Hadley, travelling with the president aboard Air Force One for 
the APEC" /> APECsummit in Asia, said Iran must face 
"consequences" for refusing a UN demand to suspend sensitive 
nuclear fuel work. 

Speaking to reporters after a brief stopover in Moscow en route 
to Singapore, Hadley said the United States and the other four UN 
Security Council members -- Britain, France, China and Russia -- 
plus Germany were discussing what should be in the proposed 
resolution, and what should be saved for a further resolution if 
needed. 

"These are largely tactical considerations, but the strategy, I 
think, there is agreement on," he said. 

Hadley described as "troubling" the latest report by the 
International Atomic Energy Agency" /> International Atomic 
Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog agency, about their 
discovery in Iran of traces of plutonium, a possible nuclear 
weapons material. 

The find leads to suspicions that, contrary to what Iran was 
saying, "something more nefarious" is going on, he said. 

Hadley said Bush had met with Russian President Vladimir Putin" 
/> Vladimir Putinduring the Moscow stopover and the leaders 
briefly had discussed the Iranian and North Korean nuclear 
crises. 

Hadley said he had met with his Russian counterpart, Igor
Ivanov, the head of Russia's security council, and talked about
the difficulties in finding an agreement on a UN draft
resolution mandating nuclear and ballistic missile-related
sanctions against Iran. 

In New York, ambassadors from the six powers held their sixth
informal session in three weeks on the European draft Wednesday. 

"We did not make any progress today," US Ambassador to the UN
John Bolton told reporters after the meeting. 

"We'll meet again in the near future," said Bolton, without
saying exactly when. 

He added that the sanctions issue may also be discussed at the
foreign minister level on the margins of the weekend meeting of
the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group in Hanoi. 

In the face of a continuing deadlock among the six powers,
Hadley highlighted the complications of the diplomatic process. 

"It's a little bit like sausage making: it's not pretty, and a
lot of it spills out into the public," he said. "But I think the
international community has held together on this issue and I
think we will again." 

On Tuesday, the State Department said Undersecretary of State
Nicholas Burns had spoken with his five counterparts in a bid to
break the stalemate, but there were no signs of an imminent
breakthrough. 

The draft put forward by Britain, France and Germany includes
travel bans and financial restrictions on Iranian scientists
working on the nuclear and missile programs. 

However, Russia and China, which both maintain close energy and
trade ties with Tehran, see it as too harsh while the United
States is pressing for tougher sanctions. 	 		 			

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 9 UPI: Iran's nuclear claims not yet confirmed
     
 United Press International - NewsTrack - 

11/15/2006 11:06:00 AM -0500

TEHRAN, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- International inspectors, puzzled by
the discovery of traces of plutonium, haven't confirmed Iran's
claim that its nuclear program is nearing completion. 

The plutonium traces were found on samples from containers at a
waste storage facility in Karaj, near Tehran. 

Inability to confirm any of these findings is blamed on a lack
of cooperation from Iran. 

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday his country
hopes to soon master the nuclear fuel cycle in face of threats
of international sanctions for refusing to stop its uranium
enrichment. Iran insists its program is for peaceful uses. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran is moving ahead
in its efforts to purify uranium but has refused to answer basic
questions about the program, reports The New York Times. That
has prevented the IAEA from confirming Iran's earlier claim in
June that it has enriched uranium to a reactor-level of 5
percent, the report said. 

Besides plutonium traces, the inspectors also discovered traces
of highly enriched uranium, which can be used to make atomic
bombs, but their origin also remains a mystery.

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
 10 UPI: Iran, Syria set lofty terms for U.S. talks
     
 United Press International - NewsTrack - 

11/15/2006 2:02:00 PM -0500

DAMASCUS, Syria, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Iran and Syria have indicated
they would resume dialogue with the United States but have set
some stringent conditions, the Times of London reports. 

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tehran had always
been ready to talk, although Bush administration officials have
to "correct their behavior," the report said. 

Iran has also insisted the United States unfreeze Iranian assets
held by the U.S. government, withdraw from Iraq, drop its
support for Israel and stop efforts to halt Tehran's nuclear
program. 

In Syria, the government daily Tishrin newspaper said that Syria
is ready for dialogue with the United States, adding, "The ball
is in their court." 

However, Ayman Abdel Nour, an economist and reformer in the
Baath Party in Damascus, told the newspaper Syria could help
with Middle East problems but questioned what the point would be
as the United States imposed trade sanctions on Syria in 2004.

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
 11 Guardian Unlimited: IAEA Finds Traces of Plutonium in Iran 

From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Wednesday November 15, 2006 1:01 AM

AP Photo VAH107 

By GEORGE JAHN 

Associated Press Writer 

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - New traces of plutonium and enriched
uranium - potential material for atomic warheads - have been
found in a nuclear waste facility in Iran, a revelation that
came Tuesday as the Iranian president boasted his country's
nuclear fuel program will soon be completed. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency report detailing the
discovery also faulted Tehran for not cooperating with the U.N.
watchdog's attempts to investigate other suspicious aspects of
Iran's nuclear program. 

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a two-hour news
conference in Tehran, asserted the world has no choice but to
``live with a nuclear Iran,'' although he conceded his country
was ``still in the first stages'' of its uranium enrichment
program. 

So far, Tehran has been able to activate only two small
experimental pilot enrichment plants that U.N. officials say
have frequently broken down and have produced only small amounts
of material suitable for nuclear fuel. 

But Iran has progressed enough since resuming enrichment
activities in February to provoke a U.N. Security Council demand
that it freeze its program - a call Tehran has ignored. It says
it intends to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment
involving 3,000 centrifuges by late 2006, then expand the
program to 54,000 centrifuges. 

Iranian nuclear officials say 54,000 centrifuges would produce
enough enriched uranium to fuel a 1,000-megawatt reactor, such
as the one being built by Russia that is near completion at the
southern city of Bushehr. Experts have estimated Iran would need
only 1,500 centrifuges to produce a nuclear weapon. 

Tehran insists it is only seeking to generate low-enriched
uranium for nuclear fuel and not the highly enriched variety
needed for weapons. It also denies it is building a heavy water
research reactor at Arak in order to obtain plutonium for
nuclear arms, asserting it only wants to produce radioactive
isotopes for medical research and treatment. 

Still, when finished - probably early in the next decade - Arak
could produce enough plutonium for about two bombs a year. 

The Arak plant, along with the discovery of a secret Iranian
enrichment program in 2003, Tehran's refusal to cease uranium
enrichment and findings by IAEA inspectors have increased
suspicions about Iran's program. 

The IAEA board in February referred Iran to the Security
Council, suggesting it had breached the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty and might be trying to make nuclear weapons. 

The U.S. and its European allies are negotiating with Russia and
China over a draft Security Council resolution that would
penalize Iran for its refusal to respect an Aug. 31 deadline to
halt enrichment. 

Ahmadinejad remained defiant. ``I'm very hopeful that we will be
able to hold the big celebration of Iran's full nuclearization
in the current year,'' he said. Iran's calendar year ends March
20. 

But he acknowledged Iran still has a long way to go before it
can produce enough enriched uranium for the reactor at Bushehr.
``We need time to produce enough fuel for one complete nuclear
power plant,'' he said. 

Tuesday's IAEA report, prepared for next week's meeting of the
agency's 35-nation board, did little to dispel concerns. 

Beyond detailing the new plutonium and enriched uranium findings
at a nuclear waste facility, it also faulted Tehran for lack of
cooperation. 

``The agency will remain unable to make further progress in its
efforts to verify the absence of undeclared nuclear material and
activities in Iran'' without more cooperation from Tehran, the
report said. 

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said
Ahmadinejad's comments and the IAEA's latest discoveries ``both
demonstrate the urgency for the Security Council to act on
Iran.'' 

``Sanctions are obviously the only means to get Iran's
attention,'' Bolton said. 

As expected, the four-page IAEA report, made available to The
Associated Press, confirmed that Iran continues uranium
enrichment experiments in defiance of the Security Council. 

A senior U.N. official who was familiar with the report
cautioned against reading too much into the findings of traces
of highly enriched uranium and plutonium, saying Iran had
explained both and they could plausibly be classified as
byproducts of peaceful nuclear activities. 

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was
not authorized to discuss the report publicly, said that while
the uranium traces were enriched to a higher level than needed
to generate power, they were below weapons-grade. 

The findings, however, were likely to be cited by the U.S. and
other nations suspicious of Tehran's nuclear agenda as adding to
circumstantial evidence against it. 

Tuesday's summary also listed specific cases in which Tehran
failed to cooperate with agency inspectors. 

They said Iran refused to let the IAEA increase monitoring of
enrichment facilities at Natanz, did not respond to a request
for more information on its enrichment program, denied access to
suspicious equipment or military personnel, and refused to
provide information on apparent experiments linking nuclear and
ballistic missile research. 

The report will be discussed by the IAEA board next week at a
meeting expected to be dominated by Iran's nuclear program,
particularly its intention to ask the agency for technical help
for its Arak reactor. 

Diplomats from nations on the IAEA board say the U.S. is
lobbying against Iran's request. Seven diplomats, who demanded
anonymity in exchange for discussing confidential information,
told the AP they believed the board would deny Iran's request. 	 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 12 [NYTr] N.Korea Has Fuel for Up to 8 Nuclear Bombs, oh my!
 
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 16:46:37 -0600 (CST)

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Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
AP via USA Today - Nov 15, 2006
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-11-15-us-nkorea-nuclear_x.htm?csp=34#

U.S. scientist: N. Korea has fuel for as many as 9 nuclear bombs

WASHINGTON (AP) ? An American nuclear scientist who toured North Korea
this month said Wednesday he believes the North has enough fuel for as
many as nine nuclear weapons and the capacity to make about one bomb's
worth of fuel a year.

Siegfried Hecker, a former director of the Los Alamos Nuclear
Laboratory who met with chief North Korean nuclear scientists during
his Oct. 31-Nov. 4 visit, said that while he learned no technical
details about Pyongyang's Oct. 9 nuclear test, officials indicated the
test was "fully successful."

He said that he and the small group of former U.S. officials who made
the trip noticed a palpable sense of national pride about the test
among the North Koreans they met.

Hecker, who based his observations on meetings with the director of the
North's five-megawatt Yongbyon nuclear facility and with nuclear
specialists in China, said the North Korean nuclear test was most
likely "at least partially successful," but the country probably was
"still a long way from having a missile-capable nuclear design."

Shortly after the test, U.S. officials confirmed that North Korea had
tested a nuclear device, noting an explosion smaller than a kiloton, or
the force produced by 1,000 tons of TNT. That was smaller than many
experts had expected.

U.S. intelligence also concluded that the North Korean device probably
used plutonium, as opposed to uranium. Hecker said the Yongbyon
director told him the test was a plutonium bomb.

Hecker said he believed from his meetings that construction on a much
larger nuclear reactor, which would increase the North's nuclear
production tenfold, "seems to have been pushed down the road for a
number of technical reasons."

He said the smaller reactor, while not very good for producing
electricity, "is very good for producing bomb-grade plutonium."

That reactor is operating currently with restrictions because of "some
technical limitations," but it has been producing about a bomb's worth
of plutonium a year and is likely to produce at most that amount over
the next couple of years, he said.

The United States knows very little about the North's nuclear stockpile
or its nuclear strategy, Hecker said.

It appeared to him, he said, that the officials the group met with had
given very little thought to strategy or to an appreciation of the
safety and security responsibilities and risks associated with being a
nuclear weapons power. 

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. 
       
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*****************************************************************
 13 Guardian Unlimited: Democrats Urge N. Korea Nuclear Talks 

From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Wednesday November 15, 2006 11:01 PM

AP Photo APEC107 

By BARRY SCHWEID 

AP Diplomatic Writer 

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional Democrats, demanding a bold new
approach to end a diplomatic standoff, urged the Bush
administration on Wednesday to send the top U.S. negotiator to
North Korea and press for an end to its nuclear weapons program. 

Such a mission by Christopher Hill would demonstrate ``our
peaceful intent,'' said California Rep. Tom Lantos, the top
Democrat on the House International Relations Committee. Panel
members quizzed Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns about the
so-far futile effort to halt North Korea's nuclear weapons and
missiles programs. 

Talks involving the U.S., North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan
and Russia are expected to resume next month after a suspension
of more than a year. Burns said it was not possible yet to
announce a precise date. 

The U.S. has held sporadic, occasional talks with North Korea in
New York and in Beijing. But the administration insists on a
six-nation negotiations format in an effort to intensify
pressure on the insular communist government. 

``The North Korean problem is a regional problem,'' Burns said.
``It poses a threat to all of its neighbors.'' 

But Lantos, the prospective new chairman of the committee when
the Democrats take control of Congress in January, said, ``the
administration's refusal to permit visits (by U.S. diplomats) to
North Korea must end and must end now.'' 

Supported by several Democrats on the committee and one
Republican, Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa, Lantos said, ``The White
House must try a new and bold approach to the vexing North
Korean problem.'' 

``I don't understand why it is in the United States' interest to
keep them isolated,'' Leach said. 

On the Democratic side, Rep. Brad Sherman of California proposed
that the United States offer North Korea a nonaggression pact as
part of a deal in which the North Koreans permanently and
verifiably give up their nuclear weapons. 

Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., accused the administration of
``dithering'' and said the U.S. was placing too much reliance on
China to stop North Korea's programs. China played a leading
diplomatic role in persuading North Korea to end its boycott of
negotiations. 

GOP Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida cautioned against
concessions or any acts of ``appeasement.'' 

Meanwhile, an American nuclear scientist who toured North Korea
this month said he believed the North had enough fuel for as
many as nine nuclear weapons and the capacity to make about one
bomb's worth of fuel a year. 

Siegfried Hecker, a former director of the Los Alamos Nuclear
Laboratory, met with chief North Korean nuclear scientists
during his Oct. 31-Nov. 4 visit. Hecker said that while he
learned no technical details about the North's Oct. 9 nuclear
test, officials indicated the test was ``fully successful.'' 

He said he and the small group of former U.S. officials who made
the trip noticed a palpable sense of national pride about the
test among the North Koreans they met. 

Hecker based his observations on meetings with the director of
the North's five-megawatt Yongbyon nuclear facility and with
nuclear specialists in China. He said the North Korean nuclear
test was most likely ``at least partially successful,'' but the
country probably was ``still a long way from having a
missile-capable nuclear design.'' 

--- 

Associated Press writer Foster Klug contributed to this report. 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 14 Korea Herald: Envoys meet on North nukes   
        
Preparations for six-party talks on North Korea will get a kick
start today when chief negotiators from South Korea, the United
States and Japan meet in Hanoi, Vietnam.

 South Korea's Chun Yung-woo, U.S. envoy Christopher Hill and
Japan's Kenichiro Sasae will evaluate North Korea's intentions
in returning to the nuclear negotiations and discuss how to
implement the Joint Statement signed in September 2005. Hanoi is
hosting the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

 Chun said in a radio interview yesterday that it would be
possible to restart the six-party talks by mid-December.

 "It is more important to make preparations to see a substantial
achievement when the talks reopen rather than focusing on how
soon the negotiations are resumed."

 The three countries are intent on letting North Korea know
before returning to the negotiations that it will not be viewed
as a nuclear state. 

They are also determined to pick up the talks where they left
off a year ago despite North Korea's Oct. 9 nuclear test.

 The parties to the talks - the two Koreas, the United States,
China, Japan and Russia - had agreed last year to negotiate
follow-up measures to the Joint Statement on North Korea's
nuclear programs dismantlement, in exchange for diplomatic and
economic incentives.

 Sources said the chief negotiators will also reaffirm that U.N.
Resolution 1718 on North Korea's nuclear test must be fully
executed separately from the six-party talks.

 They said Chun and Hill could also meet on the sidelines of the
trilateral talks.

 Leaders and top diplomats of 21 APEC member states are in the
Vietnamese capital this weekend for the annual forum.

 U.S. officials said Monday local time that North Korean issues
are likely to be included in the APEC joint statement.

 It is the first opportunity that the nations closest to North
Korea's nuclear crisis are meeting face to face.

 North Korea, which is not an APEC member, is not expected to
attend.

 "You are absolutely right that North Korea will be a subject of
discussion, particularly at the bilateral meetings that are held
by the president and other leaders at the APEC summit," a senior
U.S. administration official was quoted as saying by Yonhap.

 "North Korea's actions are a cause of concern for regional and
international security ... and we would think it would be
appropriate to have some recognition of that in the leaders'
statement," the official said.

 Foreign ministers will have their own bilateral and
multilateral talks on the sideline but it is unlikely that the
five members of the nuclear negotiations will meet exclusively.

 "I think the decision has been made to have an informal foreign
ministers' meeting at APEC, and in that meeting I think there
will be a full, fulsome discussion of North Korean issues," the
official said.

 "I think that's the preferred venue rather than trying to put
together a five-party meeting." 

South Korea's Chun, in the meantime, confirmed that South Korean
officials contacted his North Korean counterpart recently
through a U.N. channel.

 Without elaborating further, Chun said, "We exchanged useful
views on how North Korea considers the six-party talks."

 He added that Washington was ready to engage in serious
negotiations once North Korea proves its determination to
dismantle its nuclear programs.

 Chun also said there must be incentives according to the
progression of North Korea's nuclear dismantlement. 

(angiely@heraldm.com)

By Lee Joo-hee

2006.11.15
*****************************************************************
 15 Korea Herald: Seoul, Beijing ready for bilateral talks   
        
China will be South Korea's first partner in a series of
bilateral talks to be conducted on the sidelines of the Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation forum this week, the government
announced yesterday. 

President Roh Moo-hyun will meet his Chinese counterpart Hu
Jintao this Friday, followed by a meeting with Vietnamese head
of state Nguyen Minh Triet, according to Song Min-soon, the
president's chief secretary for national security.

 Excluding North Korea, Seoul plans to meet the heads of all the
parties involved in the six-party talks aimed at ending
Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. 

Summits with the United States, Japan and Canada are planned for
Saturday on the opening of the APEC forum. 

Song said a meeting with Russia has not yet been fixed. 

The agenda for the bilateral talks will mostly consist of the
North Korean nuclear crisis and prospects for the renewed
six-party talks.

 North Korea agreed to return to the talks last month, weeks
after conducting a nuclear test. Chief nuclear negotiators from
South Korea and the United States recently said the talks are
expected to start by December this year. 

(jemmie@heraldm.com)

By Kim Ji-hyun

2006.11.16
*****************************************************************
 16 APEC seeks trade breakthrough, progress seen on N.Korea crisis

  Wednesday November 15, 01:25 PM 

By Elisia Yeo 

HANOI (AFP) - Asia Pacific nations have pledged their commitment
to a high-stakes drive to save global trade talks, clearing the
way for a weekend summit of major world leaders to press for
swift action. A draft statement prepared for heads of state and
government, including US President George W. Bush, says they are
"ready to break the current deadlock" while urging others --
notably Europe -- to follow suit. 

The text, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, emerged as World
Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy joined ministers at the
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in the Vietnamese
capital Hanoi. Meeting separately, nuclear envoys from the
United States, Japan and South Korea cited progress in setting a
date to resume negotiations on dismantling North Korea's atomic
weapons programme after its shock October 9 test. 

Chief US negotiator Christopher Hill said they would propose
possible dates to China -- which has hosted previous talks and
is Pyongyang's closest ally -- and hoped to schedule a full
meeting for early December. The two issues are dominating the
week-long APEC forum -- the biggest diplomatic event ever staged
by communist Vietnam, which is being held at a new
270-million-dollar convention centre here. 

The nation is laying out the red carpet for the summit, which is
gathering Bush, China's Hu Jintao and Vladimir Putin of Russia
as well as the prime ministers of Australia and Japan and other
leaders of the 21-member body. But the talk Wednesday focused on
trade. 

Lamy said after meeting the foreign and trade ministers here
that he would pass on their "loud and clear" message for a
resumption of the so-called Doha negotiating round to the rest
of the WTO membership. He said they had "expressed a sense of
urgency and joined in calling for a rapid restart of the
negotiating engines in Geneva." 

The Doha round, aimed at cutting subsidies and other barriers to
global commerce, has been riven by disputes between rich and
poor nations, and among the wealthy, but the Asia-Pacific
economies say they are ready to move forward. "To meet this
goal, we must break the current deadlock and restart the
negotiation as soon as possible to a path toward success ... we
are ready to break the current deadlock," the draft statement
for the APEC leaders says. 

It urges "partners in other regions" to take similar steps --
which diplomats say is an apparent reference to the European
Union, which is frequently criticised for doling out huge
agriculture subsidies. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander
Downer warned time was running out. "Hopefully it will give
momentum to the Doha round," he said. "Hopefully we'll look
forward to positive responses from the Europeans." APEC
countries account for nearly half of the world's trade and
generate 70 percent of its economic growth. Meanwhile, US envoy
Hill said he and his South Korean and Japanese opposite numbers
had reached a "pretty good agreement" on how to revive talks on
North Korea, mentioning a timeframe of early December. "We
proposed a couple of dates," he said. "Everyone has a busy
calendar in December, but I think we'll find something and we
look forward to having the Chinese set the date very soon." A
Japanese foreign ministry spokesman said the trio had agreed on
three points, notably that they "will not accept North Korea as
a nuclear power." "Number two is North Korea should demonstrate
in concrete terms their commitment to denuclearization, number
three is sanctions will continue," he said, referring to UN
measures imposed after the October 9 test. However, there are no
plans for a joint five-way meeting here including the Russian
and Chinese envoys -- a Japanese official said they did not want
the Stalinist North to feel they were "ganging up" on it.
China's Hu was one of the first leaders to arrive in Vietnam,
flying in to the central city of Danang for an official visit
ahead of the summit. His agenda in Hanoi is packed with
bilateral meetings, including talks with Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe and a keenly-awaited encounter with Bush. For the
United States, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to
land in the capital in the early hours of Thursday, a day ahead
of the president. 

Copyright © 2006 AFP AFP. All rights reserved. 
*****************************************************************
 17 AFP: US envoy says progress on date for NKorea talks 

 by Peter Harmsen Wed Nov 15, 2:39 AM ET 		 	 

HANOI (AFP) - Envoys to six-party talks on dismantling North 
Korea" /> North Korea's nuclear program are making progress on 
setting a date to resume negotiations next month, the chief US 
delegate says. 

 Christopher Hill told reporters after meeting his South Korean
and Japanese counterparts that they would recommend a few
possible dates to China, which has hosted previous talks and is
the communist North's closest ally. 

"We proposed a couple of dates. Everyone has a busy calendar in
December but I think we'll find something and we look forward to
having the Chinese set the date very soon," he said. 

"I think we had pretty good agreement on how to approach the
round which we really want to be substantive and successful." 

The trilateral meeting took place on the sidelines of the annual
week-long gathering of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (
APEC" /> APEC) forum, at which the North Korean nuclear crisis
is a key issue. 

The gathering comes less than two weeks after North Korea agreed
in secret negotiations in Beijing to return to the six-nation
talks, which involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and
the United States. 

Hill, who arrived late Tuesday in the Vietnamese capital, held
talks with South Korea" /> South Korea's Chung Yung-Woo at a
Hanoi hotel, before going into a three-way meeting that also
included Japanese negotiator Kenichiro Sasae. 

"I think we are making good progress," said Chung, who later
held his own bilateral meeting with Sasae. 

The six-party talks, stalled since last year, are aimed at
convincing the Stalinist regime to abandon its nuclear
ambitions, which were put on display last month when the North
stunned the world with its first atom bomb test. 

The October 9 test triggered the imposition of UN sanctions
against the North, the only one of the six nations involved in
the disarmament talks that is not a member of APEC. 

The US negotiator said there was "great harmony" among the five
nations as to how to handle the North Korean crisis. 

When asked why envoys from China and Russia had not met the
other three negotiators in Hanoi on Wednesday, a Japanese
official said the five nations did not want Pyongyang to feel
they were "ganging up" on the regime. 

"The final objective is not to antagonize North Korea, but for
them to abandon their nuclear program," he said. 

Hill, asked if the talks could resume later this month, replied:
"We're here for another few days so I think it would be
difficult in November, but it's not to be excluded. But I guess
that December is more realistic." 

"We all feel the process really needs to show progress and this
is why we need to plan this next round very carefully." 

South Korea's Chung agreed that careful planning, not the
precise date, was the key to making the negotiations a success. 

"Timing is not an issue now that North Korea has decided to
return to the talks. The question is how will we prepare for a
successful meeting," he said. 

APEC leaders are to express "strong support for a diplomatic
solution" to the crisis and "concern" over Pyongyang's weapons
test, according to a draft joint communique obtained Wednesday
by AFP. 

The leaders will call for quick implementation of a September
2005 agreement under which the North agreed to scrap its nuclear
program in exchange for energy and economic aid, and a quick
resumption of the six-party talks. 

The Japanese official said APEC leaders were unlikely to issue a
separate statement on North Korea, which would be seen as a more
direct expression of concern than references to the crisis in a
final joint communique. 

"APEC is not a framework to have such a statement," he told AFP.
	 		 			
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 18 AFP: US envoy says progress on date for NKorea talks

 by Peter Harmsen Wed Nov 15, 12:07 PM ET 		 	 

HANOI (AFP) - Envoys to six-party talks on dismantling North 
Korea" /> North Korea's nuclear program are making progress on 
setting a date to resume negotiations next month, the chief US 
delegate said. 

Christopher Hill told reporters after meeting his South Korean
and Japanese counterparts that they would recommend a few
possible dates to China, which has hosted previous talks and is
the communist North's closest ally. 

"We proposed a couple of dates. Everyone has a busy calendar in
December but I think we'll find something and we look forward to
having the Chinese set the date very soon," he said. 

The tentative dates would be forwarded to the Chinese, who in
turn would consult with North Korea and Russia, according to
Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Mitsuo Sakaba. 

The trilateral meeting took place on the sidelines of the annual
week-long gathering of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (
APEC" /> APEC) forum, at which the North Korean nuclear crisis
is a key issue. 

The APEC meeting comes less than two weeks after North Korea
agreed in secret negotiations in Beijing to return to the
six-nation talks, which involve the two Koreas, China, Japan,
Russia and the United States. 

Hill, who arrived late Tuesday in the Vietnamese capital, held
talks with South Korea" /> South Korea's Chung Yung-Woo at a
Hanoi hotel, before going into the three-way meeting that also
included Japanese negotiator Kenichiro Sasae. 

The diplomats agreed on three key points, Sakaba told reporters. 

"The three countries will not accept North Korea as a nuclear
power. Number two is North Korea should demonstrate in concrete
terms their commitment to denuclearization, number three is
sanctions will continue," he said. 

The six-party talks, stalled since last year, are aimed at
convincing the Stalinist regime to abandon its nuclear
ambitions, which were put on display last month when the North
stunned the world with its first atom bomb test. 

The October 9 test triggered the imposition of UN sanctions
against the North, the only one of the six nations involved in
the disarmament talks that is not a member of APEC. 

Hill said there was "great harmony" among the five nations as to
how to handle the North Korean crisis. 

When asked why envoys from China and Russia had not met the
other three negotiators in Hanoi on Wednesday, a Japanese
official said the five nations did not want Pyongyang to feel
they were "ganging up" on the regime. 

"The final objective is not to antagonize North Korea, but for
them to abandon their nuclear program," he said. 

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" /> Condoleezza Ricesaid
en route to Hanoi that there was no need for a five-way meeting
on North Korea's nuclear program on the sidelines of the APEC
summit. 

"I think that the need for such collective meetings is simply
not there because what we're really doing is preparing for the
next round of the six-party talks," Rice told journalists
travelling with her. 

Both Hill and his South Korean counterpart said careful
planning, not the precise timing, was the key to making the
negotiations a success. 

"We all feel the process really needs to show progress and this
is why we need to plan this next round very carefully," Hill
said. 

APEC leaders are to express "strong support for a diplomatic
solution" to the crisis and "concern" over Pyongyang's weapons
test, according to a draft joint communique obtained Wednesday
by AFP. 

The leaders will call for quick implementation of a September
2005 agreement under which the North agreed to scrap its nuclear
program in exchange for energy and economic aid, and a quick
resumption of the six-party talks. 

The Japanese official said APEC leaders were unlikely to issue a
separate statement on North Korea, which would be seen as a more
direct expression of concern than references to the crisis in a
final joint communique. 

"APEC is not a framework to have such a statement," he told AFP.
	 		 			
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 19 UPI: Agreement on date for six-party talks
     
United Press International - NewsTrack - 

11/15/2006 1:34:00 PM -0500

TOKYO, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Japan, South Korea and the United States 
have agreed to help start the six-party talks on North Korea's 
nuclear program by next month. 

The agreement among the chief negotiators, reached on the 
sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in 
Vietnam, said North Korea must show it is clearly committed to 
abandoning the development of its nuclear weapons, which at the 
minimum will require acceptance of inspections by the 
International Atomic Energy Agency, Kyodo news agency reported, 
quoting a Japanese official. 

The other countries in the six-party talks are China, North Korea 
and Russia. 

Japan, South Korea and the United States also agreed on the need 
for a thorough implementation of sanctions on North Korea as 
required under the U.N. Security Council resolution approved 
after North Korea's Oct. 9 nuclear test. 

The three also agreed they will not recognize North Korea as a 
nuclear power, Kyodo said.

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All 
Rights Reserved Post A Comment

*****************************************************************
 20 UPI: Seoul urges softer U.S. stance on N.Korea
     
United Press International - Intl. Intelligence - 

11/15/2006 5:58:00 AM -0500

SEOUL, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- South Korea's incoming North Korea
pointman urged the United States Wednesday to give up its policy
of seeking a regime change in the communist country. 

Lee Jae-jeong, designated as the country's unification minister,
also called for the Bush administration to have direct talks
with North Korea to resolve the nuclear standoff. 

"The United States is urged to seek to bring about desired
changes (in North Korea) through sincere discussions with
Pyongyang," Lee said in a speech in a Seoul forum. 

"There is a need for the United States to take a sincere
approach toward the North's long-time call for the normalization
of relations between the two countries," he said. 

Lee also called on the United States to pursue a package deal
under which Washington would provide a security guarantee and
economic assistance to the North in return for its nuclear
abandonment. 

Lee's remarks indicate South Korea would press ahead with its
controversial policy of engaging North Korea despite its nuclear
test last month. 

Last month, Lee was named as the country's pointman on North
Korea to replace Lee Jong-seok. He would take office if he wins
a parliamentary endorsement.

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
 21 Guardian Unlimited: Rice: N. Korea Talks May Not Be Imminent 

From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Wednesday November 15, 2006 9:31 PM

AP Photo DCPM113 

By ANNE GEARAN 

AP Diplomatic Writer 

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice is suggesting that new talks intended to shutter North
Korea's nuclear program may not come quickly. 

The six-nation talks have been mothballed for a year, during
which North Korea test-fired a long-range missile and conducted
an underground nuclear explosion that unnerved Asia and the
West. 

``We need to take our time this time and make sure when we go to
the table at the six-party talks there is a reasonable chance of
a successful outcome,'' Rice told reporters en route to a
Pacific Rim economic meeting in Vietnam. 

The United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia have
offered impoverished North Korea a package of economic,
political and energy incentives if it gives up its nuclear
weapons. The North agreed to the deal in September 2005, but
then backed away. 

The North agreed in principle to return to arms control
negotiations following its nuclear test Oct. 9, and host China
had hoped to schedule the session before the end of the year. 

Legwork is under way to make sure new talks are tightly
structured and produce a result, Rice said. Two top State
Department officials recently returned from planning meetings in
Asia, and Rice predicted there will be more such visits. 

``I'm a veteran of arms control negotiations,'' said Rice, a
specialist on the former Soviet Union. ``It's not at all unusual
that you have a lot of preparatory work in advance of any round
of getting the actual negotiators together.'' 

The October nuclear test will be a focus of diplomatic meetings
during this week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in
Hanoi. Rice and President Bush will attend. 

A draft statement by the 21-member forum shows apparent
differences among members on the appropriate way to deal with
the threat of weapons of mass destruction. Two sentences about
WMD are enclosed in brackets, meaning some members wanted that
material deleted. 

The draft, obtained by The Associated Press, does not mention
North Korea, although the issue was high on the summit agenda.
Envoys from South Korea, Japan and the United States were to
meet Wednesday in Hanoi to hammer out a common strategy ahead of
six-way nuclear talks that include North Korea. 

The document does stress the importance of ensuring security to
advance prosperity in the region, saying the leaders are
``determined to continue efforts to combat terrorism.'' 

In the Vietnamese capital, Christopher Hill, the top U.S.
nuclear envoy, said Wednesday that talks with North Korea on its
nuclear program won't succeed unless the communist regime lives
up to commitments to abandon nuclear weapons in exchange for aid
and security guarantees. 

``I think we've all made very clear that we don't accept North
Korea as a nuclear state,'' Hill said. 

South Korean nuclear envoy Chun Yung-woo earlier called for real
progress in the talks. 

``If we do not make substantial progress, the future for the
six-party talks will be very unclear,'' he said late Tuesday
after arriving in Hanoi from Seoul. ``There should not be talks
for the sake of talks.'' 

The comments were some of the strongest Chun has made about the
North. 

In their draft statement, the leaders also call for a resumption
of stalled global trade talks and pledge to consider a regional
free-trade agreement as a long-term goal. 

Trade ties between the U.S. and Vietnam could be an
uncomfortable subject for Rice this week. Republicans in
Congress and business groups were shocked Monday when
legislation to normalize trade relations with Vietnam failed in
the House. House Republican leaders said they will try again
next month. 

Rice told reporters she was looking forward to her first trip to
Vietnam, one of the world's last communist countries but also
Southeast Asia's fastest-growing economy. Two-thirds of
Vietnam's population is under 30 and has no firsthand memories
of the Vietnam War. 

``I think Vietnam is an extraordinary place, given its history,
and our relationship with Vietnam is extraordinary given our
history with Vietnam,'' Rice said. 

She rejected comparisons of the Vietnam War with the
increasingly unpopular U.S.-led war in Iraq. 

``Historic parallels of that kind are, I think, not very helpful
and I don't think they happen to be right,'' Rice said. ``This
is a different set of circumstances with different stakes for
the United States in a different kind of war.'' 

^--- 

On the Net: 

White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov 
		 	 	   
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
*****************************************************************
 22 [NYTr] Lawmakers Concerned About U.S.-India Nuclear Trade Deal
 
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 16:46:40 -0600 (CST)

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Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
The Washington Post - Nov 15, 2006
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/14/AR2006111401208_pf.html

Lawmakers Concerned About U.S.-India Nuclear Trade Deal

White House Hasn't Provided Long-Awaited Intelligence Assessment 
or Other Key Information

By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer

Congressional leaders requested a secret intelligence assessment of
India's nuclear program and its government's ties to Iran in January
amid concerns about a White House effort to provide nuclear technology
to New Delhi. Ten months later, as the Senate prepares to vote on
nuclear trade with India, the intelligence assessment has yet to be
seen on Capitol Hill, congressional and intelligence sources say.

The pending nuclear deal with India would reverse years of U.S.
policies aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. U.S. law
forbids selling civilian nuclear technology to countries such as India
that have refused to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Arms-control
experts, concerned that the deal would have major ramifications for
U.S. efforts to stop nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, said
yesterday that the White House plan would allow India to rapidly
increase its nuclear arsenal.

For the Bush administration, the deal is part of a strategy to
accelerate India's rise as a regional counterweight to China. Further,
officials have argued that a nuclear arsenal in the hands of democratic
India, which conducted its first nuclear test in 1974, would not be a
threat to the United States.

The White House wants legislation for the deal approved by the
lame-duck Congress and is hoping the Senate will vote on it by Friday.
The bill would carve out an India-specific exception to long-standing
laws that forbid nuclear trade with countries that have not signed the
NPT. Sen. Harry M. Reid (Nev.), who will become majority leader when
Democrats take control of the Senate in January, has said that he wants
the India bill to come up before the current Congress ends in December.

In July, the House voted in favor of a similar bill. Lawmakers did not
know at the time that the Bush administration was planning to sanction
two Indian firms for selling missile parts to Iran -- a fact that
seemed to undercut administration assurances that India's
nonproliferation record is excellent.

Democrats later accused the administration of deception, and Senate and
House staff members said yesterday that they are concerned that the
White House is still pushing for congressional approval without
providing needed information, such as the intelligence report.

In a Jan. 23 letter to John D. Negroponte, director of national
intelligence, the ranking chairmen of the House and Senate foreign
relations panels asked for "an interagency assessment" of India's
nuclear program, its record of proliferation and its ties to Iran. The
letter was signed by Reps. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) and Tom Lantos
(D-Calif.) and Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) and Richard G. Lugar
(R-Ind.) -- all of whom have been generally supportive of the India
deal but have raised concerns about the proliferation implications and
about India's relations with Iran.

The four asked Negroponte to assess how India is implementing its
nonproliferation commitments, the adequacy of its export controls and
the movement into and out of India of materials to make weapons of mass
destruction.

Much of the deal rests on assurances that India will separate its
nuclear and civilian facilities so that the United States can be
certain that the nuclear technology it provides will go only to the
civilian energy side. With a population of 1 billion, India has vast
energy needs and civilian technology would help it to modernize. But
the arrangement would also free up India's nuclear infrastructure so
that it could be devoted solely to weapons.

The letter asked the intelligence community to gauge the extent to
which the deal "may enhance India's ability to produce fissile material
for weapons." The senators also asked for a full assessment of India's
positions on Iran.

In a Feb. 9 response to the letter, Negroponte wrote: "We look forward
to providing the necessary information in the near future." Copies of
both letters were read to The Washington Post. Negroponte's office said
yesterday that it could not comment on the letters or the status of the
assessment.

Several congressional sources said that the National Intelligence
Council provided two oral briefings, in March and April, that focused
on the history of U.S.-India relations as well as the beginnings of
India's nuclear program, but that the briefings did not address the
specific information requested in the letter. "We expect a written
intelligence product," one Republican said. Four other staff members --
two Democrats and two Republicans -- also said that they expected a
complete intelligence assessment that responds point by point to the
issues raised in the letter. All spoke on the condition of anonymity,
fearing that public comment would put their congressional jobs at risk.

The terms of a U.S.-India accord, worked out in secret in 2005, took
Congress by surprise. Congress must approve any final deal before it
can be implemented. While both parties support a strategic alliance
with India, some have voiced concerns about its strong ties to Iran.

Tehran and New Delhi signed an extensive agreement in 2003 and their
military, scientific, political and economic ties are growing.

A report issued yesterday by the Congressional Research Service, which
does in-depth analysis for Congress, said that "India's long
relationship with Iran" made it unlikely that India would take a hard
line on Tehran. India does not support nuclear weapons for Iran, but
"its views of the Iranian threat and appropriate responses differ
significantly from U.S. views."

The report also found that entities in India and Iran "appear to have
engaged in very limited nuclear, chemical and missile related transfers
over the years."

? 2006 The Washington Post Company
       
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*****************************************************************
 23 Guardian Unlimited: US denies cracks in UK alliance 

[UP] 

Press Association 

Tuesday November 14, 2006 9:18 PM

The White House has sought to paper over claims of cracks in
Britain and the US's alliance over Iraq, after Prime Minister
Tony Blair opened the prospect of a "new partnership" with Iran
and Syria. 

The US insisted that Mr Blair suggestion was neither new nor at
odds with President George Bush's strategy. 

On Monday the President said Iran would have to prove it had
halted its enrichment of uranium before any talks could take
place, while Syria should leave Lebanon for good and stop
"harbouring terrorists". 

He said he had not seen the Prime Minister's comments, which
although not yet made at the time had been widely previewed and
were interpreted in many quarters as signalling a break with the
US stance. 

The White House said: "Prime Minister Blair's policy is not new
and is similar to President Bush's policy." 

But it did not address his statement ruling out of military
action in Iran. 

The Iranians, Mr Blair said, had a genuine but misplaced fear
that the US sought a military solution to the nuclear crisis. 

"They don't," he said bluntly. 

The White House stressed that Mr Blair had made similar comments
about Iran and Syria before, in July in Los Angeles, and had
also said Iran had to abide by international obligations to
suspend uranium enrichment before any partnership was possible. 

It drew particular attention to his statement that: "There is a
fundamental misunderstanding that this is about changing policy
on Syria and Iran." And a press release highlighted reports in
US newspapers written from London and Washington, saying that
while the latter said Mr Blair had "shifted his position", the
UK-based writers said he "offered no dramatic new policy
proposals". 

© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved. 
*****************************************************************
 24 NRC: New NRC Resident Inspector Assigned to Millstone Nuclear Plant
 
News Release - Region I - 2006-05 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY 
COMMISSION 

Office of Public Affairs, Region I No. I-06-059                          
November 15, 2006 CONTACT:     Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil 
A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331                     E-mail: 
opa1@nrc.gov  
 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials in King of Prussia, Pa.,
have selected Ricardo Fernandes as the new resident inspector at
the Millstone nuclear power plant in Waterford, Conn. He joins
NRC Senior Resident Inspector Stephen Schneider and Resident
Inspector Jamie Benjamin at the two unit site. 

Most recently, Fernandes worked in the NRC Office of Nuclear
Security and Incident Response. He first joined the NRC in 1993
as a reactor engineer and then worked as a region-based
specialist inspector in the Division of Reactor Safety in King
of Prussia, Pa. Fernandes then was assigned as a resident
inspector at the James A. FitzPatrick and Nine Mile Point
nuclear power plants in Scriba, N.Y., and as a senior resident
inspector at the R.E. Ginna plant in Ontario, N.Y. He left the
agency in 2002 to work as a Senior Reactor Operator at
FitzPatrick and rejoined the NRC in February 2006. 

Rick Fernandes has the experience and commitment to safety that
will help the NRC ensure that Millstone conducts operations with
the highest safety standards to protect public health and
safety," said NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins. 

Prior to joining the NRC, Fernandes worked for General Dynamics,
Electric Boat Division in Connecticut, as a shift test engineer,
project engineer and steel trades supervisor. He received a
bachelor's degree in marine engineering from the Massachusetts
Maritime Academy. 

Each U.S. commercial nuclear plant has at least two NRC resident
inspectors. They serve as the agency's eyes and ears at the
facility, conducting inspections, monitoring major work projects
and interacting with plant workers and the public. The Millstone
resident inspectors can be reached at 860/447-3170.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------


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 15, 2006 	   
*****************************************************************
 25 NRC: Notice of Sunshine Act Meetings
 
                         FR Doc 06-9216 
[Federal Register: November 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 220)] 
[Notices] [Page 66562-66563] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15no06-103]                         
 
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
DATE: Weeks of November 13, 20, 27, December 4, 11, 18, 2006.
 
Place: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland.
 
Status: Public and closed.
 
Matters to Be Considered: Week of November 13, 2006 There are no 
meetings scheduled for the Week of November 13, 2006.
 
Week of November 20, 2006--Tentative There are no meetings 
scheduled for the Week of November 20, 2006.
 
Week of November 27, 2006--Tentative Thursday, November 30 12:55 
p.m. Affirmation Session (Public Meeting) (Tentative). a. Hydro 
Resources, Inc. (Crownpoint, NM) Intervenors' Petition for Review 
of LBP-06-19 (Final Partial Initial Decision--NEPA Issues) 
(Tentative).
 
Week of December 4, 2006--Tentative Thursday, December 7, 2006 
9:30 a.m. Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 2 & 3). Week 
of December 11, 2006--Tentative Monday, December 11, 2006 1:30 
p.m. Briefing on Status of Decommissioning Activities (Public 
Meeting) (Contact: Keith McConnell, 301-415-7295).
 
This meeting will be Webcast live at the Web address-- .
 
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 9:30 a.m. Briefing on Threat 
Environment Assessment (Closed--Ex. 1).
 
1:30 p.m. Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1 & 3). 
Wednesday, December 13, 2006 9:30 a.m. Briefing on Status of 
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Programs (Public Meeting) 
(Contact: Barbara Williams, 301-415-7388).
 
This meeting will be Webcast live at the Web address-- .
 
Thursday, December 14, 2006 9:30 a.m. Meeting with Advisory 
Committee on Nuclear Waste (ACNW) (Public Meeting) (Contact: John 
Larkins, 301-415-7360).
 
This meeting will be Webcast live at the Web address-- .
 
 
[[Page 66563]] Week of December 18, 2006 There are no meetings 
scheduled for the Week of December 18, 2006.
 
* * * * * * The schedule for Commission meetings is subject to 
change on short notice. To verify the status of meetings call 
(recording)--(301) 415-1292. Contact person for more information: 
Michelle Schroll, (301) 415-1662.
 
* * * * * The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the 
Internet at: .[fxsp0]gov/what-we-do/[fxsp0]policy-making/ 
[fxsp0]schedule.html. * * * * * The NRC provides reasonable 
accommodation to individuals with disabilities where appropriate. 
If you need a reasonable accomodation to participate in these 
public meetings, or need this meeting notice or the transcript or 
other information from the public meetings in another format 
(e.g. braille, large print), please notify the NRC's Disability 
Program Coordinator, Deborah Chan, at 301-415-7041, TDD: 
301-415-2100, or by e-mail at . Determinations on requests for 
reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
 
* * * * * This notice is distributed by mail to several hundred 
subscribers; if you no longer wish to receive it, or would like 
to be added to the distribution, please contact the Office of the 
Secretary, Washington, DC 20555 (301-415-1969). In addition, 
distribution of this meeting notice over the Internet system is 
available. If you are interested in receiving this Commission 
meeting schedule electronically, please send an electronic 
message to .
 
Dated: November 9, 2006.
 
R. Michelle Schroll, Office of the Secretary.
 
[FR Doc. 06-9216 Filed 11-13-06; 10:24 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M

 
*****************************************************************
 26 newsobserver.com: Extension sought for nuclear plant
 
November 15, 2006

Raleigh · Durham · Cary · Chapel Hill   

Progress Energy wants 20 years 

John Murawski, Staff Writer Progress

Energy applied for a nuclear license extension Tuesday to
continue operating the Shearon Harris plant in southwestern Wake
County for an additional 20 years.

The Raleigh utility's relicensing application sets the stage for
a two-year review during which nuclear critics hope to turn
Shearon Harris into the nation's first nuclear plant to fail to
win a license renewal.

Progress Energy officials say the Shearon Harris plant is needed
to meet growing energy demand. The company won a license
extension for its Brunswick plant near Wilmington this summer,
and relicensed the H.B. Robinson plant in South Carolina two
years ago.

The Harris plant's license is scheduled to expire in 2026. The
license extension would allow Progress Energy to operate the
plant through 2046.

The license renewal process is expected to take between 22 and
30 months. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold at least
five public meetings near the site of the nuclear plant. The
first meeting could be as early as next month.

The N.C. Waste Reduction and Awareness Network in Durham and the
Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Maryland have vowed
to challenge the Shearon Harris application.

N.C. WARN alleges problems in such areas as fire safety, backup
cooling, emergency planning and on-site security. The group has
called Shearon Harris one of the most unsafe nuclear plants in
the country, a claim disputed by Progress Energy and the NRC.

"Our primary goal is to persuade Progress Energy or the
regulatory agency to require correction of these various safety
and security problems," said Jim Warren, director of N.C. WARN.
"This plant is too dangerous, and nuclear power is inherently
too dangerous."

N.C. WARN has been emboldened by coalitions in three states that
are opposing nuclear plant relicensing applications in
Massachusetts, New Jersey and Vermont. The opponents in those
states include attorneys general and state environmental
agencies. Staff writer John Murawski can be reached at 829-8932
or murawski@newsobserver.com.   

 © Copyright 2006, The News & Observer Publishing Company
*****************************************************************
 27 Platts: NRC and former Davis-Besse worker close to settlement
 
Washington (Platts)--14Nov2006
 
NRC staff and a former Davis-Besse worker appear close to a 
settlement in an enforcement proceeding against the worker. In a 
November 8 decision, released November 13, an Atomic Safety and 
Licensing Board turned down a joint proposal from both sides but 
indicated that the parties could address the board's concerns by 
clarifying certain portions of the proposed settlement. 

Attorneys for the NRC and for former Davis-Besse director of 
technical services Steven Moffitt had proposed a compromise 
penalty for Moffitt's alleged role in FirstEnergy Nuclear 
Operating Co.'s reporting of false information in 2001 to the NRC 
on Davis-Besse's reactor vessel head condition. 

Key provisions of the draft settlement include a ban on Moffitt's 
employment at NRC-licensed facilities until January 4, 2008 and 
certain restrictions after that. 

Moffitt also would acknowledge he was "responsible for 
misinformation communicated to the NRC." NRC's original order, 
issued January 4, 2006, barred Moffitt for five years. 

In its order (ASLBP-06-847-03-EA), the board asked for 
clarifications by November 15.
 
Copyright © 2006 - Platts, All Rights Reserved
 [The McGraw-Hill Companies]       
*****************************************************************
 28 Platts: NRC commissioner visits Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear plant
 
London (Platts)--15Nov2006
 
NRC commissioner Jeffrey Merrifield visited Bulgaria's Kozloduy 
nuclear plant November 13 with US Ambassador to Bulgaria John 
Beyrle. 

The visit included a presentation by Kozloduy management and a 
tour of the operating nuclear units.

As part of the overall modernization of Kozloduy -5 and -6, 
Westinghouse is replacing portions of the plant's Russian 
instrumentation and control systems with state-of-the-art digital 
control systems. 

The Westinghouse I&C project for the two Kozloduy units is a 
first-of-a-kind large scale I&C modernization project for a VVER 
type plant.

Copyright © 2006 - Platts, All Rights Reserved
 [The McGraw-Hill Companies]       


*****************************************************************
 29 Platts: Progress Energy applies to renew Harris nuclear plant license
 
Washington (Platts)--14Nov2006
 
Progress Energy on Tuesday said it has submitted to the US 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission a license-renewal application 
requesting 20 more years of operation for the 900-MW Harris 
Nuclear Plant in New Hill, North Carolina.

     The Harris plant, 84% owned by Progress and 16% owned by 
N.C. Eastern Municipal Agency, is considered a baseload 
generation plant. The NRC granted the plant a 40-year operating 
license in 1986.

     License renewal involves a thorough assessment of the 
plant's operating equipment, maintenance programs, and equipment 
testing and replacement programs, Progress said. 

An environmental review also will be conducted to assess the 
potential impacts of continued operations. Progress said it 
expects the agency's review process to take 22 to 30 months.

Copyright © 2006 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill 
Companies]       
*****************************************************************
 30 JOURNAL NEWS: Indian Point emergency preparation tested during simulation 

By GREG CLARY

Mock timeline for the simulated radiological exercise

 7:49 a.m. Workers at Indian Point hear some noise in the
reactor and notice radiation rising above acceptable levels.
There is "significant damage" to metal tubes that hold
radioactive fuel pellets in place.

8:10 a.m. County emergency operations centers up and running
across the 10-mile emergency planning zone around the plant.

8:12 a.m. Indian Point sends e-mails to 150 members of the media
declaring an "alert," the next-to-the-lowest of four levels of
warning. There has been no release of radiation and no threat to
the public, including workers.

9 a.m. The plant is shut down, as the "event" escalates and more
water is coming out of the reactor cooling system at more than
75 gallons a minute, due to two valves that stuck open. The
containment building is the last line of defense before there is
a radiological release.

9:11 a.m. Public parks are closed

9:12 a.m. Westchester County officials start evacuating schools
in Briarcliff Manor, Peekskill, Somers and four other districts
with buses. Children "sheltered" in places outside of the
10-mile evacuation zone in communities such as Valhalla.

9:14 a.m. Emergency sirens sound across the four counties in the
10-mile zone.

9:40 a.m Gov. Pataki declares a state of emergency.

10 a.m. The state's Joint Information Center in Hawthorne opens,
staffed with individuals from Indian Point and the state's
emergency management office, and linked via video conferences to
the Orange, Rockland and Putnam counties. Westchester staff on
site. Mock reporters begin gathering for official briefings.
10:37 a.m. Teams are dispatched to monitor air for radiation
levels.

11:08 a.m. Schools near the site complete relocation.

11:22 a.m. "General Emergency" declared at Indian Point as
radiation gets out of the containment area and becomes airborne.
Wind is out of the south at 10 miles per hour. Monitors show
exposure to about 8 millirem/hour. Average intake in a day is
usually one millirem.

12:16 p.m. Public evacuations underway.

12:51p.m. Counties advising residents to take potassium iodide,
or KI, to cut potential health impacts of the radiation.

2:10 p.m. Plant operators close the valve releasing radioactive
steam from one of the four steam generators, terminating the
release to the environment.

To review the exercise, log on to the following:
http://jic.semo.state.ny.us/ 


(Original publication: November 15, 2006)
 
BUCHANAN - By 8 a.m. yesterday, those participating in the
simulated emergency at Indian Point had an idea of what would go
wrong in the exercise.

Mock radiation levels had spiked dangerously on control room
monitors at Indian Point 2, and according to the simulation,
workers heard unusual noises from the nuclear reactor.

By the end of the every-other-year exercise, a plume of
radioactive particles had escaped the containment area and
spread toward West Point on 10-mile-an-hour winds, leaving local
residents in the pathway exposed to contamination but not enough
to be considered dangerous.

Yesterday's exercise has not fully been reviewed, but federal
officials on hand to evaluate the region's preparedness for such
an emergency expect to have a preliminary report ready for the
public by Friday.

"I don't know (how it went)," said Craig Conklin, a top official
for the Federal Emergency Management Agency when the exercise
was winding down. "I'm still interpreting."

Conklin joined Robert Stephan, the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security's assistant secretary for infrastructure protection and
hundreds of other federal and state evaluators spread out in
Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties to test the
region's emergency response capabilities.

To the casual observer, the day's activities were a combination
of control and tension.

Plant officials ran through procedures that are practiced
routinely, including working in a duplicate control room for
Indian Point that is used only for training.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission and FEMA officials watched
individuals doing their jobs, noting without comment what was
done when and by whom.

The only evidence of the exercise throughout the day at the
plant as well as at the state's Joint Information Center in
Hawthorne was a mantra spoken by everyone at the beginning of
each phone call or statement to the press - "This is a drill."

Other than that, engineers, emergency officials, public
information officers and others waited for the next pretend
problem to be thrown at them.

"When you're a participant in one of these, you get caught up in
the moment," said Michael Slobedien, Indian Point's top
emergency preparedness official. "When you're in it, it's real.
It's not a game."

With 20 million people in a 50-mile radius of Indian Point, the
most densely populated area surrounding any nuclear plant in the
nation, preparations for such large-scale events as busing
school children or evacuating entire towns need to be complex
and rehearsed in as real-life conditions as possible, officials
and opponents say.

Critics of Indian Point yesterday watched much of the comings
and goings at the Hawthorne information center, where pretend
press briefings took place and counties updated each other via
video conferencing.

"My reaction is that there's a high degree of professionalism,"
said Lisa Rainwater, the Indian Point campaign coordinator for
the environmental group Riverkeeper. "I not exactly sure they're
testing what needs to be tested in this day and age."

Federal officials did not include a terrorist attack yesterday;
they said that was tested last time, when the exercise called
for a plane to be flown into a containment building.

Members of Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition, a group that has
called repeatedly for the plant to be closed, were especially
critical that two of their efforts to inject additional mock
obstacles to overcome - including calling in to say a small
plane had damaged the Tappan Zee Bridge - were not incorporated
into the drill.

Federal officials set the guidelines for the training exercise
and kept to the script yesterday.

Rainwater wondered why the release was "blown" north when the
larger populations are in other directions.

Indian Point's Slobedien said FEMA had criteria they wanted to
test, including ensuring that all four counties were in the
plume's path and that West Point was part of the exercise as
well.

He said radiation releases heading south or toward larger
populations have been tested in the past.

The NRC and FEMA meeting with the public is set for Friday 2
p.m. Friday, at Charles Point's Crystal Bay restaurant.

At that time, both agencies will go over their report cards for
the exercise. Should there be significant deficiencies, the two
agencies could require a repeat of the drill. 

Reach Greg Clary at gclary@lohud.comor 914-696-8566. 
                                
  Copyright 2006 The Journal News, a Gannett Co.Inc. newspaper
*****************************************************************
 31 IRNA: Plutonium had been old type of fuel for research reactor, IAEO -
      
Tehran, Nov 15, IRNA                                                                                                             

Iran-IAEA-Plutonium 

Plutonium contamination has originated from the old type of fuel
used in Iranian the research reactor which has been reported to
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) three years ago,
Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) said on Wednesday.

 It said in a statement that the plutonium contamination which
has been pointed in report of IAEA Director General Mohamed
ElBaradei last October had been discussed several times with the
agency in the past three years and it is not something new.

 "According to IAEA, the fuel of the research reactor had not
been recycled and has been sealed off by the agency," the IAEO
said.

 The statement made it clear that the plutonium had been the old
type of fuel of Tehran research reactor which had been under
surveillance of the UN nuclear agency from the beginning of its
operation.


*****************************************************************
 32 washingtonpost.com: Lawmakers Concerned About U.S.-India Nuclear Trade Deal -
                    
White House Hasn't Provided Long-Awaited Intelligence Assessment
and Other Key Information

By Dafna LinzerWashington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 15, 2006; Page A14

Congressional leaders requested a secret intelligence assessment
of India'snuclear program and its government's ties to Iranin
January amid concerns about a White House effort to provide
nuclear technology to New Delhi. Ten months later, as the Senate
prepares to vote on nuclear trade with India, the intelligence
assessment has yet to be seen on Capitol Hill, congressional and
intelligence sources say.

The pending nuclear deal with India would reverse years of U.S.
policies aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. U.S.
law forbids selling civilian nuclear technology to countries
such as India that have refused to sign the Non-Proliferation
Treaty. Arms-control experts, concerned that the deal would have
major ramifications for U.S. efforts to stop nuclear programs in
Iran and North Korea, said yesterday that the White House plan
would allow India to rapidly increase its nuclear arsenal.

For the Bush administration, the deal is part of a strategy to
accelerate India's rise as a regional counterweight to China.
Further, officials have argued that a nuclear arsenal in the
hands of democratic India, which conducted its first nuclear
test in 1974, would not be a threat to the United States.

The White House wants legislation for the deal approved by the
lame-duck Congress and is hoping the Senate will vote on it by
Friday. The bill would carve out an India-specific exception to
long-standing laws that forbid nuclear trade with countries that
have not signed the NPT. Sen. Harry M. Reid (Nev.), who will
become majority leader when Democrats take control of the Senate
in January, has said that he wants the India bill to come up
before the current Congress ends in December.

In July, the House voted in favor of a similar bill. Lawmakers
did not know at the time that the Bush administration was
planning to sanction two Indian firms for selling missile parts
to Iran -- a fact that seemed to undercut administration
assurances that India's nonproliferation record is excellent.

Democrats later accused the administration of deception, and
Senate and House staff members said yesterday that they are
concerned that the White House is still pushing for
congressional approval without providing needed information,
such as the intelligence report.

In a Jan. 23 letter to John D. Negroponte, director of national
intelligence, the ranking chairmen of the House and Senate
foreign relations panels asked for "an interagency assessment"
of India's nuclear program, its record of proliferation and its
ties to Iran. The letter was signed by Reps. Henry J. Hyde
(R-Ill.) and Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr.
(D-Del.) and Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) -- all of whom have been
generally supportive of the India deal but have raised concerns
about the proliferation implications and about India's relations
with Iran.

The four asked Negroponte to assess how India is implementing
its nonproliferation commitments, the adequacy of its export
controls and the movement into and out of India of materials to
make weapons of mass destruction.

Much of the deal rests on assurances that India will separate
its nuclear and civilian facilities so that the United States
can be certain that the nuclear technology it provides will go
only to the civilian energy side. With a population of 1
billion, India has vast energy needs and civilian technology
would help it to modernize. But the arrangement would also free
up India's nuclear infrastructure so that it could be devoted
solely to weapons.

The letter asked the intelligence community to gauge the extent
to which the deal "may enhance India's ability to produce
fissile material for weapons." The senators also asked for a
full assessment of India's positions on Iran.

In a Feb. 9 response to the letter, Negroponte wrote: "We look
forward to providing the necessary information in the near
future." Copies of both letters were read to The Washington
Post. Negroponte's office said yesterday that it could not
comment on the letters or the status of the assessment.

Several congressional sources said that the National
Intelligence Council provided two oral briefings, in March and
April, that focused on the history of U.S.-India relations as
well as the beginnings of India's nuclear program, but that the
briefings did not address the specific information requested in
the letter. "We expect a written intelligence product," one
Republican said. Four other staff members -- two Democrats and
two Republicans -- also said that they expected a complete
intelligence assessment that responds point by point to the
issues raised in the letter. All spoke on the condition of
anonymity, fearing that public comment would put their
congressional jobs at risk.

The terms of a U.S.-India accord, worked out in secret in 2005,
took Congress by surprise. Congress must approve any final deal
before it can be implemented. While both parties support a
strategic alliance with India, some have voiced concerns about
its strong ties to Iran.

Tehran and New Delhi signed an extensive agreement in 2003 and
their military, scientific, political and economic ties are
growing.

A report issued yesterday by the Congressional Research Service,
which does in-depth analysis for Congress, said that "India's
long relationship with Iran" made it unlikely that India would
take a hard line on Tehran. India does not support nuclear
weapons for Iran, but "its views of the Iranian threat and
appropriate responses differ significantly from U.S. views."

The report also found that entities in India and Iran "appear to
have engaged in very limited nuclear, chemical and missile
related transfers over the years."

&copy; Copyright 1996- The Washington Post Company 
*****************************************************************
 33 New Matilda:  Nuclear Debate: Part Two: The Problems

Thursday 16 November 2006                                     
						
By: Julie Macken
 													Wednesday 15 November 2006 												
Two weeks ago John Howard realised that global warming was a big 
problem — for his re-election prospects and his legacy. 

This insight did not come with the release of the Stern Review, 
or through the mounting scientific evidence demonstrating global 
warming. It came through the results of internal Liberal Party 
polling. Specifically, the answer to question number 4 of their 
polling : ‘Would you change your vote as result of climate 
change?’ Twenty-two per cent said ‘yes,’ up from only 6 per cent 
in April. 

Howard’s problems have been compounded by growing calls from
within his own Party to ratify the Kyoto Protocol or risk a
Private Member’s Bill calling for the same. That’s why he used
the Business Council of Australia dinner on Monday night to
announce a business/parliamentary taskforce to examine the
possibility of carbon trading. 

This announcement may placate his nervous Coalition colleagues,
but it is Howard’s preoccupation with turning Australia into a
one-stop-nuclear-shop that is alarming many in the community. 

A broad outline of how this plan would work was revealed in last
week’s New Matilda. It showed how Dr John White’s Australian
Nuclear Fuel Leasing (ANFL) company could realise Howard’s
nuclear ambitions. 

But Howard’s solution may soon become Australia’s problem
according to John Largean English nuclear engineer who runs UK
company Large & Associates. He came to international attention a
few years ago as the man responsible for the salvage of the
stricken Russian submarine, Kursk. 

As a specialist in the areas of nuclear technology, risk and
hazard assessment, he knows his way around the safety
implications of using nuclear energy. And, having done a series
of assessments in the UK and France on the risk posed by the
transportation of fuel rods by rail, he also knows how to
recognise a potential disaster zone. 

When I spoke to him last June, he was shocked to learn that
Australia was seriously considering the nuclear fuel leasing
option, saying in his clear, clipped English accent, ‘Do you
people have any idea of what you are getting yourselves into?
You are one of the last remaining countries on earth that
doesn’t have a nuclear legacy hanging over you, and now you’re
volunteering for one? Why on earth would you do that?’ 

He said the Australian community needed to know a couple of
things before they signed up to such an agreement. 

First, when it comes to shipping radioactive spent fuel rods
back to Australia — as ANFL proposes to do — ‘At least 3 per
cent of that spent fuel will be damaged and therefore more
hazardous on the return journey. The International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) acknowledges that this is the most dangerous phase
because moving fuel across great distances, while it is still
hot, is dangerous for two reasons: accidents and terrorism.’ 


Secondly, he points to the issue of the nuclear caskets
themselves. The spent fuel travels in caskets that, according to
the safety standards set by the IAEA, must: be able to withstand
being dropped from a height of nine metres (the equivalent of
travelling at just 50 kilometres per hour); and be able to
withstand a fire of 800 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. 

  
Thanks to emo  

As Large points out: ‘A train carrying the caskets would be
travelling faster than 50 kilometres per hour and tunnel fires
and ship fires burn hotter than 800 degrees.’ 


David Pentz, one of the directors of ANFL, countered these
concerns by arguing this was standard operating procedure in
Switzerland already, ‘[The Swiss] only allow their hot rods to
cool for 12 to 20 months before moving them by sea to the
cooling ponds. If this was not feasible, the whole investment
for the US, Yucca Mountain repository, would be entirely
wasted.’ 

While conceding that Yucca Mountain was confronting serious
opposition because of this very concern, Pentz said ANFL was so
confident about the safety of their project that, ‘We will
create a sinking fund worth about $50 to $60 million per year,
so that when we hand the company over to the Australian
Government to run — in about 30 or 40 years [as is envisaged in
ANFL’S plans] — they will have sufficient funds to maintain
safety standards in the waste repository.’ 

On the question of storage, Large said the facility ‘should be
able to guarantee institutional management for 250 years. After
that period of time processes begin to breakdown.’ He
underscored the difficulty of institutional management over
those time frames by asking what was going on in Woomera 250
years ago. 

He then challenged the integrity of the caskets used to store
the spent fuel, saying, ‘Over the first 1000 years the fuel
decays and it produces hydrogen which creates cracks in the
caskets. There is simply no way, over even a 100,000 year time
scale, to stop the fuel leaking out.’ 

But the risks are not confined to either accidents or terrorism.
The recent nuclear test conducted by North Korea demonstrates
how seriously the region takes the threat of nuclear
proliferation. If Australia was to move into the enrichment
business, there is the very real possibility that our near
neighbours would feel extremely uncomfortable about it —
particularly now that it has been revealed previous Australian
Governments have considered the use of nuclear weapons.

Recently, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute released a
reportexamining the links between uranium exports, processing
and nuclear weapons proliferation . The author of that report,
Dr Andrew Davies, told me that so long as Australia does not
engage in enrichment and/or reprocessing, our neighbours have
little to be concerned about. 

‘They would not be concerned, I think, about Australia taking
back spent nuclear fuel rods for storage,’ he said. ‘But if, at
a later date, Australia wanted to get into either enrichment or
reprocessing, then I think they would be alarmed because that
puts us in the position to develop nuclear weapons. That is
simply a consequence of the technology overlap,’ he said.
Adding, ‘How would Australia answer the question: “if it’s OK
for you guys to develop an enrichment capability, why is it not
alright for us?”’ 

This brings us to the new security treatysigned between
Australia and Indonesia on Lombok on Monday night. 

While there was much media speculation about the treaty being
used to facilitate Australian and Indonesia co-operation on
civilian nuclear power, Damien Kingsbury, Associate Professor in
the School of International and Political Studies at Deakin
University, says the treaty doesn’t amount to a lot in the
nuclear department. 

‘Implicit in the treaty is that one or both countries will have
a nuclear industry at some stage,’ said Kingsbury. ‘And [the
treaty] will certainly be used to reassure both countries that
there is no intention of going down the nuclear weapons path.
But apart from that it doesn’t have a lot to say about the
matter.’ 

He also points out that Indonesia has said it is only interested
in a nuclear power industry if it can be funded by private
investors — and the silence has been deafening. 

The real question is: given the enormous risks involved, the
high cost of nuclear power generation — currently around a $120
per MWH — and the fact that alternate renewable fuel supplies
could be utilised in a much shorter time frame than nuclear
power, why would the Federal Government choose to force
Australia down this path? 

To answer that question, next week we will look at the real
geo-political forces driving the Howard Government’s nuclear
agenda. 												 											   										 										
 											  [ /]    										 										 												
Australian Financial Review. She is now writing a series of
books on Australian business, hope and the possibility of
political change in Australia. 														 													  
												 												 											
Copyright 2006 © New Matilda

*****************************************************************
 34 recordonline.com: Tide could turn for Indian Point
                  
Times Herald-Record 

November 15, 2006 

Buchanan  A five-year campaign to shutter the Indian Point
nuclear power plant has seen lobbied politicians, boisterous
protests, even a giant rubber stamp waved at federal regulators.

But it may be Election Day 2006 that proves the tipping point
for one of the nation's most controversial nuclear facilities,
critics and nuclear experts say.

Riding a wave of political reform, New York's newest governor,
Eliot Spitzer, and the state's freshman member of Congress, Rep.
John Hall, publicly called for the plant's closure while on the
campaign trail.

Now, plant opponents are savoring their newfound relevance.

"The political, pro-nuclear forces are still strong, and the
nuclear industry has lobbied both sides of the aisle," said
Edwin Lyman, a senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned
Scientists in Washington, D.C. "But I think, with regard to New
York in particular, there is definitely a new opportunity to
reinvigorate the movement to shut down the plant."

Since 9/11, calls for the plant's closure have been vocal, with
critics claiming the New York City area could not be protected
from an accidental or terrorism-related release of
radioactivity. Gov. George Pataki remained largely silent on the
subject.

In March, Spitzer told supporters he favored mothballing the
facility "when we are certain that there is adequate replacement
power."

Spitzer also said he would work to ensure the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission did not renew the plant's 40-year
operating permits when they expire, in 2013 and 2015.
 
Rep. Sue Kelly, R-Katonah, and her challenger, Hall, also traded
Indian Point promises during the campaign. Both were critical of
the plant's operating history; both called for improvements to
plant safety. But only Hall consistently called for the plant to
be closed.

Publicly, even the most vociferous Indian Point opponents are
containing their enthusiasm. Campaign promises and political
action are different animals, they say.

Tom Staudter, a spokesman for Hall, urged caution. "The NRC is a
federal agency that is not going to rely on Governor-elect
Spitzer," Staudter said. "I'm sure they'll have communication
from the governor on the lines of what he thinks is best, but
that kind of decision making, a lot of it will be in
Washington," where support for nuclear power remains strong.

Plant officials, too, are quick to tamp down candidates'
proclamations.

"These were short answers to short questions," said Jim Steets,
a spokesman for Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which owns the twin
nuclear reactors on the banks of the Hudson River. "How they
play out remains to be seen. A lot still needs to be discussed,"
like what the impacts of shutting down Indian Point would be on
the state's electrical grid.

One major hurdle to an immediate closure would be filling the
2,000-or-so-megawatt void left in the plant's wake. A National
Academy of Sciences study this year found that, while it would
be possible to close the facility, doing so would cause major
challenges to the state.

Still, the post-Election Day excitement of longtime plant
critics is palpable. Members of the Indian Point Safe Energy
Coalition held a rally yesterday at the Hudson Valley
Transportation Management Center in Hawthorne, where local,
state and federal officials were conducting an evaluation of the
plant's emergency capabilities.

"We are encouraged by the strong public commitment to replacing
Indian Point made by those about to take office," said Lisa
Rainwater, Indian Point campaign director for Riverkeeper.
 
Added another plant critic: "To those still pushing nuclear
energy" as a safe, reliable alternate energy source, "wake up
and smell the coffee."
 	 			 	 		
[recordonline.com - RSS Feeds] 		 Record Online is brought to
you by the Times Herald-Record, serving New York"s Hudson Valley
and the Catskills. Phone: (845) 341-1100 
*****************************************************************
 35 TheStar.com: Nuclear deal penalty could be costly - NDP
 
Province would have to pay $460M if transmission lines not built

Nov. 14, 2006. 08:28

KEITH LESLIE CANADIAN PRESS

A "sweetheart deal" the Liberal government signed with a private
nuclear power company could cost Ontario electricity ratepayers
hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties, NDP Leader Howard
Hampton warned Tuesday.

 The province signed a deal with Bruce Power last year to
purchase more nuclear-generated electricity starting in 2009,
but Hampton said it also included a huge financial penalty if
transmission lines aren't in place to bring the power from Bruce
County on Lake Huron to cities in southern Ontario.

 "If the transmission capacity isn't there by 2009, you'll have
to pay Bruce Nuclear penalties of $460 million a year," Hampton
told the legislature.

 "How is paying half a billion dollars for no electricity a good
deal for Ontario's hydro consumers?"

 Energy Minister Dwight Duncan admitted the deal with Bruce was
``risky" because the province will have to purchase the
electricity generated by the plant even if the transmission
lines are not built and the power cannot be used.

 But he said Hampton was painting a "worst case scenario," and
noted the Ontario Power Authority and the Independent
Electricity Market Operator both say existing transmission lines
can be upgraded by 2009 — for $260 million — and that a new line
will be ready by 2011.

 "There will be adequate transmission capacity to get the power
out of Bruce once the refurbished reactors are on line," Duncan
told the legislature.

 He said CIBC World Markets had advised the government the deal
with Bruce was a good one, and he is confident the province
won't have to pay for electricity that it cannot use.

 "It's a risky deal by any standard, and it's a fair deal," he
said. "It's one that will have the power to markets on time and
at the costs as outlined (in the agreement)."

 Hampton said it's doubtful the transmission capacity will be
ready in time, and warned hydro customers could end up paying
the $460 million in penalties and $260 million for new lines,
and still not get any new power.

 "It could well end up costing $800 million more for consumers,
who get no (new) power," said Hampton.

 Duncan called Hampton's numbers "hooey," and said the province
needs the transmission lines from Bruce County for future
wind-generated electricity in addition to the nuclear power.

 "We have enormous wind opportunity at Bruce, and we won't be
able to get the power out" without new lines.

 A draft report from the Ministry of Energy predicts it would
cost between $600 million and $860 million to bring the
transmission system up to capacity to handle electricity from
eight nuclear reactors at Bruce Power plus new wind-generation
projects expected to come on-line by 2012.

Legal Notice: Copyright Toronto Star Newspapers Limited.
*****************************************************************
 36 NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Subcommittee Meeting on 
 
                        FR Doc E6-19233 
[Federal Register: November 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 220)]
[Notices]               
[Page 66560]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15no06-99]                         
 
Planning and Procedures; Notice of Meeting
The ACRS Subcommittee on Planning and Procedures will hold a 
meeting on December 6, 2006, Room T-2B1, 11545 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland.
 
The entire meeting will be open to public attendance, with
the 
exception of a portion that may be closed pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
552b(c)(2) and (6) to discuss organizational and personnel
matters that 
relate solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of
the 
ACRS, and information the release of which would constitute a
clearly 
unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
 
The agenda for the subject meeting shall be as follows:
Wednesday, 
December 6, 2006, 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
The Subcommittee will discuss proposed ACRS activities and
related 
matters. The Subcommittee will gather information, analyze
relevant 
issues and facts, and formulate proposed positions and actions,
as 
appropriate, for deliberation by the full Committee.
 
Members of the public desiring to provide oral statements
and/or 
written comments should notify the Designated Federal Official,
Mr. Sam 
Duraiswamy (telephone: 301-415-7364) between 7:30 a.m. and 4
p.m. (ET) 
five days prior to the meeting, if possible, so that appropriate 
arrangements can be made. Electronic recordings will be
permitted only 
during those portions of the meeting that are open to the public.
 
Further information regarding this meeting can be obtained
by 
contacting the Designated Federal Official between 7:30 a.m. and
4:15 
p.m. (ET). Persons planning to attend this meeting are urged to
contact 
the above named individual at least two working days prior to
the 
meeting to be advised of any potential changes in the agenda.
 
Dated: November 8, 2006.
 
Antonio F. Dias,
Acting Branch Chief, ACRS/ACNW.
 
[FR Doc. E6-19233 Filed 11-14-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 37 NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards: Meeting Notice
 
                        FR Doc E6-19239 
[Federal Register: November 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 220)] 
[Notices] [Page 66561-66562] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15no06-100] [[Page 
66561]]
 
In accordance with the purposes of Sections 29 and 182b. of the 
Atomic Energy Act (42 U.S.C. 2039, 2232b), the Advisory Committee 
on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) will hold a meeting on December 7-9, 
2006, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The date of this 
meeting was previously published in the Federal Register on 
Tuesday, November 22, 2005 (70 FR 70638).
 
Thursday, December 7, 2006, Conference Room T-2B3, Two White 
Flint North, Rockville, Maryland 8:30 a.m.-8:35 a.m.: Opening 
Remarks by the ACRS Chairman (Open)-- The ACRS Chairman will make 
opening remarks regarding the conduct of the meeting.
 
8:35 a.m.-10:30 a.m.: Draft Final Regulatory Guide, DG-1145, 
``Combined License Applications for Nuclear Power Plants'' 
(Open)--The Committee will hear presentations by and hold 
discussions with representatives of the NRC staff regarding Draft 
Final Regulatory Guide, DG-1145, ``Combined License Applications 
for Nuclear Power Plants,'' and resolution of significant public 
comments.
 
10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: Draft Final Regulatory Guide, DG-1144, 
``Guidelines for Evaluating Fatigue Analyses Incorporating the 
Life Reduction of Metal Components Due to the Effects of the 
Light-Water Reactor Environment for New Reactors'' (Open)--The 
Committee will hear presentations by and hold discussions with 
representatives of the NRC staff regarding Draft Final Regulatory 
Guide DG-1144 and the resolution of public comments.
 
1:15 p.m.-3:15 p.m.: Proposed Revisions to Standard Review Plan 
Section 13.3, ``Emergency Planning'' (Open)--The Committee will 
hear presentations by and hold discussions with representatives 
of the NRC staff regarding proposed revisions to Standard Review 
Plan Section 13.3, ``Emergency Planning,'' and related matters. 
3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.: State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence 
Analysis Project (Open)--The Committee will hear presentations by 
and hold discussions with representatives of the NRC staff 
regarding status of the staff's efforts associated with the 
state-of-the-art reactor consequence analysis project.
 
5:45 p.m.-7 p.m.: Preparation of ACRS Reports (Open)--The 
Committee will discuss proposed ACRS reports on matters 
considered during this meeting.
 
Friday, December 8, 2006, Conference Room T-2B3, Two White Flint 
North, Rockville, Maryland 8:30 a.m.-8:35 a.m.: Opening Remarks 
by the ACRS Chairman (Open)-- The ACRS Chairman will make opening 
remarks regarding the conduct of the meeting.
 
8:35 a.m.-9:30 a.m.: Proposed Revisions to Regulatory Guides and 
Standard Review Plan Sections in Support of New Reactor Licensing 
(Open)--The Committee will discuss proposed revisions to 
Regulatory Guides and Standard Review Plan Sections that are 
being made in support of new reactor licensing.
 
9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m.: Future ACRS Activities/Report of the 
Planning and Procedures Subcommittee (Open)--The Committee will 
discuss the recommendations of the Planning and Procedures 
Subcommittee regarding items proposed for consideration by the 
full Committee during future meetings. Also, it will hear a 
report of the Planning and Procedures Subcommittee on matters 
related to the conduct of ACRS business, including anticipated 
workload and member assignments.
 
10:45 a.m.-11 a.m.: Reconciliation of ACRS Comments and 
Recommendations (Open)--The Committee will discuss the responses 
from the NRC Executive Director for Operations to comments and 
recommendations included in recent ACRS reports and letters.
 
11 a.m.-11:30 a.m.: Election of ACRS Officers for CY 2007 
(Open)-- The Committee will elect Chairman and Vice-Chairman for 
the ACRS and Member-at-Large for the Planning and Procedures 
Subcommittee.
 
1 p.m.-7 p.m.: Preparation of ACRS Reports (Open)--The Committee 
will discuss proposed ACRS reports.
 
Saturday, December 9, 2006, Conference Room T-2B3, Two White 
Flint North, Rockville, Maryland 8:30 a.m.-12 Noon: Preparation 
of ACRS Reports (Open)--The Committee will continue discussion of 
proposed ACRS reports.
 
12 Noon-12:30 p.m.: Miscellaneous (Open)--The Committee will 
discuss matters related to the conduct of Committee activities 
and matters and specific issues that were not completed during 
previous meetings, as time and availability of information 
permit.
 
Procedures for the conduct of and participation in ACRS meetings 
were published in the Federal Register on October 2, 2006 (71 FR 
58015). In accordance with those procedures, oral or written 
views may be presented by members of the public, including 
representatives of the nuclear industry. Electronic recordings 
will be permitted only during the open portions of the meeting. 
Persons desiring to make oral statements should notify the 
Cognizant ACRS staff named below five days before the meeting, if 
possible, so that appropriate arrangements can be made to allow 
necessary time during the meeting for such statements. Use of 
still, motion picture, and television cameras during the meeting 
may be limited to selected portions of the meeting as determined 
by the Chairman. Information regarding the time to be set aside 
for this purpose may be obtained by contacting the Cognizant ACRS 
staff prior to the meeting. In view of the possibility that the 
schedule for ACRS meetings may be adjusted by the Chairman as 
necessary to facilitate the conduct of the meeting, persons 
planning to attend should check with the Cognizant ACRS staff if 
such rescheduling would result in major inconvenience.
 
Further information regarding topics to be discussed, whether the 
meeting has been canceled or rescheduled, as well as the 
Chairman's ruling on requests for the opportunity to present oral 
statements and the time allotted therefor can be obtained by 
contacting Mr. Sam Duraiswamy, Cognizant ACRS staff 
(301-415-7364), between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., (ET). ACRS meeting 
agenda, meeting transcripts, and letter reports are available 
through the NRC Public Document Room at pdr@nrc.gov, or by 
calling the PDR at 1-800-397-4209, or from the Publicly Available 
Records System (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS) 
which is accessible from the NRC Web site at 
http://www.nrc[fxsp0]gov/reading-rm/[fxsp0]adams.html or 
http://www.nrc.gov/.[fxsp0]reading-rm/ [fxsp0]doc-collections/ 
(ACRS & ACNW Mtg schedules/agendas).
 
Videoteleconferencing service is available for observing open 
sessions of ACRS meetings. Those wishing to use this service for 
observing ACRS meetings should contact Mr. Theron Brown, ACRS 
Audio Visual Technician (301-415-8066), between 7:30 a.m. and 
3:45 p.m., (ET), at least 10 days before the meeting to ensure 
the availability of this service. Individuals or organizations 
requesting this service will be responsible for telephone line 
charges and for providing the equipment and facilities that they 
use to establish the videoteleconferencing link. The availability 
of
 
[[Page 66562]] videoteleconferencing services is not guaranteed.
 
The ACRS meeting dates for Calendar Year 2007 are provided below.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------- 
------- ACRS meeting No.                       Meeting dates 
----------------------------------------------------------------- 
------- --................................  January 2007. 
539...............................  February 1-3, 2007. 
540...............................  March 8-10, 2007. 
541...............................  April 5-7, 2007. 
542...............................  May 3-5, 2007. 
543...............................  June 6-8, 2007. 
544...............................  July 11-13, 2007. 
--................................  August \1\ 
545...............................  September 6-8, 2007. 
546...............................  October 4-6, 2007. 
547...............................  November 1-3, 2007. 
548...............................  December 6-8, 2007. 
----------------------------------------------------------------- 
------- \1\ No ACRS Meeting.
 
Dated: November 8, 2006.
 
Andrew L. Bates, Advisory Committee Management Officer.
 
[FR Doc. E6-19239 Filed 11-14-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 38 NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS)
 
                        FR Doc E6-19241 
[Federal Register: November 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 220)] 
[Notices] [Page 66562] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15no06-101]                         
 
Subcommittee Meeting on Materials, Metallurgy, and Reactor Fuels; 
Notice of Meeting The ACRS Subcommittee on Materials, Metallurgy, 
and Reactor Fuels will hold a meeting on December 6, 2006, Room 
T-2B3, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
 
The entire meeting will be open to public attendance.
 
The agenda for the subject meeting shall be as follows: 
Wednesday, December 6, 2006--1:30 p.m. until the conclusion of 
business.
 
The Subcommittee will review Draft Regulatory Guide DG-1144, 
``Guidelines for Evaluating Fatigue Analyses Incorporating the 
Life Reduction of Metal Components Due to the Effects of the 
Light-Water Reactor Environment for New Reactors.'' The 
Subcommittee will gather information, analyze relevant issues and 
facts, and formulate proposed positions and actions, as 
appropriate, for deliberation by the full Committee.
 
Members of the public desiring to provide oral statements and/or 
written comments should notify the Designated Federal Official, 
Mr. Charles G. Hammer (telephone 301/415-7363) five days prior to 
the meeting, if possible, so that appropriate arrangements can be 
made. Electronic recordings will be permitted.
 
Further information regarding this meeting can be obtained by 
contacting the Designated Federal Official between 6:45 a.m. and 
3:30 p.m. (ET). Persons planning to attend this meeting are urged 
to contact the above named individual at least two working days 
prior to the meeting to be advised of any potential changes to 
the agenda.
 
Dated: November 8, 2006.
 
Antonio F. Dias, Acting Branch Chief, ACRS/ACNW.
 
[FR Doc. E6-19241 Filed 11-14-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 39 NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) Subcommittee 
 
                        FR Doc E6-19280 
[Federal Register: November 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 220)] 
[Notices] [Page 66562] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15no06-102]                         
 
Meeting on Thermal-Hydraulic Phenomena; Notice of Meeting The 
ACRS Subcommittee on Thermal-Hydraulic Phenomena will hold a 
meeting on December 5, 2006, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland in Room T-2B3.
 
The entire meeting will be open to public attendance.
 
The agenda for the subject meeting shall be as follows: Tuesday, 
December 5, 2006--8:30 a.m. until the conclusion of business. The 
Subcommittee will hear presentations from the NRC staff, their 
contractors, and other interested persons concerning the progress 
they have been making in the development of the TRACE T/H system 
analysis code. The Subcommittee will gather information, analyze 
relevant issues and facts, and formulate proposed positions and 
actions, as appropriate, for deliberation by the full Committee.
 
Members of the public desiring to provide oral statements and/or 
written comments should notify the Designated Federal Official, 
Mr. Ralph Caruso (Telephone: 301-415-8065) five days prior to the 
meeting, if possible, so that appropriate arrangements can be 
made.
 
Electronic recordings will be permitted only during those 
portions of the meeting that are open to the public.
 
Further information regarding this meeting can be obtained by 
contacting the Designated Federal Official between 7:30 a.m. and 
4:15 p.m. (ET). Persons planning to attend this meeting are urged 
to contact the above named individual at least two working days 
prior to the meeting to be advised of any potential changes to 
the agenda.
 
Dated: November 8, 2006.
 
Antonio F. Dias, Acting Branch Chief, ACRS/ACNW.
 
[FR Doc. E6-19280 Filed 11-14-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 40 Energia: Romania To Build More Nuclear Reactor To Limit Energy Dependence
On Russia 

(15/11/2006) 

Romania, set to join the European Union Januar 1, will build
more nuclear reactors and may reopen coal mines to slash its
reliance on natural gas amid concerns Russia is using its
dominance of the fuel for political ends.

Romania is accelerating plans to complete three nuclear
reactors, President Traian Basescu said November 11 in the
Romanian mountain resort of Sinaia. Europe may also lose out if
Russia decides to sell more gas to China, he said. The country
imports about a half the gas it uses, mainly from Russia's OAO
Gazprom, the world's biggest gas producer and exporter. “Europe
has an energy problem because Gazprom has a problem from the
point of view of guaranteeing gas deliveries,” the 55 year-old
president told journalists.”We believe that Europe's highest
priority is that of seeking alternatives. We wonder when Gazprom
will start telling us that if we're not good children it'll
start giving the gas to China?” Gazprom, the state-controlled
gas-export monopoly, supplies a quarter of Europe's gas and
ships about 80% of that through Ukraine. The company cut
supplies for three days in January in response to Ukraine's
rejection of a fourfold increase in prices. That caused
shortages in European countries including Romania, Italy and
Hungary.

Russia in March agreed to supply China with 80 billion cubic
meters of gas a year starting in 2011. Gazprom is considering
three routes for those supplies, including a project to take gas
from eastern Siberia. “To me it's clear that Gazprom will never
be able to fully satisfy both the needs of China and those of
the European Union,” Basescu said. Basescu, a former Bucharest
mayor and transport minister, said Russia can pressure countries
by allowing Gazprom to charge different prices. “Some countries
get the gas for $120 per 1,000 cubic meters, some for $220, some
for $180, and others for $280 or $300, in line with the
interests that Moscow manifests one way or another through
Gazprom,” Basescu said. Gazprom's pipelines also run through
some areas where there is conflict, adding to concerns about
supply disruptions, the president said, without naming any
countries. Romania, a former communist country that was part of
the area dominated by the former Soviet Union until 1990, will
start its second nuclear reactor in Cernavoda, in the east of
the country, in spring next year. It will then build two more
reactors, Basescu said. 

  ['http://www.hellenic-petroleum.gr/'
      
 INSTITUTE OF ENERGY FOR S.E. EUROPE    

Copyright © 2001-2006 Editcom Ltd
*****************************************************************
 41 Hudson Valley News: Indian Point 2 Safely Shuts Down   

Wednesday, November 15, 2006 
  
Buchanan The Indian Point 2 nuclear power plant stopped
producing electricity Wednesday at about 2 p.m., when the
plants main electric generator automatically shut down. The
shutdown of the generator caused the plants nuclear reactor to
also automatically shut down as designed.
 
A problem with a power supply that supplies low-voltage power to
the unit 2s main generator caused the shutdown. The generator
is located in the unit-2 main turbine building in a non-nuclear
area of the plant.
 The plant is expected to return to service once the exact cause
is identified and necessary repairs are completed.
 
There was no release of radioactivity to the environment. The
plant had been operating continuously for 84 days. The U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission and local public officials were
notified.
 
Indian Point 3, which is unaffected by the shutdown, is
operating at full power. Each plant produces about 1,000
megawatts of electricity, approximately the amount used by 2
million homes.
   
  
  HEAR today's news on MidHudsonRadio.com, the Hudson Valley's
                only Internet radio news report. 
  
*****************************************************************
 42 Orlando Sentinel: Nuclear power: Promise beyond polarized debate -

Opinion Nuclear power: Promise beyond polarized debate - Orlando 
Sentinel : Opinion 

Lynn E. Weaver

Posted November 15, 2006 	
 
After sitting on the sidelines for more than two decades, nuclear 
power is back in the game. Because of the unpredictability of 
natural gas prices and the growing concern over burning any types 
of fossil fuels, which release global-warming gases, U.S. energy 
companies have announced that they are gearing up to build some 
35 new nuclear plants around the country.

 This means that along with nuclear power, the polarized debate 
is also back. And it isn't helping us prepare for the battle 
against global warming.

The problem is the legacy of hostility toward nuclear power, 
which dates back to the 1960s. An anti-nuclear movement used 
argument after argument to try to stop the growth of 
nuclear-power plants around the country. And most of those 
arguments have now been refuted by 30 years of excellent 
operation. But with the return of nuclear, many of those same 
critics are dusting off their harshest diatribes and trying to 
scare the public. To them, there is zero merit to nuclear power 
-- it is dangerous, it creates bombs, it spreads radiation, it 
represents a sinister government-industry complex and it produces 
waste that we don't know how to manage.

 Unfortunately, nuclear proponents seem to believe that they
have to respond to these charges with an equally extreme
position. For many of them, there are no problems with nuclear
power -- only great benefits. It produces power without any
pollution or global-warming gases, it is the cheapest form of
electricity available, it is 100 percent reliable, there are no
health hazards, we have been managing the waste safely for
nearly half a century. In other words, it is perfect.

 This debate between extremes may be typical of our entire
society today, with our widely polarized politics. But for
policy-makers and even members of the public who are trying to
make sense of our energy and environmental dilemmas, this debate
is not helpful. What is needed is a rational view of nuclear
power, with its pluses and minuses. And it's very unfortunate
that there is hardly anyone we can look to for that.

 Nuclear power does have very strong pluses. It can have a
potentially large impact in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions,
because no carbon dioxide or other pollutants are emitted by
nuclear plants. It has provided record amounts of electricity in
the past 15 years, because of the improved performance of U.S.
reactors. As a result, the production costs of nuclear-generated
electricity, compared to other fuels, has dropped sharply, with
nuclear power now marginally cheaper than coal and less than
one-third the cost of natural gas. The cost of electricity from
solar and wind systems has also dropped, but both require vast
amounts of land in order to be competitive. Nuclear power's
economic strength is a major factor in its revival.

 But we must acknowledge that nuclear power also brings some
sizable challenges. For example, construction costs for new
nuclear plants, even with the use of standardized designs and
licensing reforms that are designed to eliminate unnecessary
delays, remain higher than those for fossil-fuel plants. And
utilities still must store spent fuel at nuclear-plant sites,
because the government has not taken possession of the spent
fuel, as required by law, nor has it completed the licensing and
construction of an underground waste repository at Yucca
Mountain in Nevada. The repository -- which would be the first
of its kind in the world -- is not scheduled to open until 2017.

 France faces some of the same issues, but it obtains 85 percent
of its electricity from nuclear power, whereas nuclear power
supplies only 20 percent of the electricity in this country.
Great Britain, Canada, China, India and other industrialized
countries are also moving ahead with construction of new nuclear
plants.

 The serious and increasing concern for our nation's energy
security -- and the danger of global warming -- points to the
need for coming to terms with the advantages and disadvantages
of nuclear power. Nuclear power needs to be an essential part of
the energy mix.

 Lynn E. Weaver is president emeritus of the Florida Institute
of Technology in Melbourne. He wrote this commentary for the
Orlando Sentinel. 	 		 		 		 	 			
 				 
Copyright © 2006, Orlando Sentinel
*****************************************************************
 43 Japan Times: Banned goods to North listed
 
Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006

By REIJI YOSHIDA Staff writer 

The government presented a list Tuesday of 24 luxury items that
will be banned from export to North Korea, hoping to deal
another blow to the Kim Jong Il regime following the country's
Oct. 9 nuclear test. 

The list is based on U.N. Security Council resolution 1718,
which calls on member states to halt North Korea-bound exports
of goods related to weapons of mass destruction as well as
luxury goods. 

The 24 items include beef, tuna meat, caviar and its
substitutes, liquor, cars, motorcycles, motorboats, yachts,
watches, cameras, audio and video devices, movie and music
software, jewelry, carpets and tobacco. 

Kim is believed to favor such items for his personal use as well
as to give away as rewards for loyalty among Pyongyang's power
elite, government officials said. 

"We have (chosen) goods that are likely to be used by
(government and party) executives, and those they are likely to
give to their subordinates," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa
Shiozaki told a news conference. 

"North Korea's leaders need to be sent a strong message from the
international community" and abide by the U.N. resolution,
Shiozaki said. The resolution, issued in response to the nuclear
test, demands that Pyongyang abandon its atomic weapons program. 
The 24 luxury items accounted for 16 percent of the 6.88 billion
yen worth of goods Japan exported to North Korea in 2005,
according to Shiozaki. 

Government officials said the list is based in part on
information gleaned from books written by Kenji Fujimoto, who
worked as Kim's personal chef of Japanese cuisine from August
1987 to April 2001. Fujimoto was a close observer of the
dictator's private life. 

The sushi chef went to North Korea for the first time in 1982 on
business and later became Kim's favorite private cook and even
part of his small handful of close aides. 

On one of his frequent trips to Tokyo to buy ingredients,
Fujimoto decided to jump ship and not return to Pyongyang. 
In his book, Fujimoto said Kim keeps control over his underlings
in part by plying them with gifts that are unimaginable luxuries
for ordinary poverty-stricken North Koreans. Kim's underlings
are also kept under tight surveillance and face the threat of
death for any betrayal, the chef wrote. 

Kim keeps his immediate subordinates under control "between
heaven and hell, (using) carrot and stick," wrote Fujimoto in
his third book published July, titled "Kaku to Onna wo Aishita
Shogun-sama" ("Dear Leader Who Loved Nuclear Arms and Women"). 
Fujimoto claims in the book that the financial sanctions
instituted by the United States in September 2005 should have
been a severe, if not fatal, blow to Kim's dictatorship because
they apparently squeezed Kim's private coffers, used to buy
luxury gifts from overseas. 

Only with goods and money, and threats and punishment, has Kim
maintained his hold over his subordinates, Fujimoto writes. 

Tokyo's new export ban is expected to make it even more
difficult for Kim to obtain luxury goods from overseas.

Government officials said they have already coordinated with the
U.S. and European Union in choosing goods to be included in
their export bans. 

According to Fujimoto, Kim would routinely dole out expensive
gifts to underlings at dinner parties, where he listened to
their reports and forced them to drink strong liquor. 

The Japan Times (C) All rights reserved 
*****************************************************************
 44 [du-list] shafting the vets
 
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 18:23:39 -0800

X-Nohoney: yes white-hard - relay H=adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net (borg.energy-net.org) [63.203.231.61]
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<x-flowed>

Shafting the Vets Conn Hallinan | November 10, 2006
Editor: John Feffer, IRC <http://fpif.>http://fpif. org/fpiftxt/ 3695



Foreign Policy In Focus www.fpif.org
“War is hell,” Union General William Tecumseh Sherman famously said 14 
years after the end of the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history. “It is only 
those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the 
wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation.”
Clearly the U.S. Civil War is not on the reading list of psychiatrist Sally 
Satel, a scholar at the right-wing American Enterprise Institute (AEI). 
Indeed, Satel sees war less as hell than as a golden opportunity for 
veteran lay-abouts to milk the government by “ overpathologizing the 
psychic pain of war.”
Satel, whom the AEI trots out anytime the Bush administration needs cover 
for cutting veteran services and benefits, says the problem for former 
soldiers is not Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). “The real trouble 
for vets,” she writes, is that “once a patient receives a monthly check 
based on his psychiatric diagnosis, his motivation to hold a job wanes.” 
Her solution? “Don't offer disability benefits too quickly.”
The commentary makes an interesting contrast to a powerful piece in the 
October 2006 issue of the California Nurses Association's magazine 
Registered Nurse titled “The Battle at Home” by Caitlin Fischer and Diana 
Reiss. They found that “in veterans' hospitals across the country—and in a 
growing number of ill-prepared, under-funded psych and primary care clinics 
as well—Registered Nurses … are treating soldiers … and picking up the 
pieces of a tattered army.”
According to the authors, RNs across the country “have witnessed the guilt, 
rage, emotional numbness, and tormented flashbacks of GIs just back from 
Iraq and Afghanistan,” as well as older vets from previous wars, “whose 
half-century-old trauma have been ‘triggered' by the images of Iraq.”
How many soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will eventually fall 
victim to PTSD is not clear, although a U.S. Defense Department study in 
2006 found that one in six returnees suffer from depression or stress 
disorders, and 35% have sought counseling for emotional difficulties. The 
Veterans Administration (VA) treated 20,638 Iraq vets for PTSD in just the 
first quarter of 2006 and is currently processing a backlog of 400,000 cases.
Out of 700,000 soldiers who served in the 1991 Gulf War, 118,000 are 
suffering from chronic fatigue, headaches, muscle spasms, joint pains, 
anxiety, memory loss, and balance problems, and 40% receive disability pay. 
Gulf vets are also twice as likely to develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis 
(Lou Gehrig's Disease) and between two and three times more likely to have 
children with birth defects.
The Ills of War Modern battlefields are toxic nightmares, filled with 
depleted uranium ammunition, exotic explosives, and deadly cluster 
bomblets. The soldiers are shot up with experimental vaccines that can have 
dangerous side effects from additives like squalene. In short, soldiers are 
not only under fire, they are assaulted by their own weapons systems and 
medical procedures.
Satel need have no worries about the VA rushing to hand out cash to veteran 
couch potatoes. According to Fischer and Reiss, “A returning vet must wait 
an average of 165 days for a VA decision on initial disability benefits. An 
appeal can take up to three years.”
Reserve and National Guard troops—who make up between 40 and 50% of the 
frontline troops in Iraq and Afghanistan—have a particular problem, because 
their military medical insurance benefits only cover conditions diagnosed 
in the first 100 days. PTSD sometimes takes years, even decades to kick in.
When they do complain, vets can expect that their ailments will be 
dismissed or their cause stonewalled.
When Gulf War vets complained about the symptoms which have come to be 
called “Gulf War Syndrome,” the Pentagon told them it was in their heads, 
in spite of studies by the British Medical Journal and the U.S. Center for 
Disease Control that showed the returnees were suffering illnesses at 12 
times the rate of non-Gulf vets.
For five years after the Gulf War the Pentagon denied that any troops had 
been exposed to chemical weapons. It took pressure from veterans' 
organizations and Sen. Donald Riegle (D-MI) to get the Pentagon to admit 
finally that as many as 130,000 troops (the vets say the number is higher) 
were exposed to chemical weapons from the destruction of the Iraqi arms 
depot at Khamisiyah.
Veteran organizations are currently fighting the Pentagon over its refusal 
to screen returning soldiers for mild brain injuries. Figures indicate that 
up to 10% of the troops suffer from concussions during their tours, a 
figure that rises to 20% for those in the front lines. Research shows that 
concussions can cause memory loss, headaches, sleep disturbances, and 
behavior problems. The Pentagon, arguing that the long-term effect of brain 
injuries needs more research, is unwilling to fund a screening program.
Given the wide use of roadside bombs, “Traumatic brain injury is the 
signature injury of the war on terrorism,” George Zitnay, co-founder of the 
Brain Injury Center, toldUSA Today. And according to researchers at Harvard 
and Colombia, the cost of treating those brain injuries will be $14 billion 
over the next 20 years.
In Iraq Upwards of 20,000 Americans have been wounded in Iraq, some of 
those so grotesquely that medicine has invented a new term to describe 
them—polytrauma. An estimated 7,000 vets have severe brain and spinal 
injuries, and have required amputations. For the blind, brain damaged, and 
paralyzed, war is indeed hell.
Calculating the cost of war is tricky, but Nobel Prize winning economist 
Joseph Stiglitz recently calculated that the price tag for the long-term 
health care for Iraq War vets will exceed $2 trillion.
But the hell we bring home is only a pale reflection of the hell we leave 
behind.
According to a recent estimate by the British medical journal, The Lancet, 
upwards of 650,000 Iraqis have been killed since the invasion. Most of the 
country's infrastructure—already damaged in the first Gulf War or degraded 
by a decade of sanctions—has essentially collapsed.
Iraq's experience is not unique.
The Vietnam War ended more than 30 years ago, but according to the recent 
book, Vietnam: A Natural History, Laotians, Vietnamese, and Cambodians are 
still dying from it.
 From 1964 to 1973, the United States dropped over 14 million tons of bombs 
on those three countries, including 90 million cluster munitions on tiny 
Laos alone. Somewhere between 30 to 40% of those fiendish devices never 
exploded, and, according to the British Mines Advisory Group, they have 
killed or maimed 12,000 Laotians since the end of the war. They continue to 
extract a yearly toll of 100 to 200 people, many of them children.
Traces of the 20 million gallons of Agent White, Agent Blue, and Agent 
Orange herbicides that the United States sprayed over Vietnam still poison 
the water, soil, vegetation, animals, and people of Southeast Asia, 
producing cancer and birth defect rates among the highest in the world.
So war is indeed hell—for those who fight it, those caught in the middle of 
it, and those who eventually pick up the pieces.
Conn Hallinan is a Foreign Policy In Focus (www.fpif.org) columnist.




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 45 AU ABC: Indemnity cover stalls handover of ex-nuclear test site
 
ABC Northern Territory | Local News | Story 
2006. 07:15 (ACST)Thursday, 16 November 2006. 07:15

 Indemnity issues have stalled the planned handover of a former
nuclear test site to South Australian Aborigines. 

Negotiations between the Maralinga Tjarutja people and the state
and federal governments have been taking place for several
years. 

It was hoped the handover would take place on the 50th
anniversary of British nuclear testing, two months ago. 

The prohibited section of land in the state's north is more than
3,000 square kilometres. 

A legal adviser to the Maralinga people, Andrew Collett, says
the handover was hoped for in September, but it is now likely to
happen early next year. 

Mr Collett says there are still issues with plutonium
contamination and that could lead to personal injury claims in
the future. 

"The indemnity is the way in which the risk of Maralinga
Tjarutja and the State Government will be insured against," he
said. 

"In other words, the Commonwealth will indemnify those two
bodies if anyone sues and recovers against Maralinga Tjarutja or
the state of South Australia for personal injury or for property
damage." 

*****************************************************************
 46 Brattleboro Reformer: VY radiation limits are under review

By BOB AUDETTE, Special to the Reformer

Wednesday, November 15 BRATTLEBORO -- In 2005, the Department
of Health told the public that radiation limits set by the state
had been exceeded in the last quarter of 2004 at Vermont
Yankee's fence line. 

The announcement led to a discussion between Entergy and the
state on how each measures dose limits and just exactly what
they are measuring. 

"We have a bit of a dilemma regarding this investigation," said
Bill Irwin, the chief of Vermont's Radiological Health Program.
"The state measures the dose one way and the plant measures it a
different way. That's why Oak Ridge was brought in -- to look at
all the details." 

A report is expected soon from Oak Ridge University Associates,
a consortium of 88 colleges and universities that specializes in
worker and public health, science education and scientific
review programs. 

On Thursday night, at 7 p.m., at the American Legion hall on
Linden Street, Irwin will discuss the progress of that
partnership, and will also talk about site boundary dose limits
at Vermont Yankee. 

Irwin said he will also be talking about other aspects of the
state's radiological health program, including medical radiation, 
radon and emergency preparedness. 

He was asked by Windham Regional Commission to come to town to
discuss the different aspects of the program. 

"There have been a lot of questions and discussion about
radiation from the plant and at the fence line, some raised by
us," said WRC Executive Director Jim Matteau, in a press release
announcing the meeting. "The state has a comprehensive program
that may not be fully understood at the local level, and this
will be an opportunity for people to learn about the program,
ask questions and raise concerns." 

In 2004, the state got a reading of 24.9 millirems. The limit
set by the Department of Health is 20, which is 5 millirems
below the federal limit. Irwin said the state has been
monitoring the power plant since it opened for business in the
early 1970s. Vermont publishes an annual report on the
measurements it takes "to evaluate the public health and
environmental impacts of Vermont Yankee," said Irwin. 

"The regulations require that when Vermont Yankee goes over the
limit, an investigation is undertaken," said Irwin. "That's what
we've been dong for the last year, evaluating not only if they
went over, but also how we can know for certain whether they
have gone over the limit." 

He said working with Vermont Yankee and Oak Ridge, they are
"looking at the site boundary doses of the past and dose limits
we currently have and evaluating the effectiveness of the
Vermont Yankee and Vermont Department of Health efforts to
measure doses and to deal with doses that are approaching state
limits." 

"And then we will focus very closely on the specific things we
do for Vermont Yankee," said Irwin, which he called "the most
recognized source of radiological health hazards in the state." 

Irwin said the presentation has been called, in part, to
reassure residents that "Vermont is vigilant and its residents
are well protected." 

Representatives from Vermont Emergency Management (VEM)
Radiological Emergency Response Program, which is now based in
Brattleboro, and the Vermont Department of Public Service, will
also be on hand to solicit questions and topics for four public
meetings it is sponsoring in 2007. 

"It was disturbing to many of us that Vermont Yankee was caught
exceeding the limit," said Sally Shaw, the outreach coordinator
for anti-nuclear group New England Coalition. More disturbing,
it came to light that they were not even measuring the dose
limits at the fence line, merely calculating the limits." 

She said she was looking forward to Thursday's meeting because
"people need answers," but she added, "They need to be skeptical
about the answers they get." 

Rob Williams, spokesman for Vermont Yankee, said Entergy
representatives would be present, but only in an
"information-gathering" capacity. 
*****************************************************************
 47 reviewjournal.com: Yucca Mountain plan gets warm welcome at hearing
 
  Nov. 15, 2006

By ED VOGEL <br />REVIEW-JOURNAL

HAWTHORNE -- Businessman Rex Mills summed up the feelings of most 
of the people who showed up Tuesday to express their opinions on 
building a rail line to Yucca Mountain. 

"If they put the railroad here, it will be great," Mills said.
"It will give an incentive for companies nationwide to move into 
a lower taxed area. The waste is going into Yucca Mountain, 
whether we like it or not. It is 20 years in the making and how 
many billions of our tax dollars?" 

So far, the Department of Energy has spent $9 billion on
creating a repository to hold high-level nuclear waste at Yucca
Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. 

Mills and more than 50 others attended public hearings in
Hawthorne on Tuesday and Monday night in Goldfield to talk about
the proposal to build a 240-mile $1 billion north-south rail
line to carry radioactive waste through Nevada. 

Radioactive waste from power plants throughout the country would
be hauled along Union Pacific's main east-west line that
parallels Interstate 80 and then hauled south from near Fallon
along a line that would pass near the U.S. Highway 95
communities of Silver Springs, Schurz, Hawthorne, Mina, Tonopah
and Goldfield. 

Many homes in those communities have been abandoned. Wrecked
cars, burned mobile homes and trash line many of their streets.
Their populations have dwindled as younger people fled for jobs
in the cities. 

"What we need are jobs," said Dollie Murillo as she stopped to
pick up her mail at the Mina Post Office. "We need young couples
having babies so we can get our school back." 

Mina has about 100 residents, most of them senior citizens.
Mina's 100-year-old school was closed five years ago when the
student population dropped to eight. Children are bused 30 miles
to school in Hawthorne. 

Sixteen-year-old Thranh Orr of Hawthorne is "all for" the
nuclear waste rail line. "There is really no place else to put
it. This is about as deserted of a place as there is," Orr said. 

Of 22 people interviewed Monday and Tuesday, only three said
they opposed the Energy Department's alternative proposal to
build a new north-south rail line to haul waste to Yucca
Mountain. For 24 years about two trains a week would carry waste
to the repository. 

While residents may hope the rail line would bring prosperity to
rural Nevada, the federal government is not anticipating sharing
the track with private industry, according to Allen Benson,
director of external affairs for the Office of Civilian
Radioactive Waste Management. 

That may be something for later negotiations, or an issue for
residents to raise during public hearings, he said. Another
hearing will be tonight in Fallon, followed by one in Reno on
Nov. 27. 

Tony Hughes, co-editor of the Mineral County Independent-News,
said Hawthorne residents back the railroad plan because they
believe the project will boost the economy. They also believe
the government would not ship wastes across the county unless it
could be done safely, he said. 

Hughes said the federal government has used portions of the rail
line for 70 years to bring ammunition to the depot at Hawthorne. 

"Danger? I don't think they worry about it," he said. "They are
used to it." 

The existing rail line ends at the ammunition depot at
Hawthorne. The Energy Department would move and rebuild portions
of that line and run track south, mainly along railbeds where
trains have not run for 50 years or longer. 

A decision on whether to build the line won't come before 2008.
The Energy Department says its preferred alternative is to build
a rail line from Caliente around the Nevada Test and the Nellis
Bombing and Gunnery Range and then south near Highway 95 to
Yucca Mountain. But the price tag of that line could top $2
billion. 	   

Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2006
*****************************************************************
 48 NLTB: Experts: Reid's Senate position helps poise Yucca Mountain fight

North Lake Tahoe Bonanza - 

November 15, 2006                                                               
 					     				 			
Martin Griffith The Associated Press

 RENO - Sen. Harry Reid's rise to power in the 
Democratic-controlled Congress will give a big boost to efforts 
to halt a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, experts agree.

The state also will benefit if Sen. John Ensign becomes head of
the Republican campaign arm in the Senate as expected, they say.

Reid, Ensign and other top Nevada elected officials have been
fighting the Bush administration's attempts to get the stalled
nuclear waste repository back on track.

Bush wants to ship the nation's nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain,
about 110 miles north of Las Vegas.

Republican Jim Denton, a veteran campaign consultant from
Henderson, said Reid's Senate leadership can't help but bolster
the fight against Yucca Mountain.

"Absolutely, that's big for Nevada. Yucca Mountain will go
nowhere because of him," Denton said.

"Reid is Senate majority leader. Ensign will move up. I don't
know how Nevada could be in a better position from a national
perspective, I just don't," Denton added.

Peggy Maze Johnson, executive director of the Nevada
environmental group Citizen Alert, said Reid - as Senate
minority leader - has been effective in keeping budget requests
low enough to slow the Department of Energy's plans at Yucca
Mountain.

"As majority leader we are confident Senator Reid can stop Yucca
Mountain in its tracks," Johnson said. "We can't begin to tell
you how positive this is for the final nail in the coffin for
Yucca Mountain."

DOE spokesman Craig Stevens said Sunday the Bush administration
was moving ahead with plans to submit by mid-2008 a license
application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build and
open the repository, with a goal of opening it by 2017.

"It was voted on by both houses of Congress in 2002, and it's
currently the law of the land that a repository be built at
Yucca Mountain," Stevens said.

"It's the most studied piece of real estate in the world. The
national experts agree it's a safe place for spent nuclear
fuel," he said.

If the U.S. is to keep up with increased demands for electricity
and maintain a healthy economy, Stevens added, it will need to
develop nuclear energy.

"To develop it, we need space to store nuclear fuel and Yucca
Mountain is that place," he said.

But John J. Pitney Jr., a professor of politics at Claremont
McKenna College in Claremont, Calif., and a former Republican
strategist, said the new Congress will be more friendly to Reid
causes.

"For the next Congress, one of the watchwords will be, 'Don't
mess with Nevada,"' Pitney told the Las Vegas Sun. "It'd be very
difficult to do anything to Nevada that Harry Reid doesn't want
done."

Reid, after the election, pledged to push legislation requiring
that nuclear waste be stored on-site where it's produced.

Johnson said her group would continue trying to drum up
opposition to Yucca Mountain by stressing the dangers of
transporting nuclear waste.

"There are still a lot of Democrats, now in the majority, that
need to be convinced, so we will need to get our allies across
this country mobilized to convince their senators and
representatives that this is not only a foolhardy but a very
dangerous proposition," Johnson said.

All contents © Copyright 2006 tahoebonanza.com
North Lake Tahoe Bonanza - 925 Tahoe Blvd., Suite 206 -
Incline Village, NV 89452 			 		   	 
*****************************************************************
 49 St. Paul Pioneer Press: Plant's nuclear waste plan challenged

11/15/2006 | 

Two groups say agency ignored rules

 BY DENNIS LIEN Pioneer Press 

Two St. Paul-based environmental groups have challenged a
regulatory agency's decision to allow highly radioactive nuclear
waste to be stored outside the Monti-cello, Minn., nuclear power
plant. 

The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and Fresh Energy
asked the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday to
reconsider its decision in late September to allow that storage
to begin as early as 2008. They contend the commission
disregarded state rules when it approved a certificate of need
for as many as 30 above-ground storage casks. 

Beth Goodpaster, an MCEA lawyer, said the commission ignored
several rules, including ones obligating Xcel Energy to indicate
whether the storage system is temporary or permanent and how
long waste would stay there. She also said it didn't consider
that a projected federal repository for nuclear waste at Yucca
Mountain, Nev., as now designed, cannot accept any waste
generated at Monticello after 2010. 

"And Yucca Mountain is the only (repository) designed,''
Goodpaster said. "Those two facts contradict each other.'' 

After the commission issued its decision in late September, the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission renewed the operating license
for the plant for an additional 20 years, from 2010 until 2030.
Xcel has said the extra storage capacity is key to extending the
life of the plant. 

Commissioners likely will take up the groups' challenge within
60 days, according to energy unit manager Janet Gonzalez. 

Because the commission's decision is stayed until June, the
Minnesota Legislature still could interject itself into the
debate. Goodpaster indicated it likely would be asked to do so
if the commission rejects the reconsideration request. 

"The final decision is not final until the Legislature decides
whether to act, and then you have a final decision that is
appealable,'' Goodpaster said. 

Dennis Lien can be reached at 651-228-5588. 
*****************************************************************
 50 Salt Lake Tribune: State forks over $844K for Goshute, PFS lawyers

By Glen Warchol 

The Salt Lake Tribune 

Article Last Updated:11/15/2006 12:55:25 AM MST

Taxpayers will cover $844,000 in legal expenses incurred by the
Skull Valley Band of Goshutes and its allies when they fought
legislation aimed at keeping high-level nuclear waste out of
Utah. 

   The Legislative Management Committee approved the settlement
payment Tuesday after Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s endorsement this
week. 

   The project to store spent nuclear fuel rods in Utah has been
effectively killed by two recent U.S. Interior Department
rulings. 

   In the separate legal case, which Utah lost, the state
settled with the Goshutes and Private Fuel Storage on a bill for
$1.3 million in legal fees spent in defeating five state laws.
Federal courts struck down the laws as unconstitutional. 

   The case began in 2001, when lawmakers and then-Gov. Mike
Leavitt joined in opposition to a fuel storage site on the
reservation about 50 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. 

   The bills passed included banning high-level nuclear waste
and promising economic development for the Goshutes. The
Goshutes and PFS challenged the bills' constitutionality. 

   Dianne Nielson, executive director of the Utah Department of
Environmental Quality, said the state was paying all of the
Goshutes' legal costs - $68,795 - and about 62 percent of that
of PFS - $775,000 - which will go to the law firm Parsons, Behle
and Latimer. 

   "The time and the money the state spent in raising these 
issues have been essential and successful," Nielson said. 
gwarchol@sltrib.com 
    
Â© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 51 Wake Weekly: Rolesville eyed as nuclear waste dump?
 							 						 November 9, 2006 								 									
Twenty years after it was first considered, the U.S. Department
of Energy is looking at the Rolesville Pluton as a possible site
to bury nuclear waste, Edgecombe Community College Professor
Fayek Megeed said.

                                                                                
Megeeds class visited Rolesvilles Main Street Park and the quarry 
last Friday to see the Rolesville Pluton and to spread the word.

I want people to be aware about whats going on, Megeed said. 

Gayle Fisher, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Defense, 
said Megeeds information is not accurate. 

Rolesville may have been on some list long ago, Fisher said. 
Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the only site authorized for 
study for nuclear waste storage is Yucca Mountain, (Nev.). 

Fisher said that could change, but added nothing related to the 
Rolesville Pluton is coming up soon. 

The Department of Energy began studying Yucca Mountain in 1978 as 
a possible location for nuclear waste storage. In 2002, President 
George Bush signed a resolution allowing the Department of Energy 
to move forward with establishing a repository. 

The Department of Energy is working on getting approval now to 
begin construction on the site. 

In 1986, the Rolesville Pluton, which covers 142 square miles in 
northern Wake, southern Franklin and northwestern Johnston 
counties, was included on a list of 12 sites the U.S. Department 
of Energy considered for a second nuclear waste repository in the 
eastern United States. 

After nearly five months of discussion, Department of Energy 
officials announced the project was delayed. But they said at the 
time the 12 sites considered could be reconsidered in the 1990s 
or later. 

Megeed said Congress must make a decision on the sites as early 
as January. But Rolesville officials said they hadnt heard 
anything about the possiblity of nuclear waste being stored in 
town until Megeeds visit. 

I dont see that happening; thats what my reaction was, Rolesville 
Town Manager Matt Livingston said. 

Things have changed so much in Rolesville since 1986 that 
Livingston doesnt think storing nuclear waste in town would be a 
feasible option. The towns population has grown to more than 
1,000 and is expected to reach 4,000 or 5,000 by the time all 
approved subdivisions are completed. 

Livingston also said he thought the federal government would have 
contacted Rolesville officials if they were truly considering 
building a repository in town. But at least one professor feels 
differently. 

Because of that, Livingston said he plans to follow up on the 
information.

Megeed said many people are not aware of what is going on, but he 
intends to make sure they know. He said he and his class will put 
together a web site about the issue when Congress makes a 
decision. 

The eastern U.S. repository would have been 4,000 acres and would 
have cost $7-10 billion back in 1986.                                                           
*****************************************************************
 52 PE.com: Much activity in Wyle Labs testing efforts

Inland Southern California | Inland News
 
NORCO: This week, indoor air in 27 homes will be tested. Two
public meetings will take place. 

10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, November 14, 2006 

By PAIGE AUSTIN The Press-Enterprise 

Wyle Meeting 

The Wyle Community Advisory Group and the California Department
of Toxic Substances Control will provide an update on the Wyle
cleanup project at 7 p.m. Thursday at Norco City Council
Chambers, 2870 Clark Ave. For more information, call 
951-272-8455.   

State officials are hoping to talk to Norco Wyle Laboratories
employees as they conduct tests to track pollution from a former
hazardous testing facility across the street from Norco High
School. 

Recent tests have shown high levels of pollution in the
groundwater at the northwest portion of the 429-acre property,
indicating there may have been some chemical dumping in that
area, said Rafat Abbasi, Wyle senior project manager for the
California Department of Toxic Substances Control. 

Tests have confirmed the source of the underground plume of the
suspected carcinogen TCE, which has migrated from Wyle into the
residential neighborhood to the northwest. 

The latest finding showed levels of TCE at 100 parts per billion
at Wyle, within a few-hundred yards of homes on Golden West
Lane. It is the highest level of pollution found at the site
since the state began investigating three years ago. 

"Definitely, TCE is a bad actor because it volatilizes from the
groundwater, through the (building) foundation and has the
potential to get into the indoor air," Abbasi said. 

This week, officials will test for indoor air pollution at 27
homes around Wyle. The state has also ordered more
groundwater-monitoring wells near Temescal Avenue and Third
Street. Finally, the state is reviewing plans to drill under the
foundation of Norco High School's science building to see if
there is a link between the groundwater pollution from Wyle and
trace levels of a cancer-causing vapor detected inside the
building. 

While the low levels of contamination don't pose an immediate
health threat to students, the chemical called vinyl chloride
shouldn't be there, Abbasi said. 

Other recent tests ordered by the state have shown low levels of
perchlorate and a chemical called NDMA at and around Wyle. Both
are hazardous compounds that were used in rocket-fuel tests at
Wyle Labs for years before it closed in 2004. 

The state will order new perchlorate tests using technology that
is more advanced next year because the current methodology tends
to show false-positive results, Abbasi said. 

The perchlorate levels found so far as far out as Temescal
Avenue are barely above the state's reporting limit, he added.
The new tests will likely show lower levels or no detections, he
predicted. 

The NDMA findings are a concern because the chemical is known to
cause liver cancer. It is being found in groundwater at and
around Wyle at levels higher than the state's reporting limit. 

"It's not a common contaminant. It's a combination of certain
types of older rocket fuels," explained Dr. Bill Bosan, the
state's toxicologist on the Wyle project. 

Recent and upcoming months are likely to be some of the busiest
in the state's three-year investigation at the Wyle site. At a
City Council meeting tonight and a community advisory meeting
Thursday, state officials will present the recent findings and
discuss plans to take remedial cleanup efforts. 

Wyletested military products, electronics and parts for rocket
engines and space shuttles for about 47 years. 

Contact Paige Austin at Paustin@PE.comor 951-893-2106. More
headlines... 

Med school 'right thing to do'

Three die when struggling plane crashes in flames at Big Bear
Lake

First verdicts reached in Mynisha killing

Cal State trustees OK budget, limits

  
Press-Enterprise

2006, The Press-Enterprise Company
*****************************************************************
 53 US Senator Harry Reid for Nevada
 
Reid: REID ELECTED AS SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: 11/14/2006
 				 				 
, November 14, 2006                              

Washington, DC â€” One week after historic elections that made 
Democrats the majority in Congress, Nevada Senator Harry Reid was 
elected as the Majority Leader of the United States Senate. Reid 
released the following statement on his new position and renewed 
his commitment to putting Nevadaâ€™s priorities at the top of the 
list. 

â€œNevada comes first for me, it always has and it always will. 
As the leader of the Senate, I will make sure that Nevadaâ€™s 
priorities still come first by addressing important issues like 
immigration reform, growth, water, and the environment. 

â€œIâ€™ll also fight for energy independence so Nevada families 
can afford the gas they need to get to work. Iâ€™ll work to make 
health care more affordable, and strengthen Medicare so Nevadans 
never have to choose between a meal and their medicine. And more 
than ever, Iâ€™ll leverage my leadership position to keep Nevada 
from becoming the nationâ€™s nuclear dumping ground.â€ 

### 

Reno Bruce R. Thompson Courthouse & Federal Bldg 400 S. Virginia 
St, Site 902 Reno, NV 89501 Phone: 775-686-5750 Fax: 775-686-5757                         
[ /]                          Las Vegas Lloyd D. George Building 
333 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 8016 Las Vegas, NV 89101 
Phone: 702-388-5020 Fax: 702-388-5030                         [ 
/]                          Carson City 600 East William St, #302 
Carson City, NV 89701 Phone: 775-882-REID (7343) Fax: 
775-883-1980                         [ /]                          
Washington, DC 528 Hart Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 
Phone: 202-224-3542 Fax: 202-224-7327 Toll Free for Nevadans: 
1-866-SEN-REID (736-7343) [ /]            [ /]            [ /]            
*****************************************************************
 54 KRNV.com: Senator Reid Voted In As Senate Majority Leader

  Washington DC

The man who will be Senate Majority Leader next year says his
top priority is to quickly confirm a replacement for Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. 

Harry Reid says the sooner Robert Gates is confirmed, "the
sooner we can get rid of Rumsfeld." Reid's comments came after
he was chosen by Senate Democrats to be their leader next year.
He called it the "opportunity of a lifetime for me." 

Reid was unopposed, as was Illinois Senator Richard Durbin, who
was again elected as the number-two Democrat. New York Senator
Charles Schumer was given the title of vice chairman of the
Democratic caucus. It was a reward for overseeing the Democrats'
takeover of the Senate. The Democrats also picked two women for
senior posts. 

Washington Senator Patty Murray will serve as conference
secretary and Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow will be steering
committee chair. Senate Republicans hold their leadership
elections tomorrow. 

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)   

All content © Copyright 2001 - 2006 WorldNow and KRNV. All
Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 55 KVBC: Public safety leaders meeting to discuss Yucca Mountain

11-15-2006

For years now, the federal government has talked about making 
Nevada a dump for the nation's nuclear and radioactive waste. 
Public safety leaders from across the country are meeting in Las 
Vegas to talk about the safety and security concerns surrounding 
the proposed Yucca Mountain repository. 

The Department of Energy says the new projected start date for 
accepting nuclear waste shipments is now March of 2017. The Yucca 
Mountain repository was originally scheduled to begin operation 
back in 1998, but legal challenges, environmental concerns, and 
budget shortfalls are among the reasons for the major delay. 

The proposed facility is approximately 100 miles northwest of Las 
Vegas. Ninety percent of the waste proposed for disposal at the 
Yucca Mountain facility consists of spent nuclear fuel. The 
remaining 10 percent consists of high level radioactive waste, 
which is produced mainly from the reprocessing of spent nuclear 
fuel. 

Some opponents of the proposed repository are concerned that 
nuclear waste will escape into the ground water and the air. Some 
are also concerned about the waste being shipped through more 
than 40 states. 

For his part, newly announced Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
of Nevada says he'll use his new position to help further delay
plans for Yucca Mountain while looking for alternate ways to
store nuclear waste. 

Wednesday's round table discussion brought together experts from
Clark County, as well as others from Los Angeles and Broward
County, Florida. The meeting was held at the Orleans Hotel and
Casino from 2 to 5 PM. 

The proposed Yucca Mountain facility is a geologic repository,
meaning that it will store packaged waste deep below the earth's
surface in an underground tunnel.   

.gif">    All content © Copyright 2000 - 2006 WorldNow and KVBC.
All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 56 Las Vegas SUN: 'Mushroom cloud' blast destined for Nevada desert, senator says 

Today: November 15, 2006 at 15:45:12 PST 

By KEN RITTER ASSOCIATED PRESS 

LAS VEGAS (AP) - If the government goes ahead with plans for a
non-nuclear explosion to test bunker-buster bombs it will be in
Nevada, not in New Mexico, Sen. Pete Domenici said Wednesday. 

The New Mexico Republican, a member of the Senate Defense
Appropriations Subcommittee, issued a statement in Washington,
D.C., saying the Defense Threat Reduction Agency had decided not
to conduct the "Divine Strake" test at the White Sands Missile
Range. 

He said DTRA "prefers" a plan to conduct the test at the Nevada
Test Site, a vast Energy Department reservation north of Las
Vegas where plans for the blast have been stalled by a federal
lawsuit. 

Domenici did not identify a date for the test, which a
government lawyer recently told a federal judge won't take place
until after Feb. 1. 

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency would not directly address
Domenici's claim. 

The agency issued a statement saying Director James Tegnelia met
Wednesday with the Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and members of
Utah's congressional delegation "about the need for the
experiment, the alternate sites considered and ensuring the
safety of the experiment." 

The agency said an environmental assessment was being revised in
preparation for the test and the public would have a chance to
comment before a test is scheduled and conducted. 

Agency spokeswoman Irene Smith in Fort Belvoir, Va., declined
further comment. 

The explosion, first scheduled June 2, was postponed after
Western Shoshone tribe members and "downwinders" in Utah and
Nevada sued in federal court in Las Vegas. 

Defense Threat Reduction Agency officials identified other sites
around the nation that were being considered, including a
southern Indiana limestone quarry and the White Sands Missile
Range. 

The owner of the Indiana quarry said in August that site won't
be used. 

A spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration,
which operates the Nevada Test Site, said Wednesday the Nevada
site remained under consideration. 

All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 57 ContraCostaTimes.com: Group sues Energy Department

11/15/2006 | 

SiliconValley.com

LIVERMORE: Organization claims federal officials are slow to
comply with Freedom of Information Act requests

 By Chris Metinko CONTRA COSTA TIMES 

A Livermore-based national laboratory watchdog group filed a
lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco Tuesday against the
U.S. Department of Energy, alleging failures to comply with the
Freedom of Information Act. 

Tri-Valley CAREs claims the department has lagged on five
different FOIA requests that range from one to three years old. 

The five FOIA requests that are subjects of the suit involve
unclassified information on the feasibility of developing
earth-penetrating nuclear weapons, the environmental
implications of a terrorist attack or catastrophic accident on
Livermore Lab's existing plutonium stockpiles, the lab's
"10-Year Site Plan" and the DOE's biowarfare agent research
plans at Livermore Lab. 

Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CAREs' executive director, said the
DOE has shown a pattern of noncompliance in the past with FOIA
requests. She said her group was forced to bring similar
lawsuits against DOE in 1998 and 2000, and that only after
filing and pursuing these cases did DOE finally produce
documents as required by law. 

Along with honoring the five FOIA requests in question, the suit
also asks the judge to issue a court order appointing a special
counsel to investigate what Tri-Valley CAREs calls DOE's pattern
of failing to comply with the law. The counsel then would
determine whether disciplinary action is warranted, Kelley said. 

The lawsuit also asks for the judge to compel the DOE to respond
to future FOIA requests in a timely manner. 

DOE officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday. 

Reach Chris Metinko at 510-763-5418 or cmetinko@cctimes.com.

*****************************************************************
 58 Daily Princetonian: None hurt in small radioactive leak
 		
 Problem discovered during routine inspection of Jadwin Hall
 
By Ilya Blanter
 Princetonian Contributor
 
    A minor radioactive leak in Jadwin Hall on Monday initially
raised safety concerns but further testing has determined that
no individuals were harmed and contamination was minimal.
 
    The leak was caught by officials at the University's Office
of Environment Health and Safety during a routine health and
safety check of the building. "It probably wouldn't have been
detected without the routine safety check, which indicates the
small amount of the leak," University spokeswoman Cass Cliatt
'96 said.
 
    The leak, caused by the radioactive isotope strontium-90,
originated from a tiny hole in the foil seal of a storage
container.
 
    The surrounding areas in Jadwin Hall showed no sign of
radiation. "Contamination was limited to the rooms where the
test source was stored and used, and not found in any public
spaces," University officials said in a press release.
 
    As a precaution, however, similar radioactive sources "used
to test detectors that identify high-energy particles in
elementary particle physics research" have been temporarily
taken out of use.
 
    Though the 300 students, faculty and staff who regularly
work in Jadwin were notified of the leak yesterday, only one
researcher was exposed to it. The researcher, whose name is not
being released for privacy reasons, "worked with [the
radioactive source] without detecting any problem."
 
    "Many medical procedures that we get without thinking about
it give off radiation in greater levels than would have been the
exposure of someone working directly with this source,"
professor Daniel Marlow, chair of the physics department, said
in the press release.
 
    The particular radioactive test source involved in the
incident was manufactured in the 1960s and has been used by the
Princeton physics department ever since.
 
    The isotope is used in "detectors ... designed and
constructed in Princeton's physics department, and the
radioactive isotope strontium negate[s] the need for researchers
to travel to a particle accelerator to test them," Cliatt said.
 
    The contamination was minor enough to be sanitized with
standard cleaning solutions. Cleaning will continue today.
 
    Jadwin Hall, with the exception of the areas where the
source was stored and used, has been unaffected and will remain
open throughout the decontamination process. 

Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 59 DOE: U.S. Department of Energy and IBM to Collaborate in Advancing Supercomputing Technology
 
  November 15, 2006
 
Lawrence Livermore and Argonne National Lab Scientists to Work
with IBM Designers 

WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced
today that its Office of Science, the National Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA) and IBM will share the cost of a
five-year, $58 million research and development (R&D) effort to
further enhance the capabilities of the fastest computer in
existence.  Under the agreement, scientists from two of the
DOEs national laboratories are teaming with IBM to further
develop supercomputer technology to increase Americas ability
to deliver answers to scientific problems and to safeguard the
nations nuclear stockpile. 

Supercomputing is essential to maintaining and extending
Americas economic competitiveness, said DOE Secretary Samuel
Bodman.  This R&D effort will give us the capability to advance
science and business with unprecedented speed, performance and
efficiency. 

A key goal of the R&D effort is to produce a software
environment that enables scientific exploration atop an
architecture that can scale to hundreds of thousands of
low-power CPU cores.  Some other specific examples of scientific
problems in the national interest include: 
  + reinvigorating nuclear power technologies; 
  + speeding genome sequencing; 
  + modeling environmental and climate changes; and 
  + deepening the understanding of genetic and biological
processes. 

The work will be performed by scientists at DOEs Argonne
National Laboratory (ANL) and Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory (LLNL) working together with computer and software
designers from IBM.  NNSA and The Office of Science will each
contribute $17.5 million and IBM will contribute $23 million. 

Supercomputers are crucial to the continued success of the
NNSA's science-based efforts to keep the U.S. nuclear weapons
stockpile safe, secure and reliable without underground
testing, said NNSA Administrator Linton F. Brooks.  Computing
at these scales will enable predictive simulations that allow
researchers to understand how complex physical, chemical and
biological systems behave over time. Previously, it was only
possible to get brief snapshots on a smaller scale. 

IBM is committed to pushing the boundaries of deep computing in
the service of important national goals, said Tilak Agerwala,
Vice President of Systems, IBM Research.  This partnership with
Livermore and Argonne National Lab will drive innovations in
ultrascale computing and demonstrate that the Blue Gene approach
can effectively scale far beyond any machine yet devised. 

This agreement will help us design computer architectures to
attack key scientific problems, said Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, DOE
Under Secretary for Science.  It offers a tremendous step
forward.  

DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic
research in the physical sciences in the nation and helps ensure
U.S. world leadership across a broad range of scientific
disciplines.  The Office of Science supports a diverse portfolio
of research at more than 300 colleges and universities
nationwide, manages 10 world-class national laboratories with
unmatched capabilities for solving complex interdisciplinary
scientific problems, and builds and operates the worlds finest
suite of scientific facilities and instruments used annually by
more than 19,000 researchers to extend the frontiers of all
areas of science.  Visit http://www.sc.doe.gov/for more
information. 

Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous
agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for
enhancing national security through the military application of
nuclear science.  NNSA maintains and enhances the safety,
security, reliability and performance of the U.S. nuclear
weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; works to reduce
global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the
U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and
responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and
abroad.  Visit http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/for more information. 

Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a
national security laboratory, with a mission to ensure national
security and apply science and technology to the important
issues of our time. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is
managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department
of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.  Visit
http://www.llnl.gov/for more information. 

The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne National
Laboratory conducts basic and applied scientific research across
a wide spectrum of disciplines, ranging from high-energy physics
to climatology and biotechnology. Since 1990, Argonne has worked
with more than 600 companies and numerous federal agencies and
other organizations to help advance America's scientific
leadership and prepare the nation for the future. Argonne is
managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of
Energy's Office of Science.  Visit http://www.anl.gov/for more
information. 

Media contact(s):
 Jeff Sherwood (DOE), (202) 586-5806
Kevin Acocella (IBM), (917) 842-4680
Eleanor Taylor (ANL), (630) 252-5565
Don Johnston (LLNL), (925) 423-4902     [ ]   

  
  U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | 
Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403
*****************************************************************
 60 Hanford News: Hanford facilities may find new use
 
This story was published Wednesday, November 15th, 2006 

By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer 

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory could continue to use some
buildings in Hanford's 300 Area for up to 20 years, according to
options considered in a Department of Energy draft environmental
assessment. 

No decision has been made, but the document lays out a scenario
that calls for building in phases a new government-owned
Physical Sciences Facility for research using radiological
materials. 

The initial building, to be completed by 2010, would be 240,000
square feet and could be expanded to 332,000 square feet to
house about 480 scientific and support staff. 

It's one of four new facilities planned for the national
laboratory in Richland to replace about 560,000 square feet of
space now used by workers in the southern end of Hanford. 

DOE planned to have the 300 Area buildings leveled when it
awarded the contract to Washington Closure Hanford to clean up
the nuclear reservation along the Columbia River. The area is
contaminated with radioactive and hazardous chemical waste from
the past production of plutonium for the nation's nuclear
weapons program. 

But as it became evident that a planned 325,000-square-foot
building could not be built with desired features for the
budgeted $210 million, DOE began considering keeping some 300
Area buildings. 

At the smaller initial size, the building would house
ultra-trace, radiation detection and materials science and
technology research programs. It would be built near the
Battelle campus just north of Horn Rapids Road outside Richland
city limits. 

The ultra-trace module would include specialized labs and
instrumentation for developing and testing methods for treaty
verification related to nuclear and chemical weapons. The
radiation detection module would include a paved track outside
the building for testing the detection of radiological materials
in vehicles and containers. 

The materials science and technology module would include
laboratories for processing radioactive material samples to
study their performance in high-radiation and high-temperature
conditions. Work would help evaluate the aging of materials in
nuclear power plants and the development of radiation-resistant
building materials for reactors. 

Later construction phases would include space for shielded
operations to protect workers doing research with radiological
materials, plus chemistry and processing, subsurface science and
certification and dosimetry programs. 

"These capabilities could remain in existing 300 Area facilities
for a span of 20 years," the environmental assessment said.
"They would be relocated if DOE decides to construct additional
(Physical Sciences Facility) modules in the future." 

There is not a budget or schedule for the additional
construction. 

DOE has discussed the possibility of retaining four buildings in
the 300 Area, including the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory;
the Radiological Calibrations Laboratory; a shop building and
the 331 Building, a 1970s laboratory and office building with an
addition added 10 years ago. 

The Radiological Processing Laboratory is a Nuclear Hazard
Category 2 facility. But the shielded operations module that
eventually could replace it under the phased building approach
would be a Category 3 facility. 

Projects relocated from the 300 Area are expected to require a
smaller total inventory of radioactive materials that would be
covered under Category 3, according to the environmental
assessment. 

The shielded operations module that eventually could replace the
Radiological Processing Laboratory could include space for
programs related to fusion energy, tritium production,
instrumentation for use in high-radiation environments, the
production of medical isotopes and the analysis of spent nuclear
fuel. 

The chemistry and processing module would have hoods, glove
boxes and shielded facilities to support fundamental research in
radionuclide chemistry as well as other projects. 

The subsurface science module would be used to support
fundamental research on the mobility and degradation of
compounds, and the certification and dosimetry module would
provide capabilities to certify the performance of radiation
detection instruments. 

A decision on whether to use a phased construction plan could be
made in early 2007. 

DOE will accept comments on the environmental assessment until
Dec. 13 at psfea@pnso.science.doe.gov. 

The environmental assessment is posted at
http://pnso.oro.doe.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=97.

© 2006 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 61 Knox News: Munger: The cost of cleanup measured in words

By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com 

November 15, 2006                                                               

Anyone who's been around the Superfund program knows that 
environmental cleanup is a negotiation. 

That's certainly the case in Oak Ridge. 

Even though the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge facilities 
have been on the National Priority List for 20 years and billions 
of dollars have been spent on environmental projects, there's 
still plenty of talking to be done in order to get the job done. 

That became clear to me during a recent conversation with Steve 
McCracken, DOE's cleanup manager, at a conference hosted by the 
Energy Technology and Environmental Business Associated. 

Many of the high-risk, high-priority cleanup actions were 
included in the contract negotiated with Bechtel Jacobs Co. a few 
years ago. Those projects, including the dismantlement of the 
K-25 uranium-enrichment plant, were supposed to be completed by 
the end of fiscal 2008, which concludes Sept. 30 of that year. 

That's not going to happen. 

The K-25 work is running about a year behind schedule. That means 
DOE and Bechtel Jacobs are doing a lot of talking these days. But 
that doesn't mean that the contract itself will be extended, 
according to McCracken. 

"The contract is a closure contract, so you don't have a 
mechanism to extend the contract," the DOE official said. "What 
you have is a process for negotiating changes." 

Many of the negotiated items involve cost overruns. Who is 
responsible, Bechtel or DOE? 

McCracken said: "You know that the cost of the job has gone up, 
the date has gone from '08 to '09. In all likelihood, there'll 
still be some increases because of the high-risk work you're 
doing. The issue now becomes trying to get an agreement with 
Bechtel Jacobs." 

If the cleanup changes and delays were the result of DOE orders 
or because of unpredictable problems, then it's possible the 
government will pick up the tab. If the problems were due to 
sloppy management or poor planning, then the costs may come out 
of the contractor's fee. 

Generally speaking, however, the Oak Ridge contract is based on 
end points, not the methods needed to accomplish the different 
actions, and that makes things trickier when the contractor has 
to redo a cleanup project in order to satisfy safety concerns or 
other issues, McCracken said. 

"In theory, that is not a contract change," he said. "In 
actuality, if you try to ask yourself how much of what's happened 
out there could not have been anticipated under terms of the 
contract and if the material change within the scope of the 
contract should be fee-bearing, that's the kind of discussions 
that need to take place." 

McCracken gave an example of an earlier change in the Bechtel 
Jacobs contract. Under the original agreement, the company was 
responsible for the operation of DOE's toxic-waste incinerator 
through 2006. That order later was changed after the federal 
agency increased the amount of waste coming to Oak Ridge from 
other nuclear cleanup sites. There are now plans to run the 
incinerator through 2009 and perhaps even beyond. 

"That's a change," McCracken said, "and I think we'd be 
hard-pressed to say that was already in your contract, right? So, 
you're right, Bechtel, I will agree with you that the price for 
running that plant in those three years is a legitimate change in 
the contract." 

That, of course, was a no-brainer. Other changes - especially 
involving K-25, where the work plan was redesigned after a worker 
fell through a floor - won't be so simple. 

"In my opinion, there are probably pieces of that that will be a 
legitimate change under the contract," McCracken said. "But it's 
going to require some discussion . Before I can pay them any fee, 
other than what's already defined in the terms of their contract, 
we have to negotiate a change to the contract. Which we're 
working on now, but we haven't done it yet." 

In other words, there's a lot more talking to be done. 


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
*****************************************************************
 62 Knox News: Comments heard on Complex 2030

Most object to plans to build more nuclear weapons at Y-12

By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com 

November 14, 2006                                                               

OAK RIDGE - The government's plans for the nuclear weapons 
complex of the future - known as Complex 2030 - could expand work 
at the Y-12 warhead facility, including a possible role with 
plutonium. 

Y-12 historically has manufactured the secondary stage of nuclear 
warheads, specializing in work with highly enriched uranium. 
Under the new proposal, the Oak Ridge plant is among five sites 
being considered to process plutonium - one of the world's most 
hazardous materials - and manufacture warhead parts with it. 

The National Nuclear Security Administration, a part of the U.S. 
Department of Energy, held public meetings here Monday to begin 
preparations on an environmental impact statement. 

The EIS would supplement earlier plans for maintaining the 
nation's weapons stockpile and the production facilities. 

Almost any scenario would maintain Y-12's work with enriched 
uranium, although those capabilities could be reduced or upgraded 
depending on the alternative chosen. A $500 million high-security 
storage facility for uranium is under construction and about 40 
percent complete, and a $1 billion Uranium Processing Facility is 
being promoted to replace the plant's aging production 
operations. 

About 75 people attended the first comment session, which began 
Monday morning at the Oak Ridge Mall. A second session was to be 
held Monday night. 

Most of the speakers voiced objections to the plans. Some 
suggested the government should be tearing down the Cold War 
weapons plants, not spending billions of dollars to rebuild them 
in the 21st century. 

"I believe in family values, and I don't think WMDs (weapons of 
mass destruction) come under that heading," said Mary Olson of 
Asheville, N.C. She is southeast director of the Nuclear 
Information and Resource Center. 

Brita Larsen Clark of Johnson City said it makes no sense to 
build national security around nuclear weapons, which are built 
for mass murder. "It's crazy," Clark said. 

The Department of Energy has not had a plutonium manufacturing 
facility since the late 1980s, when the Rocky Flats Plant in 
Colorado was shut down. DOE is trying to re-establish that 
capability as part of its Complex 2030 plan, with the intent of 
manufacturing new "reliable replacement warheads" for old 
weapons. 

In addition to Y-12, other federal sites being considered for the 
consolidated plutonium center are Los Alamos in New Mexico; 
Savannah River Site in South Carolina; Pantex in Texas; and 
Nevada Test Site. 

Y-12 has never worked with plutonium on a meaningful scale, and 
some observers doubted Oak Ridge would be chosen to host such a 
facility. 

However, Ted Wyka, federal document manager for the Complex 2030 
project, said Y-12 was a realistic option - not just 
window-dressing for an environmental impact statement. "You have 
a lot of expertise here," Wyka said. 

Several speakers questioned why the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant was 
not being evaluated as part of the weapons complex because the 
TVA reactor produces radioactive tritium for use in nuclear 
warheads. 

George Allen, director of the National Nuclear Security 
Administrations' Office of Transformation, noted that Watts Bar 
wasn't a federal facility, and he said documents did not include 
vendors who provide products and services to the weapons complex. 

Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace 
Alliance, strongly objected to that answer and suggested Allen 
was being frivolous. Providing tritium for warheads should not be 
compared to buying nuts and bolts, Hutchison said. 

Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. JOE 
HOWELL/NEWS SENTINEL Susan Gawarecki, executive director of the 
Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, asks questions 
Monday during a public meeting on Complex 2030.

© 2006 - Knoxville News Sentinel
    
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