***************************************************************** 10/31/06 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 14.258 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 [toeslist] Iran's president gives permission for tourists to visit n 2 [NYTr] Avnery: Who's Afraid of an Iranian Bomb? 3 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Ahmadineajd, Putin talk on phone 4 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI ready for unconditional talks 5 AFP: Ground prepared for Iran to discuss Iraq with US - Khatami - 6 AFP: Rice urges major powers to speed up sanctions on Iran 7 AFP: Iran does not expect UN to adopt tough sanctions 8 [NYTr] Six-way Korean Talks to Resume Soon 9 Guardian Unlimited: North Korea to resume talks on nuclear disarmame 10 AFP: Breakthrough as NKorea agrees to nuclear talks 11 Korea Herald: [EDITORIAL] DLP goes to the North 12 Korea Herald: War memories toughen South's N.K. attitudes 13 BBC: North Korea talks set to resume 14 washingtonpost.com: N. Korea Agrees to Return To Talks - 15 Korea Times: Labor Party Delegation Arrives in Pyongyang 16 Korea Times: Consumers Unfazed by North¡¯s Nuclear Test 17 Korea Times: Closer Partnership Key to Energy Security 18 Korea Times: Myongji Maps Out Korean Vision 19 Korea Times: Koreans Oppose Air Strikes Against Nuclear Facilities 20 AFP: N.Korea set no conditions for talks resumption - US envoy - 21 AFP: Bush welcomes success on North Korea, but mistrust remains - 22 UPI: S. Korea eyes summit with North 23 NRC: Notice of Meetings; Sunshine Act 24 US: AFP: Pentagon mounts public affairs ops to counter bad news, exp 25 [du-list]Israel's Secret Bomb 26 BBC: Australia defends climate stance 27 Platts: Global warming, energy security issues to dominate 21st cent 28 Independent: The day that changed the climate 29 St. Petersburg Times: U.S. Steps Up Pressure on Russia, Georgia 30 ITAR-TASS: Russia is ready to cooperate in all areas of energy secur 31 AU ABC: PM - Political tensions flare over climate change report 32 AU ABC: PM - Climate change challenge urgent, says UK 33 The Australian: PM warns of 'mesmerising' climate report NUCLEAR REACTORS 34 US: NRC: NRC Monitors Alert at Arkansas Nuclear One 35 Guardian Unlimited: Drastic action on climate change is needed now - 36 US: newsobserver.com: Sirens fail at Shearon Harris 37 BBC: Bid for nuclear training academy 38 BBC: Russia wins Bulgaria nuclear deal 39 US: PACO: The reactor's shut down, so it's really busy at and around 40 US: Platts: FPL still `very interested' in adding to nuclear portfol 41 Mos News: Russian Company Wins $5 bln Tender to Build Nuclear Power 42 US: NRC: Duke Power Company LLC ; Notice of Withdrawal of Applicatio 43 FIA: First Block of Belene NPP Should Be Ready by 2012: Former Energ 44 US: Boston Globe: High winds knock out emergency alert system for Ve 45 Hemscott: Czech nuclear reactor remains shut down 46 ITAR-TASS: Russia to place Angarsk plant under IAEA control - Kiriye 47 ITAR-TASS: Atomstroiexport named contractor for Bulgaria NPP 48 AFP: Mitsubishi Heavy eyes tie-up with GE on nuclear plants 49 AFP: Mubarak to talk arms, nuclear power in Moscow 50 Guardian: The north-south nuclear divide 51 US: Newsday.com: NRC renews licenses for Nine Mile Point nuclear pla 52 UPI: Egypt seeks nuclear energy 53 US: PRN: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Renews Operating License 54 US: PRN: Nortel Government Solutions Selected by NRC to Operate, Mai 55 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear industry signs up to skills academies NUCLEAR SECURITY 56 US: Hawaii Reporter: Detecting Nuclear Material at Seaports: Easier 57 AFP: US-Russian nuclear terrorism initiative targets security, coope NUCLEAR SAFETY 58 [southnews] UN investigates Israel's 'uranium weapons' 59 Did Israel Use Uranium Weapons? - Dirty Bombs Over Lebanon 60 US: Guardian Unlimited: Smiths wins $222m contract for radiation det 61 US: NRC: NRC Revises and Issues for Comment Proposed Rule on Safegua 62 US: NRC: Notice of License Termination and Release of the Dow Chemic 63 US: OpEd News: PUBLIC UNAWARE OF DU THREAT OF CAMP FALCON EXPLOSIONS 64 US: OpEdNews: AMERICA'S GREATEST CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY / MILITARY U NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 65 reviewjournal.com: Yucca Mountain session prompts dissatisfaction 66 KTNV: Nevada critics of Yucca Mountain complain about info sessions 67 LasVegasNOW.com: DOE Adds Yucca Mountain Info Session Amid Nevada Co PEACE 68 AFP: Japan says it can go nuclear but won't 69 IRNA: International day of action in Brussels for a world free of ur US DEPT. OF ENERGY 70 PR: Awaiting DOE Concurrence: Fluor Declares Fernald, Ohio Cleanup C 71 DOE: Department of Energy Advances Commercialization of Climate Chan 72 The Enquirer: Fernald cleanup completed 73 Washington Business Journal: USEC signs $200M fuel supply contract - 74 DOE: Office of Science; Climate Change Science Program Product 75 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Idaho 76 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Paducah 77 RedOrbit: Task Force Poised to Hear If DOE Grant Awarded: The Funds ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 [toeslist] Iran's president gives permission for tourists to visit nuclear sites Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2006 12:11:51 -0600 (CST) X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Innocent"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM Iran's president gives permission for tourists to visit nuclear sites http://english.people.com.cn/200610/04/print20061004_309008.html Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has given permission for foreign tourists to visit the country's nuclear facilities, an action aimed at proving the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, the state media reported Wednesday. "Foreign tourists can visit Iranian nuclear sites, after an order from President Ahmadinejad," Esfandyar Rahim Mashaii, head of Iran's Tourism and Cultural Heritage Organization, was quoted as saying by the state television. The president gave this order to prove Iran's nuclear program had been peaceful, and it was aimed at generating electricity, not nuclear bomb, said Mashaii. "We are reviewing the related instructions in this regard," he added. No immediate details were reported on the definition of a foreign tourist and when it could be legally implemented, but possible nuclear sites include Iran's first nuclear plant being built in the southern city of Bushehr, the uranium conversion facility near Isfahan and the uranium enrichment plant in Natanz. Before the authorization, only inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and some reporters were allowed to enter these mysterious nuclear sites. The United States has accused the Islamic Republic of using the nuclear energy program as a cover to develop atomic weapons and pushed UN Security Council for possible sanctions on the country. But Iran has rejected the accusations, insisting that its nuclear program was totally peaceful. Source: Xinhua People's Daily Online --- http://english.people.com.cn/ ***************************************************************** 2 [NYTr] Avnery: Who's Afraid of an Iranian Bomb? Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2006 13:35:09 -0600 (CST) X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Whitelisted"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Counterpunch - Oct 31, 2006 http://www.counterpunch.org/avnery10312006.html Who's Afraid of an Iranian Bomb? A New Situation is Arising and We Must Live With It By URI AVNERY At the height of the epic Battle of Britain in 1940, when British airmen were killed at an appalling rate ("never was so much owed by so many to so few"), an official in charge of propaganda had a bright idea to raise morale. On the walls at the Royal Air Force bases a poster appeared with these words: "Who is afraid of the Ju-87?" (At the time, one of the most effective German planes.) An anonymous pilot penciled in: "Sign here!" Within a few hours, all the pilots of the base had signed. If today someone were to hang a poster with the slogan "Who is afraid of the Iranian nuclear bomb?" I believe that all the people in Israel, and many beyond, would sign. It seems that we Israelis are always in need of something to be afraid of. When we open our eyes in the morning, we must see the danger-of-the-day. Otherwise, what is there to get up for? Perhaps it's not the public that is to blame, but the politicians who use fear as a means of control. Not so long ago, it was Hizbullah. Muslim fanatics, crazy Shiites, who want to annihilate Israel. A huge arsenal of rockets. God protect us! In the meantime there was a war, the rockets were launched, the damage to life and property was comparatively slight (for those who were not hit, of course). The terrible danger of Hizbullah was pushed into a corner. True, Hizbullah remained where it has been, the rockets are being replenished and Nasrallah continues to infuriate, but all this has ceased to evoke any real interest. A used danger is not exciting anymore. Now the army chiefs, bankrupted in Lebanon, are making a big effort to create a new fear: Hamas in the Gaza strip. Now, here we have an immediate and terrible danger. Tons and tons of "regular explosives" are coming in through the tunnels. Any moment now, Hamas will be equipped with modern anti-tank weapons, as well as anti-aircraft missiles. Hamas is building underground fortifications. Isn't that scary? The military and political parrots in the media are fully mobilized. This entire media parrotry is repeating the bloodcurdling message morning, noon and night: Gaza is becoming a second South Lebanon! Something has to be done! We cannot wait! The army must go in, occupy the Strip, or at least parts of it! Bur the public is not really buying it. It is hard to create fear when the enemy is not able to shoot back. Our aircraft and tanks and brave boys are killing there without hindrance. So what is there to fear? * * * But the Iranian story is something else altogether. There is indeed cause for fear. Here we have an enemy who declares that he is opposed to the very existence of our state, and who may soon be facing us with weapons of mass destruction. The elected president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is really enjoying letting loose provocative declarations. That's his private hobby, but also a successful domestic political ploy. He has said that the Holocaust did not happen at all, and if it happened, it was smaller than announced, and the whole thing has to be researched. He also prophesies the destruction of the "Zionist regime". To tell the truth, he did not quite say that he intends to "wipe Israel from the map", as was reported. According to the most accurate translation that I have seen, what he actually said was "Israel will be wiped from the map of the future". But that is scary enough. It is scary because in a few years, Iran may well have a nuclear bomb. It seems that this cannot be prevented. 25 years ago, Israel bombed an Iraqi nuclear reactor. Iran has learned the lesson and has distributed its nuclear facilities in many different places. Israel's capabilities are not sufficient for their destruction. The appointment of Avigdor Liberman, a proponent of Fascist ideas, as "Minister in Charge of the Strategic Threat", does not change anything in this respect. If Israel, which is only the fourth or fifth military power on earth, cannot do it, what about the US, the No. 1 in almost everything? Well, they are not able to, either. Installations buried deep in the earth may not be destroyed, and the ensuing war cannot be won without putting forces on the ground. And after the fiascoes in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are not many sane American generals who long for that. So it is quite possible that in a few years, the Iranian president will not only have boasts on his lips but also nuclear weapons in his hands. And if that isn't scary, I don't know what is scary. * * * If so, why am I not scared? I live in Israel, and I fully intend to continue living here. Israel is a small country, and a large part of its population lives in Greater Tel-Aviv. I live in the center of the city, in what the Americans would call Ground Zero. If a small and primitive nuclear weapon of the Hiroshima type falls on the building where I live, a large part of the Israeli population will be annihilated. Two or three such bombs are enough to put an end to Israel (together with the neighboring Palestinian territories). But I don't believe this will happen. In order to believe in such a possibility, one has to see the leaders of Iran as a bunch of lunatics. In spite of the efforts of Ahmadinejad to convince us that he is mad, I am not so sure. I believe that the Iranian leadership, and especially the religious-political leadership, is composed of very sane people. Since assuming power, they have trodden with caution and competence. They have not started any war. On the contrary, they boast that in the last 2000 years Iran has not started any war at all. And in the Iranian establishment, the president is just a politician who is completely subservient to the Ayatullahs, who are in effective control. (Curiously enough, the same system prevails in our own fundamentalist parties, Agudat Israel and Shas.) I do not ignore what Ahmadinejad has said. After Adolf Hitler and Mein Kampf, who would dare to ignore such statements of intent? But the Iranian president does not have the power of the German Fuehrer, the two countries are completely different, and so are the historical circumstances. The annihilation of Tel-Aviv would inevitably bring about the annihilation of Tehran and the precious treasures of the ancient and glorious Persian culture. In chess terms, it would not be an exchange of queens, but an exchange of kings. It is much more reasonable to assume that between Iran and Israel a "balance of terror" will be established, like the one that prevented World War III between the US and the Soviet Union, and that is now preventing a renewal of the Indian-Pakistani war. * * * In spite of this, we should not wait inactively for the creation of a situation in which Israel, Iran and perhaps Arab states like Egypt and Saudi Arabia will possess nuclear bombs. The nuclear genie is out of the bottle, and is spreading throughout the world. If there is no military option, what can be done? In order to forestall the danger, the main effort should be to make peace with the Palestinian people, and with the entire Arab world. People like Ehud Olmert may delude themselves that the Palestinian problem can be isolated from global and regional processes. But the problem is influenced by many factors, which are in constant flux. The relative strength of the US, our only ally in the world (except for Fiji, Micronesia and the Marshall islands), is decreasing slowly but persistently. Iran is becoming a regional power. The nuclear aspects give the historic conflict a new dimension. As the Greek philosopher said: panta rhei, everything is flowing. Generals can hallucinate about a huge victory over Hamas in Gaza, Olmert can ask himself Hamlet-like "to talk or not to talk" (with Mahmoud Abbas), but in the meantime things are happening that ought to accelerate the achievement of a historic reconciliation between the two peoples. If the elected leadership of the Palestinian people signs an agreement with us announcing the end of the conflict, and if the entire Arab world makes peace with us along the lines of the "Saudi initiative", the rug will be pulled out from under the Ahmadinejads everywhere. If the Palestinians themselves accept the idea of the coexistence of Israel and Palestine, and if Egypt, Jordan and most of the Arab world endorse it, on behalf of whom will the Iranians liberate Palestine? In the framework of the process of achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace, it will also be necessary to examine the idea of creating a nuclear weapons-free region. Is effective mutual inspection possible? Can there be iron-clad guarantees? At the moment, that is difficult to assess. But it's worthwhile to find out. * * * Anyway, there is no reason for apocalyptic nightmares. Even a nuclear bomb in Tehran's hands is not the end of the world, and not even the end of Israel. A new situation will arise, and we must live with it. The fathers of Zionism called on the Jews to take their fate into their own hands and return to the stage of history, and those who followed took upon themselves all the dangers involved. The world is a dangerous place, there is no existence without danger. I only hope that we shall have the good sense not to increase the dangers that are out there anyhow. Like those brave British airmen, we have the right to be afraid. But we must face the new situation with a clear mind and sober resolution. [Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom. He is one of the writers featured in The Other Israel: Voices of Dissent and Refusal. He is also a contributor to CounterPunch's hot new book The Politics of Anti-Semitism.] * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 3 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Ahmadineajd, Putin talk on phone 2006/10/31 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a phone talk on Monday night surveyed the most significant international developments, including Iran's nuclear program. Among the other issues discussed between Ahmadinejad and Putin were bilateral ties, the latest status in war torn Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. According to Presidential Office Media Department, Ahmadinejad during the phone talk referred to the warm and friendly relations of the two countries, and stressed on the need of continued high Tehran-Moscow level consultations. The IRI President also referred to several rounds of intensive talks between the representatives of Iran and EU on Iran's nuclear issue, adding, "Although those negotiations yielded very positive results, unfortunately due to lack of authority on our EU partner's side they were apparently totally fruitless." Ahmadinejad reiterated that certain Western countries are opposed to any kind of advancement in Iran, including taking peaceful advantage of the nuclear energy, adding, "That is the reason why whenever the Iran-EU negotiations reach a point when achieving results is possible, they disturb the course of talks resorting to certain excuses." The Russian President, too, emphasized that Moscow considers Iran as a friend with a significant and very important status at the international scene, adding, "Tehran-Moscow ties are at a very satisfactory level now, and we are interested in continuing those ties in various fields." Putin stressed that Russia's final stand on Iran's nuclear program is that the existing problems need to be settled in the course of negotiations. He added, "All the countries that have signed the NPT should be allowed to pursue peaceful nuclear activities within its permitted barriers." sam Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir ***************************************************************** 4 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI ready for unconditional talks 2006/10/31 Iran is ready to consider international participation in enrichment plans provided that Tehran is accepted as a real partner in any plan, Deputy Foreign Minister in legal and international affairs Abbas Araqchi said Monday. Araqchi was talking with head of disarmament, arms control and non proliferation sub-commission in German parliament who is in Tehran accompanied with a delegation. Araqchi said trust-building was a two-way avenue in which the Iranian side took big strides while no advancement was observed from the European side, the foreign ministry's media department said on Monday. "Various factors caused Iran's mistrust among which was the failed experience of nuclear cooperation between Iran and America, France, and Germany before the Islamic Revolution which resulted in great loss of Iran's resources." Araqchi added fruitlessness of some two-and-a-half years of enrichment suspension by Iran and then facing with the European void proposed package was the other cause that made Iranians determined to get independent in all aspects of peaceful nuclear activities and enrichment. He also emphasized that Iran is ready for unconditional talks. Stressing that Iran's research activities were done under strict IAEA inspection, Araqchi added that with this level of transparency in our activities and sense of cooperation, the UN Security Council's action seems not to be justified and logical. He further blamed America as responsible for not implementation of the comprehensive Non-Proliferation Treaty. In the meeting, the two sides stressed the necessity of continuation of talks to remove the ambiguities and create mutual trust while calling for more dialogue. SM 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 AFP: Ground prepared for Iran to discuss Iraq with US - Khatami - Tuesday October 31, 08:55 [Mohammad Khatami] LONDON (AFP) - The "ground is prepared" for direct talks between Iran and the United States over the situation in war-ravaged Iraq, former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami said on British television. Khatami also said that he did not think that Iran was intervening militarily in neighbouring Iraq, despite suspicions that the country was arming Shiite insurgents in the south. Asked whether Iran was prepared to talk directly to the United States about what to do next in Iraq, Khatami (Advertisement) [Click Here!] [ src=] told Channel Four: "Through an international activity under the auspicious supervision of the United Nations, I think the ground is prepared to do so." Khatami was in Britain to receive an honorary degree from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. He is also set to address the Royal Institute of International Affairs think-tank in London and academics at Oxford University during a three-day visit. "I am strongly of the opinion that Iran doesn't have any military intervention in Iraq," he told Channel Four. "The security of Iraq is quite important to us, because anything that would contribute to security in Iraq or add to the violence among the Shiites and Sunnis and instability, the first one that would lose would be Iran of course." The former president also said that Iran was not developing nuclear weapons, as debate continues over the country's refusal to abide by UN resolutions to stop its uranium enrichment, which it ensures is for peaceful purposes. "There is no aim and goal to achieve any sort of nuclear weapons," he said, but noted that atomic weapons in the region were a problem, with Israel, India and Pakistan all in the nuclear club. "Iran does not have nuclear weapon, and does not intend to have such," he insisted. Khatami faced an angry reception from human rights campaigners, who say that Iranians were detained without trial and tortured during his time in power. Khatami, seen as a reformist during his 1997-2005 period in office, is the most senior Iranian politician to visit Britain since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Under his presidency, Iranians experienced some press freedom and social liberties, but his reform plans were often blocked by conservatives. AFP ***************************************************************** 6 AFP: Rice urges major powers to speed up sanctions on Iran Tue Oct 31, 3:34 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" /> Condoleezza Ricecalled her major power counterparts in a bid to spur tough negotiations at the United Nations" /> United Nationsover a sanctions resolution against Iran" /> Iran, a senior US official said. Rice urged the foreign ministers from the other permanent UN Security Council members -- Britain, China, France and Russia -- to overcome the differences that have prevented agreement on the sanctions package, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said. "She put forward the proposal that we should try to work extremely hard to get that resolution passed as quickly as possible," Burns said. "We are working very hard at the UN Security Council to push for a resolution," he said. Iran faces the sanctions after rejecting an earlier UN resolution demanding it freeze a uranium enrichment program many fear is a cover for developing nuclear weapons. Earlier another senior US official said North Korea" /> North Korea's sudden decision Tuesday to give up its nuclear arsenal in the face of UN sanctions had provided a model for confronting Iran's uranium program. "The Iranians certainly are watching whether or not the world was going to react to what North Korea did," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, referring to Pyongyang's first test of a nuclear weapon on October 9. "The (UN) Security Council clearly did act, so I think in that sense it was a lesson for Iran in terms of the will of the international community to act," he said. Diplomats at UN headquarters in New York meanwhile said another meeting of five veto-wielding Security Council members plus Germany to discuss the Iran sanctions resolution was unlikely to take place before Friday at the earliest. The six are working on a draft resolution drawn up by Britain, France and Germany urging nuclear and missile-related sanctions against Tehran. Washington has so far refrained from co-sponsoring the draft in a sign it is seeking tougher measures than those proposed by its European partners. US officials have notably said they want clear guarantees that a nuclear power station being built in Iran by Russia will not give Tehran access to technology or materials that could be used in a weapons program. Russia and China, both major trading partners of Iran, are for their part believed to be trying to soften the resolution. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 7 AFP: Iran does not expect UN to adopt tough sanctions Tue Oct 31, 1:00 PM ET TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran" /> said the UN Security Council will not adopt tough sanctions against Tehran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment and is unlikely even to approve a watered-down version. Deputy Foreign Minister Mhedi Mostafavi made that prediction as the six major UN powers are considering a draft resolution offered by Britain, France and Germany in consultations with Washington. It calls on UN member states to slap nuclear and ballistic missile-related sanctions on Iran. It provides for a freeze of assets related to Iran's nuclear and missile programs and travel bans on scientists involved in those programs. But Mostafavi, quoted by state news agency IRNA, said "not only will this draft not be adopted, but even a much weaker one would only be (adopted) with great difficulty." He did not give any reasons for his confidence, but permanent UN Security Council members Russia and China have repeatedly signaled their reluctance to accept biting sanctions against Iran, a major energy and trade partner. Envoys from the Council's five veto-wielding members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany held a first private meeting Thursday on the draft resolution. They are expected to resume discussions later this week. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned on Monday that Iran would react firmly to any UN sanctions imposed on Tehran. "We are not looking for tension but any action that aims to limit us will receive an appropriate and firm response from the Iranian people," he said. Saturday, Tehran confirmed that it had successfully enriched uranium from a new cascade at a nuclear plant, hailing the move as a step towards industrial-scale enrichment. Enrichment, carried out in lines of centrifuges called cascades, is used to make fuel for civilian nuclear reactors. In highly refined form, however, the product can also serve as the raw material for atomic weapons. Western countries suspect that Iran's enrichment program is designed to supply material for a nuclear weapon, while Tehran insists its fuel processing is for peaceful purposes. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 8 [NYTr] Six-way Korean Talks to Resume Soon Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2006 13:35:14 -0600 (CST) X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Whitelisted"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Prensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com Six-way Korean Talks to Resume Soon Beijing, Oct 31 (Prensa Latina) The six-way talks on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula will be resumed soon in Beijing, Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday. The negotiations among China, the US, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, opened in 2003, have been at a standstill since November 2005. The resumption of talks was agreed to by the heads of delegations from the US, the DPRK, and China during an informal meeting in Beijing, the source added. The three delegations agreed to hold the talks sometime soon when convenient for the six parties, the agency indicated. ef dig jhb mf PL-12 *** AP via Truthout - Oct 31, 2006 http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/103106Z.shtml N. Korea Agrees to Return to Six-Party Nuke Talks by The Associated Press Beijing, China - North Korea agreed Tuesday to rejoin six-nation nuclear disarmament talks in a surprise diplomatic breakthrough three weeks after the communist regime conducted its first known atomic test, the Chinese government said. A U.S. envoy said the talks could resume as early as November if all six parties can agree on a date. But Japan said it cannot accept North Korea's return to the talks unless the regime first renounces its nuclear weapons. While Japan welcomed the prospect of a new round of talks, it "does not intend to accept North Korea's return to the talks on the premise that it possess nuclear weapons," public broadcaster NHK quoted Foreign Minister Taro Aso as saying. A resumption of talks "is conditional on North Korea not possessing nuclear weapons," Aso was quoted as saying. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said Tuesday that six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program could resume as early as November or December. Hill said the exact date was up to all six nations participating - the U.S., the two Koreas, Japan, China and Russia. "We believe it will be in November or possibly in December," he told a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said earlier Tuesday that the chief envoys to the negotiations from China, North Korea and the United States held an informal meeting in Beijing and agreed to resume six-nation talks. South Korea and Russia welcomed North Korea's agreement to return to the talks. "The government hopes that the six-party talks will resume at an early date as agreed and that an agreement will be reached on how to implement" a prior accord under which Pyongyang pledged to abandon its nuclear program, South Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesman Choo Kyu-ho said. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev said Moscow views North Korea's decision as "extremely positive," ITAR-Tass and Interfax news agencies reported. "We sincerely hope they will resume shortly," said Alexeyev, who will continue leading Russian delegation in the talks. Calls to the North Korean Embassy in Beijing went unanswered. The agreement is one of the first signs of easing tensions since North Korea conducted the underground detonation on October 9, defying warnings from both the United States and Japan, and its staunchest ally, China. If move also marks a diplomatic victory for Beijing, which in the wake of the test had argued against punishing North Korea too harshly, in order to leave open a path for diplomacy. Seoul also has been trying to strike a delicate balance in punishing the North for its nuclear test; seeking to avoid aggravating its volatile neighbor while imposing sanctions according to an unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution. The U.N. resolution calls for a ban on the sale of major arms to Pyongyang and inspection of cargo entering and leaving the country. It also calls for the freezing of assets of businesses supplying North Korea's nuclear and ballistic weapons programs, as well as restrictions on sales of luxury goods and travel bans on North Korean officials. The six-nation arms talks were last held in November 2005, where no progress was made on implementing the September 2005 agreement where the North pledged to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for security guarantees and aid. Just after that agreement, the North had demanded a nuclear reactor for power - a request that was quickly rejected by the other sides at the talks. * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 9 Guardian Unlimited: North Korea to resume talks on nuclear disarmament Jonathan Watts in Beijing Tuesday October 31, 2006 Guardian Unlimited [The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, with soldiers of the people’s army] The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, with soldiers of the people’s army. Photograph: AP North Korea has agreed to return to nuclear disarmament talks for the first time in almost a year in the biggest diplomatic breakthrough since Pyongyang's atomic weapons test. After informal meetings in Beijing, US and Chinese officials said the six-nation negotiations could resume in the coming weeks. "We took a step today toward getting this process back on track," said the US assistant secretary of state, Christopher Hill. "This process has suffered a lot in recent weeks by the actions that [North Korea] has made." Amid international sanctions, warnings of "catastrophe" from North Korea, and rumours of a second nuclear test, the promise of dialogue raises hopes that the stand-off on the peninsula is at least temporarily easing. Article continues George Bush today praised Beijing for helping to bring its neighbour back to the negotiating table. "I am pleased and I want to thank the Chinese," he said. South Korea and Russia welcomed the news. Japan was more cautious. A resumption of talks was "conditional on North Korea not possessing nuclear weapons", said the foreign minister Taro Aso. There was no comment from Pyongyang, which has demanded bilateral talks with the US and an end to the sanctions as conditions for restarting negotiations. The controlled explosion of a nuclear device on October 9 prompted an unusually united response from North Korea's neighbours. Its historical ally China and South Korea, which has been surprisingly sympathetic in recent years, agreed to UN sanctions banning all trade in luxury goods and transfers of money or goods that might be used in nuclear, biological or chemical weapons programmes. The US, backed by Japan, has begun preparing to interdict shipments of weapons of mass destruction and other suspect cargo. Last week South Korea's deputy foreign minister, Yu Myung-hwan, warned that the naval move created a "high possibility" of armed conflict. North Korea said the sanctions were an act of war and today warned South Korea of "catastrophic consequences" if it joined any of the US navy's "stop and search" missions. The respite may prove temporary. In the past 15 years North Korea has consistently adopted a strategy of ratcheting up crises and then offering compromises. According to analysts, today's agreement marks an attempt by Pyongyang to divide its neighbours. "North Korea hopes to alleviate China's anger and bring about more potential disputes between China and Japan and the United States and prevent more serious sanctions," said Shi Yinhong, an international relations expert at the People's University in Beijing. "But I don't think the chaos stemming from the nuclear test has been fundamentally erased." Other observers speculated that the US had offered incentives. "I doubt they agreed to drop all the sanctions but there must have been some progress in talks," said Masao Okonogi, Keio University, Tokyo. The restarted talks will be particularly welcome in Beijing, which lost face when its former ally defied its request not to carry out a nuclear test. Last week China dispatched an envoy to Pyongyang, reportedly to give a dressing down to North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, but it has consistently warned against using force to punish North Korea. Without huge incentives, Mr Kim is unlikely to give up a nuclear programme on which he has staked his administration's survival. According to a report issued today by a South Korean MP, North Korea has established secret towns dedicated to nuclear research. Up to 36,000 people, including the country's top scientists and their families, live and work in complete isolation, said Song Young-sun, of the opposition Grand National party. Given the challenges, Mr Hill said the talks were still a long way from their goal. "I have not broken out the cigars and champagne quite yet," he said. Useful sites North Korea virtual library CIA factbook: North Korea UN security council UN nuclear non-proliferation treaty NK news - database of North Korean propaganda North Korea Database North Korea Zone [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 10 AFP: Breakthrough as NKorea agrees to nuclear talks November 1, 09:44 AM BEIJING (AFP) - North Korea has agreed to return to talks on its nuclear programme, the United States said, in a diplomatic breakthrough just three weeks after stunning the world with its first atomic test. US President George W. Bush said he was "very pleased" at the surprise announcement, which followed seven hours of secret negotiations in Beijing. The talks -- involving China, the two Koreas, Russia, the United States and Japan -- could restart as soon as November, Washington's chief negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters here. North Korea reaffirmed its pledge to give up nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees and other concessions, and set no conditions for ending its year-long boycott of the talks, he said. The development was immediately welcomed by South Korea, Japan, Russia and Britain and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who said he hoped to see "positive results" soon. Bush praised the role of China in the negotiations, and said US teams would be sent to Asia to monitor the situation. "We'll be sending teams to the region to work with our partners to make sure that the current United Nations Security Council resolution is enforced but also to make sure the talks are effective, that we achieve the result we want," he said, referring to Washington's desire for North Korea to abandon all of its nuclear weapons programs. Hill's announcement at a hastily-arranged news conference followed seven hours of secret talks between the US negotiator and his counterparts to the six-party talks from North Korea and its closest ally China. "We believe it will be either this coming month, November, (or) possibly December," he replied when asked when the talks would restart. "They did not make any conditions," he added. "For us it was very important that no-one should create conditions for attending the talks." Hill said North Korea, one of the most poorest and isolated regimes in the world, had reaffirmed the pledge it first made last year -- before the talks stalled -- to give up nuclear weapons in return for concessions. "We all reaffirmed, including the North Koreans, our commitment to the September (2005) statement and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," he said. South Korea said the developments had eased tensions following the North's October 9 atomic test. "It gives us relief," South Korea's unification ministry spokesman Yang Chang-seok told Yonhap news agency. US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in Washington: "We welcome the announcement and look forward to resuming the talks soon." Japan's top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki, said Tokyo had been seeking the North's "prompt, unconditional return" to the multilateral process. The Russian foreign ministry welcomed the development and Britain hailed it as "very positive". North Korea pulled out of the talks in November last year in protest at US financial sanctions imposed against it for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering by Pyongyang. Pyongyang had insisted it would not return until those financial sanctions were lifted. However Hill said North Korean envoy Kim Kye-Gwan had told him Tuesday that it was now ready to deal with that issue in the six-party forum. "They made very clear that these were not conditions, but they wanted to hear that we would address the issue of the financial measures in the context of the talks," Hill said. "And I said we would be prepared to create a mechanism, or working group and to address these financial issues." He gave no indication as to why North Korea had made such a dramatic U-turn. The Chinese foreign ministry said Beijing had initiated the secret talks here, which also included China's envoy Wu Dawei. "The three parties engaged in a frank and deep exchange of views on continuing the six-party talks. The three parties agreed to carry out the six-party talks in the near future, at the six parties' convenience," it said in a statement on its website. North Korea's nuclear test triggered fierce global condemnation, including from China, and led to sweeping UN sanctions. The six-party talks began in 2003 with the intent of convincing North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions. On September 19 last year, the North agreed to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for pledges of aid and security. In that agreement, North Korea said it would renounce all nuclear weapons and programmes, return to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty and allow UN weapons inspectors back into the country. The other countries agreed to "respect" the North's demand for peaceful nuclear energy and said Pyongyang's request to have a light-water reactor for peaceful purposes would be revisited "at an appropriate time". Peter Beck, Northeast Asia director of the International Crisis Group, said the breakthrough was largely down to China. "The fact they agreed to negotiations so quickly is a clear indication that China's arm-twisting has worked," he told AFP. Copyright © 2006 AFP. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 11 Korea Herald: [EDITORIAL] DLP goes to the North It must have been a difficult decision for the Democratic Labor Party to send almost all its key officers to North Korea for a visit. Party leader Moon Sung-hyun, Rep. Kwon Young-ghil and 11 other members of the mission should be well aware how people will look at them after the party's deputy secretary general and a former central committee member were arrested last week in connection with an alleged espionage case uncovered by the National Intelligence Service. The DLP leaders went to Pyongyang with the professed purpose of "reducing the state of tension between the South and North created by the nuclear test." Chairman Moon said his group would protest the North's nuclear test and ask North Korea not to conduct an additional test. However, we know the DLP executives are visiting Pyongyang not solely to denounce Pyongyang's nuclear pursuits. As a political party inaugurated in 2000 with a platform of "shattering the bondage of a capitalist society and construct a unified state," the original purpose of the visit must be broadening exchanges with North Korea for the realization of the party's goals. It is not hard to imagine that there will be a lot of anti-American sermons from their hosts who declared that their nuclear bomb is to protect themselves from a U.S. attack. It is of great interest to us how the visiting party, which is supposed to be representing the "exploited workers" of the South, will respond to the northerners' justification of their nuclear ambition. With their faith in democracy, the visitors should point to the undemocratic nature of statecraft and economic failure in what is hailed as the "paradise of workers" and offer an admonition to their hosts for the absence of spontaneous efforts to reduce tension across the border. We anxiously hope that the DLP leaders' Pyongyang tour will be a productive one for the party's public trust and credibility, and the future of inter-Korean relations. 2006.11.01 ***************************************************************** 12 Korea Herald: War memories toughen South's N.K. attitudes Mention to a foreigner or Korean that technically, the two Koreas are still at war, and you will be invariably answered with something to the effect of "yeah, but not really." A 30-minute drive north from Chuncheon towards the DMZ, and the heavily fortified region of Hwacheon offers stark, visual reminders that the two Koreas are indeed, very much still at war. With every kilometer the military presence seems to increase by degrees. First, it is the slow-moving convoys of troops and heavy armor. Then, closer to Hwacheon, about 40 kilometers from the DMZ as the crow flies, it is the tank blockades. Massive concrete blocks wait in rows on either side of narrow passes, just behind the guard rail. Painted in camouflage, they are poised to crash into action, silent sentinels ready for the long-feared invasion. Han San-ok by her rented farm plot in Hwacheon But military hardware is not the only reminder of the North's presence. Han San-ok, 68 - who scratches a living from a small, rented plot in the farming community of Hwacheon - still remembers life during the Korean War. She saw the North Korean and Chinese soldiers when they invaded Chuncheon. She remembers hiding in the mountains and scavenging food for days on end while fighting raged in the valley below. Han wants more American soldiers in South Korea, not fewer. Sitting beside a tarp covered with hot peppers she's drying for winter, Han angrily recounts the ways in which North Korea has cost her family. Her granddaughter once had a job at Mount Geumgang but in 2003 North Korea abruptly demanded the number of tourists be reduced to 600 per day. Suddenly many jobs were lost as two-thirds of the Hyundai facilities stood idle. "My granddaughter has not been able to find a good job since then," she said. "Why should we help them? Why should we help North Korea when we have so many poor people here? I can't even get a bus into town." According to recent opinion polls, some 83 percent of South Koreans still favor economic aid to North Korea. You do not have to look too far in Hwacheon to find some of the 17 percent in opposition. Just look for poor farmers old enough to have lived through the Korean War - the people least likely to be reached by telephone pollsters. Lee Young-lae was born and raised in North Korea. At the beginning of the war he fought for the North. Eventually, he was able to escape to the South with 10 of his comrades by crossing the Imjin River. "I'm not afraid of them," he said of the North Koreans, "I just hate them." Lee later fought for the South and has lived in Hwacheon ever since. Before the war Lee worked a family farm in North Korea. "No matter how hard we worked, no matter what we grew, the government took everything. They took everything and gave us nothing. We shouldn't we give them a single grain of rice now." His wife, Jang Dong-chun, agrees. "We've helped them for too long, that's the only reason they're able to do this nuclear test now." While most Koreans agree on the deep, familial connection between the North and South, the younger generation, though further removed from living relatives still in the North, tends to take a softer line. Ham Hyun-ju, a freshman at Hallym University, Chuncheon, was in favor of aid until the North conducted its nuclear test. "Now we should watch them," she said. "We should wait and see what happens." She feels the Bush administration's uncompromising approach has been detrimental to inter-Korean relations. Her friend Lim Ji-hye agrees. "Other nations don't understand the situation. We are not a separate nation. My grandma's family is still there. We are very close to the people there, but not the government. Ham and Lim come from towns far from the DMZ and from a generation that knows of the war only though stories. Bus driver Hong Hee-sung was 6 years old when he saw North Korean soldiers strip about 40 of his fellow townspeople naked before beating them with rifle butts in Yangpyeong. "I was very young, but I still remember it because it was so shocking." He then watched as friends and neighbors were shot and thrown into the river. "I heard the North Koreans were looking for anybody associated with the police. My father was a police officer, so I ran and warned him." His actions saved his father, who hid on Mount Baekmyung and did not come down for three months. These days, Hong is vehemently opposed to any reduction of U.S. troops. Like Han and Lee, he believes that all aid sent to North Korea is diverted to the military and communist party elite, never reaching the poor people it is intended for. "Nobody of my age wants to give aid to North Korea, he said." (stephenjohndowning@yahoo.com) By Stephen Downing Contributing writer 2006.11.01 ***************************************************************** 13 BBC: North Korea talks set to resume Last Updated: Tuesday, 31 October 2006 [graphic] Six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programme are to due resume soon after a diplomatic breakthrough. Agreement came at an informal meeting in Beijing between North Korea, China and the US. The talks stalled a year ago after Pyongyang pulled out in protest at US financial sanctions imposed upon it. North Korea alarmed the world by testing a nuclear weapon earlier this month, prompting the UN to impose financial and arms sanctions. China's foreign ministry said on its website that envoys from China, the US and North Korea had met on Tuesday and "had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on continuing efforts to advance the process of the six-party talks". KOREAN NUCLEAR CRISIS Sept 2005: At firs hailed as a breakthrough, North Korea agrees to give up nuclear activities Next day, N Korea says it will not scrap its activities unless it gets a civilian nuclear reactor US imposes financial sanctions on N Korea businesses July 2006: N Korea test-fires seven missiles UN Security Council votes to impose sanctions over the tests Oct 2006: N Korea claims to have carried out nuclear test N Korea's mercurial leader N Korea nuclear timeline All three agreed the talks "be held soon at a time convenient to the six parties". The US negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, later said the talks could resume as early as next month. He added that North Korea had set no conditions for its return to the talks. President George W Bush hailed the agreement. "I am pleased and I want to thank the Chinese," he told reporters at the White House. He added that the agreement would not halt US efforts to enforce a UN Security Council resolution passed in response to the North's atomic test. The announcement was welcomed by both South Korea and Russia, which along with the US, China and Japan make up the partners in the talks with North Korea. But Japan has reportedly said it cannot accept North Korea's return to the talks unless the regime first renounces its nuclear weapons. Foreign Minister Taro Aso was quoted as saying that while Japan welcomed the prospect of a new round of talks, it "does not intend to accept North Korea's return to the talks on the premise that it possess nuclear weapons". Public broadcaster NHK said he insisted that a resumption of talks "is conditional on North Korea not possessing nuclear weapons". Ongoing crisis The talks began in 2003 to find a way to resolve the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear programme. They appeared to make an historic breakthrough in September 2005 when North Korea announced it would give up its nuclear activities and rejoin the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. N KOREA NUCLEAR PROGRAMME [Map] Believed t have 'handful' of nuclear weapons But not thought to have any small enough to put in a missile Could try dropping from plane, though world watching closely But within months optimism crumbled as North Korea withdrew from the talks in protest at US financial sanctions, under which about $24m (£14m) of funds have been frozen. North Korea's decision to test seven missiles in July and then carry out a nuclear weapon test on 9 October drew international condemnation. China - Pyongyang's key ally - joined other UN Security Council members in agreeing to sanctions targeting North Korea's missile and weapons programmes as well as luxury goods and a travel ban. But Beijing has also been carrying out frantic behind-the-scenes negotiations to try to restart the talks, which appear now to have borne fruit, the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in the Chinese capital says. ***************************************************************** 14 washingtonpost.com: N. Korea Agrees to Return To Talks - A Surprise Reversal In Nuclear Dispute By Glenn KesslerWashington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, November 1, 2006; Page A01 North Koreaagreed yesterday to return to the six-nation nuclear disarmament talks, just three weeks after it conducted its first test of a nuclear device. The country's unexpected decision, which was announced by Chinese and U.S. officials in Beijing, will end Pyongyang's year-long boycott of the talks, which have dragged on intermittently for more than three years. Fourteen months ago, North Korea agreed in principle to dismantle its nuclear programs, but hard bargaining is still necessary to determine the sequence and timing of the incentives it expects in return. [After seven hours of meetings with North Korean and Chinese officials, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill tells reporters that there is potential for ] After seven hours of meetings with North Korean and Chinese officials, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill tells reporters that there is potential for "substantial progress" in resolving the nuclear issue. (By Greg Baker -- Associated Press) In Depth DIPLOMACY &DETERRENCE Pyongyang had refused to return to the talks until the United States separately negotiated an end to a crackdown on North Korea's counterfeiting of U.S. currency. But that demand disappeared Tuesday during seven hours of meetings, set up by Chinaat Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, involving U.S., North Korean and Chinese officials. North Korea instead agreed to a long-standing U.S. proposal to deal with the counterfeiting issue through a working group of the six-party talks. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill emerged from the meetings to say that there was the potential for "substantial progress" in resolving an issue that has raised tensions throughout the region, including the possibility of a nuclear arms race. U.S. officials were privately puzzled by the mercurial government's change of heart, though they said they hope the universal condemnation of North Korea's nuclear test and the swift imposition of U.N. sanctions had played a role. "In the wake of their test, it became very clear that there were going to be costs and consequences for their actions and that they faced even greater isolation from the rest of the international community," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. The talks are expected to resume either this month or in December. Some analysts and diplomats have faulted the Bush administration for being inflexible and ideological during earlier rounds, making it difficult to reach agreement. David Straub, a former State Department official who was part of the U.S. delegation to some of the talks, said North Korea probably shifted tactics to deflect international pressure and divide the nations at the negotiating table. Unless both the United States and North Korea "bring significantly different approaches to the talks, the talks will again amount to nothing," he said. "Indeed, both will almost certainly take even tougher lines." President Bush, meeting with reporters in Washington, praised China's role in setting up the meeting. "We'll be sending teams to the region to work with our partners to make sure that the current United Nations Security Council resolution is enforced, but also to make sure that the talks are effective, that we achieve the results we want," Bush said. Last Wednesday, the Chinese government contacted the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and proposed a trilateral meeting involving North Korea, the United States and China. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday authorized Hill to cut short the meetings he had in the South Pacific and to slip into Beijing on an unannounced visit. U.S. officials agreed to try the Chinese idea but had little expectation it would yield a breakthrough. In January, Hill held a 2 1/2 -hour meeting in Beijing with the Chinese and North Koreans to try to restart the talks, but that effort was not successful. This time, Hill had seven hours of meetings -- including, at one point, with Kim Gye Gwan, the North Korean vice foreign minister who is Hill's counterpart in the talks, and other North Korean officials. Hill said he told Kim that the United States would never accept North Korea as a nuclear power, nor would any other nation. Hill also told Kim that the U.N. Security Council resolution imposed after North Korea's nuclear test was an "international obligation" and not up for discussion before the resumption of the talks. The meetings were described as very businesslike. Kim wanted assurances that a Treasury Department action against a Macau bank suspected of money laundering for North Korea would be addressed in the six-party talks. The United States had earlier suggested setting up a working group to address the issue, and Hill reaffirmed that idea. Kim said that was acceptable, according to Hill. U.S. officials have maintained that the Treasury case was simply an excuse by North Korea to avoid making the strategic choice of giving up its nuclear programs. In earlier talks, Pyongyang had demanded light-water reactors in exchange for abandoning its programs. Though that possible incentive is mentioned in a September 2005 "statement of principles" to guide nuclear negotiations, the United States has insisted that it is only a theoretical possibility that could come at the end of the verified dismantling of North Korea's nuclear facilities. North Korea set no conditions for returning to the six-party talks on its nuclear program, Hill said. "For us it was very important that no one should create conditions for attending the talks," he said. Michael J. Green, who oversaw Asian affairs at the White House until last year, said it was significant that North Korea agreed to return without getting relief from the Treasury action or the U.N. sanctions. "The Chinese exerted real pressure," Green said. He added that he expects China to push North Korea to offer something concrete at the upcoming rounds of talks, such as a moratorium on future tests, a full detailing of its nuclear programs or the return of international inspectors at its Yongbyon facility. "North Korea is going to cling tenaciously to its nuclear weapons," Green said, but the existence of U.N. sanctions will facilitate coercive diplomacy. North Korea has blamed the impasse on the U.S. Treasury action against a bank in Macau called Banco Delta Asia, which the department had identified as the main conduit for bringing North Korean-made counterfeit U.S. bills into the international system. The Treasury had determined that senior officials at the Macau bank accepted large deposits of cash and agreed to place the bogus money into circulation. The bank is also reputed to hold the private accounts of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his family. Copyright 1996- The Washington Post Company ***************************************************************** 15 Korea Times: Labor Party Delegation Arrives in Pyongyang Hankooki.com > The Korea Times By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter The 13-member delegation of the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party (DLP) arrived in Pyongyang yesterday despite criticism from conservative groups in South Korea. The visit is the first by a South Korean political party since North Korea¡¯s nuclear test on Oct. 9. The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) has strongly opposed the visit, raising suspicions about the ongoing investigations into an espionage case allegedly involving two of the progressive party¡¯s former and incumbent officials. The DLP dismissed such claims and made it clear that the visit is aimed at urging the North to give up its nuclear weapons program. During the five-day visit, the delegation, including Reps. Kwon Young-ghil and Roh Hoe-chan, hopes to meet ranking North Korean officials. The North¡¯s No. 2 leader, Kim Yong-nam, who serves as president of the Presidium of the Supreme People¡¯s Assembly, is expected to meet with the delegates on Thursday, DLP officials in Seoul said. However, it is uncertain whether party officials will be able to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Meanwhile, Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok acknowledged that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) had asked the government not to permit the visit, but he said the ministry rejected the request. ``We discussed the matter with other government agencies and finally decided to disallow one of DLP officials from the initial 14-member list,¡¯¡¯ Lee said during a National Assembly inspection of the Unification Ministry. ``We could not find any evidence that the party was deeply involved in alleged spy activities.¡¯¡¯ Lee said he believes a second inter-Korean summit could help ease the tension sparked by the North¡¯s nuclear threat but stopped short of saying whether the government was pushing for a meeting between the leaders of the two Koreas. ``There are certain factions in South Korean society that say the government and its engagement policies are to blame for the North¡¯s underground nuclear blast. But I believe there¡¯s need for an inter-Korean summit despite such claims,¡¯¡¯ Lee said. Lee said he believes an inter-Korean summit would serve as a useful method for dismantling North Korea¡¯s nuclear weapons and improving inter-Korean relations. The minister, who offered to resign last week, claimed the United States would take a more flexible attitude toward North Korea if the North returns to international negotiations over its nuclear weapons program. ``There are claims that U.N. sanctions on North Korea would continue even if the North returns to the six-party nuclear talks, but I think the United States will show more flexibility once the North agrees to resume the stalled talks,¡¯¡¯ Lee said. His claim came after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hinted that the Bush administration would continue sanctions against North Korea despite its return to the nuclear disarmament talks. things@koreatimes.co.kr 10-31-2006 17:55 ***************************************************************** 16 Korea Times: Consumers Unfazed by North¡¯s Nuclear Test Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Biz/Finance By Yoon Ja-young Staff Reporter Most consumers are not cutting their spending dramatically even after North Korea¡¯s nuclear test, a recent survey showed. According to the survey of 1,000 households nationwide by Samsung Economic Research Institute, four out of five families, or 78.6 percent, said they will maintain their current consumption and spending level in spite of the confrontation over North Korea¡¯s nuclear test. Only 20.1 percent planned to cut spending a little, and only 1.3 percent said that their consumption would drastically decrease due to the nuclear incident. The North Korean nuclear issue doesn¡¯t seem to have affected the economic outlook either. Only one out of ten households, or 10.7 percent, expected the economic growth rate to plunge deeply due to the nuclear test. Most of the households said the growth rate will fall a little. Only 19.6 percent said the nuclear issue wouldn¡¯t affect growth rate at all. Most of the households said the nuclear issue¡¯s affect on the capital market would be only temporary. More than half of the respondents said the capital market will be stabilized within a few months, and 31.8 percent of the households said the upset would end within a month. Those who were worried that the capital market would be unsettled for over a year amounted to only 12 percent. People are not panicking over the overall nuclear issue. Only 27.7 percent of the households said North Korea¡¯s nuclear issue is very serious. Asked what would follow next, only 2.7 percent said there would be military action such as bombing over the nuclear test. However, respondents turned out to be worried over their country¡¯s image overseas and its credit rating. Over 60 percent of households chose improving country image and maintaining sovereign ratings as the biggest priority in economic policies. The National Statistical Office (NSO), however, expected service output in October to fall short of the September output, due to North Korea¡¯s nuclear test and Chusok holidays. The service output in September recorded a 6 percent growth year-on-year, the highest growth rate since February. chizpizza@koreatimes.co.kr 10-31-2006 19:13 ***************************************************************** 17 Korea Times: Closer Partnership Key to Energy Security Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Biz/Finance By Park Hyong-ki Staff Reporter Kim Young-hoon, right, CEO of Daesung Group, shakes hand with Gerald Doucet, secretary general of World Energy Council, ahead of WEC Forum for Asia Pacific &South Asia aimed at boosting regional energy cooperation at the Sheraton Grand Walkerhill Hotel, Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Daesung Group A strong partnership between the private and public sector is essential for South Korea to ensure greater energy efficiency and sustainability amid a tightening global oil market, said the chief executive of Korea¡¯s mid-sized energy conglomerate Daesung Group yesterday. Kim Young-hoon, who is also the vice chairman of World Energy Council (WEC), said that a joint effort is required to develop new technologies for cost-effective alternative and renewable energy as well as to secure global fossil fuels like oil and natural gas. ``The public sector alone cannot solve various issues surrounding energy in which the market is changing so fast, becoming more complicated and in dire need of advanced technologies,¡¯¡¯ said Kim in an interview with The Korea Times. ``Also, both oil consuming and producing nations must constructively cooperate to seek solutions to volatile oil prices and limited access, to support sustainable regional economic growth.¡¯¡¯ He added that the WEC regional forum, held in Seoul from Oct. 31-Nov. 1, is a great chance for business and government officials around the world to gather for talks on ways to boost regional energy partnerships. London-based WEC is a U.N.-recognized organization with over 90 member countries that tackles rising energy issues in terms of market structure, environment and poverty, and closely works with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA). Although global reserves remain robust, there are many challenges that lie ahead for both oil-starved and oil-rich nations. ``We must keep every option open,¡¯¡¯ Gerald Doucet, secretary general of WEC told The Korea Times. ``Nations need to keep their energy portfolio diverse. One nation cannot rely only on renewable or alternative energy sources. Those two cannot replace petroleum or gas, which will always be demanded. They can only add to what you already have in the portfolio.¡¯¡¯ It is true that oil costs a lot of money today, and that every nation is racing to develop alternative sources such as bio-diesel, ethanol, wind and solar power. But the WEC secretary general stressed that alternatives are not the main answer and backups are always needed, and that the best way to sustain energy efficiency is to keep the portfolio in balance. ``We need to focus on three As: Access, Availability and Acceptability,¡¯¡¯ Doucet said. ``The challenge is accessing or tapping into global oil, and availability refers to a quality, reliable service for consumers. Lastly, we have to assess the resources, including alternatives, and whether they are environmentally friendly.¡¯¡¯ Kim and Doucet agreed that along with regional efforts, industry and government must join hands to inform the general public about the right use of energy, and that it is environmentally safe to invest in new projects like hydro and nuclear power. Global demand for energy will jump to 13.6 billion ton oil equivalent units (BTOE) by 2020. Driven by two booming economies of China and India, Asia will account for about 50 percent of this increase, slated to become the biggest energy consumer and the largest market. phk@koreatimes.co.kr 10-31-2006 19:07 ***************************************************************** 18 Korea Times: Myongji Maps Out Korean Vision Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation > The Nation Myongji Maps Out Korean Vision By Won You-kyoung Global Student Reporter Myongji University is holding the first Myongji forum in Seoul and Yongin from Oct. 16-27, which is divided into seven sessions. Yang Mun-Chang, the chairman of the China Diplomacy Institute, gave a lecture on the changes in Korea¡¯s situation and the standpoint of China in Seoul last week. During his lecture, he stressed that the North Korea nuclear problem must be settled through the six-party talks. During the culture technology forum, Suh Byung-mun, the principal of the Korea Culture Content Agency (KCCA), said that culture-content enterprises would be a most profitable national undertaking. Also Cho Soon, a Myongji University professor and former deputy prime minister, gave a speech on his visions of an advanced Korea in the future and the problems the country could face. 10-31-2006 14:54 ***************************************************************** 19 Korea Times: Koreans Oppose Air Strikes Against Nuclear Facilities Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Even though Pyongyang's nuclear threat has become real with its test of atomic devices, more than half of South Koreans oppose the idea of a United States¡¯ surgical strike on nuclear facilities in North Korea. According to The Korea Times poll, 65.2 percent of the respondents said they disapprove of a surgical strike on those facilities even if Pyongyang continues to test its nuclear devices. But 28.9 percent gave their approval to the military measure. Among supporters of the governing Uri Party, 78 percent of them said they do not want to see the United States using its air power to destroy the nuclear facilities, while 34 percent of Grand National Party supporters, who usually have a conservative view on political issues, said they want to. Younger people have stronger resistance to the idea of a surgical strike as 67.8 percent in their 20s and 78.2 percent in their 30s rejected the military option. But 34.1 percent in their 50s and 42.7 percent in their 60s approved it. Last February, almost half of all juniors, who will get their first voting rights in the 2007 presidential election, said in a Korea Times poll that South Korea should side with North Korea if Washington attacks nuclear facilities in the North without Seoul's consent. In the survey of 1,000 youngsters aged between 18 and 23, nearly 48 percent said if the United States attacked those nuclear facilities, Seoul should act on Pyongyang's behalf and demand that Washington stop the attack. But 40.7 percent said Seoul should keep a neutral stance in the event of such attacks, while 11.6 percent said South Korea needs to act in concert with the United States. ^im@koreatimes.co.kr 10-31-2006 17:38 ***************************************************************** 20 AFP: N.Korea set no conditions for talks resumption - US envoy - Tuesday October 31, 01:14 PM [Christopher Hill] BEIJING (AFP) - North Korea has set no conditions for returning to six-party talks on its nuclear program, chief US negotiatior Christopher Hill told reporters after meeting with his North Korean counterpart. "They did not make any conditions," Hill said Tuesday. "For us it was very important that no-one should create conditions for attending the talks." North Korea pulled out of the six-nation talks in November last year in protest at US financial sanctions imposed against it for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering by Pyongyang. North Korea had insisted since then that it would not return to the talks until the financial sanctions were lifted. However Hill said that North Korean envoy Kim Kye-Gwan had told him on Tuesday that Pyongyang was now ready to deal with the issue of the financial sanctions in the six-party forum. "They wanted our reassurance that we would address the issue of the financial measures in the six-party process," Hill said. AFP ***************************************************************** 21 AFP: Bush welcomes success on North Korea, but mistrust remains - by David Millikin Tue Oct 31, 6:03 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - President George W. Bush" /> hailed North Korea" /> 's decision to return to disarmament negotiations as a vindication of his administration's much-maligned approach to the nuclear crisis with the isolated Stalinist regime. [ src=] But underscoring international mistrust of Pyongyang's erratic leaders, Washington insisted UN sanctions imposed on North Korea after it conducted its first nuclear test explosion on October 9 would remain in force for now. "I'm very pleased with the progress being made in the Far East," Bush said after the surprise announcement of North Korea's decision, before adding: "Obviously, we've still got a lot of work to do." Bush said US diplomats would soon be going to Asia to ensure continued enforcement of the UN sanctions against North Korea pending a new round of negotiations. The diplomats will also "make sure that the talks are effective -- that we achieve the results we want, which is a North Korea that abandons their nuclear weapons programs, and her nuclear weapons, in a verifiable fashion," he said. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" /> said the disarmament talks would not take place until after the November 18-19 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ( APEC" /> ) summit in Hanoi. "I would think not too long after that we would hope to have the talks," she said in an interview with the CNBC cable television network. Asked what Bush meant when insisting the talks be "effective," Rice said on CNBC: "What we need now are concrete steps that will demonstrate that we're making progress." The United States announced earlier Tuesday that North Korea had agreed during secret talks in Beijing to abide by a September 2005 pledge to give up its nuclear arsenal, now believed to include up to a dozen bombs. After seven hours of discussions, which included two-way talks between US envoy Christopher Hill and the North Koreans as well as trilateral meetings involving the Chinese, the North Koreans said they would return to six-party negotiations they had boycotted for the past year. Those talks will focus on how to implement the 2005 disarmament deal and on a series of security, energy and economic guarantees offered by the parties to the talks -- China, Japan, Russia, South Korea" /> and the United States. Rice denied any link between the timing of the announcement and next week's US midterm elections, in which Bush's foreign policy -- notably on Iraq" /> -- is central issue. "The Chinese approached us several days ago, five or six days ago, setting a very close timeline, October 31st, for the talks," said Rice on CNBC. "We agreed and the talks took place on that timeline and no other timeline." Bush singled out the role of China, which initiated Tuesday's meeting and has played a key role in the six-party process as North Korea's oldest ally and main aid and trading partner. "I want to thank the Chinese for encouraging the meeting that got the agreement to get the six-party talks restarted," he said. The turnaround came barely two weeks after the UN Security Council voted unanimously to impose trade sanctions on North Korea designed to starve its military of funds and materiel needed for its arms programs and to prevent Pyongyang from selling its weapons know-how to terrorists or other states. Bush attributed the breakthrough to the US policy of dealing with North Korea through a coalition of regional states rather than resuming bilateral negotiations which had failed in the past to halt Pyongyang's nuclear program. "I've always felt like it is important for the United States to be at the table with other partners when it comes time to addressing this important issue," he said. North Korea had been demanding bilateral talks with the US as a condition for returning to the broader negotiations and Bush was under growing pressure from across the US political spectrum to engage the North directly. US officials insisted that while Tuesday's meetings included bilateral contacts with the North Koreans, the encounters were handled in the six-party context and did not amount to the kind of one-on-one negotiations Pyongyang had been seeking. "There is a distinction between discussions and negotiations," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "We are dedicated to this (six-party) framework," he said, adding that the other members of the coalition had been informed beforehand about the Beijing meeting. Moscow however bridled at the North Korean announcement, with Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev complaining that "only three sides agreed on the resumption" of negotiations. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 22 UPI: S. Korea eyes summit with North United Press International - Intl. Intelligence - 10/31/2006 5:45:00 AM -0500 SEOUL, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- South Korea's pointman on North Korea Tuesday called for an inter-Korean summit to seek ways to end the nuclear crisis. Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok also defended Seoul's policy of engaging North Korea as the way to promote peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. "There are certain factions that say the (Seoul) government is to blame for the North Korean nuclear test that took place," he told a parliamentary committee on unification, foreign affairs and trade. "But I believe an inter-Korean summit is a very useful means for dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons and (improving) North-South relations," Lee said. North and South Korea held their first summit talks in 2000, and produced landmark agreements on cross-border cooperation and exchanges. But the cross-border reconciliatory mood has been overshadowed by the North's missile and nuclear tests this year. Lee, who has been under fire since the North's nuclear test earlier this month, is set to step down. He is the key architect of the South's reconciliation policy toward North Korea. © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 23 NRC: Notice of Meetings; Sunshine Act FR Doc 06-8997 [Federal Register: October 31, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 210)] [Notices] [Page 63805-63806] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr31oc06-93] AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETINGS: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. DATE: Weeks of October 30, November 6, 13, 20, 27, December 4, 2006. PLACE: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. STATUS: Public and Closed. MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Week of October 30, 2006 There are no meetings scheduled for the Week of October 30, 2006. Week of November 6, 2006--Tentative Wednesday, November 8, 2006 9:30 a.m. Briefing on Digital Instrumentation and Control (Public Meeting). (Contact: Paul Rebstock, 301-415-3295.) This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address-- . Thursday, November 9, 2006 9:30 a.m. Briefing on Draft Final Rule--Part 52 (Early Site permits/Standard Design Certification/Combined Licenses) (Public Meeting). (Contact: Dave Matthews, 301-415-1199.) This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address-- . Week of November 13, 2006--Tentative 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 There are no meetings scheduled for the Week of November 27, 2006. Week of December 4, 2006--Tentative Thursday, December 7, 2006 9:30 a.m. [[Page 63806]] Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 2 & 3). *The schedule for Commission meetings is subject to change on short notice. To verify the status of meetings call (recording)--(301) 415- 1292. Contact person for more information: Michelle Schroll, (301) 415- 1662. The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the Internet at: . The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in these public meetings, or need this meeting notice or the transcript or other information from the public meetings in another format (e.g., braille, large print), please notify the NRC's Disability Program Coordinator, Deborah Chan, at 301-415-7041, TDD: 301-415-2100, or by e-mail at . Determination 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: October 26, 2006. R. Michelle Schroll, Office of the Secretary. [FR Doc. 06-8997 Filed 10-27-06; 11:01 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M ***************************************************************** 24 AFP: Pentagon mounts public affairs ops to counter bad news, exploit "new media" by Jim Mannion Mon Oct 30, 3:28 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Pentagon" /> Pentagonis expanding its public affairs operations to counter "inaccurate" news stories and editorials and exploit "new media" to get its message out, its chief spokesman said, denying the effort was linked to the US elections. The initiative comes amid plummeting domestic support for the war in Iraq" /> Iraqand just before crucial mid-term congressional elections in which opposition Democrats are contesting Republican control of the Congress. Eric Ruff, the Pentagon press secretary, insisted that the new public affairs program was not prompted by either the elections or polls showing that only about 37 percent believe the war is going well. "What were looking at doing is, 'How can we get better, how can we get faster, how can we transform public affairs?'," he told reporters. "And we're looking at being quicker to respond to breaking news. Being quicker to respond, frankly, to inaccurate statements," he said. "And we're looking at this whole issue of new media -- podcasting, and IM-ing and all those kinds of things, where people are basically running circles inside us," he said. Ruff disclosed the expanded operations after questions were raised about a wall being built in the Pentagon press operations center that will separate the new unit from Pentagon public affairs officials who deal with the media. He denied that the intent of the new operation was to go around the mainstream news media. Ruff said he did not know how much the operation is costing or how many people were being hired. The unit includes a rapid response team, a "new media" group, and a team that specializes in getting Pentagon officials booked on radio and television shows. "Well, just for example, letters to the editors: the operational tempo for letters to the editor has gone up considerably," Ruff said. Dorrance Smith, the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, has written a torrent of letters to editors in recent weeks seeking corrections or rebutting articles and editorials. The Pentagon's daily compilation of defense-related news articles on Monday ran five such letters, including one to the Washington Post that has not been published. Ruff said the new operation also was set up by Smith, a former ABC television producer and media adviser in Baghdad to L. Paul Bremer, who led the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq in the year after the US invasion. But US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, a strident critic of media coverage of Iraq, also has pushed for a sweeping overhaul in the way the military communicates with the public. In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in February, he called for 24-hour press operations centers and an approach that would give Internet operations and other channels of communications equal status to "20th century press relations." "It will result in much less reliance on the traditional print press, just as publics of the US and the world are relying less on newspapers as their principal source of information," he said. Efforts to expand the military's use of "information operations" overseas aroused controversy following disclosures last year that a private contractor was used to secretly plant paid stories in the Iraqi media. "Information operations" is a military term used to describe propaganda aimed at influencing foreign publics. Traditional Pentagon public affairs, on the other hand, is bound by laws that prohibit propagandizing of Americans. Asked whether the new Pentagon operations fell under the category of "information operations," Ruff said, "I've not looked at it that way at all." "I've looked at it as getting better at what we do, from the standpoint of taking advantage of technology, of setting the record straight from a public affairs position," he said. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 25 [du-list]Israel's Secret Bomb Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2006 15:09:25 -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] X-Sender-Host-Address: 63.203.231.61 X-Sender-Host-Name: adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY-WHITELIST ----- Original Message ----- From: Richard Bramhall To: info llrc Sent: Saturday, October 28, 2006 4:21 AM Subject: Israel's Secret Bomb Israel's Secret Bomb The front page of The Independent today (28th October 2006) confirms that enriched Uranium was used in bombs in the recent Lebanon conflict. The main article is http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1935945.ece A comment from Chris Bellamy, professor of military science and doctrine at Cranfield University is at http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1935931.ece The report follows research by Dr. Chris Busby of LLRC (also of environmental consultancy Green Audit and the European Committee on Radiation Risk) using samples recovered from the Lebanon by Dai Williams of Eos. The immediate question (Robert Fisk and Professor Bellamy both pose it) is Why? What is the point of putting enriched Uranium in bombs? The Independent report addresses a couple of possibilities but to the Low Level Radiation Campaign it seems far more likely that the enriched Uranium is meant to mask the use of Depleted Uranium, especially bearing in mind the provenance of much of Israel's arsenal. The American military has been concerned about bad publicity since at least 1991 - DU rounds may become politically unacceptable and thus be deleted from the arsenal. (see this link for the full 1991 memorandum from a high-ranking US army officer: http://www.llrc.org/du/subtopic/rosalie.htm#ziehm, also cited in http://www.llrc.org/du/subtopic/faheyquotes.htm#ziehm). Following the use of Depleted Uranium armour piercing rounds in the first Gulf War and in the Balkans conflict it was relatively easy to detect DU in environmental samples. This is because of the tell-tale ratio of U-238 to U-235. The link to subsequent increases in cancer and birth defects is intuitively obvious and scientifically credible, given that it is now generally acknowledged that "dose" from internal exposure to sources such as DU is a virtually meaningless concept. There have been suggestions that confusion about DU in subsequent campaigns may have been caused by the use of Uranium metal (in e.g. bunker busters) in its naturally occurring proportions - i.e. undepleted. We may now have an explanation. A relatively small number of rounds or bombs made with slightly enriched Uranium - as we now see in the Lebanon - would mask a much larger number of DU weapons by increasing the amount of U-235 in the environment towards its natural abundance relative to U-238. (The natural proportions of these isotopes are U-235 0.7 percent; U-238 99.3 percent.) The military will then claim that the Uranium found after a conflict is the result of high explosives and soil disturbance unless, that is, someone with Dai Williams' courage gets samples from the conflict area before reconstruction work buries and redistributes the evidence. Green Audit's report is at http://www.llrc.org/du/subtopic/lebanrept.pdf We conclude by repeating, as we have for the last ten years, that Depleted Uranium weaponry is illegal because the radioactive aerosols produced by the impacting rounds have indiscriminate health effects. This contravenes the UN Convention on prohibitions or restrictions on the use of certain conventional weapons which may be deemed to be excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects (1980). (see http://www.llrc.org/du/subtopic/medact#illegal). The same must apply to enriched Uranium and the health effects must be assumed to be greater, in proportion to its mass, because particles of U-235 will deliver more energy to body tissue than similar sized particles of U-238. LLRC has photographed multiple radiation tracks from particles in an air filter recently recovered from a Lebanese ambulance. They indicate that the source is far more active than (depleted) U-238. The area of filter so far examined is small, suggesting that such particles are fairly common in that environment. We shall produce further briefings on this issue. We have sent you this email circular because you are on our database of people who are concerned about low level radiation and health. If you do not want to receive information from us please reply, putting "remove from LLRC" in the subject line. Richard Bramhall Low Level Radiation Campaign bramhall@llrc.org [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. ***************************************************************** 26 BBC: Australia defends climate stance Last Updated: Tuesday, 31 October 2006 [Drought in Kenya] Droughts, floods and infestations could increase, the report says Australian Treasurer Peter Costello has said there is "no point" in Australia signing the Kyoto Protocol on climate change unless China and India do too. Australia, like the US, has refused to ratify the Kyoto agreement, but is set to face increasing pressure to do so in the light of a new hard-hitting study. A report by former World Bank economist Nicholas Stern warned of severe problems if global warming was ignored. If there was no action now, he said, the world would face a huge depression. The UN has also just released new data showing that rich countries have made little overall progress in reducing the production of gases blamed for global warming. But Mr Costello said the claims had to be kept in perspective, and he insisted that Australia was on track to reduce its emissions. 'Significant challenge' "There's no point in Australia meeting its emissions target if you're going to have major emitters such as China and India, which are increasing every year their emissions by more than the total of Australia's," Mr Costello told reporters. He denied claims made by the Stern report that global warming was the greatest market failure the world had seen. "It will be a significant challenge over the course of this century. But it's not on a scale of unprecedented challenges," he said. He added that if Australia closed down all its power stations today, China would probably replace them in one year. Australian Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane backed him up, saying that Australia was on track to meet its Kyoto Protocol target anyway, and did not need to sign the agreement. He told Australian TV: "The sort of things that Sir Nicholas Stern is saying has to be done in the Western world are already being done here in Australia." "Australia will be the only country in the world without nuclear energy that will reach the Kyoto target." But Opposition Labor Party leader Kim Beazley said that if he came to power he would sign the Kyoto agreement. ***************************************************************** 27 Platts: Global warming, energy security issues to dominate 21st century London (Platts)--31Oct2006 Global warming and energy security will likely be dominant issues of the 21st century, UK Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks told Euromoney's London conference on financing new nuclear construction October 30. He noted the same-day publication of economist Nicholas Stern's report warning that failure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions will lead to a catastrophic global recession. "The science is clear and alarming," Wicks said of the report, which was commissioned by UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, but the economics of tackling global warming "do not need to be so alarming." He said "early action across the international arena, although enormously expensive, is affordable." Wicks underscored the interconnections between global warming and energy security, key reasons for the UK's energy review, which concluded in July that new nuclear power could help tackle both issues. New nuclear construction "could make a significant contribution," Wicks stressed. Copyright © 2006 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill Companies] ***************************************************************** 28 Independent: The day that changed the climate By Colin Brown and Rupert Cornwell in Washington Published: 31 October 2006 Climate change has been made the world's biggest priority, with the publication of a stark report showing that the planet faces catastrophe unless urgent measures are taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Future generations may come to regard the apocalyptic report by Sir Nicholas Stern, a former chief economist at the World Bank, as the turning point in combating global warming, or as the missed opportunity. As well as producing a catastrophic vision of hundreds of millions fleeing flooding and drought, Sir Nicholas suggests that the cost of inaction could be a permanent loss of 20 per cent of global output. That equates to a figure of £3.68 trillion - while to act quickly would cost the equivalent of £184bn annually, 1 per cent of world GDP. Across the world, environmental groups hailed the report as the beginning of a new era on climate change, but the White House maintained an ominous silence. However, the report laid down a challenge to the US, and other major emerging economies including China and India, that British ministers said cannot be ignored. Its recommendations are based on stabilising carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere at between 450 and 550 parts per million - which would still require a cut of at least 25 per cent in global emissions, rising to 60 per cent for the wealthy nations. It accepts that even with a very strong expansion of renewable energy sources, fossil fuels could still account for more than half of global energy supplies by 2050. Presenting the findings in London, Tony Blair said the 700-page document was the "most important report on the future" published by his Government. Green campaigners said that at last the world had woken up to the dangers they had been warning about for years. Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, and likely next Prime Minister, assumed the task of leading the world in persuading the sceptics in the US, China and India to accept the need for global co-operation to avert the threat of a global catastrophe. He has enlisted Al Gore, the former presidential candidate turned green evangelist, to sell the message in the United States, with Sir Nicholas. While the Bush administration refused to be drawn on the report, US environmental groups seized on it to demand a major change in policy. "The President needs to stop hiding behind his opposition to the Kyoto protocol and lay a new position on the table," said the National Environmental Trust, in Washington. The Washington Post said in an editorial that it was "hard to imagine" that the "intransigence" of the administration would long survive its tenure. "Will [Mr Bush] take a hand in developing America's response to this global problem," it asked, "Or will he go down as the President who fiddled while Greenland melted?" Sir Nicholas's report contained little that was scientifically new. But British ministers are hoping his hard-headed economic analysis will be enough to persuade the doubters in the White House to curb America's profligate use of carbon energy. In the Commons, Environment Secretary, David Miliband, confirmed that ministers were drawing up a Climate Change Bill, which would enshrine in law the Government's long-term target of reducing carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2050. But he declined to go into any detail. Mr Blair said the consequences for the planet of inaction were "literally disastrous". "This disaster is not set to happen in some science fiction future many years ahead, but in our lifetime," he said. "We can't wait the five years it took to negotiate Kyoto - we simply don't have the time. We accept we have to go further [than Kyoto]." Sir Nicholas told BBC radio: "Unless it's international, we will not make the reductions on the scale which will be required." Pia Hansen, of the European Commission, said the report "clearly makes a case for action". "Climate change is not a problem Europe can afford to put into the 'too difficult' pile," she said. "It is not an option to wait and see, and we must act now." Charlie Kronick, of Greenpeace, said the report was "the final piece in the jigsaw" in the case for action to reduce emissions. "There are no more excuses left, no more smokescreens to hide behind, now everybody has to back action to slash emissions, regardless of party or ideology," he said. The CBI director general Richard Lambert said a global system of emissions trading was now urgently needed as a "nucleus" for effective action. "Provided we act with sufficient speed, we will not have to make a choice between averting climate change and promoting growth and investment." © 2006 Independent News and Media Limited ***************************************************************** 29 St. Petersburg Times: U.S. Steps Up Pressure on Russia, Georgia Issue #1217(83), Tuesday, October 31, 2006 --> WASHINGTON — The United States is trying to intensify world diplomatic pressure on Russia and Georgia to ease tension before it spirals out of control, a senior U.S. official said.The U.S. State Department's key person on Europe, Dan Fried, said he made clear in recent visits to Russia and Georgia that tensions must be lowered. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered the same message while in Russia one week ago. "Our immediate focus now is in avoiding some blowup," Fried said Friday. Tensions are high after Georgia briefly detained four purported Russian spies last month. Moscow responded with a sweeping transport and postal blockade on Georgia and a crackdown on Georgian migrants living in Russia. Moscow says it is acting because the Georgian government is plotting to bring its South Ossetia and another breakaway province, Abkhazia, back into the fold by force — allegations Georgia denies. Fried said diplomatic pressure ... © Copyright The St. Petersburg Times 1993 - 2006 ***************************************************************** 30 ITAR-TASS: Russia is ready to cooperate in all areas of energy security - minister 31.10.2006, 10.29 MOSCOW, October 31 (Itar-Tass) - Russia is ready to conduct a dialogue in all areas of energy security cooperation, Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko told a meeting entitled Moscow Energy Dialogue on Tuesday. He pointed out that “this dialogue is a logic follow-up of a year-long work of energy security experts. It is especially important that “this dialogue is conducted in Moscow, when Russia ranks first on the world’s energy security agenda,” he went on to say. “This year’s discussions are expanded as much as possible,” he said. “Partakers in the dialogue from different countries have an opportunity not only to consider issues pertaining to oil and gas development, but also discuss prospects for the development of coal industry, nuclear power and electric power as a whole,” Khristenko said. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 31 AU ABC: PM - Political tensions flare over climate change report PM - Tuesday, 31 October , 2006 18:10:00 Reporter: Chris Uhlmann MARK COLVIN: The political temperature is rising in Canberra, with the release of the Stern review on the costs of climate change. The Prime Minister told his party room today not to be mesmerised by one report, but he and his Ministers were talking of little else in the media. The Report has had major international impact because Sir Nicholas Stern is not just Britain's Chief Economic Adviser, but a former chief economist to the World Bank. The report's description of climate change as "the greatest market failure the world has seen" puts the argument in the economic basket, not just the environmental one. The Federal Government has been re-working its lines on global warming, but the Labor Party appears to believe that on this issue it has the Government on the run. Chief Political Correspondent Chris Uhlmann reports on a heated day in Canberra. CHRIS UHLMANN: If you want a measure of the political bite of climate change right now, consider the level of Government activity in the last 24 hours. Even before the Stern review was released, Government ministers were volunteering to be interviewed about it. Since it's release overnight, the Prime Minister, the Treasurer, the Foreign Minister, the Industry and Environment Ministers, and even the Education Minister have been talking climate change. It's a sign of catch-up politics. The Government has long had a strong position on why it will not ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Until recently it was less coherent on whether or not it was a global warming believer and, if it was, what its alternatives to Kyoto were. It's quickly drawing together those threads. Part of its political strategy now, similar to its recent position on Iraq, is to look forward, not back. John Howard. JOHN HOWARD: But we can all accept for the purposes of this debate that it is a major challenge. And the question is what do we do about it in the future. We can debate the sins of emission or commission of the past. We can argue about whether we should have signed what is now the old Kyoto, or ratified it. The real issue, the real challenge for this nation, for this Parliament, for this world in 2006, is to agree on a path forward that has a measurable impact on greenhouse warming. CHRIS UHLMANN: So what are its ideas? The Government is backing technology, including nuclear power. Industry Minister, Ian Macfarlane. IAN MACFARLANE: There is in this program, Mr Speaker, a $123-million renewable and remote power generation program, a $100-million renewable energy development initiative, a $75-million solar cities program, a $51.8-million photovoltaic rebate program, Mr Speaker, a $20-million advanced electricity storage initiative, a $14-million advanced wind forecasting capability. And of course, Mr Speaker, on top of all of those things is the centrepiece, a $500-million lowering emissions technology demonstration fund, Mr Speaker. CHRIS UHLMANN: Labor senses the Government is making policy on the run. Shadow Environment Minister Anthony Albanese. ANTHONY ALBANESE: Let's have a look at what we saw today - at least seven different positions put by the Prime Minister between two o'clock and quarter to four this afternoon. A Prime Minister struggling for relevance in a debate about the future. CHRIS UHLMANN: There's a clear division between the two major parties on this issue. The Labor Party will sign Kyoto and back carbon trading. Opposition leader Kim Beazley. KIM BEAZLEY: We are going to be absolutely determined, Mr Speaker, both to ratify the Kyoto targets, to set real emissions targets, to establish an emissions-trading system, to invest in renewables, not in reactors, to fast-track clean coal technology. We're going to do all those things, Mr Speaker, and be good international citizens, and good supporters of Australian industry as a result of that. CHRIS UHLMANN: This is the beginning, not the end of the story. The Government's narrative on climate change is a work in progress. The Prime Minister is a pragmatist, and he's left the emission-trading store ajar, albeit with some heavy caveats. MARK COLVIN: Chris Uhlmann. ***************************************************************** 32 AU ABC: PM - Climate change challenge urgent, says UK PM - Tuesday, 31 October , 2006 18:18:00 Reporter: Mark Colvin MARK COLVIN: The UK High Commissioner to Australia, Helen Liddell, is also a former energy minister in the Blair Government. She says the need for action is large and immediate. In our Canberra studio this afternoon, the High Commissioner told me that the British Government had already started to act in anticipation of the Stern Report. HELEN LIDDELL: Even today in London, in a few hours further legislation will be published that will put some of the issues arising from Stern onto the statute book. Because we don't just see Stern as a challenge, we see it as an opportunity; a chance to become the world's leading low-carbon economy. So it's not just costs, there's benefits there as well. MARK COLVIN: How much ... what percentage of the world's carbon load does Britain contribute? HELEN LIDDELL: I couldn't give you the exact figure, but it's a very small figure. But the reality is that we are all contributors to carbon emissions. With climate change, the key is providing leadership as well, and this is what Britain has been trying to do, but ... MARK COLVIN: So on that subject then, how do you respond when you hear Australian Government ministers saying we only contribute one per cent, or just over one per cent, or just under one per cent, depending on which minister you're listening to, and that China is a much greater threat, and that there's essentially nothing that we can do that would really make an impact on the problem? HELEN LIDDELL: Well, we take a much more positive line than that, in that we believe that by acting, and indeed stating highlights, the earlier you act and the more multinational you act, the cheaper the options are for you, and the greater the long-term benefit. Because what Stern points out is that there's a fairly tight window of opportunity here of 10 to 15 years. That's in our lifetime. So it's not a question of how much you emit, it's a question of controlling your emissions. And if we always waited to see that everybody was in line in the international community, we could be waiting for a very, very long time indeed. It is about providing leadership. MARK COLVIN: So, are the Australian Government ministers wrong when they suggest that cutting our 1.46 per cent contribution would not be significant? HELEN LIDDELL: Well, the Australian Government is a democratically-elected government, it must respond to the manifest it was elected on. So I think it's easy to get hung up on saying, "Well, who said this? Who said that?" At the end of the day, there is a huge multinational consensus, including Australia, that we have to act to limit carbon emissions. That's why Prime Minister Howard has been talking about such issues as nuclear. And that's why the very good initiative was taken by Australia in bringing together six of the world's big polluting nations together in AP6, the Asia-Pacific Partnership. So it's not ... MARK COLVIN: But we heard our Industry Minister yesterday saying that he wouldn't have a bar of any carbon-trading scheme. Now, Stern is absolutely clear that there has to be some kind of penalty on carbon emission, and the Australian Government says, "No, all you need is incentives to go the other way". What do you think of that? HELEN LIDDELL: Well, Nicholas Stern actually points out that the problems of climate change are really ones of market failure. And the way that … in fact, he calls it the biggest market failure of all time. The way to get markets to interact is really to put a price on carbon, and that's what carbon trading is all about. Now, I think ... MARK COLVIN: But isn't that what Australia is refusing to do? HELEN LIDDELL: Well that's up to Australia. I can speak for the British Government, I can't speak for the Australian Government. But what we can do is cooperate ... MARK COLVIN: But the British Government is a major international actor in all of this, and will be coming up to Kyoto Two. What kind of pressure, what kind of advice will you be giving Australia in those negotiations? HELEN LIDDELL: Well we cooperate with Australia in a lot of different initiatives, and of the areas that we particularly interested in is clean coal technology. Because a lot of our power stations, as I knew as a former Energy Minister, our coal-fired power stations, and we've seen some very interesting developments in Australia on clean coal technology. Because a lot of these technologies, they are not back-of-an-envelope stuff, they are technologies that have been known about for a very long time. What we need to do is see more impetus put on moving further along the line of developing these as part of the European Union, but it cooperates with China on clean coal technology pilot projects there. So, it's getting more of that done, rather than getting into sort of, name-calling. These issues are far too serious for that. MARK COLVIN: All right, but could you imagine a British approach, which contained just those kinds of approaches and no disincentives, no carbon taxes, no carbon-trading? HELEN LIDDELL: Well, we've been involved in this issue for a very long time. One of the first things we did about seven or eight years ago was to introduce the climate change levy, which was actually an incentive for energy efficiency. We've been involved in the EU's emissions-trading scheme for quite some time. You know, we're an island, you're an island. We're a much a smaller island. We're maybe seeing the impact rather more immediately than Australia is, but name-calling in this isn't going to take us terribly much further forward. What we need to get is cooperation, dealing with all of the actors, and it's not just Kyoto, it's energy efficiency, and it's also looking at the technologies that can reduce the impact of carbon in the atmosphere. MARK COLVIN: Britain's High Commissioner to Australia, Helen Liddell. ***************************************************************** 33 The Australian: PM warns of 'mesmerising' climate report This story is from our network Source: AAP October 31, 2006 PRIME Minister John Howard has told government MPs not to be "mesmerised" by a new international report warning of the catastrophic effects of global warming. "The Prime Minister said that the science overwhelmingly says that the globe is getting warmer," a joint party room spokesman quoted Mr Howard as telling his MPs. "The Prime Minister made the observation that the profile of the drought, two hot days in October and a renewed emphasis on climate change meant this had escalated the issue in the public conscience. "The Prime Minister said don't get mesmerised by one report." The dramatic report by former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern says that, if action was taken immediately, the benefits of determined worldwide steps to tackle global warming would massively outweigh the economic and human costs. It describes climate change as the greatest market failure the world has seen. The joint party room spokesman said Mr Howard told MPs that what was needed was a long-term approach with cleaner use of fossil fuels and that nuclear and renewable energies were part of the solution. "It's a big challenge and we are doing a number of things," Mr Howard told the party room. The spokesman said a number of government MPs spoke about climate change, specifically the need to use technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "All accepted the need for Australia to work towards its targets on greenhouse gas emissions," the spokesman said. A number of MPs warned the party room of the bad economic consequences of a Labor proposal to set up a carbon trading scheme. Privacy Terms © The Australian ***************************************************************** 34 NRC: NRC Monitors Alert at Arkansas Nuclear One News Release - Region IV - 2006-02 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region IV No. IV-06-023 October 30, 2006 CONTACT: Victor Dricks Phone: 817-860-8128 E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is monitoring the situation at Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2, where an alert has been declared following a fire in an electrical panel resulting in the loss of power to some safety related equipment. The NRC has activated its Incident Response Center in Arlington, Texas, from which staff are coordinating the agencys response to events. NRC resident inspectors are monitoring the licensees response to events at the site. The plant is stable and there is no danger to public health or safety, Region IV Administrator Bruce S. Mallett said. The licensee is determining the extent of damage and our resident inspectors will ensure that the cause of this event are fully understood. An Alert is the second lowest of four emergency classifications. Entergy Operations declared the Alert at 1:04 p.m. Central Time following a fire in an electrical panel resulting in the loss of power to some safety equipment, including an emergency feedwater system. The licensee reported the fire was quickly extinguished. Unit 1 was operating at 100 percent power; Unit 2 was at 67 percent power. Both units remain on line. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Tuesday, October 31, 2006 ***************************************************************** 35 Guardian Unlimited: Drastic action on climate change is needed now - and here's the plan Comment The government must go further, and much faster, in its response to the moral question of the 21st century George Monbiot Tuesday October 31, 2006 The Guardian It is a testament to the power of money that Nicholas Stern's report should have swung the argument for drastic action, even before anyone has finished reading it. He appears to have demonstrated what many of us suspected: that it would cost much less to prevent runaway climate change than to seek to live with it. Useful as this finding is, I hope it doesn't mean that the debate will now concentrate on money. The principal costs of climate change will be measured in lives, not pounds. As Stern reminded us yesterday, there would be a moral imperative to seek to prevent mass death even if the economic case did not stack up. But at least almost everyone now agrees that we must act, if not at the necessary speed. If we're to have a high chance of preventing global temperatures from rising by 2C (3.6F) above preindustrial levels, we need, in the rich nations, a 90% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030. The greater part of the cut has to be made at the beginning of this period. To see why, picture two graphs with time on the horizontal axis and the rate of emissions plotted vertically. On one graph the line falls like a ski jump: a steep drop followed by a shallow tail. On the other it falls like the trajectory of a bullet. The area under each line represents the total volume of greenhouse gases produced in that period. They fall to the same point by the same date, but far more gases have been produced in the second case, making runaway climate change more likely. So how do we do it without bringing civilisation crashing down? Here is a plan for drastic but affordable action that the government could take. It goes much further than the proposals discussed by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown yesterday, for the reason that this is what the science demands. 1. Set a target for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions based on the latest science. The government is using outdated figures, aiming for a 60% reduction by 2050. Even the annual 3% cut proposed in the early day motion calling for a new climate change bill does not go far enough. Timescale: immediately. 2. Use that target to set an annual carbon cap, which falls on the ski-jump trajectory. Then use the cap to set a personal carbon ration. Every citizen is given a free annual quota of carbon dioxide. He or she spends it by buying gas and electricity, petrol and train and plane tickets. If they run out, they must buy the rest from someone who has used less than his or her quota. This accounts for about 40% of the carbon dioxide we produce. The remainder is auctioned off to companies. It's a simpler and fairer approach than either green taxation or the EU's emissions trading scheme, and it also provides people with a powerful incentive to demand low-carbon technologies. Timescale: a full scheme in place by January 2009. 3. Introduce a new set of building regulations, with three objectives. A. Imposing strict energy-efficiency requirements on all major refurbishments (costing £3,000 or more). Timescale: in force by June 2007. B. Obliging landlords to bring their houses up to high energy-efficiency standards before they can rent them out. Timescale: to cover all new rentals from January 2008. C. Ensuring that all new homes in the UK are built to the German Passivhaus standard (which requires no heating system). Timescale: in force by 2012. 4. Ban the sale of incandescent lightbulbs, patio heaters, garden floodlights and other wasteful and unnecessary technologies. Introduce a stiff "feebate" system for all electronic goods sold in the UK, with the least efficient taxed heavily and the most efficient receiving tax discounts. Every year the standards in each category rise. Timescale: fully implemented by November 2007. 5. Redeploy money now earmarked for new nuclear missiles towards a massive investment in energy generation and distribution. Two schemes in particular require government support to make them commercially viable: very large wind farms, many miles offshore, connected to the grid with high-voltage direct-current cables; and a hydrogen pipeline network to take over from the natural gas grid as the primary means of delivering fuel for home heating. Timescale: both programmes commence at the end of 2007 and are completed by 2018. 6. Promote the development of a new national coach network. City-centre coach stations are shut down and moved to motorway junctions. Urban public transport networks are extended to meet them. The coaches travel on dedicated lanes and never leave the motorways. Journeys by public transport then become as fast as journeys by car, while saving 90% of emissions. It is self-financing, through the sale of the land now used for coach stations. Timescale: commences in 2008; completed by 2020. 7. Oblige all chains of filling stations to supply leasable electric car batteries. This provides electric cars with unlimited mileage: as the battery runs down, you pull into a forecourt; a crane lifts it out and drops in a fresh one. The batteries are charged overnight with surplus electricity from offshore wind farms. Timescale: fully operational by 2011. 8. Abandon the road-building and road-widening programme, and spend the money on tackling climate change. The government has earmarked £11.4bn for road expansion. It claims to be allocating just £545m a year to "spending policies that tackle climate change". Timescale: immediately. 9. Freeze and then reduce UK airport capacity. While capacity remains high there will be constant upward pressure on any scheme the government introduces to limit flights. We need a freeze on all new airport construction and the introduction of a national quota for landing slots, to be reduced by 90% by 2030. Timescale: immediately. 10. Legislate for the closure of all out-of-town superstores, and their replacement with a warehouse and delivery system. Shops use a staggering amount of energy (six times as much electricity per square metre as factories, for example), and major reductions are hard to achieve: Tesco's "state of the art" energy-saving store at Diss in Norfolk has managed to cut its energy use by only 20%. Warehouses containing the same quantity of goods use roughly 5% of the energy. Out-of-town shops are also hardwired to the car - delivery vehicles use 70% less fuel. Timescale: fully implemented by 2012. These timescales might seem extraordinarily ambitious. They are, by contrast to the current glacial pace of change. But when the US entered the second world war it turned the economy around on a sixpence. Carmakers began producing aircraft and missiles within a year, and amphibious vehicles in 90 days, from a standing start. And that was 65 years ago. If we want this to happen, we can make it happen. It will require more economic intervention than we are used to, and some pretty brutal emergency planning policies (with little time or scope for objections). But if you believe that these are worse than mass death then there is something wrong with your value system. Climate change is not just a moral question: it is the moral question of the 21st century. There is one position even more morally culpable than denial. That is to accept that it's happening and that its results will be catastrophic, but to fail to take the measures needed to prevent it. · George Monbiot's latest book is Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning www.monbiot.com #comments [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 36 newsobserver.com: Sirens fail at Shearon Harris October 31, 2006 Raleigh · Durham · Cary · Chapel Hill Perennial cloud at Shearon Harris plant is water vapor. N file photo By John Murawski, Staff Writer All 81 emergency sirens within a 10-mile radius of the Shearon Harris nuclear plant were inoperable Monday morning and again this morning, according to Progress Energy, the plant's operator. The simultaneous failure of all sirens within the nuclear facility's emergency planning zone was a first in the 19-year-history of the plant in southwestern Wake County. The siren system at Shearon Harris is tested every 12 hours by a computer. The tests indicated that the device that signals all the sirens, called a "repeater," had failed to activate Monday and today, Progress Energy reported in a notice to federal nuclear regulators. Plant operators can manually override the device to activate the sirens during an emergency. Progress Energy notified emergency preparedness officials in the four counties within the 10-mile emergency planning zone surrounding the Shearon Harris plant, as required by the national emergency plan for nuclear plants. The zone covers parts of Wake, Chatham, Harnett and Lee counties, and includes Jordan Lake as well as the towns of Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Moncure and New Hill. Progress Energy officials are repairing the malfunction. In addition to the daily testing of the siren communications system, which is silent and does not sound the tocsin, the sirens undergo a low-volume test every three months and a full-volume test once a year. Staff writer John Murawski can be reached at (919) 829-8932 or murawski@newsobserver.com. © Copyright 2006, The News & Observer Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 37 BBC: Bid for nuclear training academy Last Updated: Tuesday, 31 October 2006 [UK nuclear power plant worker] The nuclear industry wanted to attract new recruits The nuclear industry has put in a bid for a share of £90m of government money to set up its own training academy. The announcement comes as the first three English skills academies - in financial services, construction and manufacturing - begin their work. The government wants to launch 12 such academies by 2008 - one for each major economy sector - to train tens of thousands of young people and adults. Chemical, hospitality and creative and cultural sectors also submitted bids. The aim of the National Skills Academies is to help improve productivity and tackle skills shortages. Each programme will be tailored to the needs of its sector - some will have centres across England, while others may be web-based or operate from mobile units. Raising skills is essential wealth creation and creating a society of opportunity for all Alan Johnson Education secretary The industry funds half the programme, with the government contributing about 35% and the rest coming from other sources. Employers influence the programme's curriculum, set standards and can be involved in its management and shaping strategy. The four sectors to have submitted the latest bids will now work with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to draw up detailed business plans. Jaine Clarke, director of skills for employers with the LSC, said the nuclear industry wanted to draw new recruits to the sector and make sure its ageing workforce had the right skills. In July, the government gave its backing to a new wave of UK nuclear power stations. Ms Clarke said: "The bid is at a very early stage but there is a gap in terms of supplying training provision, as the industry and workforce has changed." 'Turning point' Prime Minister Tony Blair said the academies marked a turning point in skills training and would ensure Britain remained competitive. Education and Skills Secretary Alan Johnson said: "Raising skills is essential to wealth creation and creating a society of opportunity for all." The first academies had been due to start this September. So far, just financial services and construction programmes are under way. Another in manufacturing is expected to start next month and a fourth for the food and drink sector is expected to be approved shortly. Financial services will run its training programme from four bases in London, Norwich, Leeds and Manchester. Learners in construction are likely to receive on-site training in mobile units and manufacturing will have two regional hubs in the North East and the West Midlands and will work with local colleges. ***************************************************************** 38 BBC: Russia wins Bulgaria nuclear deal Last Updated: Tuesday, 31 October 2006 [Bulgaria map] A Russian firm, Atomstroyexport, has won a contract to build a nuclear power plant by the River Danube in Bulgaria. The two 1,000-megawatt reactors will cost 3.9bn euros (£2.6bn; $5.1bn). The Russian firm, in which Russian energy giant Gazprom has a 49% stake, will work jointly with France's Areva and Germany's Siemens, Reuters reports. The first unit at Belene is planned to be ready in six-and-a-half years. An earlier Belene project was frozen in 1991 amid environmental concerns. Decommissioning Both the Russian firm and a rival Czech consortium led by Skoda JS, had offered to use an existing 1,000 MW pressurised water reactor that Bulgaria had bought in the earlier Belene project. But Bulgaria decided the older unit would not be used, Reuters reports. [Kozloduy plant] The Soviet-built Kozloduy plant began operating in 1974 An official at Russia's atomic power agency Rosatom told Russia's Itar-Tass news agency that "all characteristics of the project offered to Bulgaria are consistent with the norms and requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency". The Belene plant will use two third-generation water-cooled VVER-1000 reactors. Bulgaria, set to join the European Union in January, agreed to close four Soviet-designed reactors at a nuclear plant in Kozloduy. The two oldest reactors there have already been shut down. Decommissioning of the old nuclear reactors was a condition for EU accession talks. Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko said the Belene deal marked "Russia's return to the European market of nuclear technologies". ***************************************************************** 39 PACO: The reactor's shut down, so it's really busy at and around the Oyster Creek plant Exelon adds 1,300 extra workers for refueling outage [The Press of Atlantic City On The Web] By DAVID BENSON Staff Writer, (609) 272-7206 Published: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 LACEY TOWNSHIP — It should have been a quiet night. With the chilly howl of October sweeping down Route 9, and the crush of tourists gone with Labor Day, early Tuesday evenings in Lacey Township are normally subdued — especially for area restaurants. But not this year. Not this month. About two weeks ago, the Oyster Creek Generating Station went offline for a scheduled refueling outage. Even though the facility stopped generating electricity, it is drawing cash and people into southern Ocean County. “We brought in about 1,300 additional supplemental workers for the outage," said Rachelle Benson, a spokeswoman for the nuclear facility. “We estimate their salaries at about $10 million. On top of that, some of them have a per diem of $1.5 million to spend on food and lodging.†That $11.5 million is in addition to the wages the 475 plant workers will earn during the outage. Not all of the salaries will be spent here in southern New Jersey. Most of the extra people are contractors and specialists in the nuclear industry. They travel from plant to plant around the country, working, fixing and refueling. The workers got here earlier this month, and will leave when the facility comes back online sometime in the middle of November. But as long as the contractors are here, they have to eat — sometimes a lot. “They definitely help us,†said Nick Picone, a worker at Vesuvio Ristorante and Pizzeria on Route 9, last week. “Saturday they ordered 180 pizzas.†That was more than a normal weekend, Picone said, but the workers spread the order out over the day, and Vesuvio was able to keep up. Other restaurants also saw an unusual upsurge in business. “It slowed down quite a bit after Labor Day,†said Ben Fisher, owner of Extreme Bar-B-Q on Route 9. “But these guys have helped. Last night was a good night.†That was a recent Tuesday, typically a slow night for restaurants that get most of their business during the tourist months. Fred Pesce, owner of the Stowaway Grill, about a mile from the gates of the nuclear facility, also had a busy Tuesday evening, and October is shaping up to be good month for the restaurant. "But every month is a good month," he said, handing a grilled steak and cheese sandwich across the counter. "Most of these guys are from out of town," Pesce said. "But you wouldn't even know it. They're just like my normal customers." That should be good news for plant officials, who have tried to minimize any negative impacts on the local area. They even paid the Lacey Township Police Department about $51,000 to control traffic in front of the plant during shift changes. Exelon Nuclear, owner of the Oyster Creek facility, will not say how long the plant will be offline. Energy companies buy and sell electricity. Knowing exactly when a plant will go online or offline is valuable financial information. But Ron Bellamy, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the industry standard for a nuclear refueling is about three to four weeks. That is down significantly from a decade ago when a facility would be offline for as long as six months. "The quicker they get back online," Bellamy said, "The quicker the power gets up." While there are several reasons for the quicker turnaround, one of the main reasons is the economics of being shut down. While the plant is offline, it does not generate electricity. No energy, no profit. "A typical nuclear plant generates about $1 million a day worth of power," said Tim Rausch, chief executive officer for the Oyster Creek plant. "That's not all profit," he said, with a quick smile. "But if we're not making that power, we have to replace it." Every two years, the Oyster Creek facility shuts down for about a month to refuel and work on equipment not normally accessible — such as the reactor. For the rest of the time, the plant is churning out power 24 hours a day, seven days a week — 636 megawatts an hour, enough to power all the homes in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Going offline — even for a short time — has a huge financial effect on the company. That is why outages are planned and coordinated a year in advance, said Rachelle Benson, spokeswoman for the Oyster Creek facility. "Putting a lot of planning and preparation into outages helps us keep them efficient and safe," she said. Understanding the need for efficiency is a given: The quicker the plant gets back online, the sooner it generates power and profit. But safety, Benson said, is also a prime reason why nuclear plants nationwide strive for shorter refueling outages. "Shorter outages mean fewer industrial safety incidents," Benson said. With the kind of equipment being cleaned and refurbished at the Oyster Creek facility, it is easy to understand why safety is a big issue. And not just because the equipment is part of a nuclear reactor. Some of these machines are huge. The "cap" covering the reactor weighs more than 100 tons, and has to be pulled off carefully so workers can get to the nuclear fuel inside. The crane that hoists the cap is also a heavyweight — well over 100 tons — and spans the width of the building just below the roof, about 100 feet above ground level. In another part of the building, one of the turbines that generates electricity was taken apart for cleaning. Everything was laid out on mats, much the way an expert car mechanic might organize the parts of a disassembled classic car. But these parts dwarf most automobiles. The empty shell of the turbine would easily house a full-sized Hummer with enough room left over to shove in a couple of Volkswagens. Not everything in the plant is huge. While there are springs and rocker arms that stand more than two feet tall, there are also thousands of tiny nuts and bolts that make up any machine. As each piece of equipment is taken apart for cleaning or refurbishing, every piece is inventoried and returned or replaced. There are no "leftover" parts allowed. Everything is accounted for. "Housekeeping is important," Benson said. For Oyster Creek workers, the culture of keeping the house clean extends outside the walls of the plant. As Tim Rausch walked across a graveled lot, he saw a scrap of paper lodged in the stones. Without pausing, he bent down and scooped it up, and stuffed it into his pocket. Everyone at the plant — from the CEO to the temporary contractors — is expected to pay attention to every scrap of paper, every nut and every bolt, from the largest to the smallest. That is true on a day-to-day basis, as well as during an outage. Life at the plant during a refueling outage is highly regimented and meticulous. Everyone is expected to hyper-focus on every detail during their 12-hour shifts. So it's no wonder that when they get off, many of them look for a taste of home and comfort. Fisher, who spends 14 hours smoking briskets and pork for Extreme Bar-B-Q, said one of the contractors patronizing his restaurant is from Texas. The worker was surprised, Fisher said, to find "good Southern barbecue" in New Jersey. (Editor's note: Rachelle Benson is not related to Press staff writer David Benson.) ***************************************************************** 40 Platts: FPL still `very interested' in adding to nuclear portfolio Washington (Platts)--30Oct2006 FPL Group remains "very interested" in adding to its nuclear portfolio, Director of Investor Relations Jim von Riesemann said during an October 30 conference call with financial analysts. FPL acquired a majority stake in Duane Arnold earlier this year; its other nuclear plants are St. Lucie, Turkey Point and Seabrook. Last week FPL and Constellation Energy announced they were abandoning plans to merge. Constellation operates Calvert Cliffs, Ginna, and Nine Mile Point. FPL reported net income of $524 million for the just-completed quarter; the figure for third-quarter 2005 was $339 million. Copyright © 2006 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill Companies] ***************************************************************** 41 Mos News: Russian Company Wins $5 bln Tender to Build Nuclear Power Plant in Bulgaria - MONEY - MOSNEWS.COM Photo from www.gettyimages.com Created: 31.10.2006 15:06 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:06 MSK MosNews Russia’s state-controlled nuclear power plant construction company Atomstroyexport has won a $5.1 billion deal to build two power reactors at Bulgaria’s second nuclear power plant, Russian officials said on Tuesday, Oct. 31. The other bidder was Czech consortium Skoda Alliance, but Bulgaria’s electricity company said the main reasons for choosing the Russian bid were “the higher safety and the longer term of operation of the reactors.” The nuclear plant is to be completed in seven and a half years, the national electricity company said. According to an Atomstroyexport spokesperson, French nuclear company Areva and Germany’s Siemens will participate in the construction. No details were given. Bulgaria’s government invested more than $1 billion in the project to build two 1,000 megawatt nuclear units at the Danube port of Belene, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of Sofia, but froze it in 1990 after environmentalists said it could pose a safety risk. The project was revived last year to compensate for the closure of two aging units at the country’s only nuclear plant in Kozlodui, which the Balkan country agreed to shut this year under its entry treaty with the European Union. Bulgaria will join the EU in January. Environmental group Greenpeace criticized the choice of the Russian company as “fast and cheap, and concludes that that is a bad basis for nuclear safety, as well as economic security for Bulgaria.” Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace nuclear expert for Central Europe, said in a statement that was quoted by Associated Press: “There are only two reactors of this type (VVER 1000/B466) under construction, one in China and one in India, which both are already facing heavy delays. There is no experience with operation, nor has this type been licensed in Europe before.” Copyright © 2004 MOSNEWS.COM ***************************************************************** 42 NRC: Duke Power Company LLC ; Notice of Withdrawal of Application for FR Doc E6-18241 [Federal Register: October 31, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 210)] [Notices] [Page 63805] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr31oc06-92] Amendment to Facility Operating License The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has granted the request of Duke Power Company LLC (the licensee) to withdraw its September 15, 2005, application for proposed amendment to Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-38, DPR-47, and DPR-55 for Oconee Nuclear Station, Units 1, 2, and 3, located in Oconee County. The proposed amendment would have revised the Technical Specifications (TSs) to relocate the pressure temperature limit curves of TS 3.4.3 to the Selected Licensee Commitments Manual and TS Section 5.6.9 to reflect the requirements of Generic Letter 96-09 for this relocation. The Commission had previously issued a Notice of Consideration of Issuance of Amendment published in the Federal Register on September 21, 2005 (70 FR 55425). However, by letter dated September 26, 2006, the licensee withdrew the proposed change. For further details with respect to this action, see the application for amendment dated September 15, 2005, and the licensee's letter dated September 26, 2006, which withdrew the application for license amendment. Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management Systems (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of October, 2006. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Leonard N. Olshan, Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch II-1, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. E6-18241 Filed 10-30-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 43 FIA: First Block of Belene NPP Should Be Ready by 2012: Former Energy Minister FOCUS Information Agency 31 October 2006 | 12:28 | FOCUS News Agency Sofia. The reactors with which Belene Nuclear Power Plant will be built are more modern, with higher safety level, with more passive systems and with a 60-year exploitation period. This is what Milko Kovachev – Bulgaria’s former Energy and Economy Minister - told Darik Radio. As far as I know these reactors are being checked under EU domestic voluntary safety standards, Mr. Kovachev said. According to him there can be no connection between AtomStroyExport and Gazprom. With regard to the construction of Belene NPP and the terms in which this will happen the former minister said that there are actual technological deadlines and that the First block of the nuclear plant should be ready by 2012. Focus Information Agency © 2006 ***************************************************************** 44 Boston Globe: High winds knock out emergency alert system for Vermont Yankee - Boston.com October 31, 2006 BRATTLEBORO, Vt. --High winds disabled an emergency alert system that would notify residents of a disaster at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. Now officials are reconsidering how the system is organized. The winds knocked out a a circuit line Sunday between the National Weather Service office in Albany, N.Y., and a transmitter in Marlboro. That meant some residents within the 10-mile evacuation zone of the plant would not have been notified of a disaster by the tone-alert radios they have in their homes. Officials said they switched from a phone-based line to a radio line within two to three hours of the disruption. "Everyone thought that the sky was falling for a little bit, but it ended up being a non-issue," said John Angil, manager of Vermont Emergency Management's radiological emergency response program. The system was repaired Monday, said Rob Williams, a spokesman for the plant's owner, Entergy Vermont Nuclear. If an emergency had occurred at the plant, sirens in Brattleboro and Vernon would have gone off, he said. Angil said a change could be made so that switching transmission methods could take place at radio station in Brattleboro rather than in Marlboro, a 20-minute drive away. "We may change our protocol," he said. "That didn't really need to happen." Information from: Rutland Herald, [ /] © Copyright 2006 ***************************************************************** 45 Hemscott: Czech nuclear reactor remains shut down PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFX) - Officials have been forced to delay restarting a reactor at a Czech nuclear power plant because of fuel leaks discovered during routine maintenance, a plant spokesman said Tuesday. The reactor, one of two at the Temelin plant near the border with Austria, was shut down Aug. 25 for two months of routine work to replace some of its fuel. During the work, leaks were found in five fuel assemblies. The U.S. supplier, Westinghouse, repaired leaks in three of the assemblies, and fuel rods in the other two assemblies were replaced, said plant spokesman Milan Nebesar. He said the plant needed to carry out additional analysis of the repairs and had not yet received a green light from the Czech nuclear authority to restart the reactor. It was not clear when that could happen, Nebesar said. The plant's first unit was working at full capacity Tuesday. Construction of the plant's two 1,000-megawatt units, based on Russian designs, started in the 1980s. The reactors were later upgraded with U.S. technology, but they have remained controversial because of frequent malfunctions. The plant, 35 miles north of the Austrian border, has been a source of friction between the two countries. Environmentalists in Austria demand it be closed, while Czech authorities insist it is safe. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 46 ITAR-TASS: Russia to place Angarsk plant under IAEA control - Kiriyenko 31.10.2006, 11.39 MOSCOW, October 31 (Itar-Tass) - Russia has prepared documents for removing the Angarsk petrochemical plant from a list of strategic enterprises, the chief of the Federal Agency of Atomic Energy, Sergei Kiriyenko, said. He told the Moscow Energy Dialogue conference on Tuesday that this was done in order to provide access of foreign specialists to the plant. “We place this facility under the control of the IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency), as it is planned to organise an international centre for uranium enrichment here,” Kiriyenko said. PRIME-TASS cited him a saying that founding documents on setting up the International Centre of Nuclear Power Engineering, which is an initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, would be ready by the end of this year. The plant is formed on the basis of the Angarsk petrochemical plant. Founders of the international centre will be Russia and Kazakhstan that are able to guarantee uranium deliveries to it. Kiriyenko said that Russia and Kazakhstan had earlier signed an agreement on founding a joint venture for the uranium output in Kazakhstan and uranium enrichment in Russia. Besides, a tender is to be finished by the end of the year for choosing a company that will build facilities for production of electric equipment that is not made on Russia’s territory, Kiriyenko said. He added that the Federal Agency of Atomic Energy would build two energy units with a power output of 1,000 mW every year. The agency also will launch facilities with 2,000 mW power at nuclear power plants beginning from 2012 in order to maintain a 16-18 percent proportion of nuclear sector in Russia’s total electric energy production. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 47 ITAR-TASS: Atomstroiexport named contractor for Bulgaria NPP 30.10.2006, 23.02 MOSCOW, October 30 (Itar-Tass) -- The board of directors of Bulgaria’s National Electric Company on Monday named the Russian company Atomstroiexport as a contractor for the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant, the Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) said, citing NEK’s official website. “In accordance with the tender offer, Atomstroiexport will build two new-generation nuclear power units in Bulgaria, equipped with VVER-1000 reactors. … The new power units with this type of reactors are build to operate for 60 years,” a Rosatom official told Itar-Tass. He said, “The Russian project combines active and passive security barriers.” “All characteristics of the project offered to Bulgaria are consistent with the norms and requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency,” the official said. According to Sergei Novikov, an aide to the Rosatom head, “Building the first power unit will take five and a half years from the issue of permission for construction by the Bulgarian government. The second unit will be built within six and a half years.” Earlier, Atomstroiexport Vice President Alexander Glukhov said Russia had offered to Bulgaria an improved version of a power-generation unit based on a new generation of water-moderated/ water-cooled VVER-1000 reactors, which are much safer than the previous ones. According to Glukhov, Atromstroiexport will implement the project in Bulgaria together with the companies Areva, France, and Siemens, Germany. These companies will prepare and install an automatic operation control system and supply electrical equipment, ventilation and air conditioning systems, and other auxiliary systems. “The share of Bulgarian enterprises and organisations will be more than 30 percent,” the Rosatom official said. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 48 AFP: Mitsubishi Heavy eyes tie-up with GE on nuclear plants Tuesday October 31, 09:40 AM TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (Munich: 853314- news) . and General Electric (NYSE: GE- news) of the US have agreed to begin talks on forming a partnership in nuclear power plant operations. Under the alliance, GE would likely provide support to Mitsubishi Heavy to sell in the United States a large pressurized-water reactor (PWR) system developed by the Japanese firm, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said Tuesday. Mitsubishi Heavy has been looking for new alliance possibilities since its US partner Westinghouse Electric Co. was acquired by rival Toshiba Corp (Berlin: TSE1.BE- news) earlier this year, the business daily said. GE chief executive Jeffrey R. Immelt recently met Mitsubishi Heavy chairman Takashi Nishioka and president Kazuo Tsukuda and agreed to hold negotiations over the next year, the newspaper said, without giving its sources. Mitsubishi Heavy executive vice president Hiroshi Kan confirmed the meeting had taken place but said the report on the likely partnership was based on speculation. "It's true that Mr Immelt and our president met recently and discussed a wide range of subjects about each other's business operations," Kan said at a news conference to outline the company's earning results. Mitsubishi Heavy announced earlier this month an agreement to team up with French group Areva (Paris: FR0004275832- news) in the development of mid-sized nuclear power reactors in the face of growing competition from Toshiba. The two firms are already rivals in the field of large nuclear reactors. Mitsubishi Heavy said its net profit rose 46.9 percent in the six months to September to 21.90 billion yen (186.56 million dollars) on robust sales of power generating machinery. Operating profit increased to 44.3 billion yen, up 83.5 percent from a year earlier, the company said. The firm attributed the buoyant performance partly to robust sales of generators for use in thermal power generation plants overseas and to foreign exchange gains stemming from the weaker yen. Operating profit in the core power systems unit more than doubled to 28.55 billion yen from 14.19 billion yen. Copyright © 2006 AFP AFP. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 49 AFP: Mubarak to talk arms, nuclear power in Moscow Tuesday October 31, 12:25 PM By Olga Nedbayeva [Vladimir Putin (L) chats with Hosni Mubarak] MOSCOW (AFP) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will arrive Wednesday for a three-day visit, with arms sales and nuclear power on the agenda for a trip likely to raise some eyebrows in the United States. "The upcoming visit is very important because Russia today plays an important role in the international arena," Egyptian ambassador to Russia, Izzat Saad, said on the eve of the visit. The ambassador said the questions of international security and Russian-Egyptian cooperation in civil (Advertisement) [ src=] nuclear power would be on the agenda when Mubarak meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Egyptian president "understands that you can't put all your eggs in one basket," analyst Vadim Kozyulin of the PIR Center think tank told AFP, referring to Cairo's close relationship with Washington. Russia's interest is driven by "the hazy nature of Cairo's relations with the United States, which can exact a high price for the tyranny of ex-allies" such as Uzbekistan, which Washington dropped after Tashkent's bloody suppression of an uprising in Andijan in May 2005, Kozyulin said. Egypt's willingness to buy weapons from Russia rather than its traditional US suppliers has "surprised" Moscow, said Ruslan Pukhov, a weapons specialist at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. Pukhov said Egypt may buy Mig-AT and Mig-29 fighters during the trip. Mubarak, who undertook military studies in Moscow in the 1960s, praised Russian anti-aircraft systems and fighter planes as "the best in the world" in a long interview this week with Russian daily Vremya Novostei. "The arms market is extremely politicized. It is very important who you buy from," Pukhov said. Cairo's apparent openness to considering purchase of Russian weaponry "shows that Russia's geopolitical weight has grown," he said -- noting that Washington, Egypt's traditional arms supplier, was unlikely to be impressed. As for nuclear power, another touchy subject for Washington, Mubarak told Vremya Novostei that Egypt's revival of its civil nuclear program after a 20-year pause "does not take into account the position of one country or another." "The United States has its interests, Russia has its interests, and we have our own," he said. At the end of the 1970s, Egypt had wanted to build eight nuclear thermal power stations to produce electricity, but none was built. Its program fell cold following the nuclear disaster at Ukraine's Chernobyl power station in 1986. The situation in the Middle East will also loom large during this week's talks. "Mubarak will inform Putin of the position of the moderate leaders of the Arab world who are anxious about Hezbollah's rise to power in Lebanon with Iran's support, as well as Tehran's nuclear ambitions," said Alexander Shumilin, director of the Center for Middle East Conflict Analysis. Russian-Egyptian relations are based partly on the personalities of their two leaders, who have previously met in Moscow in 2004 and Cairo last year. "In the Arab countries they love strong leaders. Mubarak likes Putin," the PIR Center's Kozyulin said. Mubarak told the Russian press that he would advise Putin to remain in power when his second and last presidential mandate ended in 2008. "Your constitution which allows only two mandates, it is an imitation of the Americans? You criticize the Americans, but then imitate them... You decide! Russia needs Putin," said Mubarak. The Egyptian president has been in power for 25 years following the assassination in 1981 of President Anouar al-Sadat. AFP ***************************************************************** 50 Guardian: The north-south nuclear divide > [Iain Macwhirter] As with so many issues, England and Scotland seem to be going their separate ways on nuclear power. October 31, 2006 05:30 PM | The unspoken subtext to the prime minister's over climate change, following the Stern report, is that we are going to have a lot more nuclear power stations. The prime minister has long believed that nuclear is the only viable replacement for fossil fuels, since things like wind and wave energy cannot maintain baseload electricity generation. But what to do about the waste? The nuclear debate seems to have gone underground in England, but it is a very in Scotland, where the opposition parties are determined to oppose nuclear power. There is a real north-south divide on energy generation. Scotland is sitting on 25% of Europe's wind and tide energy. The Pentland Firth has been called the Saudi Arabia of world tidal energy. The first commercially viable , at Peterhead, is waiting for the go-ahead. Given the disastrous history of plants such as Dounreay, which continues to pollute the far north of Scotland, and the huge cost of decommissioning the other plants, the Scottish opposition parties see no reason why Scotland should mortgage the future to the atom. At least not until there is a viable solution to the problem of what to do with nuclear waste. The Committee on Radiactive Waste Management, Corwm, proposed that it should be disposed of permanently in a deep repository in an area of with appropriate geology and a supportive local population. Last week, the first minister, Jack McConnell, waded incautiously into the nuclear minefield by declaring that, if Scotland became independent, England would not take Scottish waste into the proposed new deep waste repository, which everyone expects to be sited at Sellafield in Cumbria. This is a kind of "waste Lothian question". Scotland should stick with the Union to ensure that we continue to enjoy the protection of the UK's system of nuclear management, he says. It's part of what McConnell calls the "union dividend". But the SNP floored McConnell by announcing that it didn't want England to take Scottish nuclear waste in the first place. "It's Scotland's waste", said the SNP's parliamentary leader Nicola Sturgeon, echoing the famous nationalist oil slogan of the Seventies. Scotland should take the responsibility of looking after it above ground, rather than dumping it in a hole in the ground in England. The SNP say that deep disposal is inherently dangerous because of leakage and only hands the problem over to succeeding generations. Spent fuel rods and contaminated material will remain radioactive for 24,000 years. Ten thousand years ago, Scotland was under half a mile of ice. Moreover, transporting all the nuclear residues from Scotland's five reactors is itself highly dangerous. Only last year, the atomic energy firm AEA Technology was fined £250,000 for transporting a flask of waste 130 miles across northern England without its plug in place. Sturgeon asked McConnell, in turn, to rule out any prospect of there being a new generation of nuclear plants in Scotland - which he couldn't. The first minister is privately a nuclear sceptic, and believes that Scotland could probably do without any new nuclear power stations by extending the lives of the existing ones and developing a renewables industry in Scotland. However, because Gordon Brown has signed up to the nuclear future, McConnell cannot join the anti-nuclear consensus in Scotland. Of course, many Scottish voters may agree with government scientists that it is safer to put nuclear waste deep underground (even if that isn't a final solution) than to have it lying around on the surface in rusting temporary containment. The risk of leakage is greater, and it presents an easier terrorist target than a deep disposal site. But the idea of developing a new generation of nuclear plants is profoundly unpopular in Scotland. The Scottish Labour party is itself deeply divided. As on so many issues, England and Scotland are going their separate ways on nuclear power. And the nuclear waste is in danger of getting lost in the gap. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006. Registered in England and Wales. No. 908396 Registered office: 164 Deansgate, Manchester M60 2RR ***************************************************************** 51 Newsday.com: NRC renews licenses for Nine Mile Point nuclear plants - AP New York October 31, 2006, 3:47 PM EST SCRIBA, N.Y. (AP) _ Nine Mile Point Unit 1, the second-oldest operating nuclear power plant in the country, and its younger Unit 2 sister reactor, both received 20-year license renewals Tuesday from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The license renewals will allow the 37-year-old Unit 1 reactor to run until 2029. Unit 2, which began generating power in 1988, can operate until 2046 under its renewed license. The plants were originally licensed to operate 40 years. "Obtaining approval is a solid vote of confidence by all of our stakeholders," said Tim O'Connor, vice president of Constellation Energy, which operates the two reactors. The Baltimore, Md.-based utility owns 100 percent of Unit 1 and 82 percent of Unit 2. The Long Island Power Authority owns the other 18 percent of Unit 2. Both plants are located on Lake Ontario in a complex about 50 miles north of Syracuse that also includes the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear plant. The FitzPatrick plant, owned by Louisiana-based Entergy Corp., began its relicensing process in August. Its current operating license expires in October 2014. Constellation submitted its applications for license renewals for both units in 2004. The NRC inspected Nine Mile Point's operations and maintenance and reviewed the plant's ability to meet safety and environmental standards, said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan. The NRC conducted public hearings in September 2004 and November 2005. The NRC found there were no environmental issues that would prevent renewal of the licenses, he said. Additionally, the NRC concluded there was reasonable assurance that Constellation would effectively manage aging of the plants' systems, structures and components for an additional 20 years of safe operation, Sheehan said. The plants become the 45th and 46th to receive license renewals, Sheehan said. There are 103 operating reactors in the United States. Eight others are currently under review. The two plants have a combined generating capacity of 1,757 megawatts _ enough energy to supply two million households annually. "Nine Mile Point is a critical piece of New York state's infrastructure and a source of safe and emissions-free electricity for the millions of people who call the Northeast home," said O'Connor. The 609-megawatt Nine Mile 1 plant was built for $160 million by the Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., which has since merged with National Grid. The 1,148-megawatt Unit 2 reactor cost Niagara Mohawk and several other New York utilities more than $6.4 billion to build. Constellation bought both plants in 2001 for $780 million. While Nine Mile 2 has run smoothly over its operating lifetime, Unit 1 has had its share of problems. In the 1980s, it endured two extended outages that drained the finances of Niagara Mohawk. And from June 1988 to June 1991, the reactor was on the NRC's watch list of the nation's worst-run plants. Constellation was the first energy company in the nation to be granted a renewed operating license by the NRC. That came in March 2000 for its Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in southern Maryland. Constellation also owns the Ginna nuclear plant near Rochester, N.Y. It is the nation's largest wholesale power seller and owns more than 100 generating units located throughout the United States. On the Net: Constellation Energy: http://www.constellation.com U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applicati ons /nine-mile-pt.html Newsfrom amNY.com | Long Island Weddings ***************************************************************** 52 UPI: Egypt seeks nuclear energy United Press International - Intl. Intelligence - 10/30/2006 9:43:00 AM -0500 CAIRO, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Egypt is seeking to build a nuclear plant to produce electricity and will be running a tender for the best bid. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak made the announcement in an interview published Monday in Russia's daily Vremya Novostei in which he said Egypt is also seeking to buy advanced Russian air defense systems. "We will announce the tender when we decide to build the nuclear power plant. The project is under discussion and the final decision is still to be made," Mubarak said in the interview carried by Egypt's official Middle East News Agency. Mubarak, who is scheduled to Wednesday start a tour in Russia, China and Kazakhstan, said Egypt "will study all tender offers and choose the best bid." Political and economic experts believe that Mubarak's tour of the three nuclear states is aimed at securing the best terms and conditions for building the aspired nuclear plant. Mubarak said Egypt's oil reserves will last for 14 years and its natural oil reserves for 34 years, stressing that "industrial development necessitates finding alternative energy sources." He denied the existence of U.S. concerns over his country's nuclear ambitions, saying "Egypt acts primarily according to its interests." "The United States has its own interests, so does Russia and we have our interests. We are not hiding anything but working openly, and we definitely need nuclear energy despite its high cost," Mubarak said. Egypt's Electricity and Energy Minister Hassan Younes declared last month that Egypt plans to build a nuclear plant in the region of Dabaa on the Mediterranean Sea, some 300 miles northeast of Cairo, with an estimated production of 1,000 megawatts. Construction cost is expected to reach up to $1.5 billion. Mubarak said his country "wishes to acquire Russian arms, especially air defense systems which are among the best in the world." © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 53 PRN: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Renews Operating License for Constellation Energy's Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station PR Newswire Constellation Energy received U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approval for license renewal at its Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station located in Scriba, N.Y. With the renewed licenses, Nine Mile Point's Unit 1 can operate until 2029 and Unit 2 until 2046. (PRNewsFoto/Constellation Energy) OSWEGO, NY UNITED STATES 10/31/2006 OSWEGO, N.Y., Oct. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) today announced that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has granted its Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Station, LLC renewed operating licenses for both generating units. The renewed licenses permit both units to operate an additional 20 years. This allows Unit One to run until 2029 and Unit Two until 2046. Constellation Energy operates both units, and owns 100 percent of Unit One and 82 percent of Unit Two. Long Island Power Authority owns 18 percent of Unit Two. (PHOTO: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061031/CLTU529) "Constellation Energy is extremely grateful for the strong and unwavering support it has received from our community during the license renewal process," said Tim O'Connor, vice president, Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station. "Obtaining approval is a solid vote of confidence by all of our stakeholders. It's a successful outcome for both the community and Constellation Energy." The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 provides for the option to renew nuclear operating licenses for an additional 20 years after expiration. Constellation Energy submitted the renewed operating license application for both units on May 26, 2004. The NRC has been reviewing the application since that time. The NRC conducted a thorough inspection of Nine Mile Point's operations and maintenance as well as a comprehensive review of the plant's ability to continue to meet safety and environmental standards. The NRC concluded there is reasonable assurance that Constellation Energy will effectively manage the aging of the plants' systems, structures and components for an additional 20 years of safe operation. "Nine Mile Point is a critical piece of New York State's infrastructure and a source of safe and emissions-free electricity for the millions of people who call the Northeast home," said O'Connor. "The electricity generated at Nine Mile Point is critical to meeting the current and future needs of not just our region, but also the entire state of New York. Our state's economic health is highly dependent on a reliable and adequate supply of electricity." Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station has a generation capacity of 1,757 megawatts, or enough energy to supply two million households annually. Constellation Energy benefits from its lengthy experience as a successful operator of nuclear power plants. It holds the distinction of being the first energy company in the nation to be granted a renewed operating license by the NRC for its Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in southern Maryland. In addition to its Nine Mile Point and Calvert Cliffs nuclear facilities, Constellation Energy also owns the R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant near Rochester, N.Y. Constellation Energy (http://www.constellation.com), a FORTUNE 200 company with 2005 revenues of $17.1 billion, is the nation's largest competitive supplier of electricity to large commercial and industrial customers and the nation's largest wholesale power seller. Constellation Energy also manages fuels and energy services on behalf of energy intensive industries and utilities. It owns a diversified fleet of more than 100 generating units located throughout the United States, totaling approximately 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity. The company delivers electricity and natural gas through the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), its regulated utility in Central Maryland. SOURCE Constellation Energy Related links: + http://www.constellation.com/ Photo Notes: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061031/CLTU529 AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.orgAP PhotoExpress Network: PRN12 PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com + http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/084087.html/ Copyright © 1996- PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved. A United Business Mediacompany. ***************************************************************** 54 PRN: Nortel Government Solutions Selected by NRC to Operate, Maintain Digital Courtrooms PR Newswire US$7.7 Million Agreement Includes Support for Hearings, Application WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Nortel Government Solutions(x), a U.S. company wholly owned by Nortel(x) (NYSE/TSX: NT), has been selected by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to operate and maintain the NRC's digital courtroom systems in Rockville, Maryland and Las Vegas, Nevada. Nortel Government Solutions will provide these services under an agreement estimated at US$7.7 million over four years. The agreement also includes support for NRC hearings, as well as application development and testing. The systems were developed by Nortel Government Solutions and delivered to the NRC earlier this year. They provide electronic evidence presentation, digital audio and video transcripts, and electronic capture and display of evidence. This enables immediate electronic access to documents, and live video and audio feeds to ensure the widest possible public access to NRC proceedings. The digital courtroom systems are designed to help the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel simplify proceedings ranging from routine cases to more complicated hearings involving nuclear reactor licenses. One such proceeding is the potential adjudication regarding a U.S. Department of Energy license application for a commercial nuclear reactor waste storage facility at Nevada's Yucca Mountain, located 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Expected to last three to four years as mandated by Congress, this could become one of the largest and most complex administrative hearings in U.S. history. The digital database available to these two courtrooms is capable of storing and providing electronic access to the millions of pages of evidence and thousands of hours of testimony that may accumulate. "These showcase systems integrate everything into one multimedia system with real-time access to information for all participants," said Chuck Saffell, chief executive officer, Nortel Government Solutions. "Our operations and maintenance services will help the NRC to achieve and sustain the highest performance, efficiency, security and reliability from its electronic courtrooms." Nortel Government Solutions is the prime contractor for operation and maintenance of the NRC digital courtrooms, with mediaEdge, Levare, and ExhibitOne providing hardware, software and integration services. mediaEdge, a division of Exceptional Software Strategies, focuses on the rapidly evolving Internet multimedia market. Levare is a software solutions provider and maker of court calendaring and scheduling software. ExhibitOne is the nation's leading provider of audiovisual technologies, serving clients around the country in federal, state and enterprise markets. About Nortel Government Solutions Nortel Government Solutions is a network-centric integrator, providing the services expertise, mission-critical systems and secure communications that empower government to ensure the security, livelihood, and well being of its citizens. Headquartered in Fairfax, Va., Nortel Government Solutions offers a one-stop shop for solutions designed to improve workforce productivity, reduce operating costs, and streamline inter-agency communications. Nortel Government Solutions is a U.S. company wholly-owned by Nortel(x) (NYSE/TSX: NT). Please visit http://www.nortelgov.com for more information. About Nortel Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that enhance the human experience, ignite and power global commerce, and secure and protect the world's most critical information. Our next-generation technologies, for both service providers and enterprises, span access and core networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications, and help eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people with information. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at http://www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit http://www.nortel.com/news. SOURCE Nortel Copyright © 1996- PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved. A United Business Mediacompany. ***************************************************************** 55 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear industry signs up to skills academies Mark Milner, industrial editor Tuesday October 31, 2006 The Guardian The government will agree to plans for a national nuclear skills academy today as the industry gears up for a £65bn clean-up programme and the possibility of a new generation of reactors. It will be one of four national academies. The three others cover chemical processing, hospitality and creative and culture. The education secretary, Alan Johnson, will also announce that the first three national academies, covering financial services, manufacturing and construction, are about to become operational and a fourth, food and drink, is close to going live. Under a £90m programme designed to help boost Britain's skills base and productivity the government aims to have 12 academies up and running by 2008 and will open a third round of tenders today. If Mr Johnson's department receives more than four bids, it will open a reserve list to allow for a higher figure. The academies will not be based in one place or building, but will instead promote training across the country. Mr Johnson insists that Britain needs to increase its skills base in the face of global competition. Britain has closed the skills gap with leading international competitors, but Mr Johnson argues it is still too wide. "For 2030 we need to be at the top." Half the funding for the academies comes from business, 35% from the government and the rest from other sources. Mr Johnson argues that the government has a responsibility to ensure Britain has the skills it needs, delivering qualifications that employers respect and that carry a premium in the work place. Employers, however, have to assume their share of the burden. "Employers have been saying the days when educationists and politicians determine our skills need to be over," Mr Johnson said. "The government has put employers at the heart of the new academies. They need to pick up the baton and run with it. "Employers spend £33bn a year on training, not always focused in the right way. The skills academies are a way to focus that money." The national academies are part of government plans to provide skills training for those who have left secondary education. As Lord Leitch concluded in his interim report for the government, which was published at the end of last year, 70% of the UK's 2020 workforce has already completed compulsory education. Mr Johnson acknowledges the scale of the challenge but says he is encouraged by the importance attached by business and trade unions to the need to develop British skills. "We have to make this work otherwise we are going to have a weak economy." Backstory Everyone in government from Gordon Brown, the chancellor, down has been talking about the desperate need for Britain to improve its skills in a world of increased globalisation. It is generally assumed that a more skilled workforce will have higher productivity and earnings while relatively high-cost western economies will only succeed if they move up the value chain. A lack of investment in the UK's ageing fleet of nuclear power stations means there is a particular shortage in this field at a time when Britain needs to decommission old reactors and may build new ones. Useful links Energy Saving Trust [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 56 Hawaii Reporter: Detecting Nuclear Material at Seaports: Easier Said Than Done By Jim Kouri, 10/30/2006 9:04:38 PM With President George W. Bush signing legislation that will require American seaports to use radiological detection as part of protecting the U.S. from a nuclear attack, the hard part of fulfilling the President's mandate is at hand. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, combating terrorism has been one of the nation's highest priorities. As part of that effort, preventing nuclear and radioactive material from being smuggled into the United States -- perhaps to be used by terrorists in a nuclear weapon or in a radiological dispersal device (a "dirty bomb" )-- has become a key national security objective. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for providing radiation detection capabilities at U.S. ports-of-entry. Until April 2005, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under DHS managed this program. However, on April 15, 2005, the president directed the establishment, within DHS, of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), whose duties include acquiring and supporting the deployment of radiation detection equipment. CBP continues its traditional screening function at ports-of-entry to interdict dangerous nuclear and radiological materials through the use of radiation detection equipment, including portal monitors. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), one of the Department of Energy's (DOE) national laboratories, manages the deployment of radiation portal monitors for DHS. Current portal monitors, which cost about $55,000 per monitor, detect the presence of radiation, but cannot distinguish between harmless radiological materials, such as naturally occurring radiological material in some ceramic tile, and dangerous nuclear materials, such as highly enriched uranium (HEU). CBP officers also use radioactive isotope identification devices (RIIDs), which are handheld devices designed to identity different types of radioactive material, such as radioactive material used in medicine or industry, a naturally occurring source of radiation, or weapons-grade material. These devices have limitations in their ability to detect and identify nuclear material. DHS would like to improve the capabilities of its radiation detection equipment in order to better distinguish between different types of nuclear and radiological materials. As a result, DHS sponsored research, development, and testing activities in 2005 that were designed to produce portal monitors that, in addition to detecting, would also identify the type of nuclear or radiological material. Portal monitors with this new identification technology currently cost about $377,000 or more per monitor. In these same tests, DHS also tested the performance of currently deployed portal monitors. In July 2006, DHS announced that it had awarded contracts to three vendors to further develop and purchase $1.2 billion worth of new portal monitors over 5 years. DHS plans to deploy these monitors at U.S. ports of entry. For fiscal year 2007, DNDO plans to acquire the first installment of 104 new portal monitors that use new identification technology at a cost of $80.2 million. Congress, however, has curtailed DNDO's ability to do so by restricting the availability of funding for full scale procurement of new radiation detection portal monitors until DHS certifies that a significant increase in operational effectiveness will be achieved. In response to Congress' General Accounting Office, recommendations in an earlier March 2006 report, in May 2006, DNDO issued a cost-benefit analysis for the acquisition and deployment of new portal monitors. In this document, DNDO stated that the purpose of its analysis was to help provide a "robust" defense against nuclear smuggling, to limit the negative impacts to legitimate trade and travel between nations, and to provide a sound financial investment for the United States government. In this context, by agreement with Congressional staff, the GAO reviewed DNDO's cost-benefit analysis to determine the extent to which it provides a sound analytical basis for acquiring and deploying new portal monitors. DNDO's cost-benefit analysis does not provide a sound analytical basis for DNDO's decision to purchase and deploy new portal monitor technology. DNDO did not use the results of its own performance tests in its cost-benefit analysis and instead relied on assumptions of the new technology's anticipated performance level. Performance tests also showed that the ability of new radiation detection portal monitors to correctly identify masked HEU (placed next to or within another, usually more benign, radiological substance) was even more limited. According to the cost-benefit analysis and radiation detection experts to whom we spoke, masked HEU is a significant concern because it is difficult to detect. DNDO also focused the analysis exclusively on identifying HEU and did not consider in the analysis how well (either as a goal or in testing) new portal monitor technology can correctly detect or identify other dangerous radiological or nuclear materials. Furthermore, the analysis did not include the results from side-by-side tests that DNDO conducted of the advanced portal monitors and current portal monitors. The cost-benefit analysis for acquiring and deploying portal monitors is also incomplete because it does not include all of the major costs and benefits required by DHS guidelines. In particular, DNDO did not assess the likelihood that radiation detection equipment would either misidentify or fail to detect nuclear or radiological material. Rather, it focused its analysis on reducing the time necessary to screen traffic at border check points and reduce the impact of any delays on commerce. DNDO also used questionable assumptions about the procurement costs of portal monitor technology. DNDO assumed a purchase price for current portal monitor technology that is more than twice what CBP typically pays. Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He's also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri's own website is located at http://jimkouri.us Hawaii Reporter 1314 S. King St., Suite 1163 Honolulu, Hawaii 96814 Information and Subscription Phone: 808-524-4500 Fax: 808-524-4594 © 2006 Hawaii Reporter, Inc. ***************************************************************** 57 AFP: US-Russian nuclear terrorism initiative targets security, cooperation - Tue Oct 31, 6:06 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The declaration of principles adopted at the US-Russian nuclear terrorism talks in Morocco focuses on security at nuclear installations and the exchange of information, according to the document made public by the US State Department. The non-binding "Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism" signed Monday by 13 countries including the Group of Eight industrial power in Rabat was first suggested by the US and Russian presidents in July, on the margins of the G8 Summit of Saint Petersburg. It calls on all nations, "on a voluntary basis," to "develop, if necessary, and improve accounting, control and physical protection systems for nuclear and other radioactive materials and substances." The G8 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and United States, together with Australia, China, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Turkey also called on all states to "enhance security of civilian nuclear facilities." The declaration also urges the improvement of "capabilities ... to search for, confiscate, and establish safe control over unlawfully held nuclear or other radioactive materials and substances or devices using them." It calls for all member states to ensure the "national legal and regulatory frameworks sufficient to provide for the implementation of appropriate criminal and, if applicable, civil liability for terrorists and those who facilitate acts of nuclear terrorism." The declaration calls for the promotion of "information sharing pertaining to the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism and their facilitation," and the protection of "the confidentiality of any information" so exchanged. "Global Initiative participants recognize the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency" /> International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) -- which was invited to the talks as an observer -- in the fields of nuclear safety and security." Morocco hosted and attended the two-day meeting of the Global Initiative also as an observer, but joined the group of nations as its 13th member during proceedings. Morroccan foreign ministry official Omar Hilale described his country's admission to the meeting as "an honor." Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 58 [southnews] UN investigates Israel's 'uranium weapons' Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 00:46:15 -0600 (CST) X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Innocent"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM The United Nations Environment Programme is investigating allegations, first published in The Independent, that Israel may have used uranium-based weapons during this summer's war in Lebanon. Twenty UN experts, working with Lebanese environmentalists, have spent two weeks assessing various samples. They are planning to report their findings in December. The Khiam sample, with 108 parts U-238 to one of U-235 - just under one per cent - is clearly enriched - but not much. So, in the absence of any palpable military advantage, in terms of its mass and its ability to generate heat and fire compared with DU or natural uranium, why was this enigmatic material used? UN investigates Israel's 'uranium weapons' By Eric Silver in Jerusalem Independent (uk): 30 October 2006 The United Nations Environment Programme is investigating allegations, first published in The Independent, that Israel may have used uranium-based weapons during this summer's war in Lebanon. Twenty UN experts, working with Lebanese environmentalists, have spent two weeks assessing various samples. They are planning to report their findings in December. Butros al-Harb, Unep's Middle East director, told a Lebanese radio interviewer at the weekend: "If uranium was used, we will find out and we will announce it. We cannot confirm anything now, but we will wait for results." Yesterday Israel issued its most explicit denial yet. Major Avital Leibovitz, a spokeswoman for the Israel Defence Forces, said: "We deny using any weapons containing uranium." One official suggested that if the environmentalists had indeed found traces of uranium, they would have to look for a different explanation. Chris Busby, the scientific secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk, based in Brussels, reported last week that two soil samples thrown up by Israeli bombs in the south Lebanese villages of Khiam and At Tiri, centres of fierce fighting between Israel and Hizbollah, showed "elevated radiation signatures". Dr Busby warned that particles from the explosions were long-lived in the environment and could be inhaled into the lungs, causing "significant" health effects on civilians. The Harwell laboratory for mass spectrometry in Oxfordshire confirmed the concentration of uranium isotopes in the samples, but the European experts were puzzled about what weapons Israel might have been using and why. Chris Bellamy, a professor of military science and doctrine at Cranfield University, said the initial tests "present an enigma". But he dismissed speculation that Israel was using a "dirty bomb" or micro-yield nuclear weapon. Government officials said Israel had received no approaches from either the Unep or the European committee. Mark Regev, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said: "If someone comes with a complaint, comes with a charge, we will review it." But he protested that Israel was being singled out when nobody had accused it of deploying weapons banned under international law or practice. "The sort of munitions we used in the Lebanon campaign," he said, "were almost identical to the sort of weaponry used in conflicts over the past decade by Nato countries, by Western countries. Sometimes there's a feeling that the Jewish state is being singled out for special treatment. One really has to ask why it is that the finger is being pointed at Israel." Palestinian officials have frequently accused the IDF of firing shells tipped with depleted uranium, a hard metal byproduct of uranium enrichment, in the Gaza Strip. But Israel has denied it and no conclusive evidence has been produced. * Israel's Attorney General, Menachem Mazuz, called for President Moshe Katzav to stand down for the duration of any judicial proceedings after police recommended indicting him for alleged sexual offences against women employees. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1940826.ece ___________________________________________________________ Mystery of Israel's secret uranium bomb Alarm over radioactive legacy left by attack on Lebanon By Robert Fisk 10/28/06 "The Independent" -- -- Did Israel use a secret new uranium-based weapon in southern Lebanon this summer in the 34-day assault that cost more than 1,300 Lebanese lives, most of them civilians? We know that the Israelis used American "bunker-buster" bombs on Hezbollahs Beirut headquarters. We know that they drenched southern Lebanon with cluster bombs in the last 72 hours of the war, leaving tens of thousands of bomblets which are still killing Lebanese civilians every week. And we now know - after it first categorically denied using such munitions - that the Israeli army also used phosphorous bombs, weapons which are supposed to be restricted under the third protocol of the Geneva Conventions, which neither Israel nor the United States have signed. But scientific evidence gathered from at least two bomb craters in Khiam and At-Tiri, the scene of fierce fighting between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israeli troops last July and August, suggests that uranium-based munitions may now also be included in Israel's weapons inventory - and were used against targets in Lebanon. According to Dr Chris Busby, the British Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk, two soil samples thrown up by Israeli heavy or guided bombs showed "elevated radiation signatures". Both have been forwarded for further examination to the Harwell laboratory in Oxfordshire for mass spectrometry - used by the Ministry of Defence - which has confirmed the concentration of uranium isotopes in the samples. Dr Busby's initial report states that there are two possible reasons for the contamination. "The first is that the weapon was some novel small experimental nuclear fission device or other experimental weapon (eg, a thermobaric weapon) based on the high temperature of a uranium oxidation flash ... The second is that the weapon was a bunker-busting conventional uranium penetrator weapon employing enriched uranium rather than depleted uranium." A photograph of the explosion of the first bomb shows large clouds of black smoke that might result from burning uranium. Enriched uranium is produced from natural uranium ore and is used as fuel for nuclear reactors. A waste product of the enrichment process is depleted uranium, it is an extremely hard metal used in anti-tank missiles for penetrating armour. Depleted uranium is less radioactive than natural uranium, which is less radioactive than enriched uranium. Israel has a poor reputation for telling the truth about its use of weapons in Lebanon. In 1982, it denied using phosphorous munitions on civilian areas - until journalists discovered dying and dead civilians whose wounds caught fire when exposed to air. I saw two dead babies who, when taken from a mortuary drawer in West Beirut during the Israeli siege of the city, suddenly burst back into flames. Israel officially denied using phosphorous again in Lebanon during the summer - except for "marking" targets - even after civilians were photographed in Lebanese hospitals with burn wounds consistent with phosphorous munitions. Then on Sunday, Israel suddenly admitted that it had not been telling the truth. Jacob Edery, the Israeli minister in charge of government-parliament relations, confirmed that phosphorous shells were used in direct attacks against Hezbollah, adding that "according to international law, the use of phosphorous munitions is authorised and the (Israeli) army keeps to the rules of international norms". Asked by The Independent if the Israeli army had been using uranium-based munitions in Lebanon this summer, Mark Regev, the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, said: "Israel does not use any weaponry which is not authorised by international law or international conventions." This, however, begs more questions than it answers. Much international law does not cover modern uranium weapons because they were not invented when humanitarian rules such as the Geneva Conventions were drawn up and because Western governments still refuse to believe that their use can cause long-term damage to the health of thousands of civilians living in the area of the explosions. American and British forces used hundreds of tons of depleted uranium (DU) shells in Iraq in 1991 - their hardened penetrator warheads manufactured from the waste products of the nuclear industry - and five years later, a plague of cancers emerged across the south of Iraq. Initial US military assessments warned of grave consequences for public health if such weapons were used against armoured vehicles. But the US administration and the British government later went out of their way to belittle these claims. Yet the cancers continued to spread amid reports that civilians in Bosnia - where DU was also used by Nato aircraft - were suffering new forms of cancer. DU shells were again used in the 2003 Anglo-American invasion of Iraq but it is too early to register any health effects. "When a uranium penetrator hits a hard target, the particles of the explosion are very long-lived in the environment," Dr Busby said yesterday. "They spread over long distances. They can be inhaled into the lungs. The military really seem to believe that this stuff is not as dangerous as it is." Yet why would Israel use such a weapon when its targets - in the case of Khiam, for example - were only two miles from the Israeli border? The dust ignited by DU munitions can be blown across international borders, just as the chlorine gas used in attacks by both sides in the First World War often blew back on its perpetrators. Chris Bellamy, the professor of military science and doctrine at Cranfield University, who has reviewed the Busby report, said: "At worst it's some sort of experimental weapon with an enriched uranium component the purpose of which we don't yet know. At best - if you can say that - it shows a remarkably cavalier attitude to the use of nuclear waste products." The soil sample from Khiam - site of a notorious torture prison when Israel occupied southern Lebanon between 1978 and 2000, and a frontline Hezbollah stronghold in the summer war - was a piece of impacted red earth from an explosion; the isotope ratio was 108, indicative of the presence of enriched uranium. "The health effects on local civilian populations following the use of large uranium penetrators and the large amounts of respirable uranium oxide particles in the atmosphere," the Busby report says, "are likely to be significant ... we recommend that the area is examined for further traces of these weapons with a view to clean up." This summer's Lebanon war began after Hezbollah guerrillas crossed the Lebanese frontier into Israel, captured two Israeli soldiers and killed three others, prompting Israel to unleash a massive bombardment of Lebanon's villages, cities, bridges and civilian infrastructure. Human rights groups have said that Israel committed war crimes when it attacked civilians, but that Hezbollah was also guilty of such crimes because it fired missiles into Israel which were also filled with ball-bearings, turning their rockets into primitive one-time-only cluster bombs. Many Lebanese, however, long ago concluded that the latest Lebanon war was a weapons testing ground for the Americans and Iranians, who respectively supply Israel and Hezbollah with munitions. Just as Israel used hitherto-unproven US missiles in its attacks, so the Iranians were able to test-fire a rocket which hit an Israeli corvette off the Lebanese coast, killing four Israeli sailors and almost sinking the vessel after it suffered a 15-hour on-board fire. What the weapons manufacturers make of the latest scientific findings of potential uranium weapons use in southern Lebanon is not yet known. Nor is their effect on civilians. ) 2006 Independent News and Media Limited _______________________________________________ Chris Bellamy: An enigma that only the Israelis can fully explain Independent (uk): 28 October 2006 The initial tests on samples taken from the site of the Israeli strike on Khiam present an enigma which will only be solved when the people who produced and deployed the weapon explain themselves. Speculation that the device was some form of "dirty bomb" or micro-yield nuclear weapon can probably be dismissed. The radiation levels and the amount of Uranium-235 in the sample clearly indicate that it was not a nuclear fission weapon. Uranium has been widely used in conventional weapons - and on the battlefield - for the past 30 years, for three reasons. Firstly, uranium is very dense - 70 per cent denser than lead. Therefore, a smaller projectile delivers more kinetic energy, making it ideal for armour-piercing shot. Secondly, it is pyrophoric, which means that when slammed into a target at high speed it liquefies and ignites spontaneously. Thirdly, the type of uranium most widely used in weapons, depleted uranium (DU), is plentiful. It is a by-product of uranium enrichment, which produces the fuel for nuclear power stations and nuclear weapons. Because there is so much of it about, it makes sense for those who have it to turn DU into armour-piercing munitions. The only logical military reason for the presence of traces of uranium, of any kind, would be the use of that element to make a hard, dense penetrator for an armour-piercing or "bunker-busting" device. Natural uranium consists of three isotopes - Uranium-238 (99.27 per cent), U-235 - the crucial component of fissionable material (0.72 per cent) and U-234 (0.0054 per cent). To make the fuel for a nuclear reactor this needs to be enriched to three or four per cent U-235, and the resulting waste product, with only 0.25 per cent U-235 and 99.8 per cent U-238, is DU. To make a bomb you would need up to 90 per cent U-235 - hence the concern about Iran's uranium enrichment programme. The Khiam sample, with 108 parts U-238 to one of U-235 - just under one per cent - is clearly enriched - but not much. So, in the absence of any palpable military advantage, in terms of its mass and its ability to generate heat and fire compared with DU or natural uranium, why was this enigmatic material used? There are several possibilities. The first is that there was a simple mistake - that uranium with an elevated U-235 content was used instead of DU or natural uranium. The Khiam sample was very small - 25 grams. Contamination with soil could easily obscure a higher degree of enrichment. Spent nuclear fuel - after the power has been generated - typically contains 2.5 per cent U-235, but it can be as low as 1.5 per cent - close to the Khiam sample level. So the uranium in the Khiam projectile could just have been spent nuclear fuel. One way to dispose of enriched uranium safely is to blend it with natural uranium, in such a way that the U-235 is extremely difficult to re-extract. That might well produce a substance with just under one per cent U-235, which was a component of the Israeli Khiam bomb. It is also uncertain whether the munition was made in the US or by the Israelis themselves. If the Israelis or the Americans want to avoid accusations, at the very least, of a cavalier attitude to the use of nuclear waste products, they need to explain what was in that bomb and why it was there. Chris Bellamy is professor of military science and doctrine at Cranfield University http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1935931.ece The archives of South News can be found at http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/ ***************************************************************** 59 Did Israel Use Uranium Weapons? - Dirty Bombs Over Lebanon Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2006 07:31:51 -0600 (CST) X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Innocent"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM October 30, 2006 Counter Punch www.counterpunch.org Did Israel Use Uranium Weapons? Dirty Bombs Over Lebanon By ROBERT FISK Did Israel use a secret new uranium-based weapon in southern Lebanon this summer in the 34-day assault that cost more than 1,300 Lebanese lives, most of them civilians? We know that the Israelis used American "bunker-buster" bombs on Hizbollah's Beirut headquarters. We know that they drenched southern Lebanon with cluster bombs in the last 72 hours of the war, leaving tens of thousands of bomblets which are still killing Lebanese civilians every week. And we now know--after it first categorically denied using such munitions--that the Israeli army also used phosphorous bombs, weapons which are supposed to be restricted under the third protocol of the Geneva Conventions, which neither Israel nor the United States have signed. But scientific evidence gathered from at least two bomb craters in Khiam and At-Tiri, the scene of fierce fighting between Hizbollah guerrillas and Israeli troops last July and August, suggests that uranium-based munitions may now also be included in Israel's weapons inventory--and were used against targets in Lebanon. According to Dr Chris Busby, the British Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk, two soil samples thrown up by Israeli heavy or guided bombs showed "elevated radiation signatures". Both have been forwarded for further examination to the Harwell laboratory in Oxfordshire for mass spectrometry--used by the Ministry of Defence--which has confirmed the concentration of uranium isotopes in the samples. Dr Busby's initial report states that there are two possible reasons for the contamination. "The first is that the weapon was some novel small experimental nuclear fission device or other experimental weapon (eg, a thermobaric weapon) based on the high temperature of a uranium oxidation flash ... The second is that the weapon was a bunker-busting conventional uranium penetrator weapon employing enriched uranium rather than depleted uranium." A photograph of the explosion of the first bomb shows large clouds of black smoke that might result from burning uranium. Enriched uranium is produced from natural uranium ore and is used as fuel for nuclear reactors. A waste productof the enrichment process is depleted uranium, it is an extremely hard metal used in anti-tank missiles for penetrating armour. Depleted uranium is less radioactive than natural uranium, which is less radioactive than enriched uranium. Israel has a poor reputation for telling the truth about its use of weapons in Lebanon. In 1982, it denied using phosphorous munitions on civilian areas--until journalists discovered dying and dead civilians whose wounds caught fire when exposed to air. I saw two dead babies who, when taken from a mortuary drawer in West Beirut during the Israeli siege of the city, suddenly burst back into flames. Israel officially denied using phosphorous again in Lebanon during the summer--except for "marking" targets--even after civilians were photographed in Lebanese hospitals with burn wounds consistent with phosphorous munitions. Then on Sunday, Israel suddenly admitted that it had not been telling the truth. Jacob Edery, the Israeli minister in charge of government and parliament relations, confirmed that phosphorous shells were used in direct attacks against Hizbollah, adding that "according to international law, the use of phosphorous munitions is authorised and the (Israeli) army keeps to the rules of international norms". Asked by if the Israeli army had been using uranium-based munitions in Lebanon this summer, Mark Regev, the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, said: "Israel does not use any weaponry which is not authorised by international law or international conventions." This, however, begs more questions than it answers. Much international law does not cover modern uranium weapons because they were not invented when humanitarian rules such as the Geneva Conventions were drawn up and because Western governments still refuse to believe that their use can cause long-term damage to the health of thousands of civilians living in the area of the explosions. American and British forces used hundreds of tons of depleted uranium (DU) shells in Iraq in 1991--their hardened penetrator warheads manufactured from the waste products of the nuclear industry--and five years later, a plague of cancers emerged across the south of Iraq. Initial US military assessments warned of grave consequences for public health if such weapons were used against armoured vehicles. But the US administration and the British government later went out of their way to belittle these claims. Yet the cancers continued to spread amid reports that civilians in Bosnia--where DU was also used by Nato aircraft--were suffering new forms of cancer. DU shells were again used in the 2003 Anglo-American invasion of Iraq but it is too early to register any health effects. "When a uranium penetrator hits a hard target, the particles of the explosion are very long-lived in the environment," Dr Busby said yesterday. "They spread over long distances. They can be inhaled into the lungs. The military really seem to believe that this stuff is not as dangerous as it is." Yet why would Israel use such a weapon when its targets--in the case of Khiam, for example--were only two miles from the Israeli border? The dust ignited by DU munitions can be blown across international borders, just as the chlorine gas used in attacks by both sides in the First World War often blew back on its perpetrators. Chris Bellamy, the professor of military science and doctrine at Cranfield University, who has reviewed the Busby report, said: "At worst it's some sort of experimental weapon with an enriched uranium component the purpose of which we don't yet know. At best--if you can say that--it shows a remarkably cavalier attitude to the use of nuclear waste products." The soil sample from Khiam--site of a notorious torture prison when Israel occupied southern Lebanon between 1978 and 2000, and a frontline Hizbollah stronghold in the summer war--was a piece of impacted red earth from an explosion; the isotope ratio was 108, indicative of the presence of enriched uranium. "The health effects on local civilian populations following the use of large uranium penetrators and the large amounts of respirable uranium oxide particles in the atmosphere," the Busby report says, "are likely to be significant ... we recommend that the area is examined for further traces of these weapons with a view to clean up." This summer's Lebanon war began after Hizbollah guerrillas crossed the Lebanese frontier into Israel, captured two Israeli soldiers and killed three others, prompting Israel to unleash a massive bombardment of Lebanon's villages, cities, bridges and civilian infrastructure. Human rights groups have said that Israel committed war crimes when it attacked civilians, but that Hizbollah was also guilty of such crimes because it fired missiles into Israel which were also filled with ball-bearings, turning their rockets into primitive one-time-only cluster bombs. Many Lebanese, however, long ago concluded that the latest Lebanon war was a weapons testing ground for the Americans and Iranians, who respectively supply Israel and Hizbollah with munitions. Just as Israel used hitherto-unproven US missiles in its attacks, so the Iranians were able to test-fire a rocket which hit an Israeli corvette off the Lebanese coast, killing four Israeli sailors and almost sinking the vessel after it suffered a 15-hour on-board fire. What the weapons manufacturers make of the latest scientific findings of potential uranium weapons use in southern Lebanon is not yet known. Nor is their effect on civilians. --- Robert Fisk is a reporter for The Independent and author of Pity the Nation http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1560254424/counterpunchmaga He is also a contributor to CounterPunch's collection, The Politics of Anti-Semitism Fisk's new book is The Conquest of the Middle East http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400041511/counterpunchmaga ======= http://www.counterpunch.org/fisk10302006.html ======= ***************************************************************** 60 Guardian Unlimited: Smiths wins $222m contract for radiation detectors in US Terry Macalister Wednesday November 1, 2006 The Guardian A British engineering group has won a $222m (£117m) contract from the US government to provide equipment that will help protect American citizens from the threat of a "dirty bomb". Smiths Group's shares rose sharply as it unveiled plans to provide handheld and backpack radiation machines to detect substances that could be used by terrorists. The devices are to be given to police, coastguards, border guards and customs officials as the US attempts to clamp down on the threat of a radioactive attack. A division of the company, Smiths Detection, has carved out a niche in providing equipment to prevent chemical or other attacks but the latest deal moves it into the field of radiation. Smiths would not say how many "human portable radiation detection systems" would be made or where they would be deployed but said it represented a "groundbreaking" deal. Stephen Phipson, managing director at Smiths Detection, said: "It has always been our intention to add radiation detection to our existing capabilities against chemical, biological and explosive threats. This programme gives us that capability. "Our understanding of radiological and nuclear detection science and technology enables us rapidly to innovate solutions to new threat situations," he added. The devices have been developed with Symetrica, which began life at Southampton University's department of physics. Smiths Detection, which has offices in Warrington and Watford, already makes a range of equipment to spot explosives, chemicals and arms. In September, it unveiled a £37m deal to provide US airports with detectors that can identify traces of more than 40 substances - including Semtex and drugs - from a swab of a bag. Recently it has trialled detectors on the London Underground, the New York subway and airports in Pakistan and Australia. Smiths also said yesterday that it had signed another deal, worth $7.5m (£3.9m) to develop a smaller handheld radiation detector for emergency workers. Vayl Oxford, director of the US government's domestic nuclear detection office, said: "Homeland security personnel and 'first responders' will know in real time if they confront a security or safety risk from a device that fits in the palm." Smiths employs 32,000 people at 250 bases in 50 countries and also has aerospace and medical divisions. In September it reported a 22% jump in full-year pre-tax profits to £492m. Smiths shares ended the day up 20p at 946p yesterday. [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 61 NRC: NRC Revises and Issues for Comment Proposed Rule on Safeguards Information News Release - 2006-13 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 06-136 October 31, 2006 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is revising and issuing for public comment a proposed rule, which would amend its regulations on the designation and handling of security-related information known as Safeguards Information, or SGI. The proposed rule was initially published Feb. 11, 2005, in the Federal Register. It reflects the Commissions recent experience and actions, and addresses, in NRC regulations, new requirements issued by the Commission as Orders following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The revision, published today, includes changes in response to public comments and new authority granted to the NRC by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. For example, the Energy Policy Act grants the NRC increased authority to require fingerprinting of individuals, for criminal history check purposes, prior to their access to SGI. Previously, the NRC could only require fingerprinting of individuals to be granted access to SGI by power reactor licensees. This new authority is reflected in the revised version of the proposed rule. Other changes reflect public comments received on the initial proposed rule and new Orders issued by the Commission to licensees authorized to possess and transfer certain quantities of radioactive material. SGI is a special category of sensitive unclassified information authorized to be protected under the Atomic Energy Act. In many ways it is handled like classified information. Individuals provided access to SGI must have a valid need to know the information, and an authorization for access based on a background check for trustworthiness and reliability. The unauthorized release of SGI could result in harm to public health and safety and the nations common defense and security. Release could also result in damage to the countrys nuclear power plants and other facilities and materials licensed and regulated by the NRC. Information designated as SGI must be protected from unauthorized disclosure and must be physically controlled and protected. Protection requirements include secure storage, restricted access, document marking, limited reproduction, protected transmission, controls for information processing on electronic systems, and controls for destruction. Under the Atomic Energy Act, inadequate protection of SGI, including inadvertent release and unauthorized disclosure, may result in civil penalties; willful violation of any regulations or Orders governing SGI is a felony subject to fines or imprisonment. Because much of the proposed rule was already published for comment, the agency requests that commenters focus on the changes in the revised version and not on areas discussed in the previous proposed rule. Comments on the revised proposed rule will be accepted for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register. Comments may be mailed to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001, Attn: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff. Comments may also be e-mailed to SECY@nrc.govor submitted online via the NRC's rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Tuesday, October 31, 2006 ***************************************************************** 62 NRC: Notice of License Termination and Release of the Dow Chemical FR Doc E6-18243 [Federal Register: October 31, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 210)] [Notices] [Page 63804-63805] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr31oc06-91] Company (TDCC) Site in Bay City, MI for Unrestricted Use AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of license termination and site release for unrestricted use. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David W. Nelson, Materials Decommissioning Section, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, NRC, Washington, DC, 20555; telephone: (301) 415-6626; fax: (301) 415-5397; or e-mail at: . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction Pursuant to 10 CFR part 20 subpart E, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is providing notice that it has terminated license STB-527 for the Dow Chemical Company (TDCC) (Licensee), and has released its Bay City, Michigan site for unrestricted use. The Licensee's requests for an amendment to [[Page 63805]] authorize decommissioning of its Bay City, Michigan site was previously noticed in the Federal Register on July 19, 1996, and July 10, 1997. In letters dated July 21, 1997, April 13, 2005 and October 6, 2005, TDCC provided final radiological status surveys to demonstrate that the site met the license termination criteria in 10 CFR part 20 subpart E. NRC staff conducted numerous inspections and confirmatory surveys including the collection of samples and independent measurements of on- site soils and building surfaces. The NRC staff evaluated TDCC's requests and reviewed the results of the final radiological surveys. Based on those reviews, the staff determined that the site met the unrestricted release criteria in 10 CFR part 20 subpart E. The staff prepared a Safety Evaluation Report (SER) (ADAMS ML062500107) to support its termination of TDCC's Bay City license. II. Further Information In accordance with 10 CFR part 2.790 of the NRC's ``Rules of Practice,'' details with respect to this action, including the SER, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at . From this site, you can access the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession number for the termination letter with enclosed SER, titled ``Release of the Dow Chemical Company. Bay City, Michigan, and Termination of License (License No. STB-527)'' is ML062500107. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing a document located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to . This document may also be viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's PDR, O-1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee. Dated at NRC, Rockville, MD, this day of October 24th, 2006. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Keith I. McConnell, Deputy Director, Decommissioning and Uranium Recovery Licensing Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs. [FR Doc. E6-18243 Filed 10-30-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 63 OpEd News: PUBLIC UNAWARE OF DU THREAT OF CAMP FALCON EXPLOSIONS October 30, 2006 at 14:38:53 by The first live reports were aired live on US network TV: " We're getting some amazing pictures, some very dramatic pictures coming out of Iraq to us from Baghdad. You can read the lower third there. "Explosions rock Camp Falcon just outside of Baghdad." It is 11:28 p.m. there right now." MSNBC News bureau in Baghdad, the bureau chief said " there have been a series of explosions near the Camp Falcon area located just outside of Baghdad, and CPIC is confirming that there was an explosion at an ammo dump, which would explain these amazing dramatic pictures in the night sky of Baghdad. It exploded at Camp Falcon." The U.S. military base is south of Baghdad. (MNSBC, 10 Oct, 2006) Michel Chossudovsky They were spectacular explosions because DU in storage all goes off at once. You could see the streamers of DU chunks burning through the cloud and the familiar mushroom cloud. That is not Willie Pete or White Phosphorus because they leave white smoke and wobble. The public is still unaware of the Depleted Uranium ( DU ) munitions threat and the Pentagon and media have been complicit in this blackout. Perhaps a reminder of the mounting death toll ( 11,000 U.S. Soldiers ) from the highly toxic weapons component known as depleted uranium (DU), which was stored at Camp Falcon, is in order. Allen L Roland DU DEATH TOLL TOPS 11,000 Nationwide Media Blackout Keeps U.S. Public Ignorant About This Important Story By James P. Tucker Jr. Updated 3/26/05 The death toll from the highly toxic weapons component known as depleted uranium (DU) has reached 11,000 soldiers and the growing scandal may be the reason behind Anthony Principi's departure as secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department. This view was expressed by Arthur Bernklau, executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York, writing in Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter. "The real reason for Mr. Principi's departure was really never given," Bernklau said. "However, a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret naming depleted uranium as the definitive cause of 'Gulf War Syndrome' has fed a growing scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the U.S. military." The "malady [from DU] that thousands of our military have suffered and died from has finally been identified as the cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. . . . The terrible truth is now being revealed," Bernklau said. Of the 580,400 soldiers who served in Gulf War I, 11,000 are now dead, he said. By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on permanent medical disability. More than a decade later, more than half (56 percent) who served in Gulf War I have permanent medical problems. The disability rate for veterans of the world wars of the last century was 5 percent, rising to 10 percent in Vietnam. "The VA secretary was aware of this fact as far back as 2000," Bernklau said. "He and the Bush administration have been hiding these facts, but now, thanks to Moret's report, it is far too big to hide or to cover up." Terry Johnson, public affairs specialist at the VA, recently reported that veterans of both Persian Gulf wars now on disability total 518,739, Bernklau said. "The long-term effect of DU is a virtual death sentence," Bernklau said. "Marion Fulk, a nuclear chemist, who retired from the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, and was also involved in the Manhattan Project, interprets the new and rapid malignancies in the soldiers [from the second war] as 'spectacular'-and a matter of concern.' " While this important story appeared in a Washington newspaper and the wire services, it did not receive national exposure-a compelling sign that the American public is being kept in the dark about the terrible effects of this toxic weapon. (Veterans for Constitutional Law can be reached at (516) 474-4261.) Take action -- click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people: WAGE PEACE NOT WAR www.allenroland.com is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his and website He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on Conscious talk radio PUBLIC UNAWARE OF DU THREAT OF CAMP FALCON EXPLOSIONS Alan, Though I understand DU is a major problem in Iraq, My first question would be "How many troops died or survived from the Camp Falcon Munitions Storage explosion"? I've viewed a couple of websites that list several hundred dead GIs from that cook-off. Yet our government says nobody was injured. I ask this because I have worked as a Munitions Systems Specialist for over 20 years now. I've viewed photos of the aftermath of the explosions. Total devastation. Can you give me an honest report that you, yourself, has investigated, telling me how many GIs, if any, died at Camp Falcon? Troubled by (0 articles, 17 comments) on Monday, October 30, 2006 at 7:02:50 PM Allen L Roland TROUBLED I have no idea how many died in the Camp Falcon attack and the Pentagon is keeping a close pre-election lid on this incident. But I do know how many have died from DU poisoning since the Iraq wars ~ which is my main point ~ and that is well over 11,000 . Any more questions ? by (270 articles, 48 comments) on Monday, October 30, 2006 at 9:08:34 PM Copyright © OpEdNews, 2002-2006 ***************************************************************** 64 OpEdNews: AMERICA'S GREATEST CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY / MILITARY USE OF DU October 31, 2006 at 15:21:34 by Allen L Roland " By illegally using hundreds of tons of depleted uranium (DU) against Iraq ~ Britain and America have gravely endangered not only the Iraqis but the whole world: " Dr. Chris Busby, the British radiation expert and UK representative on the European Committee on Radiation Risk . I originally posted this on Tuesday, May 03, 2005 but with the recent October forward Camp Falcon DU explosions ~ it is now even more pertinent. The game is up for Bush , Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and the Republicans ~ we have not only fought an illegal war and occupation in Iraq but we have endangered the whole world in the process. Reporter James Denver, who writes and broadcasts internationally on science and technology, shares the terrible legacy of DU ( Depleted Uranium ) as well as the vital evidence and the enormous harm done by the government of the United States and Great Britain ~ who are both still officially in denial. Excerpt: " Britain and America not only used DU in this year's Iraq war, they dramatically increased its use-from a minimum of 320 tons in the previous war to at minimum of 1500 tons in this one. And this time the use of DU wasn't limited to anti-tank weapons-as it had largely been in the previous Gulf war-but was extended to the guided missiles, large bunker busters and big 2000-pound bombs used in Iraq's cities .... In 1997, while citing experiments, by others, in which 84 percent of dogs exposed to inhaled uranium died of cancer of the lungs, Dr. Asaf Durakovic, then Professor of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Georgetown University in Washington was quoted as saying, 'The [US government's] Veterans Administration asked me to lie about the risks of incorporating depleted uranium in the human body.' He concluded, 'uranium does cause cancer, uranium does cause mutation, and uranium does kill. If we continue with the irresponsible contamination of the biosphere, and denial of the fact that human life is endangered by the deadly isotope uranium, then we are doing disservice to ourselves, disservice to the truth, disservice to God and to all generations who follow.' " Allen L Roland http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2006/10/31.html HORROW OF U.S. DEPLETED URANIUM IN IRAQ THREATENS WORLD American Use Of DU is "A crime against humanity which may, in the eyes of historians, rank with the worst atrocities of all time." US Iraq Military Vets "are on DU death row, waiting to die." By James Denver 4-29-05 http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=200082971&;tstart =0&mod=1114828895160 "I'm horrified. The people out there - the Iraqis, the media and the troops - risk the most appalling ill health. And the radiation from depleted uranium can travel literally anywhere. It's going to destroy the lives of thousands of children, all over the world. We all know how far radiation can travel. Radiation from Chernobyl reached Wales and in Britain you sometimes get red dust from the Sahara on your car." The speaker is not some alarmist doom-sayer. He is Dr. Chris Busby, the British radiation expert, Fellow of the University of Liverpool in the Faculty of Medicine and UK representative on the European Committee on Radiation Risk, talking about the best-kept secret of this war: the fact that, by illegally using hundreds of tons of depleted uranium (DU) against Iraq ~ Britain and America have gravely endangered not only the Iraqis but the whole world. For these weapons have released deadly, carcinogenic and mutagenic, radioactive particles in such abundance that-whipped up by sandstorms and carried on trade winds - there is no corner of the globe they cannot penetrate-including Britain. For the wind has no boundaries and time is on their side: the radioactivity persists for over 4,500,000,000 years and can cause cancer, leukemia, brain damage, kidney failure, and extreme birth defects - killing millions of every age for centuries to come. A crime against humanity which may, in the eyes of historians, rank with the worst atrocities of all time. Yet, officially, no crime has been committed. For this story is a dirty story in which the facts have been concealed from those who needed them most. It is also a story we need to know if the people of Iraq are to get the medical care they desperately need, and if our troops, returning from Iraq, are not to suffer as terribly as the veterans of other conflicts in which depleted uranium was used. A Dirty Tyson 'Depleted' uranium is in many ways a misnomer. For 'depleted' sounds weak. The only weak thing about depleted uranium is its price. It is dirt cheap, toxic, waste from nuclear power plants and bomb production. However, uranium is one of earth's heaviest elements and DU packs a Tyson's punch, smashing through tanks, buildings and bunkers with equal ease, spontaneously catching fire as it does so, and burning people alive. 'Crispy critters' is what US servicemen call those unfortunate enough to be close. And, when John Pilger encountered children killed at a greater distance he wrote: "The children's skin had folded back, like parchment, revealing veins and burnt flesh that seeped blood, while the eyes, intact, stared straight ahead. I vomited." (Daily Mirror) The millions of radioactive uranium oxide particles released when it burns can kill just as surely, but far more terribly. They can even be so tiny they pass through a gas mask, making protection against them impossible. Yet, small is not beautiful. For these invisible killers indiscriminately attack men, women, children and even babies in the womb-and do the gravest harm of all to children and unborn babies. A Terrible Legacy Doctors in Iraq have estimated that birth defects have increased by 2-6 times, and 3-12 times as many children have developed cancer and leukaemia since 1991. Moreover, a report published in The Lancet in 1998 said that as many as 500 children a day are dying from these sequels to war and sanctions and that the death rate for Iraqi children under 5 years of age increased from 23 per 1000 in 1989 to 166 per thousand in 1993. Overall, cases of lymphoblastic leukemia more than quadrupled with other cancers also increasing 'at an alarming rate'. In men, lung, bladder, bronchus, skin, and stomach cancers showed the highest increase. In women, the highest increases were in breast and bladder cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.1 On hearing that DU had been used in the Gulf in 1991, the UK Atomic Energy Authority sent the Ministry of Defense a special report on the potential damage to health and the environment. It said that it could cause half a million additional cancer deaths in Iraq over 10 years. In that war the authorities only admitted to using 320 tons of DU-although the Dutch charity LAKA estimates the true figure is closer to 800 tons. Many times that may have been spread across Iraq by this year's war. The devastating damage all this DU will do to the health and fertility of the people of Iraq now, and for generations to come, is beyond imagining. The radioactivity persists for over 4,500,000,000 years killing millions of every age for centuries to come. This is a crime against humanity which may rank with the worst atrocities of all time. We must also count the numberless thousands of miscarried babies. Nobody knows how many Iraqis have died in the womb since DU contaminated their world. But it is suggested that troops who were only exposed to DU for the brief period of the war were still excreting uranium in their semen 8 years later and some had 100 times the so-called 'safe limit' of uranium in their urine. The lack of government interest in the plight of veterans of the 1991 war is reflected in a lack of academic research on the impact of DU but informal research has found a high incidence of birth defects in their children and that the wives of men who served in Iraq have three times more miscarriages than the wives of servicemen who did not go there. Since DU darkened the land Iraq has seen birth defects which would break a heart of stone: babies with terribly foreshortened limbs, with their intestines outside their bodies, with huge bulging tumors where their eyes should be, or with a single eye-like Cyclops, or without eyes, or without limbs, and even without heads. Significantly, some of the defects are almost unknown outside textbooks showing the babies born near A-bomb test sites in the Pacific. Doctors report that many women no longer say 'Is it a girl or a boy?' but simply, 'Is it normal, doctor?' Moreover this terrible legacy will not end. The genes of their parents may have been damaged for ever, and the damaging DU dust is ever-present. Blue on Blue What the governments of America and Britain have done to the people of Iraq they have also done to their own soldiers, in both wars. And they have done it knowingly. For the battlefields have been thick with DU and soldiers have had to enter areas heavily contaminated by bombing. Moreover, their bodies have not only been assaulted by DU but also by a vaccination regime which violated normal protocols, experimental vaccines, nerve agent pills, and organophosphate pesticides in their tents. Yet, though the hazards of DU were known, British and American troops were not warned of its dangers. Nor were they given thorough medical checks on their return-even though identifying it quickly might have made it possible to remove some of it from their body. Then, when a growing number became seriously ill, and should have been sent to top experts in radiation damage and neurotoxins, many were sent to a psychiatrist. Over 200,000 US troops who returned from the 1991 war are now invalided out with ailments officially attributed to service in Iraq-that's 1 in 3. In contrast, the British government's failure to fully assess the health of returning troops, or to monitor their health, means no one even knows how many have died or become gravely ill since their return. However, Gulf veterans' associations say that, of 40,000 or so fighting fit men and women who saw active service, at least 572 have died prematurely since coming home and 5000 may be ill. An alarming number are thought to have taken their own lives, unable to bear the torment of the innumerable ailments which have combined to take away their career, their sexuality, their ability to have normal children, and even their ability to breathe or walk normally. As one veteran puts it, they are 'on DU death row, waiting to die'. Whatever other factors there may be, some of their illnesses are strikingly similar to those of Iraqis exposed to DU dust. For example, soldiers have also fathered children without eyes. And, in a group of eight servicemen whose babies lack eyes seven are known to have been directly exposed to DU dust. They too have fathered children with stunted arms, and rare abnormalities classically associated with radiation damage. They too seem prone to cancer and leukemia. Tellingly, so are EU soldiers who served as peacekeepers in the Balkans, where DU was also used. Indeed their leukemia rate has been so high that several EU governments have protested at the use of DU. The Vital Evidence Despite all that evidence of the harm done by DU, governments on both sides of the Atlantic have repeatedly claimed that as it emits only 'low level' radiation DU is harmless. Award-winning scientist, Dr. Rosalie Bertell who has led UN medical commissions, has studied 'low-level' radiation for 30 years. 2 She has found that uranium oxide particles have more than enough power to harm cells, and describes their pulses of radiation as hitting surrounding cells 'like flashes of lightning' again and again in a single second.2 Like many scientists worldwide who have studied this type of radiation, she has found that such 'lightning strikes' can damage DNA and cause cell mutations which lead to cancer. Moreover, these particles can be taken up by body fluids and travel through the body, damaging more than one organ. To compound all that, Dr. Bertell has found that this particular type of radiation can cause the body's communication systems to break down, leading to malfunctions in many vital organs of the body and to many medical problems. A striking fact, since many veterans of the first Gulf war suffer from innumerable, seemingly unrelated, ailments. In addition, recent research by Eric Wright, Professor of Experimental Haematology at Dundee University, and others, have shown two ways in which such radiation can do far more damage than has been thought. The first is that a cell which seems unharmed by radiation can produce cells with diverse mutations several cell generations later. (And mutations are at the root of cancer and birth defects.) This 'radiation-induced genomic instability' is compounded by 'the bystander effect' by which cells mutate in unison with others which have been damaged by radiation-rather as birds swoop and turn in unison. Put together, these two mechanisms can greatly increase the damage done by a single source of radiation, such as a DU particle. Moreover, it is now clear that there are marked genetic differences in the way individuals respond to radiation-with some being far more likely to develop cancer than others. So the fact that some veterans of the first Gulf war seem relatively unharmed by their exposure to DU in no way proves that DU did not damage others. The Price of Truth That the evidence from Iraq and from our troops, and the research findings of such experts, have been ignored may be no accident. A US report, leaked in late 1995, allegedly says, 'The potential for health effects from DU exposure is real; however it must be viewed in perspective... the financial implications of long-term disability payments and healthcare costs would be excessive.'3 Clearly, with hundreds of thousands gravely ill in Iraq and at least a quarter of a million UK and US troops seriously ill, huge disability claims might be made not only against the governments of Britain and America if the harm done by DU were acknowledged. There might also be huge claims against companies making DU weapons and some of their directors are said to be extremely close to the White House. How close they are to Downing Street is a matter for speculation, but arms sales makes a considerable contribution to British trade. So the massive whitewashing of DU over the past 12 years, and the way that governments have failed to test returning troops, seemed to disbelieve them, and washed their hands of them, may be purely to save money. The possibility that financial considerations have led the governments of Britain and America to cynically avoid taking responsibility for the harm they have done not only to the people of Iraq but to their own troops may seem outlandish. Yet DU weapons weren't used by the other side and no other explanation fits the evidence. For, in the days before Britain and America first used DU in war its hazards were no secret.4 One American study in 1990 said DU was 'linked to cancer when exposures are internal, [and to] chemical toxicity-causing kidney damage'. While another openly warned that exposure to these particles under battlefield conditions could lead to cancers of the lung and bone, kidney damage, non-malignant lung disease, neuro-cognitive disorders, chromosomal damage and birth defects.5 A Culture of Denial In 1996 and 1997 UN Human Rights Tribunals condemned DU weapons for illegally breaking the Geneva Convention and classed them as 'weapons of mass destruction' 'incompatible with international humanitarian and human rights law'. Since then, following leukemia in European peacekeeping troops in the Balkans and Afghanistan (where DU was also used), the EU has twice called for DU weapons to be banned. Yet, far from banning DU, America and Britain stepped up their denials of the harm from this radioactive dust as more and more troops from the first Gulf war and from action and peacekeeping in the Balkans and Afghanistan have become seriously ill. This is no coincidence. In 1997, while citing experiments, by others, in which 84 percent of dogs exposed to inhaled uranium died of cancer of the lungs, Dr. Asaf Durakovic, then Professor of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Georgetown University in Washington was quoted as saying, 'The [US government's] Veterans Administration asked me to lie about the risks of incorporating depleted uranium in the human body.' He concluded, 'uranium does cause cancer, uranium does cause mutation, and uranium does kill. If we continue with the irresponsible contamination of the biosphere, and denial of the fact that human life is endangered by the deadly isotope uranium, then we are doing disservice to ourselves, disservice to the truth, disservice to God and to all generations who follow.' Not what the authorities wanted to hear and his research was suddenly blocked. During 12 years of ever-growing British whitewash the authorities have abolished military hospitals, where there could have been specialized research on the effects of DU and where expertise in treating DU victims could have built up. And, not content with the insult of suggesting the gravely disabling symptoms of Gulf veterans are imaginary they have refused full pensions to many. For, despite all the evidence to the contrary, the current House of Commons briefing paper on DU hazards says 'it is judged that any radiation effects from possible exposures are extremely unlikely to be a contributory factor to the illnesses currently being experienced by some Gulf war veterans.' Note how over a quarter of a million sick and dying US and UK vets are called 'some'. The Way Ahead Britain and America not only used DU in this year's Iraq war, they dramatically increased its use-from a minimum of 320 tons in the previous war to at minimum of 1500 tons in this one. And this time the use of DU wasn't limited to anti-tank weapons-as it had largely been in the previous Gulf war-but was extended to the guided missiles, large bunker busters and big 2000-pound bombs used in Iraq's cities. This means that Iraq's cities have been blanketed in lethal particles-any one of which can cause cancer or deform a child. In addition, the use of DU in huge bombs which throw the deadly particles higher and wider in huge plumes of smoke means that billions of deadly particles have been carried high into the air-again and again and again as the bombs rained down-ready to be swept worldwide by the winds. The Royal Society has suggested the solution is massive decontamination in Iraq. That could only scratch the surface. For decontamination is hugely expensive and, though it may reduce the risks in some of the worst areas, it cannot fully remove them. For DU is too widespread on land and water. How do you clean up every nook and cranny of a city the size of Baghdad? How can they decontaminate a whole country in which microscopic particles, which cannot be detected with a normal geiger counter, are spread from border to border? And how can they clean up all the countries downwind of Iraq-and, indeed, the world? So there are only two things we can do to mitigate this crime against humanity. The first is to provide the best possible medical care for the people of Iraq, for our returning troops and for those who served in the last Gulf war and, through that, minimize their suffering. The second is to relegate war, and the production and sale of weapons, to the scrap heap of history-along with slavery and genocide. Then, and only then, will this crime against humanity be expunged, and the tragic deaths from this war truly bring freedom to the people of Iraq, and of the world. References 1. The Lancet volume 351, issue 9103, 28 February 1998. 2. Rosalie Bertell's book Planet Earth the Latest Weapon of War was reviewed in Caduceus issue 51, page 28. 3. http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_tabl1 . htm#TAB L_Research Report Summaries 4. www.wagingpeace.org/articles/02.01/020117moret.htm The secret official memorandum to Brigadier General L.R.Groves from Drs Conant, Compton and Urey of War Department Manhattan district dated October 1943 is available at the website www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2003/Leuren-Moret-Gen-Grove s21feb03.htm 5. http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_iitab11. htm#tab L_research report summaries Further information The Low Level Radiation Campaign hopes to be able to arrange a limited number of private urine tests for those returning from the latest Gulf war. It can be contacted at: The Knoll, Montpelier Park, Llandrindod Wells, LD1 5LW. 01597 824771. Web: www.llrc.org James Denver writes and broadcasts internationally on science and technology. Take action -- click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people: WAGE PEACE NOT WAR Click here to see the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers www.allenroland.com Allen L Rolandis a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblogand website allenroland.comHe also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on Conscious talk radio www.conscioustalk.net Copyright © OpEdNews, 2002-2006 ***************************************************************** 65 reviewjournal.com: Yucca Mountain session prompts dissatisfaction Oct. 31, 2006 Energy Department displays new plans WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy on Monday began explaining proposed changes to the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site. But activists and representatives for Nevada grumbled that few details were available at a public meeting. Energy Department organizers called the event a listening session as they start environmental impact studies of the proposals. After an hour, 46 people had signed in, mostly professionals representing interest groups, federal agencies, members of Congress and potential contractors. The department is embarking on new designs for waste-handling facilities at Yucca Mountain and on a study of a possible railroad path that would carry radioactive waste through counties in western Nevada. Information on new designs for waste canisters and blueprints of the above-ground parts of the tunnel repository were on poster boards, with presenters standing nearby to answer questions. The same format is to be used in public meetings scheduled in Nevada over the next two weeks. More of them will focus on the proposed Mina railroad corridor across Northern Nevada and through Lyon, Mineral and Esmeralda counties. Critics of the Yucca program said the agency's presentation was unhelpful. "There was not enough detail to offer an intelligent comment," said Marty Malsch, an attorney for the state. "Nobody could have a way to know whether they would be affected or not." The information "is all scattered," said Kevin Kamps, nuclear waste specialist at the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. "We can't talk to each other, we can't hear from each other about concerns. It think it is by design." Michele Boyd, legislative director of the Public Citizen energy program, said how the Energy Department proposed to load nuclear waste at reactors using new multi-purpose canisters was unclear. "The pictures were completely useless," Boyd said. Others defended what some called the low-key format and said it was designed to encourage citizens to ask questions and offer suggestions out of the spotlight. Formal public hearings will be held after the draft studies are completed, they said. "This lets the department talk one-on-one with the public and answer questions and learn better what the concerns are," said Jane Summerson, DOE document manager for one of the impact studies. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2006 ***************************************************************** 66 KTNV: Nevada critics of Yucca Mountain complain about info sessions Las Vegas News LAS VEGAS State officials and anti-nuclear advocates are complaining about how the Energy Department's sharing revised plans for a proposed radioactive waste dump in Nevada. Energy Department organizers call a series of upcoming meetings "listening sessions. "They say they're designed to kick off environmental impact studies on waste-handling at Yucca Mountain -- and the possibility of building a railroad to the site through Lyon, Mineral and Esmeralda counties. But the first session yesterday (Monday) in Washington, D-C, drew complaints that there wasn't enough detail to comment.One lawyer for Nevada says nobody could have a way of knowing whether they would be affected or not. Meetings later this week will be in Amargosa Valley and Las Vegas -- followed by sessions later this month in Caliente, Goldfield, Hawthorne and Fallon.___Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 67 LasVegasNOW.com: DOE Adds Yucca Mountain Info Session Amid Nevada Complaints The federal Energy Department is adding another public meeting about revised plans for a radioactive waste dump in Nevada while state officials and anti-nuclear advocates complained that a first meeting wasn't informative. Energy Department officials call the meetings "listening sessions." They say they're designed to kick off environmental impact studies on waste-handling at Yucca Mountain -- and the possibility of building a railroad to the site through Lyon, Mineral and Esmeralda counties. But the first session Monday in Washington, DC, drew complaints that there wasn't enough detail to comment. One lawyer for Nevada says nobody could have a way of knowing whether they would be affected or not. A meeting November 27th in Reno has been added to meetings later this week in Amargosa Valley and Las Vegas -- followed by sessions later this month in Caliente, Goldfield, Hawthorne and Fallon. (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) All content © Copyright 2000 - 2006 WorldNow and KLAS. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 68 AFP: Japan says it can go nuclear but won't October 31, 04:10 PM TOKYO (AFP) - Japan says it has the legal right to develop nuclear weapons despite its pacifist constitution but has no intention even to consider the long-taboo idea. Prominent lawmakers have called on Japan, the only nation to suffer nuclear attack, to debate the nuclear option after communist neighbor North Korea on October 9 said it had tested its first atom bomb. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki argued that the US-imposed pacifist constitution allows Japan "the right to possess minimum capability" for self-defense. "Theoretically and technically, nuclear weapons might be included in this, but this is different from the government's policy," said Shiozaki, the top government spokesman. "The government has no intention of changing its three-point non-nuclear principles, nor the intention of discussing the issue," he told a news conference. He was responding to the latest remarks by Shoichi Nakagawa, the policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who wants Japan to discuss going nuclear in light of the North Korean threat. "The government sticks to its policy of not having nuclear weapons, but the government also says that it is allowed to have nuclear weapons under the constitution," Nakagawa said Monday. Nakagawa is a close aide to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who strongly supports revising the constitution to give Japan a more active military role. But Abe has repeatedly ruled out discussing the nuclear option. The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were obliterated by US nuclear bombs at the end of World War II that killed more than 210,000 people. The United States has ensured Japan's security since then and forced it to renounce its right to a military. Copyright © 2006 AFP. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 69 IRNA: International day of action in Brussels for a world free of uranium weapons - Brussels, Oct 31, IRNA Belgium-Uranium weapons The Belgian coalition's `Stop Uranium Weapons!' is organizing the third annual `Action Day for a World Free of Uranium Weapons' in Brussels on Friday. Politicians from different Belgian political parties will be present to support this action, according to a statement received by IRNA from the oranizers. The Belgian coalition will talk to representatives of the Belgian Defense Ministry to find support for a Belgian legal ban on the financing, production and use of weapons that contain depleted uranium. On Friday evening the action group will hold a gathering in the center of Brussels to make the general public aware of the issue of uranium weapons. The United Nations Environment Programme is investigating media reports that Israel may have used uranium-based weapons during last summer's war in Lebanon. ***************************************************************** 70 PR: Awaiting DOE Concurrence: Fluor Declares Fernald, Ohio Cleanup Complete - Source: Fluor Corporation Tuesday October 31, 6:01 pm ET CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR- News) announced that Fluor Fernald, the contractor responsible for the environmental cleanup and restoration of the 1,050-acre former Fernald uranium production plant, presented the United States Department of Energy (DOE) with its declaration of physical completion on October 29, 2006. The DOE owns the site, which played a critical role in the U.S. nuclear weapons program, and is now reviewing the submittal to validate the reasonableness of Fluor Fernald's declaration. The massive environmental cleanup was carried out in accordance with Records of Decision developed by U.S. and Ohio EPA, DOE and local communities. The Records of Decision are legally binding agreements that directed site cleanup and established final remediation standards for each part of the project. Contamination from the Fernald uranium foundry and machining operations first made national headlines in the mid-1980s. Local citizens were outraged by the extent of off-site contamination, which worked its way into drinking water wells. Initial plans to tackle the cleanup came with a steep price tag. A 1992 government report forecast a projected completion date in 2019 at a cost of $12.2 billion. The announced completion reduces some 12 years off that schedule with a final cleanup cost for activities performed under Fluor's scope of work totaling approximately $4.4 billion. Major components of the work performed by Fluor Fernald and its teaming subcontractors - Jacobs Engineering, Nuclear Fuel Services and EnergySolutions included: + Maintaining an exceptional safety record over the life of the entire cleanup project; + Removing, treating and shipping off-site radioactive waste from three large concrete silos, eliminating the largest source of radon gas in the world; + Dismantling 323 buildings including 10 major uranium production complexes and administrative structures; + Excavating and shipping 1 million tons of waste from six waste pits; + Building an on-site disposal facility to hold 3 million cubic yards of low-level contaminated dirt and debris from facility demolition; + Treating a 225-acre plume of uranium contamination in the underlying Great Miami Aquifer; + Removing more than 100,000 drums of waste and 31 million pounds of uranium product from the site; and + Designing, building, operating and dismantling more than $300 million in waste treatment and handling infrastructure. Fernald is one of the largest environmental restoration projects ever completed. However, its legacy may be DOE's and Fluor's success in healing fractured communications channels with local citizens, workers and regulators after decades of secrecy during the Cold War. DOE and Fluor Fernald worked closely with U.S. and Ohio EPAs, the Fernald Citizens Advisory Board, the Fernald Residents for Environmental Safety & Health (FRESH), local elected officials and plant neighbors to determine the extent of contamination, develop cleanup plans and carry them through to the end of the project. Reminders of the cleanup operations that will remain after closure include a water treatment plant to pump and treat remaining levels of uranium contamination in the Great Miami Aquifer until the drinking water standard is met, likely to take 10 years, and a 110-acre on-site disposal facility which securely holds building debris and contaminated soil in between thick liners and caps consisting of strong synthetic material, clays, heavy rock and clean soil. "I thought this day would never come," said Lisa Crawford, who has served as president of Fernald's primary watchdog group FRESH for 22 years and co-chaired of the Fernald Citizens Advisory Board. "We were all very upset about what plant operations did to our community. But we saw that DOE and Fluor were just as committed to fixing what had happened as we were. Over time we came to trust each other. We didn't always agree, but they opened the process to us, they listened and even followed our guidance when we proposed a better way. Fluor and DOE delivered on their promise of site closure. Together, we made a difference!" Ohio EPA Director Joe Koncelik agrees, "The progress made at Fernald would not have been possible without the effective partnership of informed citizens, a committed contractor and strong regulatory oversight." Following soil cleanup, environmental engineers developed nearly 400 acres of woodlots, 327 acres of prairie, more than 140 acres of open water and wetlands and 33 acres of savanna to restore the property to an undeveloped park with an emphasis on wildlife and education. In late 2007, the DOE Office of Legacy Management plans to open an education center near where Fernald's infamous silos once stood. The center will offer a place for visitors to learn about the history of the Fernald property from its first inhabitants all the way through environmental restoration and beyond. "Fernald is unique compared to other DOE cleanup sites because we had to design and build huge radioactive waste handling and processing facilities and greatly expand site infrastructure before clearing the way for plant demolition.," said Fluor Fernald Project Director Con Murphy. "Our workers achieved what many thought impossible, safely finishing the cleanup in 2006. This is a good day for the DOE, Fluor and our team, and a great day for the community and environment." Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR- News) provides services on a global basis in the fields of engineering, procurement, construction, operations, maintenance and project management. Now headquartered in Irving, Texas, Fluor is a FORTUNE 500 company with revenues of $13.2 billion in 2005. For more information visit www.fluor.com. (FLRG) Contact: Fluor Corporation Media Relations Keith Stephens, 469-398-7624 Steve Roth, 469-398-7623 or Investor Relations Ken Lockwood, 469-398-7220 Jason Landkamer, 469-398-7222 Source: Fluor Corporation Copyright © 2006 Business Wire. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 71 DOE: Department of Energy Advances Commercialization of Climate Change Technology October 31, 2006 DOE to Provide over $450 million to support the deployment of carbon sequestration technologies in the U.S. COLUMBUS, OHIO U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretary Jeffrey D. Jarrett today discussed the Departments decision to fund $450 million over the next 10 years to support seven tests in the United States designed to advance carbon sequestration technologies. He discussed the effort while attending the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. The studies are designed to validate whether the large scale capture, transportation, injection, and long term storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) can be done safely, permanently, and economically. Carbon sequestration will play a key role in the United States effort to mitigate climate change and holds the key to the continued environmentally-responsible use of coal, Assistant Secretary Jarrett said. These tests, the next step in demonstrating that sequestration technologies are ready for commercialization, will help us achieve the Presidents climate change initiative by confirming that the geology of North America is suitable for the permanent and safe storage of CO2 for millennia." The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate is a unique public-private initiative among government and private sector partners from Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States. These six countries account for about half of the worlds population and more than half of the worlds economy and energy use. The First Ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific Partnership took place in Sydney, Australia, in January 2006. At that meeting, the ministers agreed to a Partnership Communiqué, Charter, and Work Plan that established eight public-private sector Task Forces. Carbon sequestration technology has been successfully accomplished during smaller scale demonstration projects. If successful on a large scale, it could play a significant role in achieving President Bushs goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 18 percent by 2012 and ensure that sequestration technologies will be ready for broad use in the near future. As part of this effort, DOE will work with the existing Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships to develop these large volume sequestration tests. The partnerships have already been working to characterize their regions opportunities and existing infrastructure for carbon sequestration. Results obtained from the tests will be crucial to the development of DOE's FutureGen power plant, which will produce both hydrogen and electricity from a highly efficient and technologically sophisticated coal-fired power plant, and do so with virtually no emissions. The geologic structures that will be tested during these large volume sequestration tests could be candidate sites for FutureGen like plants. The Partnerships have preliminarily identified sequestration opportunities across the United States and estimate that they have the potential to store more than 600 billion metric tons of CO2, the equivalent of more than 200 years of emissions from energy sources in the United States. They are currently implementing a number of small field tests designed to validate the estimates. The network of Regional Partnerships includes more than 300 organizations in 40 U.S. states, three Indian nations, and four Canadian provinces. The collective data generated by the Partnerships has been integrated into an information gateway called NATCARB, developed by the University of Kansas, to consolidate geologic and terrestrial data on sequestration sites. More information about the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships selected for the large volume sequestration tests and links to their current activities are listed below: Partnership Organization Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership Battelle Columbus Laboratories, OH Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois Illinois State Geological Survey West Coast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership California Energy Commission Big Sky Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership Montana State University Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership Southern States Energy Board Plains CO2 Reduction Partnership University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center DOE expects to make the official awards to the Partnerships in fall of 2007. Results from this Phase will identify significant deployment opportunities for carbon sequestration technologies throughout North America. Additional information about the Partnerships can be found at: . Media contact(s): Craig Stevens, (202) 586-4940 [ ] U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 72 The Enquirer: Fernald cleanup completed Last Updated: 5:18 am | Tuesday, October 31, 2006 Fernald cleanup completedAfter 10 years BY PEGGY O'FARRELL | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER CROSBY TWP. - The contractor in charge of cleaning up a Cold War-era uranium foundry said Monday that the 10-year, $4.4 billion project to clean up the site northwest of Cincinnati is done. The U.S. Department of Energy now has 14 business days to review the work to see if it meets standards, said Johnny Reising, who is overseeing the project for the federal agency. About 70 workers stapled anti-erosion netting to a 15-acre waste disposal cell to complete work Sunday, said Con Murphy, a project director for Fluor Fernald.[ADVERTISEMENT] Workers still have to complete some small projects at the site, including repaving a road and putting up signs. After its initial review, the Department of Energy will have another 60 days to develop a "punch list" of items Fluor Fernald will need to complete before the contract is complete, Reising said. Once those final items are taken care of, the contractor will have another 90 days to clear the site of heavy equipment, temporary structures and other remnants of the cleanup project. The property then will be turned over to the Department of Energy's Office of Legacy Management. The office will be responsible for continuing to treat water from the Great Miami Aquifer that was contaminated by uranium runoff. Water treatment could take another 10 years, said Jeff Wagner, Fluor Fernald spokesman. Workers were "very emotional" Monday, Wagner said. Some 350 workers were laid off with the announcement that Fernald was turning the project over to the Department of Energy. Fluor will receive from $215 million to $288 million for cleaning up the property. For employees who began working at the site when it was still a uranium foundry, the completion is especially poignant, Wagner said. "If you got let go from another plant, you'd walk out and you'd see everything still there, all the buildings and everything. Here when these people leave, the last thing they'll see in the rearview mirror will be a park." The goal of the project was to turn the foundry from a nuclear waste site into a nature site with wetlands, forest and prairie areas. Wildlife, including some endangered species, have already made themselves at home. Lisa Crawford, president of Fernald Residents for Environmental Safety and Health, was relieved by the announcement. "It's a good feeling. We fought the fight and we fought it hard. We won. In my opinion, we won. It's going to be really cool to see it morph into what it needs to turn into in the next few years," she said. Crawford and her husband, Ken, lived across from the once top-secret site. Like many families in Crosby Township, they had no idea what went on there. Production at the site began in 1951 and ended in 1989. In 1984, residents were outraged to learn that uranium runoff had contaminated drinking water wells at three houses. The Crawfords lived in one of those houses, and were among the homeowners who sued the Department of Energy and National Lead of Ohio, which operated the site, for cleanup. During the course of the cleanup, Fluor and its partners removed, treated and shipped off-site radioactive waste and other hazardous materials from the foundry, which refined uranium into ingots and other forms to be used for nuclear weapons and atomic energy. E-mail pofarrell@enquirer.com [E-mail this] E-mail this | [Printer-Friendly] Throughout the Cold War, the Fernald plant operated in secrecy. Employees were warned not to talk about their work - on site or at home. The secrecy continued until 1984. Late 1940s: The Atomic Energy Commission authorizes construction of a uranium processing plant on a 1,050-acre site near the rural community of Fernald. May 1951: The George A. Fuller Co. of New York breaks ground for the plant. National Lead of Ohio was named the primary manager and operator of the plant. October 1951: The Pilot Plant opens, and during the early years, houses most of the processes needed for uranium metal production as other buildings are completed and equipped. Late 1954: Plants 1 through 9, all dedicated to specialized processes, are fully operational. 1955 through early 1960s: Uranium metal production peaks, and the plant produces nearly 12,000 tons annually. 1975: Production falls to 900 tons of metal for the year. 1984: The U.S. Department of Energy announces that nearly 300 pounds of enriched uranium oxide were released from the plant into the environment. That year, the department also announces that three off-property wells south of the site were contaminated with uranium in 1981. Residents file a class-action lawsuit seeking damages. 1985: The first shipments of low-level waste from the site are sent to the Nevada Test Site. 1989: Uranium production is suspended. The U.S. EPA designates the plant as a Superfund site. June 1991: Congress formally ends Fernald's production mission, and work shifts fully to clean-up and restoration of the site. 1997: Construction of the on-site disposal facility begins, and contaminated waste is put in the first of seven cells. 1999: Rail shipments start, carrying waste offsite to a disposal facility in Utah. 2000: More than 125,000 tons of waste are shipped offsite by rail; Cell 1 in the on-site disposal facility is full. 2001: Natural restoration work begins as 18 acres of former pasture are converted into forested area, prairie and wetlands. 2004: The last building within the Pilot Plant is demolished. It's the last building of the original 10 production facilities to be torn down. Nevada refuses to accept waste material from Silos 1 and 2, threatening a lawsuit. 2005: The last trainload of contaminated materials from the waste pits is carried by rail off-site. In all, 154 trainloads, nearly 1 million tons, of radioactive waste were removed by rail from the waste pits. January 2006: Soil at the former production area is certified clean by the U.S. EPA, clearing the way for final restoration. Oct. 30, 2006: Fluor Fernald announces the cleanup is complete, pending approval by the U.S. Department of Energy. Copyright © 1995-2006: ***************************************************************** 73 Washington Business Journal: USEC signs $200M fuel supply contract - Washington Business Journal - 1:02 PM EST Tuesdayby Staff Reporter Energy company USEC said Tuesday it signed a long-term contract valued at more than $200 million with PPL Susquehanna to supply uranium for the company's nuclear power plant in Luzerne County, Pa. Allentown, Pa.-based PPL recently announced it is seeking approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the operating licenses for its Susquehanna nuclear power plant for an additional 20 years. "This new contract builds on USEC's long-standing relationship with PPL," says John Donelson, USEC's vice president of marketing and sales. Bethesda-based USEC (NYSE: USU) purchases low-enriched uranium fuel that has been converted from highly enriched uranium taken from dismantled Russian nuclear warheads -- a process resulting from the 1993 nonproliferation agreement between the United States and Russia. USEC buys the fuel and supplies it to nuclear power plants. The Susquehanna facility, jointly owned by PPL (NYSE: PPL) and , is operated by PPL. In 2005, the plant generated enough electricity to supply about 1.8 million homes. It produced about 8 percent of all electricity generated in Pennsylvania last year. Earlier this month USEC inked a contract worth more than $200 million with Taiwan Power to supply uranium to the utility's eight nuclear power reactors. The contract runs from 2009 to 2013. Contact the Editor Need Assistance? More Latest News © 2006 American City Business Journals, Inc. and its licensors. ***************************************************************** 74 DOE: Office of Science; Climate Change Science Program Product FR Doc E6-18267 [Federal Register: October 31, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 210)] [Notices] [Page 63756] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr31oc06-41] Development Advisory Committee AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Climate Change Science Program Product Development Advisory Committee. Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Wednesday, November 15, 2006, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ADDRESSES: Room 109, Keck Center of the National Academies, 500 Fifth St., NW., Washington, DC 20001. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Anjuli S. Bamzai (301-903-0294; anjuli.bamzai@science.doe.gov) Designated Federal Officer, Climate Change Science Program Product Development Advisory Committee, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Climate Change Research Division, SC-23.3/ Germantown Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-1290. The most current information concerning this meeting can be found on the Web site: http://www.science.doe.gov/ober/cpdac/announcement.html . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Meeting: To continue discussions on drafting the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) Synthesis and Assessment Product related to scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions and concentrations, and development and application of integrated scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions. This activity is being conducted at the request of the Department of Energy, in accordance with the CCSP Guidelines for Producing the CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Products. Tentative Agenda Items: Wednesday, November 15, 1 p.m.-4 p.m: Presentation on 2.1a and 2.1b to resolve issues raised by both the public review and the CPDAC committee at the August 17-18 CPDAC meeting. Response that the 2.1a and 2.1b author team has made to address these items. Discussion by the CPDAC to decide whether the revisions on 2.1a and 2.1b are adequate and meet their approval. List of changes for 2.1a and 2.1b, if any, for final concurrence by CPDAC. Public comment (10 minute rule). Public Participation: The half day meeting is open to the public. If you would like to file a written statement with the Committee, you may do so either before or after the meeting. If you would like to make oral statements regarding any of the items on the agenda, you should contact Anjuli Bamzai at the address or telephone number listed above. You must make your request for an oral statement at least five business days before the meeting. Reasonable provisions will be made to include the scheduled oral statements on the agenda. The Chairperson of the Committee will conduct the meeting to facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Public comment will follow the 10-minute rule. Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public review and copying within 30 days at the Freedom of Information Public Reading Room, IE-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Issued in Washington, DC, on October 26, 2006. Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. E6-18267 Filed 10-30-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 75 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Idaho FR Doc E6-18268 [Federal Register: October 31, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 210)] [Notices] [Page 63756-63757] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr31oc06-42] National Laboratory AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Idaho National Laboratory. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. No. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Tuesday, November 14, 2006--8 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday, November 15, 2006--8 a.m.-2 p.m. [[Page 63757]] Opportunities for public participation will be held Tuesday, November 14, 2006, from 1 to 1:15 p.m. and 4 to 4:15 p.m.; and Wednesday, November 15, 2006, from 9 to 9:15 a.m. Additional time may be made available for public comment during the presentations. These times are subject to change as the meeting progresses, depending on the extent of comment offered. ADDRESSES: Ameritel Inn, 645 Lindsay Boulevard, Idaho Falls, ID 83402. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannon A. Brennan, Federal Coordinator, Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office, 1955 Fremont Avenue, MS-1216, Idaho Falls, ID 83415. Phone (208) 526-3993; Fax (208) 526-1926 or e-mail: Shannon.Brennan@nuclear.energy.gov or visit the Board's Internet home page at: http://www.inelemcab.org. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of environmental restoration, waste management, and related activities. Tentative Topics (agenda topics may change up to the day of the meeting; please contact Shannon A. Brennan for the most current agenda): Groundwater Monitoring Update; Experimental Test Reactor (ETR) Engineering Evaluation/ Cost Analysis (EE/CA); Tank Farm Update; Disposition of Legacy Spent Nuclear Fuel. Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public. Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral presentations pertaining to agenda items should contact Shannon A. Brennan at the address or telephone number listed above. The request must be received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable provision will be made to include the presentation in the agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Individuals wishing to make public comment will be provided a maximum of five minutes to present their comments. This notice is being published less than 15 days prior to the meeting date due to programmatic issues that had to be resolved prior to the meeting date. Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public review and copying at the U.S. Department of Energy's Freedom of Information Public Reading Room, 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Minutes will also be available by writing to Shannon A. Brennan, Federal Coordinator, at the address and phone number listed above. Issued at Washington, DC, on October 26, 2006. Rachel Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. E6-18268 Filed 10-30-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 76 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Paducah FR Doc E6-18272 [Federal Register: October 31, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 210)] [Notices] [Page 63757] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr31oc06-43] AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE). ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Paducah. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. No. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Thursday, November 16, 2006, 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m. ADDRESSES: 111 Memorial Drive, Barkley Centre, Paducah, Kentucky 42001. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Reinhard Knerr, Deputy Designated Federal Officer, Department of Energy Paducah Site Office, Post Office Box 1410, MS-103, Paducah, Kentucky 42001, (270) 441-6825. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of environmental restoration, waste management and related activities. Tentative Agenda: 5:30 p.m.--Informal Discussion 6 p.m.--Call to Order Introductions Review of Agenda Approval of October Minutes 6:15 p.m.--Deputy Designated Federal Officer's Comments 6:35 p.m.--Federal Coordinator's Comments 6:40 p.m.--Liaisons' Comments 6:50 p.m.--Public Comments and Questions 7 p.m.--Task Forces/Presentations C-746-U Landfill Groundwater Assessment Site Management Plan Water Disposition/Water Quality Task Force 8 p.m.--Review of Action Items 8:05 p.m.--Public Comments and Questions 8:15 p.m.--Break 8:25 p.m.--Administrative Issues Budget Review Review of Work Plan Review of Next Agenda 8:35 p.m.--Subcommittee Report Executive Committee--Retreat Review 8:50 p.m.--Final Comments 9 p.m.--Adjourn Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public. Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral statements pertaining to agenda items should contact Reinhard Knerr at the address or telephone number listed above. Requests must be received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable provision will be made to include the presentation in the agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Individuals wishing to make public comment will be provided a maximum of five minutes to present their comments. Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public review and copying at the U.S. Department of Energy's Freedom of Information Public Reading Room, 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday-Friday, except Federal holidays. Minutes will also be available at the Department of Energy's Environmental Information Center and Reading Room at 115 Memorial Drive, Barkley Centre, Paducah, Kentucky between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday through Friday or by writing to Reinhard Knerr, Department of Energy, Paducah Site Office, Post Office Box 1410, MS-103, Paducah, Kentucky 42001 or by calling him at (270) 441-6825. Issued at Washington, DC on October 26, 2006. Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. E6-18272 Filed 10-30-06; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 77 RedOrbit: Task Force Poised to Hear If DOE Grant Awarded: The Funds Would Be Used to Bid on a Nuclear Fuel Recycling Project. Task force members initially thought they were competing against seven other DOE sites nationwide. Washington sources now indicate there also may be as many as six additional competitors -- all cities without DOE sites, Anderson said. He said the rationale for more bidders is that DOE sites have a large amount of available data, lessening the cost of their siting work. That would allow DOE to preserve more of the $20 million in total grant money and perhaps distribute the balance among additional grant recipients, Anderson said. An increased number of competitors doesn't necessarily lessen Paducah's chances, Orazine said. "It's more difficult to site a nuclear facility in virgin area than in an area where you have experience with it." The spent-fuel operation would cost $12 billion to $16 billion just for a recycling plant, create 5,000-plus construction jobs and employ well over 1,000. It consists of:  A consolidated fuel-treatment center, owned and run by DOE on at least 500 acres of federal land near the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The center will cut up nuclear fuel rods and chemically treat 2,000 to 3,000 metric tons of spent fuel annually, starting in 2020. Plutonium and other highly radioactive components would be separated from less radioactive uranium, which makes up 93 percent of the total.  A 500- to 2,000-megawatt advanced burner reactor that will further break down the more highly radioactive components of the spent fuel. Design is scheduled to begin in October. The reactor would produce spent fast-reactor fuel, which when recycled would eliminate 90 percent of the highly radioactive waste to be sent to a proposed repository in Yucca Mountain, Nev., and reduce the time it remains radioactive from hundreds of thousands of years to less than 500 years, according to the Energy Department. DOE has said it may or may not build the reactor at the same site as the fuel-treatment center.  A $1.8 billion, 250-megawatt test burner reactor, operational by 2014. The project is a key part of the Bush administration's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) to recycle nuclear fuel for use worldwide, foster a new generation of domestic power plants and greatly reduce nuclear waste. Operator USEC Inc. will gradually close the Paducah diffusion plant starting in 2011 in favor of a more cost-efficient gas centrifuge plant in Piketon, Ohio. ----- Copyright (c) 2006, The Paducah Sun, Ky. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. Source: The Paducah Sun Ads by Google ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************