***************************************************************** 01/04/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.3 ***************************************************************** 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 Guardian Unlimited: 'Huge' demo on Trident and Iraq 2 [NYTr] Iran's Pres: Production of Nuclear Fuel in Reach 3 AFP: China says Iran official to discuss nuclear issues 4 YONHAP NEWS: Seoul sees no immediate signs of second N. Korean nucle 5 Korea Times: Ministries Cautious Over Paek¡¯s Death 6 Japan Times: History, North Korea set to test Japan-China ties 7 AFP: North Korea preparing second nuclear test - US TV - 8 Guardian Unlimited: North Koreans Rally for Nuclear Program 9 AFP: Singapore implements UN sanctions against NKorea 10 US: [NYTr] The US Nuclear Threat is Real 11 US: Los Angeles Times: Declassified in name only - 12 TIME Europe Magazine: The Year of The Nuke 13 Independent: Brown plans Whitehall shake-up to put new focus on clim NUCLEAR REACTORS 14 US: Herald News: Board stands by power plant assessment 15 The Hindu: Civilian nuclear programme will be independent - Kakodkar 16 US: APP.COM: Governor puts eye on Lacey reactor | 17 Sofia Echo: BULGARIA'S ELECTRICITY EXPORT ALREADY LOWER THAN 2006 VA 18 US: NRC: Regulatory Information Conference 19 US: New London Day: Case Closed For Millstone Whistleblower 20 AU ABC: North Qld physicists play down nuclear power fears. 21 UPI: Analysis: India's new hydropower policy 22 Sofia Morning News: Bulgaria: Nuke Fallout in Bulgaria 23 HindustanTimes.com: India to begin construction of AHWR NUCLEAR SECURITY 24 US: The Advocate: State regulators close case involving nuclear plan 25 US: UPI: Plutonium security risk warning NUCLEAR SAFETY 26 US: Herald News: Vouchers given for radiation meds 27 US: Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Test is a real bomb 28 US: Lodinews.com: Test bombs may contain radioactive elements 29 US: The Spectrum: Meeting called 'a dog and pony show' 30 US: Cincinnati Business Courier: UC study: Fernald no hazard to heal 31 thetyee.ca: A Rancher's Radioactive Hell 32 Northern Times: Landowner receives apology from UKAEA 33 US: New London Day: Nuclear Physics for Dummiesí topic of Jan. 12 l 34 US: KGPE: Truck carrying radioactive material involved in minor cras 35 US: Digital Journal: U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Training film NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 36 US: AU ABC: Mining companies keen to search near Alice 37 Las Vegas SUN: The man who defies description 38 Platts: New Nevada governor allies in fight against Yucca repository 39 US: Ottawa Citizen: Analysts tout uranium's explosive potential 40 Whitehaven News: Nuclear industry firm secures jobs for locals PEACE 41 US: AFP: Former US policy honchos call for world free of nuclear arm US DEPT. OF ENERGY 42 Las Vegas SUN: Head of U.S. Nuclear Agency Leaving Post 43 DOE: Department of Energy Releases the Notice of Intent for the 44 Idaho Statesman: Idaho invests $2 million in isotope production 45 Tri-City Herald: Hanford burn pits eligible for historic places list 46 DOE: Privacy Act of 1974; Notice to Amend an Existing System of 47 KnoxNews: Duratek penalized for waste disposal 48 DOE: Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact 49 lamonitor.com: Lab impact statements to converge in July 50 Knox News: U.S. paid BWXT $33.6 million for managing Y-12 in 2006 51 lamonitor.com: Lab checkpoints to open on Monday ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Guardian Unlimited: 'Huge' demo on Trident and Iraq Maev Kennedy Friday January 5, 2007 The Guardian The Stop the War Coalition and CND are predicting huge crowds at a demonstration in London on February 24 against replacing Trident and the war in Iraq. The rally is being organised to concentrate the minds of MPs on the strength of public opinion on Trident before the crucial Commons vote, when there will be a lobby of parliament. The rally will also call for the immediate return of British troops from Iraq. The war, and the threat of a new generation of nuclear weapons, have sparked a spectacular increase in CND membership. The CND chair, Kate Hudson, said the government was out of step with the public. Opinion was heavily against Trident and growing in strength. "A majority of people believe we should not risk our security on weapons of mass destruction, but look instead for a new foreign policy," she said. "Opposition has increased from 54% to 59% in the past year, and a growing number of political and religious leaders are now speaking out." CND has complained that debate about Trident was suppressed at this year's Labour party conference, and it is becoming clear that the party is divided over the issue at every level. There are reports that the cabinet is split over a new nuclear deterrent costing up to £25bn. A week ago the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, voiced opposition to replacing Trident, as did the Roman Catholic bishops of England and Wales in November. In Scotland, the Faslane naval base, built to hold Britain's first Polaris nuclear fleet and now home to the ageing Trident submarines, is becoming a centre for protest against nuclear arms. Useful links Guide to anti-war websites Stop the War Coalition (UK) [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 2 [NYTr] Iran's Pres: Production of Nuclear Fuel in Reach Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 19:56:03 -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 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Prensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com Iran's President Says Production of Nuclear Fuel in Reach Teheran, Jan 3 (Prensa Latina) Iran will soon have conditions to produce enriched uranium on an industrial scale to fuel its nuclear plants, Iranian President Mahmud Ajmadinejad announced on Wednesday. Iranian official dailies quoted the president during his speech in a meeting during his work visit to Khuzestan province as saying that Iran will "find a key soon" to produce nuclear fuel on a worldwide scale. "Iran has the nuclear fuel cycle and shortly it will find the key to produce nuclear fuel for the industrial sector," said Ajmadinejad. The president added that his country made the decision and it will not give importance to the demands made by western powers, which speak the language of force, and emphasized that Iran will defend to the end its own interests. Last weekend, Ahmadinejad and other Iranian top officials unanimously rejected a UN Security Council resolution imposing trade restrictions on Teheran due to its refusal to abandon the enrichment of uranium. The declaration is a new challenge to that text, which according to Ahmadinejad and his government members lacks validity. ln ajs msl mf PL-13 * ================================================================ .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 AFP: China says Iran official to discuss nuclear issues Thu Jan 4, 6:16 AM ET BEIJING (AFP) - Iran" /> Iran's top nuclear negotiator will discuss with Chinese leaders his country's nuclear programs during a two-day visit to China. "(Ali) Larijani will meet with Chinese leaders... to exchange opinions on bilateral issues, Iran's nuclear issues, and other regional and international topics of common concern," China's foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular press conference. Larijani, head of Iran's national security council, will deliver a message from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Chinese President Hu Jintao" /> Hu Jintaoduring the visit, according to Iran's state news agency IRNA. Liu declined to disclose further details. China supports Iran's right to a nuclear program but as a permanent member of the United Nations" /> United NationsSecurity Council voted for a resolution that imposed sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear industry and ballistic missile program. Russia and China -- which both have strong economic interests in Iran -- worked to water down drafts of the Security Council resolution and Beijing has since called for more talks on the nuclear issue. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 4 YONHAP NEWS: Seoul sees no immediate signs of second N. Korean nuclear test Friday, January 05, 2007 The Korea Times > Nation By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter The government Thursday decided not to send Pyongyang a message of condolence after the death of North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun. The North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Wednesday that Paek died at the age of 78, but it did not provide details on how or when the top diplomat passed away. The Ministry of Unification, which offered its condolences regarding the death of Lim Dong-ok, North Korea's point man on inter-Korean relations, last August, steered clear of the issue. ``We'd like to extend our condolences to Paek while remembering his efforts during inter-Korean meetings in the 1990s, especially as a member of the North's delegation to the preparatory talks for an inter-Korean summit,'' the ministry's spokesman Yang Chang-seok told reporters. Yang said it is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, not his ministry, that should decide whether to send a message of condolences to the North. The Foreign Ministry, however, did not send a message to the Stalinist state, ministry officials said. ``I'd like to remind you that Paek held talks with South Korean foreign ministers three times _ in 2000, 2004 and 2005 _ on the occasion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional forum. I'd like to express my condolences to his family, friends and associates,'' a Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who formerly served as the South Korean foreign minister, said Wednesday that he hoped Paek's death would not hinder the six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program. ``The secretary-general expresses his condolences for the death of Paek, with whom he worked for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula over the years,'' Ban's spokeswoman, Michele Montas, said in a statement, according to Agence France-Presse. Sean McCormack, spokesman of the U.S. State Department, offered condolences to Paek's family during a daily press briefing. ``The carefully worded remarks made by Seoul officials show that the government is concerned about public sentiment against Pyongyang and a possible backlash from conservative groups,'' Ryoo Kihl-jae, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said. ``However, I believe there is no need for the government to be so careful about the matter, as Paek has not been involved in inter-Korean issues for a long time. Government officials should have clarified their position instead of making ambiguous comments,'' he said. things@koreatimes.co.kr01-04-2007 19:23 ***************************************************************** 6 Japan Times: History, North Korea set to test Japan-China ties Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2007 By MAY MASANGKAY Kyodo News Japan's ties with China face a litmus test in 2007 as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's honeymoon period comes to an end and the likelihood that disputes over history will return to the fore with the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, officials and analysts say. Tokyo is expected to meanwhile continue putting relations with South Korea back on track with President Roh Moo Hyun scheduled to visit early in the year, while North Korea will continue to pose a "huge challenge" to diplomats, with the recent six-party talks on denuclearizing the hermit state making no progress. "(2007) will be a crucial year for Sino-Japanese ties as the two nations will see if their relations can really be on a good track and determine if they can indeed elevate their ties into a relationship of shared strategic interest," said China expert Tomoyuki Kojima. "The situation however is volatile and depends on certain variables," Kojima, a political science professor at Keio University in Tokyo, said, referring to the dispute over Yasukuni Shrine and public sensitivity in China that may arise due to the anniversary of the 1937 massacre in Nanjing. Abe visited China and South Korea in early October in his first overseas visits after taking office in September in a bid to mend strained ties with the two neighbors. Sheila Smith, a Japan specialist at the East-West Center in Hawaii, praised Abe for making it a priority to thaw the chilly ties with the two neighboring nations and thereby restore a "basic cordial" conversation at the highest level. Before Abe, ties between Tokyo and Beijing had sunk to their lowest ebb in decades, with China and South Korea halting top-level talks with Japan in part as a protest over Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni. The Yasukuni issue, though, is not totally off the radar, government officials say. Abe, who supported Koizumi's shrine visits and himself has paid many visits, the last in April, has been vague about whether he will go as prime minister. For now, he will continue to pursue a strategy of leaving the issue ambiguous in consideration of Chinese and South Korean sentiments, and Beijing and Seoul appear not to be saying anything about this, one official said. Japan and China also remain apart on several other issues, including the dispute over gas exploration rights in the East China Sea, with diplomatic sources saying talks are expected to resume early this year. Possible visits by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao to Japan, if they go ahead this year, will be make-or-break events for Japanese diplomacy. "It will be a challenge to the Chinese leadership to find a way of presenting their intentions to the Japanese people to have constructive relations with Japan," Smith said. Japan-South Korea ties, which were made testy -- though to a lesser extent than were Japan-China ties -- over Yasukuni, are also getting back on track and Roh's early 2007 visit is expected to determine the direction of the relationship, according to Foreign Ministry officials. North Korea, with the standoff over its nuclear arms and unresolved abductions of Japanese nationals, will also remain a headache. How Japan can persuade China and South Korea to be more firm in dealing with North Korea, which conducted a nuclear test in October in defiance of the international community and remained defiant in the recent round of six-party talks, remains uncertain. "It won't do any good if China and South Korea do not firmly address this. It would be nice if they can respond sternly, but they have yet to halt their assistance to North Korea," said a senior Foreign Ministry official who voiced strong dissatisfaction with Beijing and Seoul in this regard. Tomohiko Taniguchi, the ministry's deputy press secretary, said: "It will be difficult to crack the barrier to get the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Il, convinced of how important it is for the nation . . . to be more understanding of international concerns, including concerns from the Japanese perspective about the abduction issue." Taniguchi also expressed hope that the abduction issue -- a highly emotional matter for Japan -- will be addressed in an "even more serious fashion," given that former South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon became U.N. secretary general on Monday. "As someone who has a firsthand knowledge about the situation on the peninsula, it is also to be hoped that North Korean issues will be discussed in an even more effective way on the floor of the United Nations," he said. Ban assured Foreign Minister Taro Aso in October that he would pay "special attention" to the abduction issue as head of the U.N. Smith meanwhile said it will be interesting to keep a close watch on developments in Japan in which senior lawmakers, including Aso, are calling for a debate on the possibility of Japan possessing nuclear weapons. The North Korean threat also demonstrate something else -- the importance to Japan of its bid to secure a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. Another official at the Foreign Ministry admitted Japan's bid has lost momentum compared with 2005 but said diplomacy at the U.N. stage over the nuclear standoff with North Korea has shown how advantageous it would be for Japan to be a part of the Security Council. Japan played a key role with the United States in pushing for a sanctions resolution against North Korea after its Oct. 9 nuclear test, as Japan was at that time a nonpermanent Security Council member, the official said. As for Japan-Russia ties, the long-standing territorial dispute over the four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido is not expected to see a breakthrough anytime soon, with both nations sticking to the rhetoric of seeking "a mutually acceptable" resolution. Japan is also eyeing strengthening ties with India. Abe has repeatedly emphasized his desire to strengthen ties with countries, including India, that "share common values," such as democracy, in what is seen as an attempt to keep China in check. The Japan Times (C) All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 7 AFP: North Korea preparing second nuclear test - US TV - Thu Jan 4, 6:57 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - North Korea" /> appears to have prepared for a second nuclear weapons test, US television media reported. "We think they've put everything in place to conduct a test without any notice or warning," a senior US defense official was quoted as saying by ABC News. The official cautioned that the intelligence was inconclusive on whether North Korea would go ahead with another test, but said the preparations were similar to steps taken by Pyongyang before it conducted its first nuclear test on October 9. Two other senior defense officials confirmed that recent intelligence suggests the North Koreans appears to be ready to test a nuclear weapon again, but the intelligence community is divided about whether another test is likely, ABC said. "That would surprise me," a senior intelligence official told ABC when asked if North Korea was likely to soon conduct another test. Another official, however, predicted North Korea would conduct a test in the next two or three months. The US television network said that recent activity has been seen in the same area where the October 9 test had occurred, P'onggye in northeastern North Korea. In the weeks before that test, US spy satellites detected the unloading of large cables. Six-nation negotiations aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programs were held in Beijing in December after a 13-month hiatus due to Pyongyang's boycott over US financial sanctions. After conducting its first nuclear test in October, North Korea agreed to return to the talks among the United States, North Korea, South Korea" /> , China, Japan and Russia on condition the banking issue was "discussed and settled." North Korea refused to engage in substantive discussions at the talks, citing no progress in the lifting of US sanctions imposed on Pyongyang over allegations of money laundering and counterfeiting. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 8 Guardian Unlimited: North Koreans Rally for Nuclear Program From the Associated Press [UP] Thursday January 4, 2007 2:01 PM By KWANG-TAE KIM Associated Press Writer SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Tens of thousands of North Koreans, including high level officials, rallied Thursday in the communist country's capital to defend their government's right to have nuclear weapons, state-run media reported. ``We have nothing to be scared about as we have a strong war deterrent,'' a North Korean woman said at the massive rally in central Pyongyang, the North's Central TV reported. The communist regime, which conducted its first atomic test in October, often refers to its nuclear weapons program as a necessary deterrent to the threat of a U.S. attack - an accusation Washington has repeatedly denied. The rally, which drew about 100,000 North Koreans - including Parliament speaker Choe Thae Bok and the vice president of Parliament, Yang Hyong Sop - was held to express public support for Pyongyang's New Year's message, Central TV said. In a New Year's message on Monday, the North vowed to strengthen its defense capabilities as it celebrated its nuclear power, and called for efforts to revitalize its sickly economy. North Korea hailed its Oct. 9 nuclear test as ``an auspicious event in the national history.'' The test stoked international tensions and drew U.N. sanctions. The New Year's message also urged the North's 1.1 million-member military, the backbone of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's rule, to defend the country at all costs. The rally participants pledged to defend Kim with their lives as they held aloft large pictures of the leader and his late father, founding President Kim Il-Sung, according to the video. The North usually holds a massive rally every year in support of a New Year message, but it doesn't have ``any special meaning,'' a South Korean official said, asking not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The participants also vowed to embark on a campaign to build a prosperous and powerful nation while making a dramatic effort to improve the standard of living. North Korea is one of the world's poorest countries. It has relied on foreign handouts to feed its 23 million people since the mid-1990s, when natural disasters and mismanagement devastated its economy and led to a famine estimated to have killed some 2 million people. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 9 AFP: Singapore implements UN sanctions against NKorea Thursday January 4, 2007, 6:50 pm SINGAPORE (AFP) - Singapore has begun implementing United Nations trade sanctions against North Korea in retaliation for the country's nuclear test last year. Effective from New Year's Day, shipments through Singapore of luxury goods including cigars, luxury cars, fur products, wines and spirits destined for North Korea are prohibited, Singapore Customs said in a notice to traders. The ban also includes shipments of missiles, technology related to nuclear programmes, and heavy military equipment, including warships and combat aircraft, the statement said. The prohibition was made under a United Nations Security Council resolution adopted unanimously by the council after the October 9 nuclear weapons test by the impoverished and reclusive Stalinist nation. Copyright © 2006 AFP. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 10 [NYTr] The US Nuclear Threat is Real Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 20:06:31 -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 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [While the endless Bush War is being justified by the nebulous and so-far totally fictitious threat of "Iranian nuclear weapons," the real nuclear threat is right here in the US. It hasn't gone away. Sorry about some of the strange characters in this one, if they come out looking weird. They are minor and don't destroy the readability of this post.-NY Transfer] sent by Ed Pearl - Jan 2, 2007 More nuclear weapons I don't know if human survival is a lefty thing or not. Having grandchildren I find it important. Of course, this project 2030 is a giant boondoggle for the nuclear corporations and a great theft of moneys needed to make life better for all. Gift of the Magi by Peter G. Cohen Dear Friends, There are few gifts for children that last a lifetime, but the gift of living in a nuclear weapons-free world is one of them. In this Holiday Season we have an unusual opportunity to join with the wise men who have spoken out against these horrible weapons by taking a significant step toward their abolition. The Department of Energy (DOE) is now soliciting public opinion on the creation of a new giant facility to store and handle all plutonium - including the manufacture of pits (plutonium cores) for a new generation of nuclear weapons. This is the same job that was carried out in the past by the notorious Hanford and later by the equally polluted Rocky Flats. Both of these sites have discharged radioactive material and toxic chemicals in to the air, soil and water of their communities and contributed to unknown numbers of cancers, heart and lung disease, and birth defects. They are now in the process of a cleanups that have consumed billions of dollars and will require billions more in the next decades - if it can be done at all. This new plutonium facility is planned to produce 125 new nuclear weapons pits a year! It is part of a DOE plan, called Complex 2030, to rebuild our nuclear weapons stockpile while complying with the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, which requires the U.S. to reduce our warheads stockpile to 6,000. In other words, weB9ll cut back, but at the same time weB9ll create a new generation of weapons that are B3more reliable and more usable.B2 Recent research has shown that the existing plutonium pits, once thought to deteriorate, will remain reliable for at least 90 years, and we have thousands of them in reserve. Still the DOE wants to develop B3the needed capabilities required to sustain the stockpile in the long term.B2 CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVE The DOE Environmental Impact Statement for this project is designed to consider the location of this new weapons factory at one of five existing nuclear facilities. But the law says that DOE must consider all of the alternatives! The best one is to live up to our national obligation under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to work for total disarmament. We cannot expect other nations to renounce nuclear weapons while we are working to B3sustainB2 and improve our own. The United States has a special role in preventing nuclear proliferation. After chairing the international WMD Commission for two years Hans Blix said about nuclear disarmament, B3If the U.S. takes the lead other nations will follow. If it does not, there will be arms races.B2 We do not need Complex 2030 or any other plan for new nuclear weapons. We need to return to our obligation under the Non-Prolferation Treaty to work for universal disarmament. The Alternative that we support is to lead the world in negotiations and further reductions of all nuclear weapons, while we work for the improvement of nuclear storage, disposal and verification systems worldwiude. This is a long, tough road, but every step improves the chances that our children will not live under the threat of incineration or radiation. We have spent billions of dollars, sickened and killed thousands of our own people in pursuit of these illegal and immoral Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is time to end this disastrous course. Readers have until January 17th to offer their opinions and concerns to the DOE. This is a great opportunity for the public to influence the future safety of our people. What greater gifts can you give those you love than the chance to live free of the nuclear threat to our lives, our health and the national economy. Peter G. Cohen, author, nuke-freeworld.com For a sample letter and mail service please go to: ww2.californiapeaceaction.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=5864 Write your own email to: complex2030@nnsa.doe.gov Or a letter to: Theodore A. Wyka Complex 2030 SEIS Document Manager Office of Transformation U.S. Department of Energy 1000 Independence Avenue SW Washington DC 20585 * ================================================================ .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 ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 11 Los Angeles Times: Declassified in name only - 10:03 PM PST, January 4, 2007 You're mistaken if you think declassifying government documents means making them available. By Jon Wiener, JON WIENER, a professor of history at UC Irvine, is a contributing editor for the Nation and author of "Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files." January 4, 2007 ON DEC. 31 at midnight, hundreds of millions of pages of secret government documents were automatically declassified  the result of President Bush's Executive Order on Declassification, which covers all national security documents 25 years old or older. They included 270 million pages of FBI files, according to the New York Times, covering, among other topics, the civil rights movement, 1960s anti-war protests and organized crime up to 1981. In all of American history, there has never been anything like this avalanche of information. But if you called the National Archives on Wednesday, as I did (it was closed Tuesday for the national day of mourning for President Ford), you would have been told that none of these newly declassified documents are available  and won't be, maybe for years. Automatic declassification is a wonderful idea. "Our democratic principles require that the American people be informed of the activities of their Government"  that's what President Clinton wrote when he ordered 25-year automatic declassification in 1995. The target date for compliance was extended several times, but then, in 2003, Bush surprised his critics by setting a firm deadline. Over the years, some documents were released in anticipation of the deadline. But the obstacles to actually seeing the vast majority of these documents anytime soon are huge. Declassification, it turns out, is not the same as release. Some documents will remain classified, and others will be declassified but still withheld. Bush's executive order specifies nine grounds for exemptions, and dozens of other existing laws restrict the release of certain kinds of information. Many restrictions are reasonable: The Privacy Act, for instance, prohibits release to a third party of any government information on a living person  so I can't get your FBI file, and you can't get mine. The Atomic Energy Act protects information on how to build nuclear weapons. Some of the exemptions, however, are more troublesome and can easily provide excuses to agencies that want to keep secrets. One, for instance, covers information that might "reveal the identity of a confidential human source." Obviously, people who have been promised confidentiality should not have their names released. But the FBI has extended that principle (which is also part of the Freedom of Information Act) to cover not just the names of sources but also the information they provided. The bureau argued that release of the information might lead a knowledgeable person to figure out the source's identity. On this basis, all information provided by all confidential sources could be withheld. Also exempt: information that might reveal the FBI's "sources and methods." In the past, the FBI has claimed this exemption for information obtained through wiretaps  because a wiretap is a "source and method"  even though it's not exactly a secret that the FBI uses wiretaps. But if you withhold all the information provided by informants and wiretaps, not much is left except for newspaper clippings. Then there's the exemption for information provided by a foreign government. This is the one that tripped me up in my 23-year battle to get John Lennon's FBI files. The last 10 documents were released last month  but rather than revealing sensitive foreign intelligence that would compromise an allied government, they contained only innocuous information about Lennon's antiwar activities in London in 1971 that had always been publicly known. Thus the policy known as "automatic declassification" does not in fact mean that 25-year-old national security information will be automatically declassified. It means that the material must be, in the words of the Justice Department, "reviewed for declassification, exemption, and/or referral to other government agencies." The last phrase, "referral to other government agencies" sounds benign but in fact provides a huge loophole. The Justice Department, for example, reported that in 2006 it reviewed 57 million pages, of which 11 million  20%  were declassified, while 46 million pages, or 80%, were referred to other agencies. Virtually all important documents involve multiple agencies. If you wanted to look, say, at Reagan-era memos about U.S. support for Saddam Hussein, those meetings probably involved the CIA, the National Security Council and the Defense and State departments. If even one of those agencies wanted to withhold a document, it would be withheld. (There is a deadline for the processing of the material that has been referred to other agencies  three more years.) And there is one more huge obstacle. Documents that are deemed releasable are to be sent to the National Archives, which is then supposed to make them available to the public. But the National Archives already has a backlog of 400 million pages. Oh, and its budget for next year has been cut. Congress needs to appropriate additional funds for the National Archives if the 25-year automatic-declassification policy is to have any meaning. This may not be on the agenda for the Democrats' first 100 hours  but it ought to be in their first 100 days. Rep. Henry Waxman of Los Angeles and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut chair the responsible House and Senate committees. They should take the lead because the American people should be informed about the activities of their government. [0] What made Saddam crazy? Op-Ed: We'll never know. He should've been studied by scientists, not executed. Copyright 2007 Los Angeles Times ***************************************************************** 12 TIME Europe Magazine: The Year of The Nuke By CLAYTON NEUMAN Jan. 04, 2007 Between threats, tests and U.N.-sponsored sanctions, 2006 was a radioactive year for nuclear proliferation across the globe and as 2007 gets under way, the action shows no sign of abating. A rundown of the world's nuclear powerhouses, and what to expect in the coming months. Iran Responding to economic sanctions the U.N. Security Council imposed on Tehran last month for refusing to end its nuclear program, the Iranian parliament passed a measure on Dec. 27 to accelerate its research and limit cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). More restrictions could follow. North Korea Six-nation talks over Pyongyang's nuclear projects stalled last month when U.S. officials refused to lift financial sanctions before beginning disarmament negotiations. Though no date has been set for talks to resume, lead U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill says it will be "weeks, not months." India President Bush reversed 30 years of U.S. policy last month by signing an agreement that would allow New Delhi which never signed the Nonproliferation Treaty to buy U.S. fuel and reactors. The arrangement must get approval from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, the IAEA and the U.S. Congress before taking effect, but critics already fear it could spark an arms race with China and Pakistan. Pakistan The U.S. has said that Pakistan will not be offered a deal similar to India's. No matter. Islamabad is already finalizing a nuclear energy cooperation agreement with China that would provide Pakistan with two 300-MW reactors by the end of the year, while President Pervez Musharraf boasted on Dec. 24 that his country would continue to increase its already-strong nuclear defensive capabilities. Israel Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ended decades of ambiguity about his country's nuclear capabilities when he inadvertently named Israel in a list of countries that possess such weapons. Officials insist he was misinterpreted, but Iran is pressing the U.N. to place Israel's facilities under inspection a move the U.S. would most likely veto. From the Jan. 15, 2007 issue of TIME Europe magazine Copyright © Time Inc. and Time Warner Publishing B.V. All ***************************************************************** 13 Independent: Brown plans Whitehall shake-up to put new focus on climate change By Andrew Grice, Political Editor Published: 05 January 2007 Gordon Brown is drawing up plans for a major shake-up of Whitehall departments to allow the Government to give greater priority to combating climate change. The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) could become a more powerful Department of Environment and Energy. At present, energy comes under the remit of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which would face abolition. David Miliband, the Secretary of State for the Environment, is likely to head the expanded department. As well as leading the fight against climate change, he would be in charge of plans to build a generation of nuclear power stations and boost renewable sources such as wind, wave and solar power. Mr Brown, who is expected to succeed Tony Blair this summer, is keen to promote younger ministers. He believes keeping Mr Miliband in the post would ensure continuity; moving him could be seen as a sign that the environment was not important. The Government's response to climate change has been hampered by battles between Defra, which has favoured tougher action, and the DTI, which has taken a more pro-business stance. Although Mr Miliband and Alistair Darling, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, have tried to resolve the problems, Mr Brown believes the present structure of Whitehall is a barrier to effective action. "We can't afford the luxury of people pulling in different directions on such an important issue and spending their time firing off letters to each other," said one Brown aide. The Government is in grave danger of missing its target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent by 2010. At present, it is on course for 16 per cent. The Chancellor is considering the plan as part of his government-wide spending review in July. He is adopting a "year zero" approach rather than basing departments' future budgets on their existing spending, which has allowed him to launch a root-and-branch review of Whitehall. The review will set out Mr Brown's priorities for the next 10 years and would be the blueprint for his time as prime minister. From 2008, overall public spending is likely to rise by 1.9 per cent more than inflation a year, much less than in recent years. The Chancellor believes the central role of the DTI, which employs 10,400, in promoting British industry at home and abroad could be hived off to a body staffed by non-civil servants with more expertise. The changes would give greater emphasis to science, now part of the DTI, with the aim of enhancing Britain's competitiveness. A new department responsible for science, skills, enterprise and innovation could take over some of the functions of the Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Trade policy could be transferred to the Treasury. But abolition of the DTI would be strongly opposed by business groups. Mr Brown is also resisting proposals by John Reid, the Home Secretary, to create an US-style Department for Homeland Security to spearhead the fight against terrorism. The Chancellor wants a single strategy for domestic and international security with its own budget, overseen by the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and the Foreign Secretary. Scrapping the DTI would save money, helping Mr Brown's drive to cut Whitehall costs. © 2006 Independent News and Media Limited ***************************************************************** 14 Herald News: Board stands by power plant assessment SCHOOL DISTRICT CHALLENGE January 4, 2007 By STAFF WRITER BRAIDWOOD -- A decision handed down Wednesday by the Will County Board of Review upheld the county's assessment of the Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant. Reed-Custer School District has appealed the decision made by Rhonda Novak, the supervisor of assessments. Novak's office set the Exelon-owned power plant's value at $350 million. "I am very disappointed," said John Asplund, district superintendent. "The only thing we can do now is appeal this decision with the state." Asplund said the district could lose about $6 million in revenue if the assessment stands. The school district spent about $25,000 on an appraiser to come up with their own appraisal of the power plant. He said their assessment came in at $585 million. "I think it is ironic that the power plant leaks out tritium and it actually helps them lower the value of the power plant," Asplund said. Knowing the district had budgeted significant dollars to contest the assessment, Novak said in a press release that she was not successful in her attempts to meet with Asplund and school board members to explain the reason for her assessment. "We are hoping the funds budgeted for the challenge could instead be used for educational purposes," Novak said in the press release. Novak said Reed-Custer School District will get more than $4 million over what it received the previous year under the new assessment. The decision came after the school district alleged a value for the plant at $585 million during the hearing and lowered the value in their written arguments. The County Clerk Tax Extension Department calculated that under the tax caps, the school would receive $100,000 less in taxes for the 2006 tax year had the assessment been made at the $585 million dollar amount. The new assessment of the power plant represents a 61 percent increase over the 2005 assessment of $217,000 million, according to Novak's office. The $217 million assessment in 2005 represented the last year in a five-year agreement between Exelon and the taxing bodies. Exelon also did their own appraisal, which came in at $353 million. Reporter Kim Smith can be reached at (815) 729-6067 or at /a> heraldnewsonline.com: Feedback | Contact Us | About Us | | | © Copyright 2007 Sun-Times News Group | and ***************************************************************** 15 The Hindu: Civilian nuclear programme will be independent - Kakodkar Friday, Jan 05, 2007 CHIDAMBARAM: Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar told presspersons here on Thursday that the civilian nuclear programme of the country would be independent and there was no question of losing autonomy on the issue. Asked about concerns that the recent U.S. law on the nuclear deal with Washington could impinge on India's research and development programme in the nuclear power sector, he said: "Certainly there are concerns and for that we have to seek clarifications [from the U.S.]." Pointing out that the Henry J. Hyde U.S.-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act was not the last word and the deal would be finalised only with the signing of the 123 Agreement, he said: "We have to negotiate and make sure that it [the law] does not impinge on our R. We have to maintain our autonomy. No question about it." Dr. Kakodkar, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy, made a presentation on nuclear power at a session on "energy security" at the Indian Science Congress here. Use of thorium He announced that the construction of the 300 MW Advanced Heavy Water Reactor would begin this year. It would be ready in five to six years. Estimated to cost between Rs. 1,500 crore and Rs. 1,800 crore, the project assumes importance, as thorium would be used for power generation. India is estimated to have a reserve of 2.25 lakh tonnes of Thorium, with an electricity generation potential of 1,55,000 gig watt-years, against just 61,000 tonnes of uranium, with an electricity generation potential of up to 42,000 gig watt-years only. The use of thorium for power generation had been a dream of the country's nuclear scientists as it would help make the nuclear programme all the more autonomous. Dr. Kakodkar, however, declined to identify the site where the AHWR would be set up. Pre-licensing review The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was conducting the pre-licensing review and the site would be announced soon, he said. The AHWR would have better safety standards and have a design life of 100 years. The design had been internationally recognised as innovative, he said. Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. ***************************************************************** 16 APP.COM: Governor puts eye on Lacey reactor | Asbury Park Press Online Thursday, January 4, 2007 BY NICK CLUNN STAFF WRITER [Story Chat] Post Comment LACEY — A special state delegation is expected to visit the Oyster Creek Generating Station in coming months to take a closer look for Gov. Corzine, who wants to know more about the nuclear power plant after seeing it up close for the first time two weeks ago. While impressed with security and personnel during an unpublicized tour of the Lacey plant a few days before Christmas, Corzine left there with concerns that he believed deserved scrutiny, according to his spokesman, Anthony Coley. It was unclear what areas in particular Corzine thought deserved special attention or which state officials will visit next. But Oyster Creek spokeswoman Rachelle Benson said the plant would welcome any future visits by the state. Governors rarely involve themselves with nuclear reactors. Longtime Oyster Creek watchers could not recall any past visits by a top elected state official. This lack of attention can be partially attributed to the tremendous powers given to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the few oversight responsibilities held by states. Yet Corzine has said that he is interested in the 37-year-old plant, the nation's oldest commercial reactor, because of concerns over whether it could run safely for an additional 20 years under a renewed license. The NRC could issue a renewal as soon as May if Oyster Creek passes the agency's environmental and safety reviews. Doubting the NRC will side with them, renewal opponents have long hoped that Corzine would join their cause and attempt to close the plant. While that hasn't happened, the governor's three-hour visit on Dec. 20 shows that he is serious about safety concerns there, said Janet Tauro of Grandmothers, Mothers, and More for Energy Safety, a Shore area residents group opposed to the renewal. "I feel much more at ease with the state looking at things than I do the NRC," said Tauro, who lives in Brick. While Tauro said she believes the visit has put Corzine on a path to finding out the truth about Oyster Creek and taking a stand against it, longtime plant employee David Most said the visit will likely lead Corzine to come out in favor of the renewal. "It's truly the responsibility of an elected official to research the situation and find out the facts, and I think he walked away impressed with the security at the plant and the operations at the plant," said Most, a Lacey township committeeman who sat in on a presentation given by the plant officials during Corzine's visit. The presentation led to a wide-ranging discussion on many of the concerns held by renewal opponents, including security, nuclear waste storage and the condition of a key radiation barrier that underwent corrosion some 20 years ago. Corzine was joined by Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Jackson, Board of Public Utilities President Jeanne Fox, Labor Commissioner David J. Socolow and Homeland Security Director Richard L. Canas. "The governor and his staff were very inquisitive," said Benson, the plant spokeswoman. "They had a lot of very good questions, and we provided him with a balanced and informed perspective on the issues." Tour stops included the water-filled pool that stores highly radioactive waste, the man-made canal where cooling water is pumped in and discharged, and one of the bullet-resistant towers where armed guards stand watch. Nick Clunn: (732) 643-4072 or Copyright © 2007 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 17 Sofia Echo: BULGARIA'S ELECTRICITY EXPORT ALREADY LOWER THAN 2006 VALUES - www.sofiaecho.com Thu 04 Jan 2007 In 2006 Bulgaria exported 7.8 billion kilowatt hours of electric energy, while the current values were one eighth of the figures for the previous year, Economy and Energy Minister Roumen Ovcharov said. After the closure of two Kozloduy nuclear power plant units Bulgaria had to re-consider its energy policies, said Ovcharov as quoted by BGNES news agency. The country had to shut down the two reactors as a part of the nuclear safety engagements it accepted through signing its EU accession treaty. Closure could result in some serious problems for the energy sector, said Ovcharov. Investment in the energy sector for the first nine months of 2006 reached 23.81 per cent of the GDP. Bulgaria needed further investment in high-technology sectors. This could aid the efficiency and competitiveness of local businesses, said he. Countries in the Balkan region had to firmly stand behind re-negotiation of the reactor closure in Bulgaria. Before it shut down the units, Bulgaria was the leading electricity exporter on the Balkans and met significant part of the neighbouring countries' electricity deficit. Chances for the re-opening of the two reactors existed, said Ovcharov. [Printer friendly Web www.sofiaecho.com © 2001-2006, Sofia Echo Media Ltd. ***************************************************************** 18 NRC: Regulatory Information Conference Register on-line now for the conference! New for 2007, Paperless Conference &Exhibition “The USNRC announces the upcoming 19th Annual Regulatory Information Conference” Welcome to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Regulatory Information Conference (RIC) web page. This page is intended to provide planning information and updates about the upcoming conference, as well as information on previous RIC events. Historically, the RIC has thrived on the challenge of new ideas, and the 2007 Conference will be no exception. RIC 2007 will be held March 13 - 15, 2007 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center[EXIT icon] , located just off Route 355 (Rockville Pike) at 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, Maryland 20852. Please check back with us frequently as the following detailed conference information will be posted as it becomes available: + Conference Program + Keynote Speakers + Conference Registration + On-Line Registrant List + Additional Events + Hotel and Reservations + Travel Information + Past RIC Information + Frequently Asked Questions + Contact Us About RIC * This information will be posted as it becomes available. Throughout the RIC pages, you will see icons. The Exit icon is placed directly after an external link to let you know that the link is going to take you away from the NRC pages. For more information, refer to the Site Disclaimer. Last revised Thursday, January 04, 2007 ***************************************************************** 19 New London Day: Case Closed For Millstone Whistleblower theday.com DPUC dismisses last of Mehta's complaints By Patricia Daddona Day Staff Writer\, Millstone\/business trends E-mail: p.daddona@theday.com Phone No.: (860) 701 - 4324 Published on 1/4/2007 in Region » Region News The state's utility regulator has rejected Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's arguments to keep open a whistleblower case at Millstone Power Station. Last year the whistleblower, Sham Mehta of East Lyme, had alleged Millstone owner Dominion retaliated against him by eliminating his job after he raised security concerns. The company has maintained that restructuring of Mehta's department, which resulted in his job being eliminated, had no connection with the security concerns he raised. The state Department of Public Utility Control on Wednesday formally accepted Mehta's and Dominion's request to withdraw the complaint, following a confidential settlement between the parties approved in December by the U.S. Department of Labor. I strongly disagree with the decision, and we are reviewing it to determine what options remain to be pursued, Blumenthal said. The labor department had previously found no evidence of retaliation, but Mehta had appealed, and in the interim was ordered by the DPUC to be reinstated at Millstone, which he was, pending a full probe. Blumenthal, who had intervened on Mehta's behalf, had argued that the case should proceed before the DPUC anyway, since it is, he said, in the public interest to ensure that concerns for all employees who raise safety issues, not just Mehta's concerns, are fully protected, along with public safety, under the law. The DPUC rejected Blumenthal's argument, saying it is under no obligation to adjudicate a matter when petitioners  that is, Mehta and his lawyer, Hank Murray of Hartford  no longer wish to establish facts related to retaliation in the case. The DPUC also noted that Mehta's underlying safety concerns were long ago raised to and addressed by the NRC, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, albeit confidentially. Whatever we do in this case, I will continue to fight for better nuclear safety and improved protection for whistleblowers whenever they complain about nuclear safety or fiscal waste and fraud, Blumenthal added. I'm glad that our intervention helped to achieve an apparently successful outcome for the whistleblower. Since the labor settlement, the NRC has also found that Dominion did not retaliate against Mehta. Privacy Policy | Contact Us at 1 (860) 442-2200 | New London, CT | © 1998-2007 The Day Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 20 AU ABC: North Qld physicists play down nuclear power fears. 04/01/2007. ABC News Online Two north Queensland physicists have labelled the potential effects of radiation from nuclear power sources as 'overstated'. Dr Peter Ridd and Dr Thomas Stieglitz from James Cook University are calling on politicians to investigate in earnest, developing a nuclear power station near Townsville. Dr Ridd says another Chernobyl type accident at a modern nuclear power station would not happen. "You don't have to have it right in the middle of the city, but it wouldn't be a bad thing to have," he said. "I certainly would have no difficulty in having one over my back fence. "Modern power stations, nuclear stations are extremely safe devices, certainly nothing like the nuclear power stations such as Chernobyl where they had the bad accident." ***************************************************************** 21 UPI: Analysis: India's new hydropower policy United Press International - Energy - 1/3/2007 4:25:00 PM -0500 By KUSHAL JEENA UPI Energy Correspondent NEW DELHI, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- India says it is formulating a new hydropower policy to allow the private sector to engage in more trade and reap higher margins. "The government has diverted its attention towards augmenting the role of the private sector in hydropower generation. A new policy framework is being formulated for this purpose," said R V Shahi, India's federal power secretary who has recently finalized the draft of the policy framework. The draft would be placed before the federal cabinet shortly for its approval. He said the draft allows private power producers to earn higher margins because they would be allowed to trade beyond 15 percent of the total power generated under the power purchase agreement. The government has decided to give parity to both private power producers and the state-controlled power companies. State companies have had the monopoly in India's power generation sector. The government said it's opening the sector for private participation to help the country realize its energy security and much-desired dream of power for all by 2012. India's private power majors like Tata Power, Reliance, Lanco and Essar responded positively and actively participated in the bidding process for seven ultra mega power projects of a capacity of more than 1,000 megawatts each, which were awarded recently. After making significant breakthroughs in the coal-based power projects, the government turned its attention towards the hydropower sector that has a large potential in the country's Himalayan terrain from north to northeast. According to the draft of the new policy the current system of allocating hydropower projects by the provincial governments to state run power companies would now also be extended to private power companies. The provinces sharing hydropower potential will now award the projects to the private power firms on the basis of their financial and infrastructure strength. Although hydropower has been recognized as the most economic and preferred source of energy, hydropower production has declined in India due to a lack of government attention and policies. Once established, hydropower plants have long and productive lives. For instance, India's more than 40 years old Bhakra Nangal plant has operating costs of only $ 0.002 per unit. Hydropower plants are generally cheaper in the long run than natural gas-based plants, which are constantly at risk from fuel price increases. Meanwhile the cost to import fossil fuels is high and causing serious disturbances to economic growth. Following the directives from the energy coordination committee of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde asked Secretary Shahi to prepare a draft policy framework for the hydropower sector. "The sharp decline in the share of hydropower in the country's total power generation was the basic reason for the government to address this sector to improve its efficiency by introducing new technology and opening it up for private participation," said hydropower analyst Himanshu Thakkar. The share of hydropower in the total power output of the country has come down from 50 percent in 1962 to about 26 percent currently. "Once the new hydropower policy is implemented, the private power producers would have to prepare the detailed project report on the same lines as by the government-owned power companies, get the approval from the central electricity authority and investment concurrence from the central electricity regulatory authority commission," Shahi said. As per the provisions of the draft policy framework, the buyers and producers of power would have to sign a long-term power purchase agreement to ensure availability of power. The developer also must adopt an international competitive bidding process to contract for the supply of equipment and construction of the project. The regulatory commission would decide the tariff of the project and the electricity tariff policy of January 2006 will be modified to accommodate the suggestions of the private developers. "The provisions of the new hydropower policy framework sound positive and may revive the already dying hydropower sector. But the government should allow a maximum of 15 percent capacity to be kept outside the long-term power purchase agreement to promote power trading," said D S Rawat, a senior energy analyst at the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, a key Indian trade body. While hydropower holds an important role in the energy and development strategies of India, such natural resource projects are inherently challenging. Environmental and social impacts -- potentially both positive and negative -- are inevitable. India has set a target of optimum power system mix at 40 percent from hydropower and 60 percent from thermal/nuclear power. The country plans to increase hydropower's share in power generation to 28 percent by this year's end and to reach the target of 40 percent over the longer term. In the past decade, the development of hydropower in India has not improved as the successive federal and provincial governments underestimated the potentiality of this source of power. The power ministry asked power agencies to improve the methodology used by them to select sites. It also wants a more public process and better monitoring of the environmental and social impacts of hydropower projects. (Comments to energy@upi.com) © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 22 Sofia Morning News: Bulgaria: Nuke Fallout in Bulgaria www.novinite.com Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency) Barometer: 4 January 2007, Thursday. By Milena Hristova A debate on a possible revival of the shelved EU constitution re-emerges in Europe. Another debate, on a possible revival of the closed nuke units, re-emerges in Europe's youngest member - Bulgaria. Days after the tears of the people working in Kozloduy moved to tears journalists and audience, even if pushed to the near-end of news broadcasts, Bulgarian politicians resumed their starting position on Kozloduy. Rescuing Kozloduy's nuke units has been a light motif for many a Bulgarian politicians, who raised and dropped the topic over the last few years. To drop it right before the country's EU entry. As voices for reviving Kozloduy gain momentum in Bulgaria now, I am struck by how consistent everyone, except Bulgarian politicians, have been on the issue. Geoffrey Van Orden, rapporteur for Bulgaria, remained the most adamant supporter of a delay in the decommissioning of the nuke units up to the very last days before the accession. He is an adamant supporter now too. Diplomats are adamant that it is all in the treaty of accession, ratified by the EU-member states and Bulgaria itself. They will continue to point out that the issue has been agreed with Bulgaria, including the compensation for the closure. Journalists criticise the EU for being too blind to see that the longed for independence from Russia's gas passes though a nuclear power station. While ordinary people fear the blackouts of the recent past. All of these, unlike Bulgarian politicians, defend a nuke station that clearly does not fuel their private interests. Click here to receive realtime news about this topic in the future. novinite.com All Rights Reserved © Novinite Ltd., 2001-2007 - Copyright &Disclaimer - Privacy Policy Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) ***************************************************************** 23 HindustanTimes.com: India to begin construction of AHWR January 4, 2007|16:02 IST India to begin construction of Advanced Heavy Water reactor Press Trust of India India will begin construction of the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) this year, marking launch of stage III of the country's nuclear programme. "We will start the construction on the AHWR sometime this year," Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said in a presentation at a theme session on Energy Security at the Indian Science Congress in Chidambaram. He said the thorium-based AHWR was currently undergoing pre-licensing review by the Atomic Energry Regulatory Board. The AHWR, a 300 MW technology demonstrator reactor, will take about five to six years to complete and cost between Rs five and six crore per mega watt. Being developed at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), the AHWR aims to meet the objectives of using thorium fuel cycles for commercial power generation. However, Kakodkar refused to reveal the site where the reactor would be built. "We will make the announcement at an appropriate time," he said. ***************************************************************** 24 The Advocate: State regulators close case involving nuclear plant security Associated Press Published January 4 2007 NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- The state Department of Public Utility Control has closed the case of a worker at the Millstone nuclear power complex who lost his job after raising security concerns at the Waterford plant. The case involved Sham Mehta of East Lyme who last year had alleged that Millstone Power Station owner Dominion retaliated against him by eliminating his job after he raised security concerns. The DPUC formally accepted Mehta's and Dominion's request to withdraw the complaint, following a confidential settlement between the parties approved in December by the U.S. Department of Labor. The agency also rejected Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's arguments to keep the case open. "I strongly disagree with the decision, and we are reviewing it to determine what options remain to be pursued," Blumenthal said Wednesday. The labor department had previously found no evidence of retaliation, but Mehta had appealed, and the DPUC had ordered he be reinstated pending a full investigation. Blumenthal, who had intervened on Mehta's behalf, had argued that the case should proceed before the DPUC anyway to ensure that concerns for all employees who raise safety issues, not just Mehta's concerns, are fully protected, along with public safety, under the law. --- Information from: The Day, http://www.theday.com © 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. ***************************************************************** 25 UPI: Plutonium security risk warning United Press International - Security &Terrorism - 1/4/2007 11:42:00 AM -0500 WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Enough plutonium to make mroe than 4,100 nucear wepaons is moved in commerical shipments every year, an expert warned this week. "Currently, approximately 100 commercial shipments of unirradiated plutonium take place per year, or one shipment every several days," David Albright of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International security wrote in a report released Wednesday. "These 100 shipments contain in total about 25 tonnes of unirradiated plutonium. With eight kilograms (17.6 pounds)of unirradiated plutonium enough to make a nuclear weapon, these shipments contain enough weapon-usable plutonium for about 3,100 nuclear weapons. This report estimates that through 2020, roughly 1,500 shipments will occur containing 500 tonnes of unirradiated plutonium, enough for about 62,000 nuclear weapons," Albright wrote. Albright wrote that "shipments of commercial unirradiated plutonium typically travel from civil reprocessing plants to mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facilities and then to power reactors that use the MOX fuel. "The transportation of civil unirradiated plutonium for use in nuclear power reactors is a small but critical part of a large system in which nuclear materials must be shipped by land or sea among facilities involved in the nuclear fuel cycle," he wrote. "The transportation of unirradiated plutonium is widely recognized as one of the most vulnerable parts of the nuclear fuel cycle to attack by terrorist or sub-national groups," Albright warned. "Although the continuing danger posed by unsecured nuclear sites in various countries throughout the world is well recognized, there has been less recognition of how prevalent plutonium shipments are becoming in the world and the risk they pose to international security. "Such shipments require extraordinary physical protection, as even the theft of a single shipment could provide enough plutonium for tens of nuclear weapons," he warned. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 26 Herald News: Vouchers given for radiation meds NUKE-PLANT NEIGHBORS SEEK 'PROTECTION' January 4, 2007 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MINNEAPOLIS -- People who live within 10 miles of Minnesota's two nuclear power plants should receive vouchers in the mail this week for free doses of potassium iodide, a medicine that would offer some protection in the event of a release of radiation, state officials said. Potassium iodide prevents or reduces absorption of radioactive iodine by the thyroid gland, which is particularly vulnerable to cancer-causing radiation. Doug Neville, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, said the vouchers can be redeemed for two doses per person after Feb. 1 at six Target store pharmacies. Four of the stores are near the Monticello nuclear power plant about 50 miles northwest of the Twin Cities; two are close to the Prairie Island nuclear plant in Red Wing. Neville said that about 130,000 people live or work near the plants. Residents are receiving the vouchers as part of the annual emergency planning guides mailed each year to those within the emergency planning zones near nuclear plants. Hospitals, casinos and other businesses and institutions within the 10-mile zones will get vouchers next month after their managers attend special information meetings, he said. The state has been discussing the distribution plan with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for two years, Neville said. The agency offered the doses to all states with nuclear plants; Minnesota is the 22nd to accept them. Neville said taking potassium iodide would be recommended as a safeguard, in addition to evacuation, if an accident released radiation from a nuclear plant. Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. heraldnewsonline.com: Feedback | Contact Us | About Us | © Copyright 2007 Sun-Times News Group | User Agreementand ***************************************************************** 27 Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Test is a real bomb Today: January 04, 2007 at 7:2:22 PST Officials pushing for Test Site explosion trot out old data and take cover from the public F ederal officials proposing to detonate 700 tons of chemical explosive at the Nevada Test Site are rushing public meetings and sidestepping a formal environmental study in hopes of quickly moving forward with the controversial test. The test explosion, called Divine Strake, is a joint project of the National Nuclear Security Administration, which manages the Test Site, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which would conduct the blast. The test is part of an effort to develop a bomb capable of destroying heavy underground bunkers used to house military headquarters and weapons stockpiles. According to a story by the Las Vegas Sun on Wednesday, the ammonium nitrate-fuel oil explosive is the same compound used by Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, who used 2 1/2 tons of it. The Test Site detonation, by comparison, would use 700 tons, making it Nevada's largest-ever open-air chemical explosion. A planned June detonation was put on hold after the test drew criticism and concern from state officials in Nevada and Utah, environmentalists, American Indians and advocates for "downwinders" - residents who suffered illnesses as a result of nuclear tests at the Test Site. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and then-Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn were among those who demanded a complete environmental study to make certain that the explosion posed no risks to residents or the environment. Sun reporter Launce Rake writes that the National Nuclear Security Administration announced on Dec. 22 that an environmental impact study from 1996 is sufficient to determine that the test poses minimal environmental effects. That same day the Defense Threat Reduction Agency announced it would conduct three public meetings - one of which is in Las Vegas on Tuesday - before moving forward. The National Nuclear Security Administration's claims and the timing of these announcements are absurd. Thousands more people live closer to the Test Site than lived there a decade ago. Nevadans and Utahns deserve better decisions than those based on 10-year-old data. And making these announcements on a Friday, three days before Christmas, when most people's attention is focused elsewhere, makes it abundantly clear that federal officials don't want to adequately assess the risks of this test or field the public's questions. This irresponsible, bullying approach is unacceptable. All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 28 Lodinews.com: Test bombs may contain radioactive elements By John Upton San Joaquin News Service Last updated: Thursday, Jan 04, 2007 - 06:21:35 am PST Radioactive tritium might accompany depleted uranium in a series of large outdoor test explosions planned this year as little as a mile upwind from Tracy, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has conceded for the first time. Tritium in the blasts would be dispersed as fine particles into the air during the experiments, according to Larry Sedlacek, Deputy Associate Director of Operations in the lab's Defense and Nuclear Technologies Group. Sedlacek said tritium could be used in tests and that it would be "aerosolized" after test blasts as he answered intense questions from Councilwoman Irene Sundberg during an emotional City Council meeting Tuesday night. Sundberg said on Wednesday that her questions to Sedlacek about tritium related directly to planned blasts up to the equivalent of 350 pounds of TNT at Site 300, but Sedlacek said he was referring generally to any test explosion. Sedlacek would not rule out using tritium in the blasts when interviewed Wednesday, saying details of the blasts are classified. "We have used tritium at Site 300 in the past," Sedlacek said. "It is contained in our environmental impact statement that we could potentially use small quantities in the future, but we don't have any scheduled." A lab computer modeling manager, Gretchen Gallegos, told the Environmental Protection Agency on Dec. 19 that she modeled the effects of 350-pound blasts containing 24 pounds of depleted uranium, and found that small amounts of radiation reached the fence line. But it was below the level that would require the lab to file an application to run the tests, according to Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Mark Merchant. Radiation concentrations after explosions are relatively low compared with other radiation sources because the particles become widely spread out, according to information provided by Merchant. Wind blows from Site 300 over Tracy nearly half the time, according to a 1992 Lawrence Livermore study, and it blows toward the San Francisco Bay area nearly 20 percent of the time. Marylia Kelley, executive director for activist group Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, reviewed the modeled dose expected to reach the fence line and said it was relatively low, but she said it represented the result of just one out of a series of blasts. Kelley also said the National Academy of Sciences had accepted there is no safe level of radiation exposure, with risk merely correlating to dose. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District issued a permit in November that would allow as many as 20 blasts per year of up to 350 pounds in addition to ongoing smaller blasts. But the district did not assess the health effects of the tritium or depleted uranium because it does not regulate radioactive materials and because it was not told the materials would be included in the blasts, a district permit manager said at Tuesday's council meeting. Jim Swaney, permit services manager for the district's northern office, also said the district did not assess noise impacts from the proposed blasts on Tracy's residents. Houghton said three such blasts are planned in 2007, and that two of them would be related to national security, which may simulate nuclear weapons blasts, while the third was for a Department of Homeland Security program. No blasts larger than 100 pounds have been conducted since 1997, according to Houghton. Councilwoman Evelyn Tolbert aggressively chastised Houghton for not telling Tracy residents about the planned blasts and for failing to call public meetings to discuss them. Neither the air district nor the lab told the public that the permit had been requested or granted. The plans became public Dec. 8 in a Tracy Press article. Houghton told Tolbert that the lab did not notify the public or hold public meetings to discuss the planned blasts because no law required it. Tolbert said the lab would hold public hearings whether or not they were required if the lab was a good neighbor to the city. Longtime lab public affairs officer Steve Wampler, who was introduced by Houghton as speaking as a private Tracy citizen although he sat with five lab colleagues throughout the night, emotionally appealed during the meeting for people to understand that health risks from depleted uranium have been proven negligible and that the lab has always been a good neighbor to Tracy. Bob Sarvey  who stepped down as local director of Tri-Valley CAREs this week for family reasons  gruffly dismissed Wampler's claims as government spin and said depleted uranium could be responsible for Gulf War syndrome. Local resident Kleo Pullin agreed with Tolbert that the lab should better communicate with its neighbors. "I'd like the lab (to) present proactively as if they really care about the participation of the people of Tracy in these processes," said Pullin during the meeting. "This is what my mother, my neighbors, my parents and I spent all this time fighting for in the '70s." Houghton said the lab planned to introduce a community newsletter and take other steps to better communicate with Tracy residents. The district will hear appeals Feb. 7 against the permit by Sarvey and by the developers of the planned 5,500-home Tracy Hills project, which is within city limits a mile from Site 300. Sedlacek said Tuesday that the lab set off similarly sized outdoor blasts at Site 300 in the years leading up to 1996 with two representatives from the Grupe Company of Stockton, which owned the Tracy Hills development at that time. Noise levels that were recorded after as many as 15 blasts at various Site 300 locations between 1994 and 1996 are outlined in a 1996 appendix to a Tracy Hills environmental impact report, but neither the appendix nor Sedlacek stated the size of any of those blasts or whether they contained radiation. Acting Mayor Suzanne Tucker cut short the discussion, which was held at Sundberg's request, as midnight neared. Sarvey had asked the council to declare the blasts a public nuisance, but no such vote was taken. Mayor Brent Ives recused himself from the discussion because he is one of 810 Tracy residents who work at the lab. First published: Thursday, January 4, 2007 125 N. Church St. P.O. Box 1360 Lodi, CA 95241 (209) 369-2761 Fax: (209) 369-1084 + Map Newsroom E-mail © 1998-2007 Lodi News-Sentinel ***************************************************************** 29 The Spectrum: Meeting called 'a dog and pony show' www.thespectrum.com - The Spectrum, St. George, UT Thursday, January 4, 2007 + 'Hearing' on Divine Strake to be an open house By PATRICE ST. GERMAIN patrices@thespectrum.com HURRICANE - A public information meeting scheduled for next week at the Dixie Center about the proposed Divine Strake bomb test - an explosion of 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil - may not be what residents anticipated. Downwinder Mary Dick- son said the meeting next week is simply a "dog and pony show" with public education posters and Power Point presentations. "It's not actually a hearing, which is obviously a huge disappointment to us," Dickson said. Alyson Heyrend, press secretary for Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, said there has been confusion with some initial media reports stating that hearings were to be held, only to later learn that the meetings were, in fact, to be conducted in an open house format. Kevin Rohrer, spokesman with National Nuclear Security Administration - Nevada Site Office, said that although the meeting is not a public hearing, public comment concerning the environmental assessment is being accepted in writing until Jan. 24. Those public comments along with the final assessment would be available and, depending on the outcome, the test would be scheduled. "We are having these meetings because we want to know what everyone's thoughts are and we want everyone's opinion," Rohrer said of the meetings that will take place in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and St. George next week. Rohrer said last year the NNSA withdrew its finding of "no significant impact" for the environmental assessment of the test. DTRA had scheduled the test for June 2 but postponed it following questions from Matheson and others over health and safety concerns. There are numerous concerns about the proposed test, one of which centers on the location, a site where previous atomic testing began in the 1950s. The concern is that Divine Strake would raise remaining radioactive dust and carry it downwind. The other concern is that this test is a precursor to nuclear weapons testing. In response to questions about the safety of the test, including how the government said the testing in the 1950s was safe, Rohrer said a lot has changed since then. "There are environmental laws that we have to play by today the same as any non-governmental organization has to adhere to," Rohrer said. "We have a National Environmental Policy Act that wasn't in place in the 1950s." Although Rohrer said the FONSI was withdrawn, it wasn't done until members of Congress got involved and a lawsuit was filed against former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; Linton Brooks, director of the National Nuclear Security Administration; and James Tegnelia, DTRA director, by the Winnemucca Indian Colony (Western Shoshone Tribe). There has been no official announcement about where the test will take place and there is no information about the test on the DTRA Web site. Irene Smith, DTRA public affairs officer, issued a one-line statement concerning the lack of information about the test on the Web site: "Information provided to the news media has been limited due to the litigation concerning Divine Strake," Smith wrote in an e-mail to The Spectrum on Wednesday. Smith did say, however, the draft environmental assessment has "a lot of really good information" and although it comes across as technical, it is a "great resource." Heyrend said Matheson's congressional staff is looking at the environmental data provided in the assessment and although technical in nature, the release of the information at least gives Matheson and others a chance to review it. "A letter was issued last year that there was not enough information received to proceed with the test," Heyrend said. Dickson said despite the release of the draft environmental assessment on Dec. 22, there are still a lot of unanswered questions, major concerns and a lack of public input. Rohrer said public input by Jan. 24 either by mail, fax or e-mail is welcomed and everyone with questions about the environmental assessment - from high school students to PhDs - is encouraged to attend the open house. "We want people to come and ask questions and we encourage them to keep asking until they get the answers in their terms," Rohrer said. Originally published January 4, 2007 Print this article Copyright ©2007 The Spectrum. ***************************************************************** 30 Cincinnati Business Courier: UC study: Fernald no hazard to health Cincinnati Business Courier - 2:52 PM EST Thursday People living near a former uranium processing plant in Ohio are living longer and enjoying healthier lifestyles than the general population, University of Cincinnatiresearchers have found. Initial study results from the Fernald Medical Monitoring Program (FMMP), show that most adult participants lowered their cholesterol and blood pressure while participating in the program. Launched 16 years ago, it is the country's first and largest legally mandated comprehensive medical monitoring program, according to a UC news release. Overall death rates, as well as disease-specific deaths were also lower than expected, compared with general population statistics. Researchers attribute the phenomenon to the holistic design of the screening program. "Based on general population statistics, we would have expected 11 percent of the people who enrolled in the program as adults to die during the first 12 years of the program, but only 8 percent did," study epidemiologist Susan Pinney said in the release. "The improvement in survival is most likely due to specific cancer screening tests and general physical examination laboratory tests -- which also detect early signs of cancer -- that were included in the FMMP." In 1984, a federal investigation revealed that National Lead of Ohio's Feed Materials Production Center in Fernald, Ohio, about 18 miles northwest of Cincinnati, was emitting dangerous levels of uranium dust and gases into surrounding communities. The FMMP was established in 1990 as the result of a $73 million class-action lawsuit against National Lead of Ohio and the U.S. Department of Energy on behalf of the people living near the Fernald plant. The program screened for both exposure-related diseases and general health issues. About 11,000 people applied for the program, and 9,500 completed enrollment. Today, more than 50 percent of the original program participants are still getting regular exams. Appointments for the final round of screening exams are currently available at the FMMP clinic, at Mercy Hospital Fairfield. Anyone who lived and worked within five miles of the Fernald border for two consecutive years between 1952 and 1984 is eligible for the free comprehensive screening. For information, call (513) 874-1074. © 2006 American City Business Journals, Inc. and its licensors. ***************************************************************** 31 thetyee.ca: A Rancher's Radioactive Hell THE TYEE [News and Views for British Columbia] News Today: Thu January, 4 2007 Falkoski with barite chunk at prospecting site left barren. Joe Falkoski says he's being forced by bad laws to allow toxic mining on his land. A special report. By Kendyl Salcito What do you do if you are a rancher told by a company -- and then the courts -- that there is nothing you can do to stop your rangeland from being dug up and further strewn with radiation? If you are Joe Falkoski, you refuse to take no for an answer. The Kettle Valley rancher fears mining for barite in radioactive soil on his property is a threat to his land, his livestock and the health of people in his community. He lost his latest court battle in September, but vows not to give up a fight that concerns many citizens across B.C.'s southern interior. Digging in Against Dust, Radiation Citizens press officials to halt mine. Rancher Joe Falkoski's fight to prevent mining on his land has support from some equally determined neighbours. The Committee for a Clean Kettle Valley is alarmed by the prospect of digging up an area that the B.C. Centre for Disease Control has noted for its . Tests at Kettle Valley schools (most recently published in 1999) showed a concentration of radon (a radioactive gas) second highest for 365 schools surveyed throughout the province. The barite mine would be less than a kilometre from Rock Creek's elementary school. Citizens also worry because the ore is 20 per cent silica, which, when ground down, creates toxic dust. "Ore that contains more than 10 per cent...silica presents special hazards in mining, transportation and milling," industrial ventilation engineer Ed Chessor stated in a letter to the Mines Ministry. Chessor noted the dust can cause silicosis, a degenerative lung disease. Rock Creek locals collected 140 signatures (in a community with just 300 mailboxes) on a petition demanding a halt to the mining. The petition was sent to Zena Capitol Corp., the firm wanting to mine Falkoski's land, as well as the mines, environment, and forestry ministries. The concern over mining and radioactivity extends beyond Rock Creek now that uranium prospecting is picking up again in B.C. In 1980, then-premier Bill Bennett issued a seven-year moratorium on uranium mining, citing health risks, as uranium claims began popping up throughout the Okanagan and Kettle River valleys. By the time the moratorium ended in 1987, uranium had dropped in value and the push to find it in B.C. seemed dead. However, uranium prices are now higher than they were at their previous peak in the 1970s -- up 150 per cent in the past year alone. In places where uranium is present, mining other ores also can release radiation (as on the Falkoski land). And the province now allows radiation levels related to mining 15 times higher than in the days of the moratorium, according to the mining industry's 2003 Health Safety and Reclamation codebook. In a town meeting held by Zena and attended by mines officials in October of 2004, Rock Creek residents demanded more extensive radiation tests. Mining inspector Reid said: "We barely have enough money for our ministry to attend meetings." Reid said his ministry lacks the resources to test for hazards before mines begin full production. Those responsibilities, he said, are left to miners on an honour system. In 2002, the B.C. Liberal government eliminated 106 Mines Ministry jobs and empowered mining officials, rather than civil servants, to oversee environmental permitting. Critics note the province and other levels of government often end up paying millions to repair sites torn up and polluted by mining. "Monitoring remains a huge problem," Sierra Legal Defence Fund lawyer Lara Tessaro told The Tyee. "Small communities faced with giant mine proposals often have very limited timeframes in which to provide public input. They don't even have, under provincial legislation, the automatic right to provide public input." -- Kendyl Salcito Falkoski believes the court ruling and provincial mining laws essentially require him to go into partnership with a venture-capital mining company that has already damaged his property and failed to repair it. The dispute is just one of many to arise since the provincial government relaxed policies and regulations to promote the development of subsurface mineral, oil and gas claims on otherwise private land. Zena Capital Corp. believes it is entitled to enter the land, since the Mines Ministry's Mediation and Arbitration Board gave it the go-ahead in February of this year. Falkoski rejected the arbitration board's ruling, insisting that he was given no opportunity to air his concerns in either mediation or arbitration hearings. He wanted no responsibility for any of the mining activities taking place on his property, so he rejected settlement money awarded following the hearing. "They can do what they want, but I won't have any part of it. I won't accept their money -- I refuse to be held complicit in their liability and responsibility." Falkoski, 80, is fuming about the way the provincial government has dealt with his dilemma. Drawn out discussions and tribunal hearings through the mines ministry have failed to protect his now radioactive and barren rangeland. Falkoski believes his experience with government officials reflects a Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum that is unable to effectively manage the industry it governs. What's more, he believes the regulations fail to fairly protect the rights of private landowners and the public's health. It's a complex story that now involves citizens throughout the Kettle, Similkameen and Okanagan valleys who dread the growing exploration and mining in an area rich with radioactive minerals. Falkoski once helped miner Falkoski's problems began with a single miner named Byard MacLean, who arrived on Falkoski's land in the spring of 2003. Falkoski did not own rights to minerals beneath his land; MacLean had purchased an option from a third party allowing him to prospect there. "Byard never got a local number, hotel, anything," Falkoski recalls. "Never talked about his past, never talked about landowner compensation or any kind of agreement. But I assumed that when he decided he was going to go through with this, we'd get to that stage," said Falkoski. In the meantime, Falkoski says, MacLean slept in his car, worked alone, took core samples from his claim, and accepted Falkoski's water, advice, company and the use of his storage shed. Barite is a mineral popularly used as an ingredient to lubricate oil and gas drills. It's not radioactive, but is often found in radioactive soils, as was the case on Falkoski's property. MacLean was the first miner in nearly a decade to actively pursue the barite claims on Falkoski's property, and Falkoski at first had few qualms. MacLean took core samples, which required a lot of water, and Falkoski trucked water to MacLean all summer. MacLean removed topsoil by washing it down the mountain with hoses. Though he destroyed the potential for plant life to grow in the area, Falkoski did not complain. When the weather turned cold in the fall, MacLean packed up and left Rock Creek. He left the property peppered with holes, and dotted with dozens of core boxes. In the November snow, Falkoski lugged the 60-pound boxes into his shed away from his animals. The law doesn't require miners to remove core boxes from rangeland, even though they often contain dangerous minerals. Falkoski was irritated, but the spring of 2004 brought new problems. Rock Creek was facing a drought, and MacLean's drilling method could not be supported by the nearby pond. Falkoski stopped trucking in water, and MacLean switched to a new method of drilling that carved holes just six inches in diameter but nearly 60 feet deep. Rather than refill them, MacLean plugged most with branches, stones or logs. Some just gaped. Debris from the exploration -- both drilling and backhoe scraping -- was left in heaps. Falkoski suspected it might be radioactive, given the geology of the area. A 10,000-tonne plan Then MacLean announced that he would remove 10,000 tonnes of barite. He commissioned a backhoe operator to clear a path for a large drill. Rather than log the timber, a backhoe simply tore away at the trees, making ready for a 60-foot pit. Falkoski says he insisted the planned pit be refilled with clean gravel and good topsoil, but MacLean responded that he couldn't afford to do that. The Mines Ministry just required the hole to be sloped. Falkoski also worried that MacLean intended to pull far more rock and ore out of the ground than his permit application indicated. The ministry allows miners to extract up to 10,000 tonnes of bulk ore to test for its quality and assess the processes required to separate the minerals from the rest of the rock. MacLean specified in his permit application that he would be extracting up to 10,000 tonnes of "direct-ship barite." As Falkoski explains it, 10,000 tonnes of barite of "direct-ship" quality would require closer to 30,000 to 50,000 tonnes of bulk ore excavation. Falkoski considered MacLean's plan an abuse of the exploration system. No red flags were raised in the Mines Ministry, as direct ship is a fairly common specification on permit applications. It usually indicates that the mineral is of such good quality that no processing is necessary. Falkoski is certain this is not the case, and Zena spokespeople have said they do not yet know the ore's quality. What's more, extracting and milling 10,000 tonnes of barite -- an amount that would fill about 700 pickup trucks -- promised to be a messy and complex process. MacLean intended to grind the ore right on Falkoski's ranch and then truck it into Rock Creek for milling. The proposed mill site was less than one kilometre from the local elementary school, stirring much concern in the community (see sidebar). Falkoski had not yet learned what he would discover later -- that MacLean had been president of a B.C. gold mining enterprise that ended in bankruptcy in 2000, just when big reclamation expenses were due to be paid. Nevertheless, he worried about the effects of the mining project, and whether MacLean would do the job right. Radiation present At that point MacLean had done no radiation testing at all, even though the Kettle River area is known for its high presence of radon, a radioactive gas linked to lung cancer, emphysema and other respiratory diseases. The dirt is laced with uranium and thorium, which release radon at elevated rates compared to most places, about . Falkoski suspected that debris from the work had even higher radiation levels than the surrounding ground. He asked MacLean to test -- a request that MacLean denies fulfilling. When MacLean started shaving off the tops of knolls without asking, Falkoski says, he lost patience and turned to the Mines Ministry for help. Meanwhile, the hazardous minerals piled higher and the six-inch-wide, 60-foot-deep holes throughout Falkoski's cattle range remained unreclaimed. Spring rains filled sumps that MacLean left unfilled and cattle drank from them. Then, Falkoski says, three cattle fell ill. They all died the next winter. "I've never had an animal get sick and die on my land, except after these drill cuttings were left out over the winter," he said. The cuttings that MacLean had left on the property contained silica sediment and uranium -- both dangerous when they contaminate drinking water. Two more cattle were crippled when they fell into uncovered drill holes. When they failed to recover, they were both shot. Stop-work order circumvented That June, the day before MacLean was set to begin extracting his 10,000 tonnes of barite, Falkoski called in provincial mines inspector Steven Wuschke. Falkoski showed him the damaged trees and land and asked him to take radiation readings. Testing performed by both Wuschke and, later, MacLean's mining company, confirmed that levels of uranium and thorium were elevated in certain excavated areas. But the B.C. Centre for Disease Control deemed the levels too low to pose a threat to the public. The Mines Ministry considered the case closed, but Falkoski claims the readings aren't accurate or representative. There is a spot on his property about a mile from the barite deposit that he says shows Geiger counter readings of 800 counts per minute -- eight times what the government's readings indicated. The government knows nothing of these readings, though, and Falkoski has not presented them to the Mines Ministry. Regardless of the dispute over radiation levels, Wuschke wasn't satisfied with the condition of the property left by MacLean. In July, the inspector issued a stop-work notice to MacLean and demanded full and satisfactory reclamation of all the exploration damage before mining could recommence. In a letter to MacLean, Wuschke wrote, "the landowner is very dissatisfied with the current state of affairs," remarking that he would be "directing the regional permitting staff to forgo the issuance of any further permits or authorization under the existing permit." Zena in the picture However, there was another player in the mining claim that Falkoski had not yet encountered. Zena Capital Corp. had invested in MacLean's mining venture in the summer of 2003, according U.S. and Canadian records. When Wuschke's stop-work notice was issued, MacLean left the project. Three months later, Zena, which began publicly trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in April of 2004, filed a permit application almost identical to MacLean's -- handwriting and all -- attempting to override Wuschke's order. The new application, signed in September 2004, was the first indication to Falkoski that MacLean's backing company intended to mine, even though it didn't have a miner. Accountants Terry Amisano and Kevin Hanson had created Zena Capital Corp., first as a tech venture, which fell through, and then as a mining company to develop MacLean's barite claims. Though no mining has occurred since MacLean's 2004 departure, Zena's stock has increased in value seven-fold. Yet in reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission filed in April of 2005 and 2006, Zena's auditors, Morgan &Co., expressed "substantial doubt" about Zena's ability to continue existing. The report stated the company "has incurred substantial losses from operations, has yet to achieve profitable operations and is in the process of exploring its mineral properties and has not yet determined whether these properties contain ore reserves that are economically recoverable." Hanson failed to return over a half dozen Tyee phone calls and e-mails, and Amisano, reached by phone, refused to answer any questions. Money returned Falkoski had seen MacLean fail to reclaim damage done to his land by exploration work. Then Zena began pressing forward, filing a complaint against Falkoski with the Mines Ministry. At a hearing on June 28, 2005 in Fort St. John, mediation board chair Ib Petersen could not promise Falkoski that his land and watershed would be safe, he couldn't address community health issues, and he couldn't compensate Falkoski for lost cattle. Zena, he ruled, would only pay for the land, the timber and the time they spent on the property. In a follow-up hearing five months later, arbitrator Paul Love refused to accept any testimony regarding or complaints against the validity of the permit issued to Zena or the evidence of environmental risk. In much the same fashion that Petersen did, Love ordered Zena to pay Falkoski a $5,000 advance, to be augmented annually with a $1,700 per acre land fee, and $1 per foot of timber logged or destroyed. Additionally, Zena was ordered to pay the ministry a $10,000 security deposit for future reclamation work. Falkoski didn't think $10,000 would cover the damage if Rock Creek suffered silicosis or radiation poisoning. The board also ordered reclamation to be completed "immediately." Regardless, Falkoski wouldn't take the money, because the board wouldn't address the community's concerns about watersheds, schools, silica dust and radiation. Zena mailed Falkoski a cheque several times, and each time Falkoski returned the envelope, unopened. Eventually, Zena sent a local bailiff to deliver the cheque. Zena Chief Financial Officer Roy Brown says Falkoski "attacked" the bailiff. Falkoski's version is that the bailiff wouldn't get off his property, and in the ensuing confrontation, the bailiff's shirt was torn and Falkoski suffered a fat lip. "You ain't seen nothin' 'til you've been cranked through the wringer by the mediator and then the arbitrator from the [Mines Ministry] board at Fort St. John," Falkoski says. Ministry: 'We are satisfied' Mines Ministry media relations officer Tamara Little told The Tyee: "We are satisfied that the mediation and arbitration process functioned as designed in this case, and would anticipate their terms and conditions are being followed." As such, she says: "The company is continuing with their exploration under permit and terms and conditions set by the Mediation and Arbitration Board." When asked how the government will ensure that reclamation is done, Little said the ministry was "finished corresponding with The Tyee" and refused to comment. She also refused to explain who oversees the permitting process, resolves permitting conflicts and ensures that problem miners are not issued permits. These days in British Columbia, the government's ability to ensure reclamation is no sure thing, according to John Errington, who until last year was responsible for reclamation oversight for the ministry. Errington spent 28 years in the Mines Ministry, writing guidelines for reclamation plans and researching reclamation. At a conference in 2001, he noted that B.C. still had a great deal of work to do before reclamation work fit the public's standard. He also acknowledged that "frequently" mine owners cannot be held accountable for the damage they cause. They challenge liability, lack the cash to pay for the damage, or just fail and resurface in new companies. Errington told The Tyee that in some instances "there's nothing there to fine." Company in debt Zena's latest quarterly report claims the firm, in debt over $500,000, is set to begin mining. They have little reclamation left to do, as Falkoski and friends did much of that in the past two years, but Falkoski says Zena has plans to dig up his land. In September, Zena successfully applied for a court-ordered injunction against Falkoski, allowing its workers to enter his property. Then the company applied for a new permit -- this one for just 50 tonnes of ore -- and hired a local contractor to excavate the three truckloads of rock. In recent weeks, Zena staff failed to return a final round of e-mails and phone calls from The Tyee inquiring into the company's plans for Falkoski's property. Falkoski finds a somewhat tarnished silver lining to the fact that the courts have ordered him to allow Zena on his property. If the mining churns dust and radioactivity into the environment, "It's taken all of the responsibility off me," he says. He cannot be held accountable for any damage they do to the property. "And that's fine. That's great." 'I will not stand by' In the course of his 80-year life, Joe Falkoski lived in Saskatchewan and various parts of British Columbia and worked as a welder, logger, computer operator and, yes, even a miner before settling 25 years ago in the sage dappled hills near Kettle Valley. The idea, he says, was, "to get back to my roots and heal awhile." Instead, he says, he's taking a beating. "I'm not a youngster. But I will not stand by and see injustices." The dispute he has with MacLean and now Zena, says Falkoski, "are resolvable in a genuine and honest one-day sit down. I have always operated on a handshake and if I could trust these bastards, I would have." He adds: "I retired to this farm to enjoy the forest and land, not have to fight for it. As I said to my lawyer not long ago, 'I've had 25 years of paradise here, the farm is up for sale, now we fight!'" As for Byard MacLean, for months in the preparation of this story, he was off in Africa. Finally, as the story was going to press, he was reached and asked for comment on the situation. His response: "If you're casting around for a story, then you've got the wrong cowboy, so goodbye." Kendyl Salcito is a Vancouver-based journalist who has covered mining and other issues for The Tyee. [technorati bubble] Comments on "A Rancher's Radioactive Hell" --> commentor: snert posted: 15 Hours Ago Interesting article. Does the acquisition of sub-surface rights include permission to process an extracted mineral on otherwise private property? --> commentor: Grumpy posted: 13 Hours Ago Let's just have the all so self important mining industry poision everyone, like hey who gives a s***! the mining industry are good friends of Campbell & Co. and can do anything and everything they want, without fear of politcal intervention. "So, what me worry", is Campbell's refrain as he lies sunning himself on a sandy beach. The only radioactivity he is afraid of is the UV rays, but what the hey, he has sunscreen and maybe those in the 'hurtlands', should use plenty of sunscreen to stop that nasy old radioactivity from affecting them! --> commentor: mcdull posted: 12 Hours Ago Another example of Vote Lieberal Keep B.C. Brown or in this case radioactive. Mainstream reporters never seem to cover this stuff so I wonder if any of the reporters that are giving tthe liberals glowing accolades for 2006 are setting themselves up to run as B.C. Lieberals. --> commentor: flyingfish posted: 12 Hours Ago [QUOTE]Does the acquisition of sub-surface rights include permission to process an extracted mineral on otherwise private property?/QUOTE] Yes. It is happening in Alberta as well, with oil and gas exploration. Basically, resource extraction is considered a public good that overrides private property rights. It certainly wasn't a concept invented by Gordon Campbell. --> commentor: maestro posted: 12 Hours Ago I will agree with the TYEE Leftie/Socialist/ Communist (aka TYEE majority) that this is B.S. This subsurface mining -rights legislation is really a bizarre thing to still allow in this day and age. If nothing else, the owner of the given "deeded surface land" should be given first right of refusal to these subsurface mining rights as part of their deed/title to the surface land/s. OR....the miners must be obligated to FIRST cut a deal with the landowner...otherwise this gets into a legal hair -splitting exercise as to do we actually own the land we "thought" we bought? What IS land ownership...then perhaps becomes a developing Federal issue via the Charter ? This story may end up like a quasi/Britannia Beach..." get the gold while the gettin' is good " , then an environmental disaster which the Crown(ie All of US ) is obligated to fix when the Private sector miner goes broke or folds its tent at the stroke of a pen. --> commentor: Gary posted: 11 Hours Ago In reading this story I was reminded of a mine in the Kamloops area which started in the early 70's. At that time the parent company had assured the government that reclamation procedures would be follwed. The was a big to-do about how they would fill in the open pit, with artist conception drawings. Environment was a priority. That mine was Lornex. Owned and operated by Rio Algom/Rio Tinto. The oriinal mine life was to be approximately 25 years. Since then they have absorbed the Bethlehem mine and found other deposits. A new company was formed, And I beleive a new owner has the property. That mine is now called Highland Valley Copper. And the mine pit is one of only two man made excavations on the planet that can be seen from outer space. Now my question is this: given the department of mines shoddy handling of Joe Falkoski's situation is the department also going to turn a blind eye to The Highland Valley when reclamation is due. I certainly hope not. but with all the back door and under the table dealings with this present Provincial Government I am certainly concerned. --> commentor: Gary posted: 11 Hours Ago maestro: I really think you can agree and disagree on this site without putting your personal label on others as individuals or groups. By your last post I get the impression that you are a landowner. Where's your property, I have a freeminers license. --> commentor: maestro posted: 11 Hours Ago Gary: Actually in the sometimes happenstance path to discovery and enlightenment....I came across an interesting bit of info re this mining issue. My particular situation makes me (and many others )literally IMMUNE from the subsurface mining rights legislation. Seems mining etc. licenses are as readily available as Canadian Tire money. Re Landowner...that's my point ...do I or ANYONE actually own the land ? Maybe it is time to permanently address it..or what does ANY Gov't have to fear ? Individual ownership often creates greater stewardship via greater certainty. Otherwise, lets screw everyone equally by starting a massive excavation process in Southern BC and work our way North. PS Re: Labelling...I rarely mention names unless FIRST engaged to...though the converse is often true by other TYEE parties. --> commentor: murdock posted: 10 Hours Ago Sounds like it is time for the rancher to put up better fences (like tank traps). Require that the company purchase (from him at insane rates) rights to access the property and have anyone 'tresspass by night'. otherwise use any and all means to destroy any surface remaining materials or equipments that remain overnight (and at night therefore tresspassing by night) on his property. Use all and any legal means to enforce his property rights...any other property owners now take heed -> file your own claims for subsurface rights to your real estate holdings. Include this in any and all future land purchases. --> commentor: SharingIsGood posted: 10 Hours Ago Hi Gary, The plan for that Highland Valley Copper mine is now to line it with clay and fill it with garbage trucked up from Vancouver. The company "guarantees" that it will not leach toxic chemicals into the water-table for 200 years. Such short-sightedness! The First Nations communities that use the water from that acquafir have been living here for thousands of years. Further, there are many other people who have their life's savings invested in their homes and ranches above that aquafir. It is insanity. Aquafirs are important in this area because it is truly a semi-arid climate with about 12 inchers of precipitation per year. Prickly-pear cacti grow naturally in the area. People who live above that aquafir are helpless. This is all because Vancouver doesn't make it a priority to deal with its own waste. The Liberal politicians who live in the area are all in favour of this: it will protect jobs and provide employment when the orebody is gone. The NDP MLA whose riding covers part of that aquafir has been silent as far as I can tell. I have seen nothing being done to stop it. You Lower Mainlanders: You, whose garbage it is, should tell your politicians that you want to take care of your own waste. You should take responsibility for yourselves. I truly love the city, but I moved out here to have to deal with the snow and the heat and the inconveniences of not having art and culture and commodities at my doorstep so that I could develop a piece of toxin-free property to raise my family. Now, you folks are sending your problems to me - threatening to poison my water. It's bad enough you want keep all of the tax money generated from ranching, mining and the logging to build your RAV lines and Olympics, now you want to give us your waste. You city people are, by and large, selfish, thoughtless: you couldn't care less about what happens to those who do the work that extracts the true wealth that enables your lifestyles. You couldn't care less that people who live in the Interior often think multi-generationally when they work a piece of land - leaving what they have started to their children and grand-children and their children. You don't care that it will poison their water make their work meaningless and property values worthless. You don't really think about what must be done 20 years from now when HV Copper closes the lnadfill. Where will you truck your waste then? Who will be the next victims to have to deal with your shite!? Maybe you can hire the privatized train to take it to fill the mines up by Ed Deak's property. You may as well do those people in as well - turn the whole bloody Interior into a Love Canal! Why don't you send your waste to Whistler? It's closer and many of you own land up there. Six or eight months ago, I sent this Highland Valley mine issue into The Tyee as a good topic for an article, but the Tyee and their writers done nothing. Pehaps the people running and writing for The Tyee don't really want to pay higher taxes to take care of their waste - I don't know. --> commentor: woody posted: 10 Hours Ago maestro said, Quote: + thetyee.ca © 2003 - 2006 ***************************************************************** 32 Northern Times: Landowner receives apology from UKAEA 5 January, 2007 SANDSIDE Estate owner Geoffrey Minter has welcomed an apology he has received from the UK Atomic Energy Authority over comments made at a House of Commons Trade and Industry Select Committee hearing almost two years ago. A retraction and expression of regret has been made on behalf of the authority by Norman Harrison, acting chief operating officer, over a suggestion that Mr Minter had not taken sufficient care to check out possible radioactive contamination of Sandside beach in 1990 before he bought the estate. The suggestion was made during an exchange at a hearing of the Trade and Industry Select Committee in March 2005. It was then suggested that Mr Minter should have sued his advisers and not the UKAEA over the contamination of Sandside. Mr Harrison has now written to Mr Minter to say that he can find no evidence to substantiate the suggestion. Mr Harrison added: “I therefore wish, on behalf of UKAEA, to retract any suggestion that there was a lack of due diligence and express my personal regret that such a suggestion was made or implied.” Mr Minter commented this week: “This is very welcome, if long overdue. The attack on me was without foundation because when I bought the estate in 1990 there was no record of any radioactive metal particles at Sandside. The first official record of any nuclear fuel rod particles being found at Sandside was not until they were discovered here in 1997 — seven years after I acquired the estate.” Mr Minter added that the letter from Mr Harrison was evidence of a new spirit of co-operation and openness within the senior management team at Dounreay and an apparent readiness to put right the mistakes of the past. “I hope that early 2007 will now see a resolution of our radioactivity issues with the UKAEA and the start of a joint effort to tackle the pollution that will benefit all members of the Caithness community. Much can be done by Sandside and the UKAEA working together to improve the local environment,” Mr Minter added. Printer friendly version Email this article to a All content copyright 2007 Scottish Provincial Press Ltd. [ /] ***************************************************************** 33 New London Day: Nuclear Physics for Dummiesí topic of Jan. 12 lecture theday.com By Elizabeth Yerkes Shore Publishing Staff Writer E-mail: e.yerkes@shorepublishing.com Phone No.: () - Published on 1/4/2007 in Region » Region News Nuclear physics isnít just for scientists anymore. North Stonington resident James H. Patton will present a lecture titled ìNuclear Physics for Dummiesî at Wheelerís gymatorium from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 12. Patton retired from Navy submarine duty in 1985, having served on seven nuclear submarines, and having commanded the USS Pargo. After leaving the service, Patton began to advise industry and government entities about submarine warfare, as well as conduct training and technical presentations in the United States and abroad. Because of this expertise, Patton served as technical consultant for Paramount Picturesí ìThe Hunt for Red October.î He and his wife, Mary, serve on the board of the North Stonington Education Foundation, to which proceeds from the lecture will be given. The cost is $5 for adults; students are free. In prior years, education foundation speakers included Sean OíKeefe, a North Stonington native who, until 2005, served as administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Patton chose to present this topic because, he said, most media donít explain it adequately. ìThereís a mystique about nuclear physics that isnít necessarily valid. Itís important for people to have a working knowledge of nuclear matters and grasp the essential elements of the subject,î he said. The topics he will cover include what makes up an atom, the different types of radiation, half-life and how nuclear weapons work. With North Korea, Iran and Pakistan appearing on the nuclear stage, and Americans fretting about possible dirty bombs, Patton said people need to understand basic physics to comprehend nuclear threats, or lack thereof. Smokers may be horrified to learn that, among other dangerous additives in their nicotine delivery device, is a radioactive substance derived from a naturally occurring ingredient, ìprobably the most harmful part of smoking,î said Patton. Patton will discuss many topics, including why uranium enrichment is so prevalent recently and how the Millstone reactor in Waterford works. He may even touch on the polonium poisoning case involving a former Russian spy. There will be time for questions following the presentation. Patton said he aims to keep concepts and explanations easy to understand, with analogies that most can relate to, such as ìRadioactivity is the dog manure (Curies); radiation is the smell (Roentgens).î But he said he wonít shy away from explaining the complex workings of reactors, submarines and weapons. He will explain the difference between types of fission bombs such as those dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and other nuclear weapon combinations. Stonington Privacy Policy | Contact Us at 1 (860) 442-2200 | New London, CT | © 1998-2007 The Day Publishing Co. [Beacon Locator] ~ 02 ***************************************************************** 34 KGPE: Truck carrying radioactive material involved in minor crash - CBS TV47 January 4, 2007 - 9:59 PM PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) - A truck carrying radioactive material from a nuclear plant in Kentucky was involved in a minor crash this morning on its way to Oakland. The tractor trailer was carrying five thousand pounds of enriched uranium when it was hit by a small truck outside the plant in West Paducah, Kentucky. Authorities say there was no chemical spill in the crash. The material was headed for the Port of Oakland to be shipped to an overseas customer.   ©2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. © 2007 Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc. | ***************************************************************** 35 Digital Journal: U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Training film Posted 5 hours ago by Critical_Conformity in Lifestyle and viewed 37 times Hmmmm.... Depleted Uranium, affectionately known as DU is a carcinogenic heavy metal material that also emits alpha and gamma radiation. Outside the body it's not too serious but inside the body it caused cancer and genetic birth defects in offspring. The symptoms of DU poisoning vary depending on what internal organ is affected. It can never be cured and DU will last in the environment for eternity. It is a waste material of the Nuke industry and in the battlefield it becomes aerosolized and thus its deadly dust particles become a permanent part of the world's environment. It cannot be cleaned from the environment--ever! Its use is unconscious able and a crime against all humanity. In many circles the U.S. is accused of currently producing it by the railcar load everyday and shipping throughout the world. copyright © 1998-2006 digitaljournal.com ***************************************************************** 36 AU ABC: Mining companies keen to search near Alice ABC Northern Territory | Local News | Story Thursday, 4 January 2007. 15:36 (AEDT)Thursday, 4 January 2007. There is strong interest from mining companies in the potentially uranium-rich Angela and Pamela deposits, south of Alice Springs. Eighty new mining exploration applications have been lodged since 18 new land areas were released by the Northern Territory Government last month. Half of those are to search in the Angela and Pamela deposits. Several companies, most of them Chinese, have applied for the exploration licences, which will allow them to search for all base metals. Mines Minister Chris Natt says the applications are important for the NT economy. "The Territory economy is really going ahead," he said. "It's not only mining, there's a number of other areas. "Mining obviously is posing an important part and we want it to continue that way - it's going to mean more jobs for Territorians." The Government says it will be up to 18 months until the successful applicants are announced. ***************************************************************** 37 Las Vegas SUN: The man who defies description Today: January 04, 2007 at 9:3:18 PST The unpolished but shrewd Reid becomes a quiet insider amid some unflattering portrayals By Lisa Mascaro Las Vegas Sun Washington WHAT THE MEDIA ARE SAYING ABOUT HARRY "Reid is low-key, deferential and somewhat sheepish, qualities that make it easy to misread or underestimate him." — Mark Leibovich, The New York Times "Reid may be the only Senate majority leader who can say he learned to swim at a brothel." — William M. Welch, USA Today "The consummate pessimist in a political world full of sunny optimism." — Jonathan Weisman, The Washington Post Harry Reid is dour, unpolished, a walking contradiction with an "Eeyore exterior." Or he is "shrewd and very effective," with a "spine of steel," a brawling political insider who started life as a rural Nevada outsider. Those are among the descriptions of Reid as reported by the national media in the two months since the Nevada Democrat was elected majority leader of the U.S. Senate, a post he ascends to today as the 110th Congress convenes in Washington. Reid was a stranger to most Americans before November, despite serving for two years as leader of the Senate's minority party. Postelection polls found that two-thirds of Americans had never heard of him. But once his party seized control of Congress, Reid's power and profile grew exponentially. He now controls the operation of the Senate and, as the nation's highest elected legislator, he is leader of the loyal opposition to the Republican-controlled executive branch. Accordingly, the nation's major newspapers and broadcast outlets have busied themselves describing Reid, generally starting with a dose of disillusionment. The press seems a little disappointed that Reid is not a glittery Vegas guy, UCLA political science professor Barbara Sinclair said. In other words, she quipped, he's no Oscar Goodman. Indeed, Reid "could almost be from Kansas." The stories on Reid have followed a familiar narrative: The miner's son from Searchlight, who hitchhiked his way to high school and whose hardscrabble childhood helped shape his personal and political beliefs. There have been plenty of boxer analogies: "An infighter with a sharp jab," a New York Times headline said. The Washington Post described Reid's reputation as a "brawler who moves with the alacrity he acquired in his days as an amateur boxer." Time magazine reported his "Eeyore exterior" and nabbed this quintessential quote when Reid was asked whether Democrats were going to win the Senate on Election Night, as Republican seats were falling one by one: "Oh, no, no, no. You have to understand, I'm not a guy that is ever very optimistic." There have been musings about the curious head-scratchers inherent in Reid: a Mormon representing Sin City. A Democrat who is against abortion. And the controversies that dogged Reid before the election have followed him since - from a Nevada land deal that, once reported by the Associated Press, led him to amend his financial disclosure forms, to his acceptance of free ringside seats to Las Vegas boxing events. Washington Post columnist David Broder questioned whether Reid could handle his new role, given his "less than commanding" public presence and his sharp partisan comments - he called President Bush "a liar" over Yucca Mountain and "a loser" for his policies in general. "The risk for Democrats is that Reid may not be up to the challenge," Broder wrote a week after the election. More recently, the blogosphere erupted when Reid told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos he would be willing to send more troops to Iraq as part of a strategy toward troop withdrawal. The net-roots worried that their hero had missed the point of the November election. Reid also came under fire from the Post's editorial writers for his unorthodox plan to kick off the new session with a closed-door meeting of all 100 senators, which Reid sees as a way to set a bipartisan tone outside of the glare of the media. The Post suggested that a better start would be to conduct the Senate's business in public. Yet despite the occasionally unflattering portrayals, the coverage so far seems to reflect accurately the quiet insider Reid has become, and "that helps him," Sinclair said. The last thing Reid needs now, as he tries to lead with a slender 51-49 majority in the Senate, is the kind of overblown expectations the media give their darlings, like their current crush on potential presidential contender Barack Obama, Sinclair said. "Nobody could live up to that." Reid's counterpart, California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, is stealing the show as the first woman speaker of the House. The less swooning over Reid, the better, Sinclair said, so he is not set up "for a big fall." One element of Reid the media have not captured is the fun he is having. Reid, completely out of character, has been smiling. "I'm really happy," Reid told Nevada reporters the week after the election. "I know I'm not a smiley kind of guy ¦ This has been so much fun the last week." He is aware of his image as it has emerged over the weeks and told his fellow Democrats as much. "I said there are a lot of you out there that are better-looking than I am, smarter, more experienced, but there's nobody out there who will work harder and try harder than I." Lisa Mascaro can be reached at (202) 662-7436 or at lisa.mascaro@lasvegassun.com. All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 38 Platts: New Nevada governor allies in fight against Yucca repository New York (Platts)--3Jan2007 Nevada's new governor was welcomed by incoming US senate majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada this week as an ally in the fight against DOE's planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Former congressman James Gibbons, a Republican, was sworn in as Nevada's 28th governor January 1. Reid, a Democrat, worked with Gibbons on several Nevada issues, including opposing the Yucca Mountain project, during the 10 years Gibbons was in the US House of Representatives. Reid said in a statement that he looks forward to working with "Governor Gibbons to make Nevada an even better place to live" by addressing challenges that include "putting an end to the proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain." Dean Heller, Nevada's former Republican secretary of state, replaces Gibbons as the congressman for the state's second congressional district. For more news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at or subscribe now at Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill Companies] ***************************************************************** 39 Ottawa Citizen: Analysts tout uranium's explosive potential canada.com Keith Woolhouse, The Ottawa Citizen Published: Thursday, January 04, 2007 Analysts around the world are forecasting that the price growth of uranium -- the world's heaviest naturally occurring element -- will outstrip that of crude oil and nickel over the coming 12 months. Canada is the world's No. 1 supplier, producing about one-third of total world output. Growing demand, coupled with a supply shortage, is driving the price of the silver-white metal to record highs. Late last month, the spot price of uranium jumped $7 U.S. a pound to $72. U.S., the single largest increase in 40 years. Resource Capital Research of Sydney, Australia, is forecasting that the price will reach $90 U.S. a pound by mid-year and $115 U.S. a pound by late 2008. Given that Resource Capital's forecast assumes the price may increase up to 60 per cent, shares of uranium companies are assuming the mantle of the hottest commodity in the materials sector. Scotia Economics vice-president Patricia Mohr has uranium as her "top commodity pick." "I'm calling for an average price this year of $80 U.S. and by the end of this year it could reach $90 U.S. And I think it will continue to move up after that." Bart Jaworski at Raymond James Equity Research has raised the recommendations on several uranium stocks he covers from "outperform' to "strong buy." He forecasts the price will rise to $90 U.S. from $75 U.S. this year and to $100 U.S. next year. There are about 248 nuclear reactors on the drawing boards around the world. China and India are among the countries at the forefront of nuclear reactor reawakening for electrical generation power. "Even mature energy markets, such as the United States, France and Japan want to expand their nuclear facilities, and there are a number of countries in eastern Europe planning to construct reactors in the coming decade," said Mohr. That has squeezed supply for the material commonly known as "yellowcake." An expected supply was lost for an indefinite period last October when floodwaters poured into the Cigar Lake mine, part-owned by Cameco Corp. of Saskatoon. Cigar Lake, in the northern part of the province, was due to come into production this year. It would have been the first major new source of uranium to reach the global market in a decade. The flooding has set back production by about two years. Cameco is the world's largest publicly traded uranium producer. "It's the Exxon Mobil of the uranium industry and one of the best managed companies in the industry," said Mohr. Cameco (CCO/T) trades at $48.25. It is RBC Capital Markets' "top pick" with a 12-month target of $67. Jaworski has issued upgrades on SXR Uranium One Inc. (SXR/T) and Ur-Energy Inc. (URE/T) with 12-month targets of $16.75 and $4.80, respectively. Nearly all uranium companies are trading at or near their 52-week highs. Paladin Resource Ltd. stock showed what can happen with a burst of good news. Paladin (PDN/T) last week reported that production started on time and within budget at its maiden Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia. Paladin shares jumped 8.5 per cent on the news to a record high of $8.29, surging past National Bank Financial's 12-month target of $7.40. Denison Mines Corp (DML/T) has been attracting attention since its merger last month with International Uranium Corp., of Utah. The newly formed company is positioned as the top North American intermediate uranium producer with mining assets in the Athabasca Basin region of Saskatchewan and the southwest United States, including Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. Jaworski recently visited the White Mesa mill in Utah. He has a "market outperform" rating on the new Denison with the price "under review." Mohr recommends the Denison-managed Uranium Participation Corp. (U/T), a fund that holds and invests in a stockpile of the raw material. "The mining people from Denison are very professional," she said. There are dozens of junior companies in the uranium belt. They include SXR Uranium One (SRX/T), with a project in South Africa that is due to start up this year, and another in Australia due in 2008. UEX Corp. (UEX/T), is the exploration arm of Cameco, and is involved in acquiring and developing projects in the Athabasca Basin. Fourteen months ago, UR-Energy Inc. (URE/T) shares were trading under $1. Now they're at $4. That 300-per-cent increase is indicative of how uranium stocks have performed since late 2005. That doesn't surprise Mohr. "Inventories are dwindling and there is projected increased demand. There hasn't been a lot of mine development for many years. Now, there's a huge resurgence of interest in nuclear energy, so the existing companies are in a good position. "The great thing about nuclear energy is that it emits virtually no greenhouse gases and, in fact, from an environmental standard it is to be preferred to alternatives such as coal. In terms of the operating performance, it is environmentally very attractive. The capital costs are huge, but once you've got a nuclear reactor in place, the operating costs are quite low." E-mail: fairshares@magma.ca c The Ottawa Citizen 2007 © 2006 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest ***************************************************************** 40 Whitehaven News: Nuclear industry firm secures jobs for locals Published on 04/01/2007 Alan Blundell, (front right) head of BIL Solutions, greeted the firm’s staff at Westlakes, with the good news By Alan Irving NUCLEAR decommissioning specialist, Project Services, has won a three-year contract to supply specialist measurement services to Sellafield and three other sites. The contract, awarded by British Nuclear Group, Sellafield, to BIL Solutions, the instrumentation and measurement business of Project Services, is worth up to £400,000 per year. It will aid employment both now and in the future, for the nuclear industry which may have to recruit up to 30,000 new jobs over the next 15 years to cover retirement and carry out cleaning up work. Alan Blundell, head of BIL Solutions, which draws 75 per cent of its 250-strong workforce from West Cumbria, said: “This important win provides BIL Solutions’ existing employees with added job security and will give our West Cumbria-based graduates ongoing experience in a massive variety of projects across a number of sites.†The contract will involve work on sites at Sellafield and Capenhurst along with the Low Level Waste Repository at Drigg. It will include gamma spectroscopy, radiation imaging surveys, gamma measurements of fission and activation products, and neutron and gamma measurements of fissile materials. All these specialist services are required in support of decommissioning, waste treatment and storage at the three Nuclear Decommissioning Authority sites. www.whitehaven-news.co.uk/digitalcopy ***************************************************************** 41 AFP: Former US policy honchos call for world free of nuclear arms - Thu Jan 4, 9:16 AM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - Four top former US foreign policy officials, including ex-secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, called for a world free of nuclear weapons in an opinion piece. The article, which appears in the Wall Street Journal, is also signed by former secretary of defense William Perry and Sam Nunn, a former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee" /> Senate Armed Services Committee. The Washington heavyweights say the United States should launch a major effort towards banning all nuclear weapons. Citing nuclear programs in North Korea" /> North Koreaand Iran" /> Iran, the officials say the world "is now on the precipice of a new and dangerous nuclear era." Aside from the threat of terrorists using nuclear weapons, "unless urgent new actions are taken, the US soon will be compelled to enter a new nuclear era that will be more precarious, psychologically disorienting, and economically even more costly than was the Cold War deterrence," they wrote. In the lengthy article the ex-officials recommend a series of measures that include strong support for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and other non-proliferation efforts. But more has to be done, they suggested. "We believe that a major effort should be launched by the United States to produce a positive answer through concrete stages," they wrote. Proposed measures include: - Increasing the launch warning time on deployed nuclear weapons to reduce the danger of an accidental or unauthorized use - Decreasing the number of nuclear weapons among all nations - Eliminating short-range nuclear weapons, designed to be deployed with front-line troops - Providing the highest possible security around the world for all nuclear weapons, weapons-usable plutonium, and highly enriched uranium - Phasing out the use of highly enriched uranium in civil commerce - Removing weapons-usable uranium from research facilities around the world. "Reassertion of the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons and practical measures toward achieving that goal would be, and would be perceived as, a bold initiative consistent with America's moral heritage," the group wrote. "Without the bold vision, the actions will not be perceived as fair or urgent. Without the actions, the vision will not be perceived as realistic or possible," the article reads. Kissinger was secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 under presidents Richard Nixon" /> Richard Nixonand Gerald Ford; Shultz, was secretary of state from 1982 to 1989 under Ronald Reagan" /> Ronald Reagan; Perry was secretary of defense from 1994 to 1997 under Bill Clinton" /> Bill Clinton; and Nunn was senator from 1972 to 1996. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 42 Las Vegas SUN: Head of U.S. Nuclear Agency Leaving Post Today: January 04, 2007 at 13:30:14 PST By H.JOSEF HEBERT ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman on Thursday announced the dismissal of the head of the country's nuclear weapons program because of security breakdowns at weapons facilities including the Los Alamos laboratory in New Mexico. Linton Brooks is to submit his resignation as chief of the National Nuclear Security Administration this month, the department said. Bodman said the NNSA under Brooks, a former ambassador and arms control negotiator, had failed to adequately correct security problems, so "I have decided it is time for new leadership at the NNSA." -- All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 43 DOE: Department of Energy Releases the Notice of Intent for the GNEP Environmental Impact Statement January 4, 2007 WASHINGTON, DC  The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for President Bushs Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) Initiative is posted in the Federal Register. The NOI outlines the programmatic and project-specific proposals of GNEP. We continue to mark significant progress with GNEP and we look forward to gaining a broader understanding of the environmental conditions under which we will be operating, DOE Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Dennis Spurgeon said. Our need for nuclear power  a safe, emissions-free and affordable source of energy  has never been greater and GNEP puts us on a path to encourage expansion of domestic and international nuclear energy production while reducing nuclear proliferation risks. The GNEP PEIS will analyze the potential environmental impacts for both programmatic and project-specific proposed actions, as well as reasonable alternatives, and will also evaluate, at a programmatic level, the potential environmental impacts associated with the international initiatives. GNEP will recycle spent nuclear fuel and destroy its long-lived radioactive components. To accomplish this, DOE proposes to design, build, and operate three facilities: 1. A nuclear fuel recycling center, which would separate spent nuclear fuel into reusable and waste components and then manufacture new nuclear fast reactor fuel using the reusable components. 2. An advanced recycling reactor, which would destroy long-lived radioactive elements in the new fuel while generating electricity. 3. An advanced fuel cycle research facility, which would perform research and development into spent nuclear fuel recycling processes and other advanced nuclear fuel cycles. At this time, DOE contemplates that the PEIS will consider 13 sites as possible locations for one or more of the proposed GNEP facilities. Eleven of these sites were selected based on responses received regarding the Funding Opportunity Announcement (http://www.energy.gov/news/4492.htm), as well as 2 additional DOE sites that the Department has preliminarily identified as a possible location for a DOE-directed advanced fuel cycle research facility. GNEP also includes two international initiatives: 1) Ensure reliable fuel services, in which the U.S would cooperate with countries that have advanced nuclear programs to supply nuclear fuel services to other countries that refrain from pursuing enrichment or recycling facilities to make their own nuclear fuel; and, 2) Development of proliferation-resistant nuclear power reactors suitable for use in developing economies. To further define the GNEP PEIS and identify key issues, DOE invites the public to comment on the proposed scope during the 90-day comment period that begins with the Federal Register notice and continues through April 4, 2007. All comments received during the public scoping period will be considered in preparing the GNEP PEIS. To encourage public participation in the GNEP PEIS process, DOE will host scoping meetings, as follows: February 13 Oak Ridge, TN February 15 North Augusta, SC February 22 Joliet, IL February 26 Hobbs, NM February 27 Roswell, NM March 1 Los Alamos, NM March 6 Paducah, KY March 8 Piketon, OH March 13 Pasco, WA March 15 Idaho Falls, ID March 19 Washington, DC As part of President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative, GNEP encourages expansion of domestic and international nuclear energy production while minimizing proliferation risks, and reductions in the volume, thermal output, and radiotoxicity of spent nuclear fuel before disposal in a geologic repository. For more information on GNEP or to review the full text of the GNEP PEIS NOI, visit: http://www.gnep.gov/. Media contact(s): Julie Ruggiero, (202) 586-4940 [ ] U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 44 Idaho Statesman: Idaho invests $2 million in isotope production 01-04-2007 Location: statesman staff Idaho is investing $2 million in isotope production capabilities and research at the Idaho National Laboratory. The long-term loan comes from Idaho's INL economic development fund and allows Battelle Energy Alliance to speed the installation of isotope production equipment at the INL's Advanced Test Reactor. The funding allows for the installation of a Transfer Shuttle Irradiation Facility, known in the industry as a "Rabbit." The equipment will produce medical and other isotopes and allow for research experiments that involve shorter irradiation times than current reactor operations. The first $1 million payment from the state will occur Jan. 30, and the second later in the year. The equipment must be installed by 2008. Repayment will begin in 2011. The source of the loan is from the INEEL Settlement Fund, which received $30 million from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of a 1995 court settlement with the state. ***************************************************************** 45 Tri-City Herald: Hanford burn pits eligible for historic places listing Published Thursday, January 4th, 2007 By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer The Department of Interior has ruled that World War II-era burn pits at Hanford are eligible for listing on the National Register for Historic Places. The ruling could lead to more careful excavation and study of the site by archaeologists as the pits are emptied as part of the cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation. The burn pits have the "potential to provide important information otherwise unrepresented about the people who lived and worked at the Hanford Construction Camp during its period of significance -- 1943-1946 -- and about World War II-era culture and consumer culture and behavior," according to a report by archaeologist Erika Martin Seibert for the National Register of Historic Places. During World War II, up to 50,000 people lived at the Hanford construction camp as they raced to secretly build the nuclear reactors and processing plants that produced plutonium for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. Their work helped end the war and ushered in the Atomic Age. Trash from the Manhattan Project camp was sorted for recyclables, then dumped into pits to be burned. The area where the trash was burned and buried on the closed nuclear reservation remains littered with bottles, crockery and other debris, and that's just a teaser of what lies beneath the soil surface. A sampling of objects from the pits in early 2005 turned up 339 largely intact items that were collected and saved, ranging from an art deco perfume bottle to a yellow teapot to a Smith Brothers cough syrup bottle. The preservation of the items, just a fraction of what the pits hold, is "extraordinary," Martin Seibert wrote. The Department of Energy had argued that the burn pits are not historically significant and not eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation agreed. "Learning that Hanford workers drank Coca-Cola, used hair products, ate meat or drank beer does not contribute to our understanding of human history during the 1940s," Allyson Brooks, the state historic preservation officer, wrote in a letter to DOE. "In fact, the department of Energy has already documented these facts in oral interviews and documentary research." But groups including the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Society of Historical Archaeology have written to the Department of Interior's keeper of the National Register to emphasize the value of treating the burn pits as an archaeological site. The Department of Interior sided with those groups. "Some researchers may question the value of 20th century sites because they are seen as 'recent,' or investigators can remember using the objects/artifacts that are recovered from such sites," Martin Seibert wrote. "Within the last 15 years, it has become evident that archaeology of this era is just as fruitful in answering important questions as the archaeology of older sites." Archaeological evidence can shed light on the way technological innovations from electricity to indoor plumbing changed life and the rapid rise of consumerism and new ideals of social behavior, Martin Seibert wrote, referencing work by Sue Henry in 1995. Gen. Leslie Groves, a key leader of the Manhattan Project, has been quoted as saying that women at the Hanford construction camp lived with few amenities of normal life, according to materials submitted to the Department of Interior. "Just how 'stark' these conditions may have been and how few 'amenities' may have been available may be revealed" by the burn pits, Martin Seibert wrote. Important research also could be done to compare life at the Hanford construction camps with life in the government camps where Japanese Americans were interned at the same time in California and Idaho, she wrote. Even though DOE has documents and first-person accounts of life in the construction camp, historical archaeological projects have shown that memories are imperfect and official lists are often wrong or misleading, Martin Seibert wrote. Multiple sources of evidence can complement each other and lead to more accurate information, she wrote. DOE also has questioned the historical value of the burn pits because it's unknown whether they were used after 1946 for debris. But archaeologists should have no trouble dating the material recovered, even if some more recent items are found, Martin Seibert wrote. Before the Department of Interior determination, DOE had proposed collecting more items from the pits that would be evocative of the early 1940s and suitable for display. It also offered to have an archaeologist present during excavation to identify anything of interest that was unearthed. It plans to excavate much of the disposal area as part of Hanford cleanup because it is contaminated with diesel gas and kerosene used to burn the trash. Now, DOE will prepare a new report for the Washington State Historic Preservation Office, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the tribes and other interested parties, said DOE spokeswoman Colleen French. It also will revisit its sampling plan, she said. © 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 46 DOE: Privacy Act of 1974; Notice to Amend an Existing System of FR Doc E6-22547 [Federal Register: January 4, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 2)] [Notices] [Page 336-338] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr04ja07-33] Records AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: As required by the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, the Department of Energy (DOE) is publishing a notice of a proposed amendment to an existing system of records. DOE proposes to amend and change the name of DOE-21 ``Emergency Defense Mobilization [[Page 337]] Files'' to DOE-21 ``Asset Readiness Management System (ARMS)'' and convert the system from paper records to an electronic information system. This notice will provide a clearer description of the categories of personal information contained in the system of records and identify the purpose and authorities for collecting and maintaining this information. DATES: The proposed amendment to this existing system of records will become effective without further notice on February 20, 2007 unless DOE receives adverse comments and determines that this amendment should not become effective on that date. ADDRESSES: Written comments should be directed to the following address: U.S. Department of Energy, Deborah Wilber, Director, Office of Emergency Response, National Nuclear Security Administration, NA-42, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Abel Lopez, Director, Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Group, MA-74, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-5955; Isiah Smith, Deputy Assistant General Counsel for General Law, GC-77, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington DC 20585, (202) 586-5000; David S. Jonas, Office of the General Counsel, National Nuclear Security Administration, NA-3.1, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington DC 20585, (202) 586- 5000; and Deborah Wilber, Director, Office of Emergency Response, National Nuclear Security Administration, NA-42, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington DC 20585, (202) 586-2920. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1974, the Atomic Energy Commission, a predecessor agency of DOE, established a program called the Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST) to prevent and/or respond to emergencies involving nuclear or radiological materials by providing the personnel, equipment and resources necessary to search for, locate and deactivate nuclear or radiological devices. In this way, NEST provides technical assistance to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of State (DOS), the lead federal agency for terrorism response outside the United States. Under the Atomic Energy Act, the FBI is responsible for investigating illegal activities, including terrorist threats, involving the possible illicit use of nuclear materials within the United States. The events of September 11, 2001 and the threat of nuclear terrorism have resulted in an increased impetus for ensuring that such federal government emergency response capabilities are ready to respond on short notice. To deploy NEST resources more rapidly and effectively, DOE plans to amend its system of records that maintain information about emergency response resources. Since September 11, 2001, DOE's emergency response mission has expanded and now includes minimizing as well as preventing the consequences of an event involving nuclear or radiological materials. For example, in the case of an accidental release of radiological materials, DOE will be able to use the information in this system of records to deploy teams that use radiation-monitoring equipment to detect and measure radiation contamination levels and provide information to state and local officials to determine what geographical areas need to be evacuated. DOE also will be able to use the information in this system of records to mobilize medical personnel to advise on the treatment of injuries resulting from radiation exposure. Homeland Security Presidential Directive HSPD-5 ``Management of Domestic Incidents'' mandated the development of an intergovernmental agency National Response Plan (NRP) to direct federal government agency capabilities and resources into a coordinated, unified domestic catastrophic incident management and response system. DOE's responsibilities relating to the federal government response to a domestic nuclear or radiological incident are detailed in the Nuclear/ Radiological Incident Annex of the NRP. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 further outlines DOE's responsibilities for managing the readiness of capabilities and assets that may be called upon to respond to a nuclear or radiological incident. The Office of Emergency Response of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at the DOE will use ARMS to monitor readiness status and fulfill its responsibilities for managing, training, equipping and deploying DOE's response teams. The teams will consist of DOE and NNSA employees, contractor employees, employees from other federal agencies, and military personnel. DOE proposes to amend and change the name of DOE-21 ``Emergency Defense Mobilization Files'' to DOE-21 ``Asset Readiness Management System (ARMS)'' and convert the system from a paper file system to an electronic information system. In addition, DOE also proposes to establish a new routine use for the system of records. The proposed routine use will allow the disclosure of identifiable information to agents approved by NNSA Office of Emergency Response. The approved agents will be representatives from the FBI, the Department of Defense (DOD), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and DOS. The agents will use the information exclusively to deploy and verify the identity of an individual for the purpose of gaining access to incident response security areas. This disclosure of identifiable information is compatible with the purpose for which this information is collected and maintained. The information maintained in the system of records includes social security number, employee number, date of hire, DOE badge number, security clearance number, date of birth, tourist passport number, official passport number, education level, blood type, immunization record, and other medical information. An individual's social security number, DOE badge number, security clearance number, date of birth, tourist passport number, and official passport number will be used to gain access to emergency incident areas controlled by the FBI, DOD, NRC, EPA, NASA, DHS, and DOS, and to create official travel manifests, to obtain visas necessary for official foreign travel. Date of hire information will be used to determine seniority and experience level of emergency response team members. Education level information will be needed to determine whether an individual meets the initial qualification level requirements for certain positions on an emergency response team. Blood type, immunization record, and other medical information will be used to determine the personal state of readiness of individual emergency response personnel. Employee number and DOE badge number information will be used during nuclear incidents to help DOE keep track of personnel available to deploy. DOE is submitting the report required by OMB Circular A-130 concurrently with the publication of this notice. The text of this notice contains information required by the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4). [[Page 338]] Issued in Washington, DC on December 27, 2006. Ingrid A.C. Kolb, Director Office of Management. DOE-21 SYSTEM NAME: Asset Readiness Management System (ARMS). SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: Classified/Unclassified. SYSTEM LOCATION: U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585. CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM: Federal employees, military personnel, and contractors. CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM: The following information may be maintained in the system: Name, home address, telephone number, e-mail address, social security number, employee number, date of hire, DOE badge number, security clearance number, date of birth, tourist passport number, official passport number, education level, blood type, immunization record, and other medical information. AUTHORITY OF MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM: 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.; 50 U.S.C. 2401 et seq.; Homeland Security Presidential Directive HSPD-5 ``Management of Domestic Incidents,'' The Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub. L. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135 (Nov. 25, 2002), Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Pub. L. 106-390, 114 Stat. 1552-1575 (October 30, 2000). PURPOSE: The records will be maintained and used by the Office of Emergency Response to quantify, monitor, and track readiness of and deploy personnel and equipment as part of a coordinated federal government response to an emergency involving nuclear and/or radiological materials. ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES: 1. A record from this system may be disclosed as a routine use to officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Defense, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Environmental Protection Administration, National Aeronautics Space Administration, Department Homeland Security, and Department of State who have been approved as agents by NNSA Office of Emergency Response for purposes of managing and assessing state of readiness, to obtain visas for official foreign travel, and to provide information to gain access to incident areas controlled by one or more U.S. government agencies under the National Response Plan. 2. A record from this system may be disclosed as a routine use to a DOE contractor employee who has been approved as an agent by NNSA Office of Emergency Response in performance of the contract. Those provided information under this routine use are subject to the same limitations applicable to DOE officers and employees under the Privacy Act. POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM: STORAGE: Records will be stored as electronic records in a computer database. RETRIEVABILITY: Records may be retrieved by name, employee number, e-mail address, work telephone number, and home telephone number. SAFEGUARDS: Electronic records are controlled through established DOE computer center procedures (personnel screening and physical security), and they are password protected. Passwords are known only by the system administrator and users of the system. Access is limited to those whose official duties require access to the records. RETENTION AND DISPOSAL: A request for approval of the records disposition schedule for this system is being provided to the National Archives and Records Administration. Questions regarding records contained in the system may be addressed to Records Manager, ORISE, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (865-576- 2641). SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS(ES): Headquarters: U.S. Department of Energy, Director, Office of Emergency Response, National Nuclear Security Administration, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585. NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES: In accordance with the DOE regulation implementing the Privacy Act, at Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 1008, a request by an individual to determine if a system of records contains information about him/her should be directed to the Director, Headquarters Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Group, U.S. Department of Energy. The request should include the requester's complete name and time period for which records are sought. RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES: Same as Notification Procedures above. In accordance with the DOE Privacy Act regulation, proper identification is required before the request is processed. CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES: Same as Notification Procedures above. RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES: The subject individual and site training records. SYSTEM EXEMPTED FROM CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE PRIVACY ACT: None. [FR Doc. E6-22547 Filed 1-3-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 47 KnoxNews: Duratek penalized for waste disposal Company to pay $300,000 for dumping contaminated water in Bear Creek in '02 By JAMIE SATTERFIELD, satterfield@knews.com January 4, 2007 A company that took a shortcut in handling nuclear waste paid a hefty price, agreeing to fork out $300,000 in criminal penalties. U.S. Attorney Russ Dedrick on Wednesday doled out the fruits of his office's labor to bring to justice environmental criminal Duratek Federal Services for the firm's handling of contaminated wastewater some four years ago. "I want to say congratulations to the agents involved and our staff, especially (retiring Assistant U.S. Attorney) Guy Blackwell," Dedrick said at a press conference at his Knoxville office. "This has been a team effort to fight the people that are polluting our environment," Dedrick said. Duratek, a Maryland-based firm that was one of the nation's major processors of nuclear wastes before its recent merger with EnergySolutions, admitted at a hearing last week in U.S. District Court that it improperly dumped at least 350,000 gallons of contaminated water into Bear Creek in Anderson County in September 2002. Blackwell said it had been a particularly rainy time in September 2002, causing the ponds that held contaminated water being processed by Duratek at its Bear Creek facility on the Oak Ridge National Laboratory reservation to reach "the tipping point." What should have happened, Blackwell explained, is that the ponds should have been drawn down, with the contaminated water flowing into another reservoir where it would be treated before funneling into Bear Creek. Instead, an employee at Duratek, since fired, opted to send the overflow straight into Bear Creek, Blackwell said. "They knew the contaminated water should have gone into the settlement pond first," Blackwell said. The state Department of Environment and Conservation already had warned the firm in July 2002 after probing a citizen complaint of murky conditions in Bear Creek, according to a letter provided at the News Sentinel's request. Blackwell said Bear Creek avoided contamination despite the large dumping primarily because of the heavy rains that had caused the holding tanks to overflow in the first place. The firm itself also acted quickly once it became aware of its employee's action, he said. Dedrick said his office pursued criminal prosecution not only to make Duratek pay for its crime, but also as a warning to other corporations. "These contractors have to know they have to abide by the standards," he said. The case was investigated by a number of agencies, including the state conservation department, which racked up $240,000 in the plea agreement with Duratek, the Tennessee Valley Authority Police Criminal Investigation Division, which netted $20,000, and the FBI. Also receiving a slice of the forfeiture pie at Wednesday's press conference was the Southern Environmental Enforcement Network Inc., as well as the offices of the 7th and 9th Judicial District attorneys general. Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308. © 2007 - Knoxville News Sentinel ***************************************************************** 48 DOE: Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact FR Doc E6-22548 [Federal Register: January 4, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 2)] [Notices] [Page 331-336] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr04ja07-32] Statement for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of Intent. SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) intends to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership initiative (GNEP PEIS) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ's) and DOE's regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508 and 10 CFR Part 1021, respectively). GNEP would encourage expansion of domestic and international nuclear energy production while reducing nuclear proliferation risks, and reduce the volume, thermal output, and radiotoxicity of spent nuclear fuel (spent fuel or SNF) before disposal in a geologic repository. Domestically, GNEP involves a programmatic proposal as well as project-specific proposals. The programmatic proposal is to begin to recycle spent fuel and destroy the long-lived radioactive components of that spent fuel. Toward this end, GNEP includes project-specific proposals to construct and operate three facilities. The proposed nuclear fuel recycling center would separate the SNF into its reusable components and waste components and manufacture new nuclear fuel using reusable components that still have the potential for use in nuclear power generation. The proposed advanced recycling reactor would destroy long-lived radioactive elements in the fuel while generating electricity. The advanced fuel cycle research facility would perform research into SNF recycling processes and other aspects of advanced nuclear fuel cycles. The GNEP PEIS will consider 13 sites as possible locations for one or more of these facilities, as well as alternative technologies to be used in these facilities. Internationally, GNEP involves two programmatic initiatives. First, the United States would cooperate with countries that have advanced [[Page 332]] nuclear programs to supply nuclear fuel services to countries that refrain from pursuing enrichment or recycling facilities to make their own nuclear fuel. Such countries would have no need to develop the technology and infrastructure to enrich uranium or separate plutonium, both of which have application in the production of nuclear weapons. Second, the United States would promote proliferation-resistant nuclear power reactors suitable for use in developing economies. The GNEP PEIS will analyze the potential environmental impacts of these programmatic and project-specific proposals, as well as reasonable alternatives. The GNEP PEIS also will evaluate at a programmatic level the potential environmental impacts associated with the international aspects of GNEP, including alternatives. The SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this Notice of Intent (NOI) describes the alternatives that DOE proposes to evaluate in the GNEP PEIS. This NOI also identifies dates, times, and locations for public scoping meetings on the GNEP PEIS. DATES: DOE invites Federal, state, and local governments, Native American Tribes, industry, other organizations, and members of the public to provide comments on the proposed scope, alternatives, and environmental issues to be analyzed in the GNEP PEIS. The public scoping period starts with the publication of this NOI in the Federal Register and will continue through April 4, 2007. All comments received during the public scoping period will be considered in preparing the GNEP PEIS. Late comments will be considered to the extent practicable. Public scoping meetings are discussed below in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. Federal or state agencies, local governments, or Native American Tribes that want to be considered as a cooperating agency in preparation of this PEIS should contact Mr. Timothy A. Frazier at the address listed below. ADDRESSES: Please direct comments, suggestions, or relevant information on the GNEP PEIS to: Mr. Timothy A. Frazier, GNEP PEIS Document Manager, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0119, Telephone: 866- 645-7803, Fax: 866-645-7807, e-mail to: GNEP-PEIS@nuclear.energy.gov. Please mark envelopes, faxes, and e-mail: ``GNEP PEIS Comments.'' Additional information on GNEP may be found at http://www.gnep.energy.gov . For general information on the DOE NEPA process, please contact: Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance, GC-20, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-0103, 202-586-4600, or by leaving a message at 1- 800-472-2756. Additional information regarding DOE's NEPA activities is available on the DOE NEPA Web site at http://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa This NOI is available at http://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa. and http:// http://www.gnep.energy.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Terminology To aid in understanding the information that follows, a brief explanation of key terms and the three proposed facilities that support GNEP is provided below: Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative--The Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) is an ongoing DOE initiative to develop proliferation-resistant spent nuclear fuel treatment and transmutation technologies to enable a transition from the current once-through nuclear fuel cycle to a future sustainable, closed nuclear fuel cycle where valuable material is separated from spent fuel and recycled, thereby extracting energy and reducing waste. Enriched uranium--Uranium in which the proportion of uranium-235 to uranium-238 has been increased above the naturally occurring 0.7 percent uranium-235. Reactor-grade uranium is uranium that has been enriched to about three to five percent uranium-235 for use in reactors to produce electricity. The same process can be used to further enrich uranium for weapons use. Fission--The splitting of an atom into at least two other atoms and the release of a relatively large amount of energy. Two or three neutrons are usually released during the transformation. Fission is the scientific principle by which nuclear power reactors work. Fission product--The atoms (fission fragments) formed by the fission of heavy elements such as uranium. Fission products build up in nuclear fuel as a normal part of reactor operations. Light-water reactor--A nuclear power reactor that uses water to cool the reactor and to moderate (slow down) neutrons. It belongs to the class of nuclear power plants called ``thermal reactors.'' Most nuclear power reactors in the world are light-water reactors. Recycling--The separation of used nuclear fuel into: Uranium; waste (fission products and fuel element structural materials); and transuranics. Uranium and transuranics would be incorporated into new fuel to be consumed in reactors to generate electricity. Spent nuclear fuel (used nuclear fuel)--The fuel that has been used in a nuclear reactor. As a typical nuclear reactor operates, the fission process creates energy to generate electricity. During this process, the uranium is being ``used'' and fission products accumulate and interfere with efficiency until the fuel can no longer effectively produce energy. At this point, the used fuel is said to be ``spent'' and is replaced. Transmutation--The conversion of one element to another by changing its atomic structure. There are two primary transmutation processes: Fission, which splits atoms, releasing energy; and neutron capture, which adds one neutron to an atom. Transmutation can be used to destroy radioactive elements with very long half-lives, such as transuranic elements, by converting them to stable elements or elements with shorter half-lives, while producing energy. Transuranics (transuranic elements)--Elements with atomic numbers greater than uranium (atomic number 92), including neptunium (93), plutonium (94), americium (95), and curium (96). Transuranic elements are created in nuclear power reactors when uranium absorbs or captures neutrons. Uranium enrichment--The physical process of increasing the proportion (or ratio) of uranium-235 to uranium-238 to make the uranium more usable as nuclear fuel. The three proposed GNEP facilities that DOE will evaluate in the GNEP PEIS are: A nuclear fuel recycling center--A nuclear fuel recycling center would support two of the three key components of an SNF recycling program: (1) It would separate light-water reactor SNF and fast reactor SNF into their reusable and non-reusable constituents, and (2) after completion of transmutation fuel development at the advanced fuel cycle research facility, it would fabricate such fuel for use in the destruction of transuranic elements in a fast reactor (the advanced recycling reactor). A nuclear fuel recycling center could be privately owned and operated, potentially with government-supplied incentives or other involvement yet to be determined. An advanced recycling reactor--A fast neutron spectrum reactor that would be capable of converting long-lived radioactive elements (e.g., plutonium and other transuranics) into shorter-lived radioactive elements while [[Page 333]] producing electricity. The advanced recycling reactor could be privately owned and operated, potentially with government-supplied incentives or other involvement yet to be determined. An advanced fuel cycle research facility--A research facility that DOE would design, build, and operate at a DOE site. Among other activities, the advanced fuel cycle research facility would support research and development (R) relating to separation and fabrication of fast reactor transmutation fuel to enable the destruction of transuranic elements separated from SNF. II. Background The United States faces significant energy challenges including increasing energy supplies in ways that protect and improve the environment. Meeting each of these challenges is critical to expanding the United States economy and protecting energy and national security. The President's Advanced Energy Initiative has identified three ways to meet the challenge of generating more electricity: Clean coal technology, advanced emission-free nuclear power, and renewable resources such as solar and wind. The GNEP PEIS will evaluate the potential environmental impacts of alternative ways to recycle spent nuclear fuel using technologies that increase its usefulness while reducing the threat of proliferation. Nuclear power provides approximately one-fifth of the electricity that the United States uses to power factories, office buildings, homes, and schools. Over 100 operating nuclear power plants, located at 65 sites in 31 states, constitute the second-largest source of electricity generation in the United States. The plants are, on average, approximately 25 years old and are licensed to operate for 40 years with an option to renew for an additional 20 years. Nuclear reactors do not emit the air pollutants and greenhouse gases that result from coal-fired, oil-fired, and natural gas-fired generation. Nuclear power contributes to United States energy security. Historically, the United States has used a ``once through'' or ``open'' fuel cycle in which nuclear fuel is used a single time by a nuclear power reactor, and then the spent fuel is stored at that plant pending disposal. The Federal government has responsibility for the disposal of SNF, and plans to dispose of it in the geologic repository located at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. GNEP would establish a ``closed'' fuel cycle by recycling spent nuclear fuel rather than disposing of it after one use. Recycling spent fuel rather than disposing of it potentially would extend the stock of nuclear fuel available to meet growing electricity demand and reduce waste from the generation of nuclear power. DOE has been researching and developing recycling technologies in its laboratories for many years and has identified processes that would be needed for GNEP to accomplish its objectives. However, additional R is necessary to implement the proposed GNEP recycling associated with the transmutation fuel. GNEP also offers the potential for more efficient nuclear waste disposal. Technological advancements through GNEP could reduce the volume, thermal output, and radiotoxicity of waste requiring permanent disposal at the Yucca Mountain geologic repository. It is important to emphasize, however, that GNEP does not diminish in any way the need for, or the urgency of, the nuclear waste disposal program at Yucca Mountain. Yucca Mountain is still required under any fuel cycle scenario. The Energy Information Administration projects that the world's electricity consumption will double from 2003 to 2030. GNEP as envisioned would promote the expanded use of carbon-free nuclear energy to meet growing electricity demand throughout the world, while reducing nuclear proliferation risks. GNEP would achieve this goal by having nations with secure, advanced nuclear capabilities provide fuel services--fresh fuel and recovery of used fuel--to other nations that refrain from pursuing uranium enrichment or recycling activities. The closed fuel cycle model envisioned by this partnership requires development and deployment of technologies that enable recycling and reduction of long-lived radioactive waste. As these technologies are developed, the United States would work with partners to provide developing countries with reactors that would be secure, cost-effective, and able to meet their energy needs, as well as related nuclear services that would ensure that they have a reliable fuel supply. In exchange, these countries would agree to use nuclear power only for electricity and refrain from pursuing uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities that can be used to develop nuclear weapons. By working with other nations under the GNEP, the United States could provide safe and reliable energy that growing economies need, while reducing the risk of nuclear proliferation. The commercial marketplace will ultimately determine how to meet future increased demand for electricity. By recycling SNF, GNEP is designed to provide an alternative to the once-through fuel cycle. DOE is not proposing in this PEIS that DOE would construct and operate any facilities for the primary purpose of generating electricity. The proposed advanced recycling reactor would demonstrate the feasibility of consuming transuranics in transmutation fuel in a reactor, while also generating electricity. III. The Purpose and Need for Agency Action DOE's underlying purpose and need in proposing this action is to encourage expansion of domestic and international nuclear energy production while reducing the risks associated with nuclear proliferation, and to reduce the volume, thermal output, and radiotoxicity of SNF before disposal in a geologic repository. To meet its non-proliferation goals with regard to SNF recycling, DOE will only assess as reasonable alternatives those technologies that do not separate pure plutonium. IV. Advance Notice of Intent; Funding Opportunity Announcement; Requests for Expressions of Interest On March 22, 2006, DOE published in the Federal Register (71 FR 14505) an Advance NOI (ANOI) related to the then-proposed GNEP Technology Demonstration Program EIS. That ANOI explained the goals of GNEP as it was then conceived and identified the three major project- specific elements (the demonstration of advanced separations processes, conversion of transuranics, and advanced fuel fabrication) of a GNEP Technology Demonstration Program, which was intended to demonstrate closed fuel cycle technologies at an engineering scale. The ANOI also invited comments on the proposed scope, alternatives, and environmental issues to be analyzed in that EIS. DOE received over 800 comment documents, more than 750 of which contained similar substantive comments. DOE considered all comments received. One of the main comments received was that DOE should do a programmatic NEPA review instead of limiting its review to the three facilities. Comments received on the ANOI also included the following: The proposed technologies are not sufficiently advanced to proceed with engineering-scale demonstrations; DOE should pursue and analyze alternatives to nuclear power in a PEIS; [[Page 334]] DOE is proceeding with Federal action related to GNEP before conducting the required NEPA analysis. These issues will be addressed in the GNEP PEIS. In addition, a number of foreign governments and private companies have expressed interest in cooperating with DOE to develop and deploy advanced nuclear fuel recycling technologies. Some of these entities indicated they are pursuing technologies that may be ready for deployment faster, and at a larger, commercial scale, than those currently under development by DOE. In response to the comments and the interest expressed, DOE has made two fundamental changes to its GNEP NEPA strategy: (1) DOE will prepare a PEIS to assess the programmatic elements of GNEP, as well as the three proposed projects; and (2) DOE is now proposing to analyze engineering-scale and commercial-scale demonstrations of GNEP technologies at two of the three proposed facilities, rather than only at the smaller engineering scale. Since publication of the ANOI, DOE has taken several steps to determine the level of interest in GNEP and obtain useful information. First, DOE has sought input regarding potential hosting sites in the United States for a nuclear fuel recycling center and an advanced recycling reactor. On August 3, 2006, DOE issued a Financial Assistance Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for public or commercial entities interested in hosting GNEP facilities to conduct detailed siting studies. These siting studies will be used by DOE to help evaluate potential locations for a nuclear fuel recycling center and an advanced recycling reactor. Applications for these financial assistance grants were due to DOE by September 7, 2006. On November 29, 2006, DOE announced that 11 commercial and public consortia had been selected to receive grants under this FOA. The study sites and sponsors are: Atomic City, Idaho--EnergySolutions, LLC, Barnwell, South Carolina--EnergySolutions, LLC, Hanford Site, Washington--Tri-City Industrial Development Council/ Columbia Basin Consulting Group, Hobbs, New Mexico--Eddy Lea Energy Alliance, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho--Regional Development Alliance, Inc., Morris, Illinois--General Electric Company, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee--Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Kentucky--Paducah Uranium Plant Asset Utilization, Inc., Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Ohio--Piketon Initiative for Nuclear Independence, LLC, Roswell, New Mexico--EnergySolutions, LLC, Savannah River National Laboratory, South Carolina--Economic Development, Partnership of Aiken and Edgefield Counties. Second, on August 7, 2006, DOE issued two requests for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) related to GNEP (see 44 FR 44673 and 44 FR 44676). The purpose of the EOIs was to obtain information from the domestic and international nuclear industry on the potential development of a commercial-scale nuclear fuel recycling center and an advanced recycling reactor using advanced technologies available now or in the near future. DOE is using the industry responses to the EOIs to help identify available technologies, alternative facility sizes, potential financial arrangements, and other factors related to the development of a nuclear fuel recycling center and an advanced recycling reactor. This information will contribute to the development of reasonable alternatives for evaluation in the GNEP PEIS. DOE also would pursue an R program using an advanced fuel cycle research facility to develop additional technologies (not yet available) to separate and fabricate transmutation fuel for a fast reactor. DOE did not include an advanced fuel cycle research facility in the FOA or EOI processes because an advanced fuel cycle research facility is intended to be an R facility on a DOE site. Like a nuclear fuel recycling center and an advanced recycling reactor, an advanced fuel cycle research facility will be evaluated in the GNEP PEIS. V. Description of GNEP Recycling In general terms, GNEP recycling would work as follows. Spent fuel would be received from commercial nuclear reactors and would be processed in a nuclear fuel recycling center to separate the potentially reusable constituents (uranium and transuranic elements) from the non-reusable constituents (e.g., fuel element structural materials and fission products). The reusable constituents would be used to make transmutation fuel for an advanced recycling reactor and, possibly, other reactor fuels (e.g., uranium could be re-enriched and made into light-water reactor fuel). The transmutation fuel would be consumed in an advanced recycling reactor, and the advanced recycling reactor would also produce electricity during these operations. The spent transmutation fuel would then be separated and the remaining transuranics used to make new transmutation fuel to be further destroyed in the advanced recycling reactor while producing electricity. Non-reusable constituents would be converted to waste forms for eventual disposal in a geologic repository or for other long- term storage or disposal, as appropriate. This fuel cycle has the potential to reduce the volume, thermal output, and radiotoxicity of waste that would need to be placed in a geologic repository, thereby increasing the geologic repository's effective capacity and lessening the need for additional repository capacity. VI. Current Research and Development Activities DOE has been conducting R related to the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear reactor programs for many decades. Current R efforts are focused on exploring new, innovative concepts for advanced nuclear energy technologies that can address the key issues facing the long- term viability and expansion of nuclear power, including: The need to reduce and deal satisfactorily with nuclear wastes; improving economic performance; further advancing the safety of nuclear power generation; and addressing issues associated with the proliferation of fissile materials and sensitive nuclear technologies. GNEP would build upon these activities. While these activities share a common purpose with GNEP, they are outside the scope of the GNEP PEIS. VII. Proposed Alternatives The GNEP PEIS will analyze the potential environmental impacts of programmatic and project-specific proposals, as well as reasonable alternatives. A. International Programmatic Alternatives The GNEP PEIS will evaluate the potential environmental impacts of two proposed international initiatives and, for each, a No Action Alternative. The No Action Alternative would reflect the continuation of the status quo. The two initiatives are the reliable fuel services program and the reactor program. Under the reliable fuel services program, the United States would work with partner nations to provide assurances of fuel availability for operators of nuclear power reactors in nations that refrain from pursuing uranium enrichment and reprocessing [[Page 335]] programs. DOE is not proposing any specific action with regard to the reliable fuel services program, and the GNEP PEIS will include only a general, qualitative analysis of the potential impacts on the United States or the global commons that might be involved with such activities. Under the reactor program, the United States would explore promoting proliferation-resistant reactors designed to meet the needs of developing economies. Because the designs for these reactors are not yet determined and DOE is not proposing any specific action to make the reactors available, the GNEP PEIS will include only a general, qualitative analysis of the potential impacts on the United States or the global commons that might be involved with such activities. B. Domestic Programmatic Alternatives The domestic programmatic alternatives currently envisioned are: Programmatic Alternative 1, No Action Alternative: Continue the status quo by relying upon a ``once through'' or ``open'' fuel cycle in which commercial reactors generate and store SNF until DOE can dispose of it in a geologic repository, while continuing the ongoing nuclear fuel cycle R activities, including those activities associated with DOE's Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI). Programmatic Alternative 2, Proposed Action: Pursue the GNEP closed fuel cycle and recycle SNF in a system that includes one or more nuclear fuel recycling centers and one or more advanced recycling reactors to process SNF generated after their deployment. The PEIS analysis would be based upon alternative assumptions regarding the amount of SNF processed and the corresponding potential cumulative impacts of reasonably foreseeable actions as a result of this alternative. The closed fuel cycle programmatic alternative will include an analysis of the potential environmental impacts associated with broad implementation of a closed fuel cycle. In addition, DOE is now proposing to site, construct, and operate a single set of closed fuel cycle facilities. C. Domestic Project-Specific Alternatives The project-specific alternatives are: Project Alternative 1, No Action Alternative: Continue relying upon a ``once through'' or ``open'' fuel cycle in which commercial reactors generate and store SNF until DOE can dispose of it in a geologic repository, while continuing the ongoing nuclear fuel cycle R activities, including those activities associated with DOE's AFCI. A nuclear fuel recycling center, an advanced recycling reactor, and an advanced fuel cycle research facility would not be built. Project Alternative 2, Proposed Action: Select site(s) and construct and operate the following GNEP facilities: (1) A nuclear fuel recycling center, (2) an advanced recycling reactor, and (3) an advanced fuel cycle research facility. The GNEP PEIS will assess alternative technologies and implementation approaches (e.g., engineering or commercial facility scale) that are deemed reasonable, based in part on the EOIs discussed in the BACKGROUND section above. With respect to a nuclear fuel recycling center, DOE plans to evaluate alternative separations technologies for SNF from commercial light- water reactors and the advanced recycling reactor. For each technology, DOE would evaluate potential waste streams and alternative waste forms (e.g., borosilicate glass, ceramic). For a nuclear fuel recycling center, DOE will analyze several alternative SNF throughputs from approximately 100 metric tons of heavy metal (MTHM) annually, up to 3,000 MTHM annually. At the low range of throughputs, the analyses would correspond to engineering-scale capacities consistent with the ANOI. At the high range of throughput, the Department expects that a nuclear fuel recycling center would have the capacity to recycle up to 2,000-3,000 MTHM annually, which would enable a nuclear fuel recycling center to recycle commercial SNF inventories at approximately the same rate that such inventories are now generated. DOE also will assess appropriate storage alternatives for the recycling facilities. DOE will evaluate storage of spent fuel prior to recycling, as well as storage of waste generated from recycling, at a level related to the projected throughput for a nuclear fuel recycling center. For an advanced recycling reactor, the baseline technology that will be assessed is a sodium-cooled fast reactor. DOE plans to evaluate alternative fuel types (e.g., oxide, metal) and power ratings (250-- 2,000 MWthermal) for an advanced recycling reactor. DOE also will assess appropriate storage alternatives for spent fuel generated by an advanced recycling reactor prior to recycling, at a level related to the projected size of an advanced recycling reactor. DOE envisions that a nuclear fuel recycling center and an advanced recycling reactor could begin operation before DOE has fully completed its research and development of the transmutation fuel recycling at an advanced fuel cycle research facility. During this interim period, DOE may use a nuclear fuel recycling center to separate light-water reactor SNF and support the fabrication of fast reactor driver fuel which would be consumed in the advanced recycling reactor. This fuel could be made of uranium and plutonium, but would likely not contain other transuranics. Once DOE completes the R required to fabricate fuel containing other transuranic elements, it would use a nuclear fuel recycling center to fabricate fast reactor fuels containing other transuranics, and demonstrate the consumption of transuranic elements in an advanced recycling reactor. DOE would then separate the resulting spent transmutation fuel and fabricate new transmutation fuel in a nuclear fuel recycling center. At this time, the following DOE sites are under consideration for the location of a nuclear fuel recycling center and/or an advanced recycling reactor: Idaho National Laboratory (Idaho Falls, Idaho); Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (Paducah, Kentucky); Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (Piketon, Ohio); Savannah River Site (Aiken, South Carolina); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, Tennessee); and Hanford Site (Richland, Washington). In addition, non-DOE sites in the following locations also are under consideration for the location of a nuclear fuel recycling center and/or an advanced recycling reactor: Atomic City, Idaho; Morris, Illinois; Hobbs, New Mexico; Roswell, New Mexico; and Barnwell, South Carolina. DOE is proposing that the advanced fuel cycle research facility be located at a DOE site. The DOE sites under consideration include: Idaho National Laboratory (Idaho Falls, Idaho); Argonne National Laboratory (DuPage County, Illinois); Los Alamos National Laboratory (Los Alamos, New Mexico); Savannah River Site (Aiken, South Carolina); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, Tennessee); and Hanford Site (Richland, Washington). To determine reasonable site alternatives for an advanced fuel cycle research facility, DOE is conducting a site screening process that is considering criteria specific to an advanced fuel cycle research facility. Similarly, for a nuclear fuel recycling center and an advanced recycling reactor, DOE will use the information received through the FOA process, as well as other information, to develop the reasonable site alternatives. As a result of these site screening processes, some sites may be eliminated from [[Page 336]] consideration as reasonable site alternatives. DOE will document the results of the site screening processes in the GNEP PEIS Site Alternative Screening Report. DOE intends that the alternatives and analyses in the GNEP PEIS will provide the maximum amount of flexibility in making decisions related to GNEP. In any event, however, in order for a site to be selected as the preferred site for a facility, DOE will require adequate assurances that there are no legal impediments to the siting and operation of that facility in that State. The GNEP PEIS analysis will address the potential environmental impacts of proceeding with a nuclear fuel recycling center, an advanced recycling reactor, and an advanced fuel cycle facility, either individually or in any combination. In addition, the PEIS will analyze the environmental impacts of not developing transmutation fuel in a timely manner. VIII. Potential Environmental Issues for Analysis DOE has identified the following potential environmental issues for analysis in the GNEP PEIS. The list is presented to facilitate comment on the scope of the PEIS; it is not intended to be comprehensive or to predetermine the alternatives to be analyzed or their potential impacts. Additional issues may be identified as a result of the public scoping process. The current list includes the following issues: Potential impacts to the general population and workers from radiological and nonradiological releases Potential impacts of emissions on air and water quality Potential impacts on flora and fauna of a region Potential impacts from transportation--in the United States and across the global commons Potential impacts from treatment, storage, and disposal of radioactive materials and waste Potential impacts from postulated accidents, as well as potential impacts from acts of terrorism or sabotage Potential disproportionately high and adverse effects on low-income and minority populations (environmental justice) Potential Native American concerns (cultural and archaeological) Short-term and long-term land use impacts Compliance with applicable Federal and state regulations Long-term health and environmental impacts Long-term site suitability Consumption of natural resources and energy Socioeconomic impacts to potentially affected communities Potential impacts to cultural resources Cumulative impacts Pollution prevention and waste management practices Potential impacts from decontamination and decommissioning (D) of facilities IX. Public Scoping Meetings Public scoping meetings will be held to provide the public with an opportunity to present comments, ask questions, and discuss the scope of the GNEP PEIS with DOE officials. DOE selected the following scoping meeting locations based on the responses received to the Financial Assistance Funding Opportunity Announcement and a preliminary identification of DOE sites that could support the proposed DOE- directed R facility. As discussed in this NOI, inclusion on the list below does not necessarily mean that a particular location will be considered as a reasonable site alternative for any GNEP facilities. Oak Ridge, Tennessee: DoubleTree Hotel (Salons A and B) 215 South Illinois Avenue Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830 Tuesday, February 13, 2007, 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. North Augusta, South Carolina: North Augusta Community Center 495 Brookside Avenue North Augusta, South Carolina 29841 Thursday, February 15, 2007, 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Joliet, Illinois: Barber & Oberwortmann Horticultural Center 227 North Gougar Road Joliet, Illinois 60435 Thursday, February 22, 2007, 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Hobbs, New Mexico: Lea County Event Center 5101 N Lovington-Hobbs Hwy Hobbs, New Mexico 88240 Monday, February 26, 2007, 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Roswell, New Mexico: Best Western Sally Port Inn & Suites (Ballroom) 2000 N Main Street Roswell, New Mexico 88201-6450 Tuesday, February 27, 2007, 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Los Alamos, New Mexico: Hilltop House Best Western (La Vista Room) 400 Trinity Drive (at Central) Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544 Thursday, March 1, 2007, 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Paducah, Kentucky: Executive Inn Riverfront (Meeting Room International D) One Executive Blvd. Paducah, Kentucky 42001 Tuesday, March 6, 2007, 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Piketon, Ohio: Ohio State University Endeavor Center, Room 160 1862 Shyville Road Piketon, Ohio 45661 Thursday, March 8, 2007, 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Pasco, Washington: Red Lion Hotel (Gold Room) 2525 N. 20th Avenue Pasco, Washington 99301 Tuesday, March 13, 2007, 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Idaho Falls, Idaho: Red Lion Hotel on the Falls (Yellowstone/Teton Rooms) 475 River Parkway Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402 Thursday, March 15, 2007, 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Washington, DC: Hotel Washington (Washington Room) 15th and Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20004 Monday, March 19, 2007, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. DOE also will publish notices in local media in advance of the scheduled public scoping meetings with the dates, times, and locations. X. NEPA Process DOE plans to publish the GNEP Draft PEIS in 2007 and the GNEP Final PEIS in 2008. Following the 90-day public scoping period that commences with publication of this NOI, DOE will prepare the GNEP Draft PEIS. Once approved, DOE will announce the availability of the GNEP Draft PEIS in the Federal Register and hold public hearings to solicit comments on the GNEP Draft PEIS from Federal, state, and local governments, Native American Tribes, industry, other organizations, and members of the public. These comments will be considered and addressed in the GNEP Final PEIS. DOE will issue one or more Records of Decision no sooner than 30 days after publication of the Environmental Protection Agency's Notice of Availability of the GNEP Final PEIS. Issued in Washington, DC, on December 27, 2006. David R. Hill, General Counsel. [FR Doc. E6-22548 Filed 1-3-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 49 lamonitor.com: Lab impact statements to converge in July The Online News Source for Los Alamos ROGER SNODGRASS Monitor Assistant Editor Several important environmental documents are coming down the pike for Los Alamos National Laboratory beginning in March and coming to a head during the summer months. A draft environmental impact statement for Los Alamos National Laboratory is on schedule and will include "minor tweaks" related to public comments received during a series of public meetings in the fall. "There will be some rewriting to clarify the text, but the impact analysis is already there," said Elizabeth Withers, the official in charge of preparing the LANL site-wide documents for the National Nuclear Security Administration. The preferred alternative in that five-year projection called for quadrupling capacity to manufacture plutonium pits, or triggers, for nuclear weapons at LANL. The idea was unanimously opposed during a series of public meetings. "We are taking an additional look at an impact analysis for accidents," Withers added, to make sure the analyses comply with judicial recommendations that came out of the 9th District Court in California in October. The court said various terrorist scenarios including weighing the consequences of internal sabotage should be considered when weighing environmental impacts at nuclear facilities. "Since this is a site-wide statement, it requires looking at more than one thing," Withers said. The decision by the California Court of Appeals delayed the opening of a biological laboratory at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and has also affected a final environmental impact statement for LANL's long-delayed Biosafety Level 3 laboratory, which is now due in March according to a schedule of National Environmental Protection Act projects at the Department of Energy. A final statement on LANL's BSL-3 is due on July 7. Another impact statement now moving through the system is a programmatic impact statement on restructuring the nuclear complex, known as the "Complex 2030" planning scenario. The major reorganization project proposed by NNSA was the subject of a round of scoping meetings in several locations across the country. The plan calls for transforming the weapons complex based on Reliable Replacement Warheads in order to modernize the weapons complex and to make it more cost effective. Among the plan's goals would be to consolidate weapons- grade nuclear material and reduce the number of facilities that require security programs with rapidly mounting costs. According to the proposal, LANL's nuclear facility space would shrink by approximately 40 percent by 2030. But, in the shorter term, according to the site-wide plan, nuclear facilities would expand to meet the demand for nuclear pits for the replacement warheads and refurbishment of weapons in the current inventory. A draft impact statement for the Complex 2030 project is now scheduled for July 7. Jay Coghlan, executive director of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, one of the groups involved in the California court case on the BSL-3 laboratory at LLNL, said there are contradictions between the LANL plan and the Complex 2030 plan. "They state Complex 2030 would not have any impact over the next five years, but RRW is happening now," he said, adding that he considered that some part of the contradiction had to be false and legally challengeable. Withers said that 30 days after the final site-wide EIS for LANL is published, it be the basis of a formal record of decision by the administration. Among the several converging threads of the laboratory's future direction, that decision is now also scheduled for July 7. © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 50 Knox News: U.S. paid BWXT $33.6 million for managing Y-12 in 2006 By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com January 4, 2007 OAK RIDGE - The government paid BWXT $33.6 million for managing the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in 2006, even after the contractor was penalized for problems with a new uranium storage center. The fee was $4.3 million more than the contractor earned for 2005. BWXT, a partnership of BWX Technologies and Bechtel National, operates the plant for the National Nuclear Security Administration under a performance-based contract. Ted Sherry, the Oak Ridge manager for the NNSA, said there was a $1.9 million "fee adjustment" for problems that caused a two-month suspension of work on the new uranium storage facility. BWXT, however, indicated as much as $5 million was lost because of those problems and, "to a much lesser degree," issues with several other projects. The contractor's overall performance rating for fiscal 2006 was "good," according to Sherry's Dec. 27 letter to George Dials, the president and general manager of BWXT Y-12 LLC. The highlights included a "dramatic increase" in Y-12's disassembly of old warheads, improvements in the plant's safety and security, and production of replacement parts for B-61 bombs. Sherry praised BWXT for meeting the initial production milestone on the B-61 bomb in 2006. He also said that increasing the delivery rates for the B-61 parts would be a "significant focus area" in 2007. The federal official said Y-12 had a 40 percent decline in recordable injuries and lost workdays compared to 2005, and he said there were no reportable personnel contamination issues in 2006. He also cited security upgrades, including the deployment of technologies and other things to enhance the physical protection of the plant's nuclear assets. BWXT was penalized for "significant problems" involving the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, a $500 million center that will house Y-12's stockpile of bomb-grade uranium. Work was shut down in early 2006 after it was determined that the rebar or reinforcing steel in certain parts of the building did not meet design specifications for the high-security facility. Caddell-Blaine is building the storage complex under a subcontract to BWXT. Sherry said the construction problems created "an overall delay" in the project's completion date. "It is noteworthy that BWXT Y-12 has taken aggressive action to address problems with this project," Sherry added. "Construction work resumed in April 2006 with improvements achieved in project management, integration, oversight, project processes, quality assurance, and quality control." The new storehouse is about 40 percent complete. BWXT said it was pleased with the performance evaluation. "This is the fifth consecutive year that Y-12 has improved its performance and fee earnings," the company said in a prepared response to questions. "Although on balance we're extremely pleased with fee performance this year, the penalties assessed to the HEUMF project, in our view, were severe in light of the fact that the project is back on track and progressing smoothly," Dials said in a prepared statement. If that penalty were omitted, the Y-12 performance would have been rated as "outstanding," he said. Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. Copyright 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 51 lamonitor.com: Lab checkpoints to open on Monday The Online News Source for Los Alamos Security measures established to protect against possible attacks Monitor Staff Writer Security checkpoints established north of Los Alamos National Laboratory will be fully operational on Monday, requiring motorists to stop until signaled through by protective force officers. Although access requirements vary by vehicle type, all motorists will be processed at the "vehicle access portals" - the first of which is located at the intersection of East Jemez Road and Diamond Drive, south of the Los Alamos Canyon Bridge. Another VAP stands on West Jemez Road, just east of Camp May Road. The checkpoints come to Los Alamos in response to increasing U.S. efforts aimed at beefing up security measures to protect against the possibility of terrorist attacks. All westbound vehicles headed into Technical Area 3, or traveling to the Pajarito Mountain Ski Area and other areas on West Jemez Road, will be required to drive through the checkpoints. All vehicles passing through the checkpoints are subject to inspection. A third station is Post 10, located on East Jemez Road near State Road 4. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security determines security levels that the laboratory follows, LANL Spokeswoman Kathy DeLucas said. Currently, LANL is at a SECON 3, an elevated condition declared when there is a "significant risk of terrorist attack" according to DOE security condition definitions. "We've been at SECON 3 for a while now and it seems to have stabilized there," DeLucas said today. SECON 2, is considered a "high condition" and SECON 1 is considered a "severe condition." Operators of recreational vehicles, large commercial and delivery trucks and other large vehicles can expect an inspection. Reasons for inspection for any vehicle may include a change on SECON level or observation of suspicious activities and other circumstances, LANL reports. The current security level does not require any identification check and allows all individuals, including non-LANL employees, to proceed through the portals. In a November meeting sponsored by NNSA and Los Alamos County, the public questioned the lab's ability to adequately staff the checkpoints, citing budgeting issues. DeLucas spoke to the concerns today and assured the public that staffing levels will be ample. "They have staffed the area appropriately, with more officers present during rush hour," she said. "I don't think that's a legitimate concern." Also at the November meeting, several members of the public noted the importance of bicycle and pedestrian lanes at the checkpoints. At least one booth at the checkpoints will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the lab reports. Lighted signs on each booth will indicate whether it is open or closed. Check the website at www.lanl.gov/community/perimeter/index.shtml. © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************