*****************************************************************
01/12/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.10
*****************************************************************
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: 'America is no longer in the driving seat' | Ira
2 Guardian Unlimited: President's back-up plan - blame Iran
3 Korea Herald: China reiterates stance on diplomatic solution to Iran
4 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI center in Arbil raided by US
5 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Barzani blasts raid on IRI office
6 AFP: Rice to head to Middle East with Iran in her sights
7 Korea Herald: 'South-North relations will be more turbulent'
8 YONHAP NEWS: Seoul seeks annual three-way ministerial talks with Chi
9 Korea Times: North Korea Remains Grave Threat - US Spy Chief
10 Korea Times: Beijing Ups Oil Supply to Pyongyang
11 AFP: US NKorea envoy headed back to Asia but no signs of renewed six
12 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Pushing for More N. Korea Sanctions
13 [NukeNet] "DOOMSDAY CLOCK" HAND TO BE MOVED, REFLECTING
14 Guardian Unlimited: The tension mounts
NUCLEAR REACTORS
15 US: NRC: NRC Schedules Regulatory Conference to Discuss Oconee Nucle
16 Platts: Nuclear power saves France Euro 16 billion import costs in 2
17 US: JOURNAL NEWS: Indian Point owner wants more time on emergency si
18 US: PE.com: California coastal commission sued over nuclear power pl
19 US: NRC: NRC to Meet with U.S. Enrichment Corporation to Discuss Per
20 US: Brattleboro Reformer: Court allows groups' appeal
21 US: Cincinnati Business Courier: Duke CEO joins Nuclear Energy Insti
22 US: NRC: Notice of Acceptance for Docketing of the Application, for
23 US: NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collecti
24 US: Guardian Unlimited: Old Nuke Plant Site OK'd for Public Use
25 US: Vermont Guardian: Nuclear power is not green power
26 US: SFSS: FPL to announce site for new nuclear power plant in Florid
27 times and star: Nuke firm bought for £15m
28 times and star: Nuclear contracts go-ahead
29 US: CNSNews.com: The Nuclear Option --
30 SMN: Bulgaria: Bulgaria Increases Pressure to Reopen 2 Nuke Reactors
NUCLEAR SECURITY
31 Sunday Herald: Uk Unprepared For Nuclear Threat
32 US: NRC: Export and Import of Nuclear Material; Exports to Libya Res
NUCLEAR SAFETY
33 "DOOMSDAY CLOCK" HAND TO BE MOVED, REFLECTING WORSENING NUCLEAR, CLI
34 FROM FRANCE
35 US: NIRS Alert: Account for children, fetuses, & the more
36 US: Gallup Independent: Navajo Utah Commission tries to help radiati
37 London Times: Kremlin 'stalling tactic' hits poison case -
38 US: Nevada Appeal: Scientists say plans flawed for Vegas-area 'Divin
39 US: seMissourian.com: Radiation safety officer says SEMO radiation
40 US: Pahrump Valley Times: Opponents vow to prevent Divine Strake bla
41 US: Deseret News: Officials seek more Strake hearings
42 US: The Spectrum: The Divine dividing line
43 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Divine Strake: Hatch, Matheson criticize meet
44 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Divine Strake gets blasted
45 US: New West Network: Divine Strake Meeting Criticized |
46 US: Metro Pulse: Thank Heaven for Whistlers
47 US: Taunton Gazette: A skeptical audience awaits cancer report
48 Japan Times: Britain tells five Japanese to get polonium-exposure te
49 Guardian Unlimited: Russia Asks Britain to Help in Spy Case
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
50 US: [NukeNet] California coastal commission sued over nuclear
51 US: [NukeNet] Setback for safe storage of nuclear waste
52 reviewjournal.com: Land set aside for Yucca rail study
53 US: RGJ.com: Several mine site updates expected at Tuesday meeting
54 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Arena spurs edit meltdown on Wikipedia site
55 US: nature.com: Canned nuclear waste cooks its container -
56 Ely Times: 2nd Yucca Mountain rail route considered
57 US: PE.com: Hearing set on water contamination
58 US: Engineer Online: Plugging radioactive leaks
59 Cumberland News: Firms strengthen bid for clean-up
60 times and star: Clearance to re-open Thorp
PEACE
61 The Herald: HOLYROOD
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
62 DOE: DOE Announces U.S.-Russia Fourth Report on Bratislava Agreement
63 SF New Mexican: Domenici: NNSA boss to move on
64 Tri-City Herald: DOE OKs new price tag for vit plant
65 Tri-City Herald: Oil spill caused by tumbleweeds
66 lamonitor.com: Local NNSA manager transferred
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
FULL NEWS STORIES
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
1 Guardian Unlimited: 'America is no longer in the driving seat' | Iraq |
[UP]
Ian Black and Michael Howard
Friday January 12, 2007
Iran and Syria both angrily denounced the US plan to send more
troops to Iraq, complaining it would only prolong the
"occupation" and extend insecurity in the country and the wider
Middle East. But there was official silence coupled with signs
of popular hostility in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan,
America's closest Arab allies. No one foresaw a US success.
With US-Iranian tensions running high after the arrest of
Iranian diplomats by US forces in Kurdistan yesterday, Tehran
stuck to its script in condemning George Bush's new approach.
Syria, Iran's only Arab ally, followed suit. "Bush's strategy
will be another catastrophe and the Iraqi people will be the
only loser," predicted the state-run Syrian paper Tishrin. The
country's vice-president, Farouk al-Sharaa, had already warned
that the troop surge would only "pour oil on the fire".
Iran backs the Shia militias blamed for many sectarian killings
in Iraq, and the US and Britain accuse it of providing fighters
with weapons and money. The US also accuses Syria of providing
refuge for leaders of the Sunni-led insurgency and letting
militants cross its border into Iraq.
Tehran and Washington are also at odds over Iran's nuclear
ambitions and a host of other issues, including Palestine. But
the latest US moves are proving testing for Sunni leaders under
pressure from their own people for acquiescing in US backing for
the Shia-dominated Baghdad government. Saddam Hussein's hanging
on December 30 heightened the sense of a widening sectarian
divide. Hence the official silence in Cairo, Riyadh and Amman.
"What Bush is trying to do now is to strike a balance between
the Shia and the Sunnis," one senior Arab diplomat told the
Guardian last night. "The hope is that the Americans will curb
the Shia militia." Sunnis inside and outside Iraq hope in
particular for a weakening of the Mahdi Army, loyal to Moqtada
al-Sadr.
Iraqi Kurdish leaders - key allies of the US - meanwhile
condemned the American raid on the Iranian consulate in the
northern city of Irbil yesterday, saying the operation
threatened to undermine security in Iraq's most stable area.
Fuad Hussein, a senior Kurdish official, said five Iranian
diplomats had been "kidnapped" after US soldiers flew into the
region. "This raid was staged without the knowledge or the
permission of the Kurdish authorities and we condemn it," said
Mr Hussein. "The Iranian consulate is a legal establishment and
is in Irbil according to an agreement between Iraq and Iran."
The US army later said it had arrested six "individuals" in
"routine" operations in the area. The statement did not refer to
the diplomats. Mr Bush had vowed to disrupt what he called the
"flow of support" from Iran and Syria for insurgent attacks.
Politicians and observers in Iraq said they doubted whether
Moqtada al-Sadr would declare open war on US troops if they
entered Mahdi strongholds such as Sadr City in eastern Baghdad.
However, Nasser al-Rubaie, the head of the Sadrist bloc in the
Iraqi parliament, hinted at opposition to US plans. Referring to
moves to disarm the Mahdi Army, he said: "The right time to
remove the protection of ordinary citizens from terrorists is
when the government forces can do the job."
In Baghdad, residents said Mr Bush's speech raised as many
questions as it answered. "How many times have we been promised
security and how many times have they failed to deliver?" asked
Hussein al-Hussein, a local journalist. In the predominantly
Sunni area of Adhamiya, Omar Muhammad, a student, said: "Will
the US troops really protect us from the death squads? Do they
know how?"
Elsewhere, Arab analysts were largely pessimistic. "America is
no longer in the driving seat," said Abdel-Khaleq Abdullah, a
political scientist in the United Arab Emirates. "It has lost
Iraq and adding a few thousand troops is not going to help
because the situation is beyond fixing."
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
2 Guardian Unlimited: President's back-up plan - blame Iran
[UP]
Simon Tisdall
Friday January 12, 2007
The Guardian
If George Bush's remodelled strategy for halting the Iraq
disaster fails to work, it is becoming clear where the US
administration will point the finger of blame: Tehran. For some
months Washington has been moving aggressively on a range of
fronts to "pin back" Iran, in Tony Blair's words. But Mr Bush's
Iraq policy speech on Wednesday night marked the opening of a
new, far more aggressive phase which could extend the conflict
into Iranian territory for the first time since the 2003
invasion.
Mr Bush's choice of words constituted an unmistakable warning
that US forces may in future conduct hot pursuit operations into
Iran against terrorist suspects or their backers. "These two
regimes [Iran and Syria] are allowing terrorists and insurgents
to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq," Mr Bush
said."We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We'll interrupt
the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out
and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and
training to our enemies in Iraq."
Asked on CBS television yesterday whether that meant US troops
could be sent across the Iranian border, secretary of state
Condoleezza Rice said that option was on the table. "We have to
recognise that Iran is engaging in activities that endanger our
troops."
Iranian diplomats yesterday reiterated previous denials that the
country was involved in attacks on coalition forces. But Iran
has undisputed links to key figures in Iraq's Shia-dominated
government and to some of the Shia militias that Mr Bush's
22,000 troop reinforcements are about to target.
In an indication of the way control of Iraq is seen by both
sides as the key test in a wider struggle for regional sway, a
Tehran foreign ministry spokesman said the Bush plan "is part of
the US policy to create a support umbrella for the Zionist
regime [Israel] through an Islamic country".
Mr Bush's more confrontational stance also involves the
deployment of a second aircraft carrier strike group to the
Persian Gulf and the supply of Patriot anti-missile batteries to
Sunni Muslim Arab allies fearful of the rise of Shia Muslim
Iran. In a sign of things to come, US forces yesterday raided an
Iranian consulate in Irbil, in northern Iraq, detaining five
diplomats.
According to a policy document amplifying Mr Bush's statement,
the White House's approach to Iran in the context of Iraq has
undergone a "key operational shift". The aim now is to roll back
Iranian influence wherever possible - despite the probably
negative reaction that might produce among Iraq's majority Shia
population.
But the US is also proceeding more aggressively on other fronts.
This week saw the expansion of US financial sanctions on Iranian
banks that Washington links to weapons proliferation. European
and Asian banks and companies are coming under increasing
pressure not to do business with Iran, on pain of punitive
unilateral action against them by US regulators. And all this
comes on top of UN sanctions designed to halt uranium enrichment
by Iran.
"By putting additional pressure on Iran, Bush is in tune with his
domestic constituency," said Alastair Newton, senior political
analyst at Lehman Brothers in London. "But he is also responding
to the concerns of America's allies in the region, including both
the Arab states and Israel."
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
3 Korea Herald: China reiterates stance on diplomatic solution to Iran nuke issue
[ANN]
China seeks diplomatic negotiations in resolving the Iran nuclear
issue, and will continue to play a constructive role in achieving
the goal, Premier Wen Jiabao told visiting Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert in Beijing yesterday (Jan 10).
Wen said China firmly supports the international nuclear
non-proliferation regime, and UN Resolution 1737 adopted by the
Security Council reflects the grave concern over Iran's nuclear
program by the international community.
Olmert's three-day China trip is the final leg of his visit to
the five permanent members of the UN Security Council aimed at
assessing consequences of Iran's possible nuclear-weapon
capability.
Zhu Weilie, a researcher on the Middle East, said Olmert's
biggest mission during the trip is to exchange views with the
Chinese government on the issue.
Five days earlier, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani
visited China and conveyed Iran's stance on the nuclear issue.
During talks with Larijani, President Hu Jintao expressed the
hope that Iran would make a 'serious response' to Resolution
1737.
China's efforts to kick-start the dialogue between Israelis and
Palestinians and push forward the peace process in the Middle
East is also high on the agenda.
Wen said China supports the peaceful co-existence of Israel and
Palestine and sees the Palestinian issue as the core of the
Middle East issue. It hopes Israel, Syria and Lebanon take
substantive measures to build mutual trust and create conditions
for the restart of peace talks.
"History and reality have proven that force cannot settle the
Middle East issue but only increase estrangement and animosity,"
Wen said.
"China is ready to contribute to the Middle East peace process
and to dialogue between the Arab world and Israel," Wen said.
Olmert said Israel is willing to resolve the Middle East issue
through peaceful negotiations, and expressed appreciation for
China's long-term efforts at promoting the Middle East peace
process.
The visit by Olmert, who is scheduled to meet Hu today (Jan 11),
is also to mark the 15th anniversary of the establishment of
diplomatic ties.
Being a descendent of a Jewish family that lived in Harbin,
capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Olmert said
he had a spiritual connection with the country.
"I wish my parents were alive for them to be able to see that we
are back to the place where my family came from to strengthen the
friendship of two great nations and two great countries," he told
Wen.
2007.01.12
*****************************************************************
4 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: IRI center in Arbil raided by US
2007/01/11
The Iranian embassy in Iraq confirmed Thursday that an Iranian
center attacked by American forces during a prime time raid the
same day was a simple office rather than consulate.
The second level official in the Iranina embassy in Baghdad told
IRIB that the center has yet to become consulate due to
incompleted formalities.
Zol-Anvar underlined that the correct title of the pillaged
center is "Iran-Iraq relations center in Arbil."
American forces, despite international conventions, attacked the
center in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil on Thursday, backed
by five helicopters.
The forces disarmed and kidnapped the local guards who were
appointed by the Iraqi gonernment to protect the office and then
kidnapped five Iranian diplomats.
During the raid, American forces severely damaged the
fascilities and properties.
The forces wanted to transfer the diplomats to Arbil airport but
the local government forces under the command of Masoud
Barezani, srrounded them and prevented any transfer.
Following the raid, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the
Iraqi Ambassador in Tehran and Swiss Ambassador that protects
American interests in Iran.
Meanwhile, the Iranian consulate launched an inquiry into the
case.
Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center.
E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir
*****************************************************************
5 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Barzani blasts raid on IRI office
2007/01/12
The office of the Iraqi Kurdish party leader Massoud Barzani in
northern Iraqi city of Arbil on Thursday condemned the American
military raid on Iranian representative office in the city in
the morning and called for immediate release of Iranians
detained during the operation.
A report from the city says the office announced in a statement
that the attack has been made on a place under diplomatic
immunity and against any efforts made to realize stability and
security in the country.
The statement said the Kurdish citizens will never accept such
behaviours which jeoperdize security in their province.
The statement calls for immediate release of 5 employees of the
Iranian representative office.
American troops in Iraq attacked representative office of the
Islamic Republic of Iran in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil on
Thursday morning.
Based on reliable sources, the American forces disarmed the
guard of the place around 5:00 an and then entered the building
after breaking the door.
Upon entering the office, they arrested five employees, smashed
the furniture and took away the detainess along with some
computers and administrative documents to an unidentified
destination without giving any explanation.
In objection to such an illegal measure by the American troops,
IRI's embassy in Baghdad dispatched a note of protest to Iraq's
Foreign Ministry on Thursday.
M/D
Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center.
E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir
*****************************************************************
6 AFP: Rice to head to Middle East with Iran in her sights
by Sylvie Lanteaume Fri Jan 12, 1:28 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaves for
the Middle East to promote the newly unveiled US strategy for the
Iraq war and to increase pressure on Iran over its alleged
interference in Iraq.
Rice departs Friday evening for talks Saturday and Sunday in
Israel and the Palestinian territories, before traveling to
Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. She will wrap up her tour
in Berlin and London before returning to Washington on January
19.
The tour comes two days after President George W. Bush unveiled
his last-ditch strategy to quell violence in Iraq with the
deployment of an additional 21,500 troops and to turn security
for the country over to Iraqi forces by November.
He also declared a new initiative against Iranian and Syrian
elements which the United States accuses of destabilizing Iraq,
and to deploy US Patriot missiles in the region to protect
moderate Arab allies against unstated threats.
In a sign of the new effort, on early Thursday US forces detained
six Iranians in a night-time swoop on an office in northern Iraq,
prompting protests from Iran and strong criticism from other
governments.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the six were
not in Iraq as diplomats and the offices raided by US troops did
not have diplomatic status.
Rice's focus on Iraq and Iran could overshadow efforts to resolve
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not the first time the issue
has received a lower priority during President George W. Bush's
tenure.
The top US diplomat had promised last month to redouble efforts
to revive the Mideast peace process and Bush conveyed the same
message last week to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
But on the eve of her departure, Rice told lawmakers in Congress
her trip "will focus heavily on rallying the support of those
responsible Arab states to support the government of Iraq, to
support what needs to be done there, to support, of course, also
Lebanon and the moderate Palestinians."
Rice also stressed her goals of countering Iranian influence and
promoting the Bush administration's new Iraq plan.
"What we are ... looking at is the need to solidify the
consensus, the interest of these states that all fear Iran's
moves in the region, fear the regional aggression of Iran," Rice
said.
"I think you will see that the United States is not going to
simply stand idly by and let these activities continue," she
said.
She appeared to face an uphill battle on promoting Bush's new war
plan nearly four years after the US-led invasion to depose Saddam
Hussein .
Editorialists across the Middle East cast doubt Friday on the
plan.
The Qatari newspaper Al-Raya said: "This strategy, which does not
even convince Americans, is doomed to an unavoidable and
appalling failure."
"Iraq does not need reinforcements. It needs to be saved from the
situation created by the US presence, which has turned the lives
of Iraqi people into a nightmare... The solution is not military,
but political."
In Cairo, the Rose Al-Yussuf newspaper said that Bush's strategy
would have only a "temporary" effect, and proved that Bush
"understands nothing."
"Bush's vision is limited to the capital," it said, referring to
Baghdad. "He does not realize that it is all Iraq that is in
crisis." The Iran focus of the trip comes as Tehran continues to
scorn international efforts to convince it to halt nuclear fuel
enrichment operations, which major powers believe is aimed at
developing nuclear weapons. With tension between the United
States and Iran mounting, Washington also announced Thursday it
was stepping up the US military presence in the region, with two
aircraft carrier battle groups due to stay in the Gulf for
several months.
It was the first time Washington had moved two
carriers to the region since 2003 when the United States invaded
Iraq, a US military official said. Rice's visit to Kuwait will
include a meeting with foreign ministers from the Gulf states of
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and
Bahrain, as well as Egypt and Jordan.
Rice said at the Congress Thursday that these countries "fear
quite greatly" an increase of Iranian influence in the Middle
East, and know that to resist this they need to support Iraq.
"Iraq can either be a barrier to further Iranian influence or it
can become a bridge if it is not dealt with effectively," she
said.
Meanwhile US senator and 2008 presidential hopeful Hillary
Clinton announced plans Friday to visit Iraq and Afghanistan this
weekend to meet government officials and US military leaders. The
former first lady, who voted for the Iraq war in 2002 but has
since turned into a vocal critic of the campaign, was traveling
with fellow Democratic Senator Evan Bayh (, , ) and Republican
Congressman John McHugh (, , ).
Copyright 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
7 Korea Herald: 'South-North relations will be more turbulent'
Expert says N.K. nuclear issue and South's presidential election
will affect bilateral relations
By Nam Sung-wook
In 2007, the relationship between the two Koreas will be more
turbulent than it has been in recent years. This is because
factors which exert direct influence on the Korean Peninsula and
the South-North relationship have become more complex than ever.
Factors, from both within and outside the country, are likely to
operate dynamically to become highly influential to the
situation on the peninsula. The foremost factors from outside
Korea affecting the South-North relationship are North Korea's
nuclear weapons and the six-party talks which act to counter the
nuclear threat. The presidential election will become on of the
most important factors to rise from within the nation.
North Korea, with its claims of becoming a nuclear power
following its nuclear test, will take a radically different
position in relation to the South-North relationship. Already,
the North's change of attitude has become apparent at the fifth
second-stage six-party talks. A nuclear North Korea has become a
"brand new country;" therefore their change in the future will
become more pronounced. North Korea stated that the six-party
talks must become a nuclear disarmament conference between the
United States and itself, and demanded that the United Nations'
sanctions and the U.S. imposed restrictions on the Banco Delta
Asia accounts be lifted. North Korea's demands for nuclear
disarmament talks at the six-party talks held in Beijing clearly
showed North Korea's attitude change to a nuclear state.
A tedious repetition of defensive and offensive movements made
by the United States and North Korea were displayed at the
six-party talks. The Republicans' defeat in the midterm
elections has turned the Bush administration, with 18 months
left in power, into a lame duck in the eyes of the North
Koreans. With this in mind, the North will concentrate on
getting the sanctions on the BDA accounts lifted. At the same
time, they will use every excuse in the book to postpone the
execution of the demands made by the United States such as the
decommissioning of the Yongbyon nuclear facilities and admission
of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors into the
country. North Korea will also hint at further nuclear tests to
threaten the United States and try to corner the Bush
administration by advocating the opinion that its policies of
pressure and sanctions were a failure.
North Korea may indeed be aiming to negotiate with the
Democrats, who were responsible for the successful signing of
the Geneva agreement in 1994. Meanwhile, North Korea will seek
solutions to its economic problems caused by the international
sanctions from South Korea.
For nonnuclear South Korea, any dealings with the now-nuclear
North can only lead to the relationship becoming tense and
unstable. The success and failure of the talks will have a
direct and strong influence on the South-North relationship. The
most influential local factor that will affect the South-North
relationship in 2007 will be the South-North summit. The 17th
presidential election is scheduled for December 2007, and at the
moment the big question is whether the ruling party, besieged by
economic recession, will be able to seize power again.
We cannot avoid discussing the presidential election when
analyzing the South-North relations because whether North Korea
will affect its outcome has always been a subject of interest.
In particular, the South-North summit is an important factor in
the relationship between the two Koreas. Despite the learning
effect the 2000 summit had on the citizens of South Korea, the
planned summit will likely become more than a wind of influence.
It is likely to become a tornado of influence with the power to
cause dramatic changes in the political landscape of the
country. Even the ruling party's internal analysis is
optimistic.
"Uri and the Grand National Party's analysis of the Sunshine and
engagement policies are at odds. If the plans come through it
will have a great influence on the nation's opinions," said the
ruling party.
Aside from the national and international factors, one of the
most important considerations in South-North relations in 2007
is the fact that the North has become a nuclear state. North
Korea's military, which was in favor of the nuclear tests, will
become hostile towards the South in order to get compensation
for the economic damage caused by U.N. sanctions imposed on the
country. They will demand that the supply of fertilizers and
food, which was ceased following the missile tests, be resumed.
The demand will be followed by requests for light industrial
goods such as clothing, shoes and soap.
The North's becoming a nuclear state will make it difficult for
the South to ignore their demands. North Korea will periodically
put on display its military might in and around the
Demilitarized Zone and in the open seas and skies around the
peninsula. They will act to further escalate the tension through
illegal seizures of ship and by opening fire on the South's
military.
South Korea must focus on the actions taken by Hitler following
his assuming of power in Germany in 1933. In 1934, Hitler
withdrew from international associations and in 1935 abolished
the clauses in the Versailles Treaty restricting military
expenditure. In March 1936, he rearmed the Rheinland and
subsequently broke the Pact of Locarno, marking the beginning of
World War II. Hitler claimed each time he acquired more
territory that this was the last time and he had no further
ambitions to acquire more. In response to Hitler, Great
Britain's Prime Minister Chamberlain's appeasement policy
ultimately led to World War II.
There is the possibility that South Korea's engagement policies
towards the North will induce a result not dissimilar to the
case of Hitler and his demands. Nuclearization of the North will
render all conventional weapons meaningless in a conflict. It
will become ever more difficult to disengage from the storm
stirred up by the North's nuclear ambitions. In turn, it will
become harder and harder to refuse the demands made by the
regime, as South Korea has done in the past.
However, North Korea will not be unceasing in its attempts to
increase tension. North Korea will also practice cooperative
policies in the calculation that long-term continuation of
tensions could lead to the worsening of public opinion. Such a
turn of events will result in a more conservative environment,
which in turn will lead to more conservative policies towards
North Korea being implemented.
North Korea will make gestures of reconciliation to ease the
tension in return for the supplies of rice provided by the
South. However, such gestures will only be made when the North's
government has received something in return. The North's
military will not agree to cooperate on projects which could
form the basis of fundamental reconciliation, such as the
projects reconnecting the rail networks, which dissipated in
2006.
Another point which must be focused on when considering
North-South relations in 2007 is the fact that discord among the
political parties within South Korea will continue to exist. It
will be inevitable that discord within South Korea will again
become apparent if the conservatives and the progressives argue
using the black-and-white theory that brands each other as pro-
or antiwar factions.
2007 will clearly show that South-North relations and South
Korean politics are so closely intertwined that one's influence
on the other has the effect of being manifested in both
entities. In conclusion, North-South relations in 2007 will be
alternate between tension and cooperation between a poor nuclear
state and a wealthy nonnuclear state.
Nam Sung-wook is a professor with the Department of North Korean
Studies, Korea University. The views expressed here are his own.
He can be reached at namsung@korea.ac.kr. This article is a
reprint from Korea Policy Review, a monthly magazine edited and
printed by The Korea Herald. - Ed.
2007.01.13
*****************************************************************
8 YONHAP NEWS: Seoul seeks annual three-way ministerial talks with China, Japan
on North Korea
2007/01/12 20:13 KST
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Friday proposed an
annual ministerial dialogue with Japan and China to discuss ways
to resolve the North Korean nuclear standoff and other issues of
mutual concern.
The Foreign Ministry said Seoul would host the first meeting of
its kind between the foreign ministers of the three Asian
nations. It provided no other details, including dates for the
envisioned forum.
"Foreign Minister Song Min-soon suggested the need to hold
three-way foreign ministerial talks at least once a year in
alternating locations between the three nations to speed up the
systematic development and increase of cooperation" between the
three, the ministry said in a press release.
Song's proposal came at a three-way meeting with Japan's Senior
Vice Foreign Minister Katsuhito Asano, representing Foreign
Minister Taro Aso, and his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing on
the Philippine resort island of Cebu, during which the three
also called for North Korea's early return to international
negotiations over its nuclear weapons program, according to the
ministry.
The three are in the Southeast Asian nation for a summit of the
10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus
South Korea, Japan and China.
The proposal, according to a Foreign Ministry official, is to
regularize and expand the role of Friday's three-way ministerial
meeting, a forum known as the Three-Party Committee of South
Korea, Japan and China.
The three-way forum was established in 2003, but its main
purpose has been limited to preparations for summits of the
countries' leaders, according to the official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity.
The heads of the three Northeast Asian nations are expected to
hold a summit Sunday on the sidelines of the ASEAN Plus Three
meeting.
"(The proposed expansion of the Three-Party Committee) would
help expand cooperation between the three states," the official
said.
"They will be able to discuss a wider range of issues of mutual
interest, such as the North Korean nuclear dispute," the
official added.
The ministry said the Japanese and Chinese ministers agreed on
the need to establish such a forum and to work toward that end
through future consultations.
China is hosting the international negotiations on ending the
North Korean nuclear dispute. The two Koreas, the United States,
Japan and Russia also participate in the talks.
Despite the limited role of their meeting, the foreign
ministers took the opportunity to call for an early resumption
of the six-nation nuclear talks, the ministry said.
"The ministers...agreed to work closely together to produce
actual progress on early implementation of the September 19
agreement when the next round resumes," the ministry statement
said, referring to last year's agreement from the six-party
talks in which the communist North agreed to give up its nuclear
ambitions in return for economic and diplomatic benefits.
North Korea has yet to halt its nuclear activities and set off
its first underground nuclear blast on Oct. 9.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
*****************************************************************
9 Korea Times: North Korea Remains Grave Threat - US Spy Chief
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times
North Korea still poses a serious threat to world security and
international efforts to stop the spread of atomic weapons, the
U.S. spy chief said Thursday.
The Associated Press (AP) reported National Intelligent Director
John Negroponte told lawmakers that the governments of North
Korea and Iran ``flout U.N. Security Council restrictions on
their nuclear programs, prevent the legitimate purposes of
governance and ignore the needs and rights of their citizens.
In a testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Negroponte
said North Koreas actions last year were particularly
troubling, adding that the North followed up its test launch of
missiles in July with a nuclear explosion in October despite
strong international criticism.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's actions, Negroponte said,
could spur his neighbors to pursue nuclear bomb programs and
thus deal a crippling blow to international nonproliferation
rules.
AP quoted Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, director of the Defense
Intelligence Agency, as testifying that ``no immediate prospect
of regime collapse is evident in North Korea.
He added that ``major uncertainties surround the conditions
under which the North would entirely abandon its nuclear weapons
capability or the likelihood of the North transferring nuclear
weapons-related technology abroad.''
But, he said, the North is ``committed to selling missiles and
related technologies. Although sales have declined to most
customers due to its increasing international isolation, North
Korea's relationship with Iran and Syria remain strong and of
principal concern.''
Negroponte also said that while prospects for conflict between
rivals China and Taiwan diminished in 2006, Beijing continues to
modernize its military, developing better long and short-range
missile systems ``able to attack United States carriers and air
bases.
``We assess that China's aspirations for great-power status,
threat perceptions and security strategy would drive this
modernization effort even if the Taiwan problem were resolved,''
Negroponte was quoted as saying.
01-12-2007 14:35
*****************************************************************
10 Korea Times: Beijing Ups Oil Supply to Pyongyang
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation
China has increased its oil supply to North Korea despite
heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula since the Norths
nuclear test on Oct. 9, the Korea Trade Investment Promotion
Agency reported Friday.
The report said China provided the North with petroleum worth
$29.4 million in October, an increase of 87.5 percent from the
same period the year before.
In November China supplied $20.5 million worth of crude oil to
the reclusive Stalinist state, it said.
The report said the amount of oil China supplied to the North
was negligible in September but it skyrocketed a month later.
The total trade in fuel, including crude oil, and fertilizer
between the two neighboring countries during October and
November was worth $62 million, 20 percent more than the same
period the year before, it said.
things@koreatimes.co.kr01-12-2007 17:33
*****************************************************************
11 AFP: US NKorea envoy headed back to Asia but no signs of renewed six-party talks
Fri Jan 12, 2:39 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The top US envoy to nuclear disarmament talks
with North Korea " /> North Koreawill return to the region late
next week to meet key allies, but there are no indications a
resumption of six-party negotiations with Pyongyang are imminent,
a senior US official said.
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill will visit Seoul
on January 19, then meet with Chinese officials in Beijing the
following day and go to Tokyo on January 21, State Department
deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.
"The purpose of those talks, as you expect, will be to continue
consultations with our key partners in the six-party talks on
how we might achieve progress in the next round," he said.
But Casey declined to predict that Hill's trip could lead to a
quick resumption of the multilateral talks, which involve China,
Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the United States.
The six met for five days in December after a year-long break,
but no progress was made toward dismantling North Korea's
nuclear weapons program.
"I don't have any information for you on when the next round
might take place," Casey said.
"Certainly we would like to see it take place as soon as
possible, but only if there's sufficient preparation for it and
reasons to believe that we will make progress," he said.
Casey said there were no plans for Hill to hold informal talks
with North Korean officials on his Beijing visit, something he
has done on past trips to the Chinese capital.
A week ago, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
" /> Condoleezza Ricemet here with South Korean Foreign Minister
Song Min-Soon and said the six-party talks could resume "fairly
soon" if Pyongyang signals it is ready for constructive
denuclearization steps.
The six-party negotiations were suspended in late 2005 after
North Korea walked out in protest at US financial sanctions
imposed on a Macau bank accused of illicit dealings on behalf of
Pyongyang.
Before the breakdown, North Korea signed a statement agreeing to
give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for economic aid
and security guarantees from the other five states.
But it then went ahead and conducted its first nuclear test
explosion in October, sparking international condemnation and UN
sanctions.
Under intense pressure from its main ally, China, and with a
promise from the United States that it would discuss the
financial sanctions issue, North Korea agreed to return to the
talks last month.
A first round of talks on the sanctions took place on the
sidelines of the six-party meeting in Beijing and were due to
resume later this month in New York.
Casey said Friday that no date had yet been set for those talks,
either.
Copyright 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
12 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Pushing for More N. Korea Sanctions
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Friday January 12, 2007 5:01 AM
AP Photo SEL106 By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United States expressed concern
Thursday that the U.N. committee monitoring sanctions against
North Korea has not adopted amendments proposed by the U.S. and
others that would add new equipment, goods and technology to a
list of banned items.
The U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on North Korea on
Oct. 14 for conducting a nuclear test.
``For the sake of the credibility of the committee and this
sanctions regime, we wish to see these amendments adopted as
quickly as possible,'' U.S. deputy ambassador Jackie Sanders
told the Security Council.
The U.S.-sponsored resolution ordered all countries to prevent
North Korea from importing or exporting material for weapons of
mass destruction or ballistic missiles specified on lists. It
also orders nations to freeze assets of people or businesses
connected to these programs, and ban the individuals from
traveling.
Sanders told the council the United States intends to propose in
the near future that several new ``entities'' be added to the
list of those subject to an asset freeze.
In a measure aimed at North Korea's tiny elite, the resolution
also bans the sale of luxury goods to the country. The North's
reclusive leader, Kim Jong Il, is known for his love of cognac
and lobster and collection of thousands of bottles of vintage
French wine.
Slovakia's U.N. Ambassador Peter Burian, the outgoing chairman
of the sanctions committee, told the council the committee was
continuing the process ``of determining additional items,
materials, equipment, goods and technology'' to be added to the
list of banned items.
He said the committee decided that it was up to U.N. member
states to decide on a definition of luxury goods that would be
banned from export to North Korea.
The committee also reaffirmed that the sanctions ``are not
intended to restrict the supply of ordinary goods to the wider
population of the country or have a negative humanitarian
impact'' on North Korea, Burian added.
North Korea returned to six-party talks on its nuclear arms
program in Beijing last month - the first since its Oct. 9
nuclear test. But no progress was made on disarmament because of
a dispute over U.S. financial sanctions imposed on the North
over its alleged counterfeiting of $100 bills and money
laundering.
The six-nation talks - involving North and South Korea, the
United States, China, Russia and Japan - had been stalled since
November 2005.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who was South Korea's
foreign minister before taking over as U.N. chief on Jan. 1,
urged the six parties ``to work hard toward denuclearization of
the Korean peninsula.''
Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
13 [NukeNet] "DOOMSDAY CLOCK" HAND TO BE MOVED, REFLECTING
Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2007 16:05:44 -0800
X-Nohoney: yes white-hard - relay H=adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net (192.energy-net.org) [63.203.231.61]
X-Sender-Host-Address: 63.203.231.61
X-Sender-Host-Name: adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net
X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY-WHITELIST
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
Heads up! The following News Advisory was issued
by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and is
intended for reporters.
"DOOMSDAY CLOCK" HAND TO BE MOVED, REFLECTING
WORSENING NUCLEAR, CLIMATE THREATS TO WORLD
Fri. 12 Jan 2007
The Bulletin
-- Washington, D.C. and London News Advisory for
January 17, 2007 --
Simultaneous Announcement to be Made from
Washington, D.C. and London; Bulletin of Atomic
Scientists to Underscore "Most Perilous Period
Since Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
NEWS ADVISORY//January 17, 2006///The Bulletin of
Atomic Scientists (BAS) will move the minute hand
of the "Doomsday Clock" on January 17, 2007, the
first such change to the Clock since February
2002. The major new step reflects growing
concerns about a "Second Nuclear Age" marked by
grave threats, including: nuclear ambitions in
Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials
in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing
"launch-ready" status of 2,000 of the 25,000
nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia,
escalating terrorism, and new pressure from
climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power
that could increase proliferation risks.
The BAS news event will take place simultaneously
on January 17th at 9:30 a.m. ET at the American
Association for the Advancement of Science in
Washington, D.C., and at 2:30 p.m. GMT in London
at The Royal Society.
News event speakers will include:
- Stephen Hawking, professor of mathematics at the
University of Cambridge, and a fellow of The Royal
Society;
- Kennette Benedict, executive director, Bulletin
of Atomic Scientists;
- Sir Martin Rees, president of The Royal Society,
and professor of cosmology and astrophysics and
master of Trinity College at the University of
Cambridge;
- Lawrence M. Krauss, professor of physics and
astronomy at Case Western Reserve University; and
- Ambassador Thomas Pickering, a BAS director and
co-chair of the International Crisis Group.
A live, two-way satellite feed (with full Q&A)
will connect the Washington, D.C., and London news
events.
TO PARTICIPATE IN PERSON: You can join us for the
simultaneous, two-site news event taking place on
January 17, 2007 -- 9:30 a.m. ET, American
Association for the Advancement of Science,
Auditorium, 1200 New York Avenue NW, Washington,
D.C.; and 2:30 p.m. GMT, The Royal Society,
Wellcome Trust Lecture Hall, 6-9 Carlton House
Terrace, London. Please RSVP in advance by
contacting Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266, or
pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com.
CAN'T PARTICIPATE IN PERSON?: In the U.S.,
reporters can join this live, phone-based global
news conference at 9:30 a.m. ET on January 17,
2007 by dialing 1 (800) 860-2442. (Media in and
around London should dial 0800-028-0531. All other
reporters outside of the U.S. and the London area
should dial 001-412-858-4600, which is not a
toll-free line.) Ask for the "Bulletin of Atomic
Scientists Doomsday Clock" news event. A
streaming audio replay of the news event will be
available on the Web at
http://www.thebulletin.org as of 6 p.m. ET/11 p.m.
GMT on January 17, 2007.
CONTACT: Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266 or
pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com.
BACKGROUND
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded
in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who
had worked on the Manhattan Project and were
deeply concerned about the use of nuclear weapons
and nuclear war. In 1947 the Bulletin introduced
its clock to convey the perils posed by nuclear
weapons through a simple design. The "Doomsday
Clock" evoked both the imagery of apocalypse
(midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear
explosion (countdown to zero). In 1949 Bulletin
leaders realized that movement of the minute hand
would signal the organization's assessment of
world events. The decision to move the minute hand
is made by the Bulletin's Board of Directors in
consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which
includes 18 Nobel Laureates. The Bulletin's
"Doomsday Clock" has become a universally
recognized indicator of the world's vulnerability
to nuclear weapons and other threats. Additional
information is available on the Web at
http://www.thebulletin.org.
_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings or access the archives at:
http://mail.energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net
*****************************************************************
14 Guardian Unlimited: The tension mounts
Comment is free |
Friday January 12, 2007
Within hours of President Bush's television address, in which he
launched his latest strategy for Iraq and rejected any notion
that Iran and Syria could be part of the solution, US commandos
were putting their commander-in-chief's words into action. Eight
helicopters descended on the Iranian consulate in the
Kurdish-controlled city of Irbil and seized five Iranian
diplomats. "Kidnapped" was the word the Kurds used. There had
even been a standoff between US forces and Kurdish peshmerga
guarding the consulate. It was the second time Iranian diplomats
had been seized in as many months. In December, US forces in
Baghdad arrested a number of Iranians, whom they said were
suspected of planning attacks. Anyone would think Mr Bush was
trying to provoke a response from Tehran.
From Iran's point of view, the US presence in the region is
rapidly becoming more aggressive. First, Washington announced
that it was going to send a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf.
Then, the UN security council imposed sanctions. Then, there
were leaks in Israeli and British press suggesting that Israel
is considering using its nuclear arsenal to destroy the one that
Iran is widely believed to be trying to build. America,
meanwhile, is putting more pressure on international banks to
pull out of Iranian ventures, in a move which hit Iran's oil
sector and its only means of earning hard currency.
Tehran, meanwhile, is struggling to find a response. If attacked
by Israeli jets, Iran has threatened to close the Strait of
Hormuz, the channel for 20% of the world's oil supplies, and to
launch retaliatory strikes on Israel though their proxy,
Hizbollah. But the country's diplomatic reactions, if not
President Ahmadinejad's rhetoric, continue to be limited. Mr
Bush accused Iran of providing material support for attacks on
America troops and said that the US would "seek out and destroy"
the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to enemies
in Iraq, although General Peter Pace, the chairman of the joint
chiefs of staff denied this would mean operations inside Iran.
Iran's response yesterday was to remind the world that
Washington's plan would only extend insecurity, danger and
tension in the country.
Behind the scenes, there must be seismic tensions building up
within competing power blocks in Tehran. Officially, Iran
maintains its influence on Shia militias is exaggerated.
Unofficially, Iran's relationship with the Shia firebrand
Moqtada al-Sadr is tense. Moqtada has alternatively played the
Arab nationalist card against Persian influence, and pledged
that if Iran were attacked, he would put his militias at Iran's
service. But this ambiguity would disappear if Moqtada himself
were to be attacked. If the extra US brigades attempt to clear
Moqtada out of his stronghold in the slums of Sadr City, an
attack would almost certainly be seen as one on an Iranian
proxy. Moqtada's men might be elevated to the status of being
the Hizbullah of Iraq by a bloody assault on Sadr City.
The mood in Damascus is equally bleak. Courted by Tony Blair's
personal envoy and spurned by Washington, Syria knows that it
could help an Iraqi government by bringing on board the exiled
remnants of Saddam's Ba'athist party. But as the Iraq Study
Group pointed out, when urging Mr Bush to bring Syria on board,
the price of engaging Damascus is enormous. It would amount to
no less than a settlement with Israel and a return of the Golan
Heights.
None of which is to deny that Iran and Syria have a genuine
interest in a stable Iraq. If Iraq were to split up into its
constituent parts, the first consequence would be an independent
Kurdish state. What would then happen to the Kurds in Iran?
Would they be tempted to follow suit? Or, indeed, how would
Turkey react? Finding a means of expressing a constructive
policy is daily getting more difficult for moderate voices in
Tehran. If the US goal is to start a war with Iran, it may well
achieve it.
Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2006.
Registered in England and Wales. No. 908396 Registered office:
Number 1 Scott Place, Manchester M3 3GG.
*****************************************************************
15 NRC: NRC Schedules Regulatory Conference to Discuss Oconee Nuclear Plant Concern
News Release - Region II - 2007-00 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region II 61 Forsyth Street
SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 No. II-07-001
January 11, 2007 CONTACT: Ken Clark (404) 562-4416 Roger D.
Hannah (404) 562-4417 E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a
regulatory conference with officials of Duke Energy Jan. 17 in
Atlanta to discuss the possible risk posed by debris found in
emergency cooling system pipes at the companys Oconee nuclear
power plant near Seneca in northwestern South Carolina.
NRC and Duke officials will discuss the significance of an NRC
inspection finding related to foreign material or debris in the
plants Unit 3 emergency sump suction piping.
Prior to some modifications last year, plant employees
discovered several items inside the pipes. Those pipes are used
to carry water collected in the bottom of the reactor building
to pumps that help keep the reactor core covered during certain
accidents. Duke officials say it is not possible to know when
the material may have entered the pipes, but it had been there
for more than a year.
An NRC inspection found that the presence of the material
indicated that Duke failed to implement adequate foreign
material exclusion controls, and that there was not reasonable
assurance that the pumps would have performed their function if
needed.
The NRC evaluates regulatory performance at commercial nuclear
power plants with a color- coded system which classifies
findings as either green, white, yellow or red, in increasing
order of safety significance. The NRCs preliminary evaluation
determined that this issue at Oconee is greater than green,
meaning it has more than very low safety significance.
The meeting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in the NRCs Region II
office, located on the 24th floor of the Atlanta Federal Center
at 61 Forsyth Street SW in Atlanta. The public is invited to
attend to observe and will have one or more opportunities to
talk with NRC officials after the business portion, but before
the meeting is adjourned.
No decisions on final safety significance, any apparent
violations or possible enforcement action will be made at the
conference. Those decisions will be made by NRC officials at a
later time.
NRC news releases are available through a free list serve
subscription at the following Web address:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC
homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail
notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are
posted to NRC's Web site.
Last revised Friday, January 12, 2007
*****************************************************************
16 Platts: Nuclear power saves France Euro 16 billion import costs in 2006
London (Platts)--12Jan2007
Nuclear power saved France 16 billion Euros (about US$20 billion)
in energy import costs and at least 128 million tons of CO2
emissions in 2006, the French industry ministry said January 11.
France's nuclear electricity production in 2006 was about 430
terawatt-hours.
Had that generation come from combined-cycle gas-fired plants
instead, the ministry's Energy Observatory calculated, the
country's 2006 energy import outlays would have been Eur 62
billion, or 3.6% of gross domestic product, instead of Eur 46
billion (2.7% of GDP). The total extra cost includes Eur 13.5
billion for additional natural gas imports and a loss of Eur 2.6
billion in electricity export revenues.
The carbon emissions savings equal the annual emissions allocated
to French industry over the period 2008-2102, and half of the
credits to German industry, Industry Minister Francois Loos said
at a press briefing.
Had coal-fired power replaced the French nuclear kWh, the
additional CO2 emissions would have amounted to 250 million to
300 million tons, Loos said. Counting exported electricity,
French nuclear saved the European Union 150 million tons of CO2
last year, he said.
Copyright 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill
Companies]
*****************************************************************
17 JOURNAL NEWS: Indian Point owner wants more time on emergency sirens
By GREG CLARY
Speak out
What do you think of the Entergy's request for an extension to
install the emergency siren system? Visit the "Issues in the
Lower Hudson Valley" forum at LoHud.com.
(Original publication: January 12, 2007)
BUCHANAN - The owners of Indian Point have asked for an extra 75
days to finish installing emergency sirens in communities around
the nuclear plants, saying engineering and permit delays have
slowed the project too much to meet the Jan. 30 federal deadline.
Officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said after
receiving the request yesterday that they would move quickly to
determine its validity and make a ruling.
"We will carefully evaluate this request to ensure that Entergy
has taken reasonable steps to complete installation and has
provided good cause for any relaxation of the order," said Jim
Dyer, the NRC's director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
Local officials and opponents of the nuclear plant generally
supported the application, noting that getting the project right
was more important than having it completed on time.
Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which owns and operates Indian
Point's two working nuclear reactors, had agreed to deliver a
new emergency notification system by the end of this month after
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton got Congress to include wording in
the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that required a backup power
system to ensure that the sirens wouldn't fail during a power
outage.
The act was passed in August 2005, and Congress allowed 18
months for the changes to be made.
The company has spent about $10 million to replace the old
system and Entergy officials said all along it expected to meet
the 2007 deadline.
"This has been a very ambitious and challenging schedule, and
while I'm disappointed that we could not bring the system online
this month, I am very appreciative of the efforts of our project
managers and the support we have received from the counties,"
said Mike Slobodien, Entergy's director of emergency planning.
The company told the NRC in its letter yesterday that engineers
expect the system to be fully working by April 15, including
worker training and a comprehensive testing of the equipment.
The siren system being used now was tested in November and met
required operating standards. It will remain in use until the
new sirens are ready, company officials said.
But this is the the latest setback for an emergency system that
has failed under numerous tests in the past two years, sometimes
causing gaps in coverage that lasted days.
The new system will include 150 sirens with more features than
the 25-year-old models they're replacing, including the ability
to sound in a 360-degree area without having to rotate. Fewer
moving parts mean fewer maintenance problems, company officials
have said. Each will have its own backup power as well.
Entergy engineers have said putting in more reliable sirens with
a greater coverage of the plant's 10-mile, four-county emergency
evacuation zone has brought more problems than anticipated,
primarily with an existing 470-foot radio transmission tower on
Westchester County's Grasslands property.
There is still one municipal permit to be resolved for a
location near Old Post Road and Riverside Avenue under the joint
jurisdiction of the state Department of Transportation and the
village of Croton-on-Hudson, Entergy officials said.
There was difficulty determining right-of-way authority because
of old land records, Slobedien said.
The main delay, however, has come from work required to bolster
the radio tower enough so it will hold additional equipment,
according to Entergy.
The company projects that it will take five to eight weeks to
strengthen the tower once final construction documents are
provided to the county, work is authorized and contracts are
issued.
"The emergent work to repair the tower was not contemplated when
the project schedule was established in June 2006," Entergy's
extension request noted.
Clinton's office, after learning of the delay request, urged all
parties to move quickly.
"I am disappointed to hear that there may be a delay, and I urge
Entergy and local governments to work together to get the new
siren system up and running as soon as possible," Clinton said
in a statement. "It has been nearly 18 months since my
legislation became law, and the community deserves to know that
there are backup systems in place to ensure that the sirens will
work, no matter what."
Rep. Eliot Engel, D-Bronx, was less forgiving.
"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should deny Entergy's request
to delay installing a backup power system for the emergency
warning system," Engel said.
But county officials said it was more important to get it right
than to have it done on time.
"You want to make sure you measure twice before you cut once, to
use the old carpenter's adage," said Rockland County Executive
C. Scott Vanderhoef. "We've waited this long. You don't want to
rush them on this and have it be a problem later because they
were rushed."
Susan Tolchin, chief adviser to Westchester County Executive
Andrew Spano, said the county supports the request.
"We want to get everything we were promised," Tolchin said.
"That's more important than having it done on time."
Reach Greg Clary at gclary@lohud.comor 914-696-8566.
The sirens located within the 10 mile emergency planning
zones around Indian Point are required to notify the public of
an event in progress at the plants. The sirens are activated by
each of the four counties surrounding the plant. Indian Point
pays for the sirens and maintains them but does not operate
them. They are operated from the county emergency management
office or the county police at specific areas referred to as
Warning Points.
In the past thirty years of operation, there has never been an
event at Indian Point that required use of the sirens.
The federal government requires nuclear plant operators to
analize the probability of various emergencies and to develop
strategies to reduce those probabilities. The probability of an
emergency at Indian Point that would require the use of the
sirens is about once per 500,000 years. The currently installed
siren system is antiquated and many of the parts have become
obsolete. Entergy has agreed to pay about $10,000,000 to install
a new siren system for the counties to use on the vanishingly
remote possibility that they may need to be activated once if
the plant were to operate for an additional 499, 970 years!
The anti-nuclear agenda is to demand more and more spending on
inspections and unnecessary "upgrades" to equipment that will
never be needed or that provide ever diminishing levels of
return in an attempt to make nuclear power production too
expensive to compete with other power sources.
Posted by: nuclear environmentalist on Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:36 am
Copyright 2006 The Journal News, a Gannett Co.Inc. newspaper
serving Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties in New York.
Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of
Serviceand Privacy Policy, updated June 7, 2005. USA Today
USA Weekend Gannett Co. Inc. Gannett Foundation
*****************************************************************
18 PE.com: California coastal commission sued over nuclear power plant
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES
An environmental group has sued state coastal regulators,
alleging they violated state laws by authorizing a project at a
nuclear power plant without requiring its operator to follow
measures to ease the facility's damaging impacts on the central
coast.
The Coastal Law Enforcement Action Network is challenging the
Coastal Commission's decision to approve the replacement of two
steam generators at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant north
of San Luis Obispo.
The project is intended to extend the life of the plant. Without
the new generators, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company would
have to shut down the facility by 2014, according to the civil
suit filed Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court.
The suit said the commission held hearings and considered a
staff review of the plant's environmental impact on the
coastline. But the commission also approved the project without
following a staff recommendation to impose mitigation measures,
according to the suit.
The lawsuit claimed violations of the California Coastal Act and
other environmental and land use laws. The environmental group,
based in Playa Del Rey, is asking the court to invalidate the
commission's decision.
"For the Commission to ignore the staff's recommendations
related to mitigation was unconscionable, and is a clear
violation of the law," said plaintiff's attorney David Weinsoff.
An after hours call Thursday to the Coastal Commission was not
immediately returned.
Published: Friday, January 12, 2007 00:45 PST -->
2007 Press-Enterprise Company
*****************************************************************
19 NRC: NRC to Meet with U.S. Enrichment Corporation to Discuss Performance at Paducah Gaseous
Diffusion Plant
News Release - Region II - 2007-00 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region II 61 Forsyth Street
SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 No. II-07-002
January 12, 2007 CONTACT: Ken Clark (404) 562-4416 Roger D.
Hannah (404) 562-4417 E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov
Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials have scheduled a meeting
with officials of the United States Enrichment Corporation in
Paducah, Ky., on Jan. 17 to discuss the NRCs latest review of
regulatory safety performance at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion
Plant.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. (CST) in the
second floor meeting room of the McCracken County Library, 555
Washington Street, in Paducah. Interested members of the public
can attend and observe the discussion, and there will be an
opportunity to ask questions or make comments to the NRC staff
after the business portion but before the meeting is adjourned.
The NRC assessment is called a Licensee Performance Review and
covers the period of operation from September 26, 2004 to
October 4, 2006.
The NRC staff evaluated performance at the Paducah plant in four
major areas: Safety Operations, Radiological Controls, Facility
Support and Licensing. NRC officials said the review determined
that the Paducah plant continued to conduct its activities in a
safe manner, and the agency will discuss details of the review
with company officials at the meeting.
These meetings give NRC officials a chance to discuss with the
company the overall performance at the plant and any concerns we
might have, said Victor McCree, Deputy Regional Administrator
for Operations for the NRCs Atlanta regional office.
Interested persons may obtain a copy of the results of the
review from the NRC by writing, calling or emailing the NRC
Region II Office of Public Affairs in Atlanta, using the contact
information listed above, or electronically from the NRCs
Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS),
accessible from the NRC Web site at
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The ML Access Number is
ML063480508.
NRC news releases are available through a free list serve
subscription at the following Web address:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC
homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail
notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are
posted to NRC's Web site.
Last revised Friday, January 12, 2007
*****************************************************************
20 Brattleboro Reformer: Court allows groups' appeal
Watchdogs contest VY permit change
By BOB AUDETTE, Reformer Staff
Friday, January 12
BRATTLEBORO -- A Vermont court has denied Entergy's request to
disqualify a pair of anti-nuclear groups as parties to an appeal
contesting a change to a thermal discharge permit for the Vermont
Yankee nuclear power plant.
The appeal was filed by the Connecticut River Watershed Council,
Trout Unlimited, the Citizen Awareness Network and the New
England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution.
The groups are appealing a March 2006 Vermont Agency of Natural
Resources decision allowing the plant to increase the
temperature of the Connecticut River by an additional one degree
over the temperature allowed on the underlying permit, which has
expired.
The plant is required to renew its thermal discharge permit
every five years. The current permit, with the attached
amendment, expired last year, but both are active while the
agency reviews the renewal application.
Entergy asked the Vermont Environmental Court to remove the
Citizen Awareness Network and the New England Coalition because
"neither organization's purpose is specifically related to water
quality of the protection of fish habitat."
The court reasoned that both groups have submitted affidavits
testifying to the negative effects of the increased thermal
discharge on their fishing, boating and ecological activities on
the river.
Because individual members of the two organizations have lodged
these allegations, the organizations themselves could stand in
as aggrieved parties.
"Entergy filed to disallow the coalition and CAN because they
didn't have an interest in the case," said Rep. David Deen,
D-Westminster, and a river steward for the Connecticut River
Watershed Council. "The environmental court said 'wrong.'"
Last year, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, an independent
branch of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, agreed to hear
complaints or "contentions" on how Vermont Yankee's aging plant
equipment will handle continued operation, and whether releases
of water from the plant will damage the ecology of Connecticut
River, as part of the plant's license renewal review.
The plant's current license is due to expire in 2012. Entergy
would like to extend it to 2032.
Originally, the licensing board fielded a total of 11
contentions to the relicensing application. Only five of those
stood up to the board's strict criteria for acceptance.
The New England Coalition won a hearing before the licensing
board but the ruling on the case is still pending. Specifically,
it held that Vermont Yankee has not done enough review of how
the discharge of cooling water would affect the Connecticut
River's ecosystem. It also charged that the plant hasn't gotten
the proper discharge permits for an extension.
Entergy appealed to the NRC commissioners, asking them if they
had the authority to review whether the licensing board should
have allowed the coalition to participate.
NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the five-member commission voted
3-2 to take up the review, not because of Entergy's concerns,
but because it would have done so in the course of its regular
duties.
"They are going to look at whether the licensing board that
admitted this particular contention should have done so," said
Sheehan.
For Ray Shadis, technical advisor for the coalition, the ruling
means the NRC is "effectively taking away from its independent
judicial review branch ... consideration of water discharge
permitting issues tied to license renewal for the 34-year-old
Entergy Vermont Yankee."
"Entergy is once again attempting to evade compliance with
federal protections but we are pressing forward," said Diana
Sidebotham, president of the coalition. "The public has an
absolute right to clean air and water under the law and we hope
that by this action the commission will be brought to uphold
that right."
For the coalition's attorney, Ron Shems, the commission's
decision is an unnecessary level of review.
"The Licensing Board and the Vermont Environmental Court have
already determined that there are important issues needing
further review," he said, in a press release issued Thursday
night. "The NRC must now grapple with this important issue."
In Vermont, Entergy had also asked the environmental court to
narrow or dismiss several questions submitted by the watershed
council and the coalition.
The questions were grouped into categories by the court: whether
the amendment complied with the Clean Water Act; whether it
complied with Vermont water pollution controls; and whether the
Agency of Natural Resources had followed the proper procedure.
And Entergy had its own questions, related to the applicability
of Vermont's Water Pollution Control Act, the validity of
certain conditions imposed by the agency and the role of the
Environmental Advisory Council in a wildlife trend analysis
required by the agency.
Though the court asked the council, the coalition and Entergy to
clarify their questions, it did not dismiss any of them.
"Entergy Nuclear has not demonstrated that no evidence, facts or
circumstances exist that could warrant the denial of the
amendment, or could warrant the imposition of conditions on the
amendment," wrote the court. "Dismissal of these questions is
inappropriate; rather, their resolution remains for the merits
of the trial."
And according to Deen, the environmental court wants to combine
the renewal permitting process with the amendment appeal.
"The court wants to hear about taking up the issue of renewal of
the underlying permit which expired in March 2006 and the
amendment questions that are in front of them now," said Deen.
The court ordered that the parties "be prepared to discuss
whether it would be more efficient for the thermal discharge
issues to be litigated only once, in the context of the renewal
permit," during its next conference Jan. 22.
Bob Audette can be reached at or (802) 254-2311, ext. 271.
New England Newspapers, Inc.
*****************************************************************
21 Cincinnati Business Courier: Duke CEO joins Nuclear Energy Institute board -
Cincinnati Business Courier - 11:39 AM EST Thursday
The Nuclear Energy Institute has added Duke Energy Corp. Chief
Executive Jim Rogers to its executive committee and board of
directors.
Rogers fills the term that was held by Ruth Shaw, group executive
for public policy and president of Duke Nuclear. Shaw is retiring
from Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke (NYSE: DUK) in the spring.
Before the merger of Duke Energy and Cinergy Corp. of Cincinnati
in April, Rogers was Cinergy chairman, president and CEO for
more than 11 years.
All U.S. nuclear power plant licensees and selected
representatives of other companies involved in nuclear
technologies are members of the NEI board of directors.
The NEI, based in Washington, D.C., forms policies that promote
the beneficial uses of nuclear energy and technologies, and the
executive committee sets broad policy for the industry.
2006 American City Business Journals, Inc. and its licensors.
*****************************************************************
22 NRC: Notice of Acceptance for Docketing of the Application, for
FR Doc E7-324
[Federal Register: January 12, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 8)]
[Notices] [Page 1562-1563] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr12ja07-107]
Facility Operating License No. NPF-63 for an Additional 20-Year
Period; Carolina Power & Light Company, Shearon Harris Nuclear
Power Plant, Unit 1 The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC
or the Commission) is considering an application for the renewal
of operating license NPF-63, which authorizes the Carolina Power
& Light Company, doing business as Progress Energy Carolinas,
Inc., to operate the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant, (HNP),
Unit 1, at 2900 megawatts thermal. The renewed license would
authorize the applicant to operate the HNP, Unit 1, for an
additional 20 years beyond the period specified in the current
license. HNP, Unit 1, is located in Wake County, North Carolina,
and its current operating license expires on October 24, 2026.
On November 16, 2006, the Commission's staff received an
application from Carolina Power & Light Company, to renew
operating license NPF-63 for HNP, Unit 1, pursuant to Title 10 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 54. A notice of
receipt and availability of the license renewal application (LRA)
was published in the Federal Register on December 11, 2006 (71 FR
71586).
The Commission's staff has reviewed the LRA for its acceptability
and has determined that Carolina Power & Light Company has
submitted sufficient information in accordance with 10 CFR
Sections 54.19, 54.21, 54.22, 54.23, and 51.53(c), and that the
application is acceptable for docketing. The Commission will
retain the current Docket No. 50-400, for operating license
NPF-63. The docketing of the renewal application does not
preclude requests for additional information as the review
proceeds, nor does it predict whether the Commission will grant
or deny the license.
The license renewal process proceeds along two tracks, one for
review of safety issues, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 54 and another
for environmental issues, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 51. An
applicant must provide NRC with an evaluation of the technical
aspects of plant aging and describe the aging management programs
and activities that will be relied on to manage aging. In
addition, in order to support plant operation for the additional
20 years, the applicant must prepare an evaluation of the
potential impact on the environment. The NRC reviews the
application, documents its reviews in a safety evaluation report
and a supplemental environmental impact statement, and performs
verification inspections at the applicant's facility. If the NRC
issues a renewed license, the licensee must continue to comply
with all existing regulations, license conditions, orders, and
commitments associated with the current operating license as well
as those additional activities required as a result of license
renewal.
The licensee's activities continue to be subject to NRC oversight
during the period of extended operation.
Before issuance of the requested renewed license, the NRC will
have made the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954,
as amended (the Act), and the Commission's rules
[[Page 1563]] and regulations. In accordance with 10 CFR 54.29,
the NRC may issue a renewed license on the basis of its review if
it finds that actions have been identified and have been or will
be taken with respect to: (1) Managing the effects of aging
during the period of extended operation on the functionality of
structures and components that have been identified as requiring
aging management review; and (2) time- limited aging analyses
that have been identified as requiring review, such that there is
reasonable assurance that the activities authorized by the
renewed license will continue to be conducted in accordance with
the current licensing basis (CLB), and that any changes made to
the plant's CLB will comply with the Act and the Commission's
regulations. In addition, the Commission must find that
applicable requirements of Subpart A of 10 CFR Part 51 have been
satisfied, and that matters raised under 10 CFR 2.335 have been
addressed. Notice of Opportunity for Hearing and Notices relating
to the environmental review will be published at a later date.
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) and 10 CFR 54.23, Carolina
Power & Light Company prepared and submitted the environmental
report (ER) as part of the LRA. The LRA and the ER are publicly
available at the NRC's PDR, located at One White Flint North,
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from ADAMS.
The ADAMS accession numbers for the LRA and the ER are
ML063350270 and ML063350276, respectively. The public may also
view the LRA and the ER on the Internet at
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applicati
ons.html. In addition, the LRA and the ER are available to the
public near HNP, Unit 1, at the Eva. H. Perry Library, 2100
Shepherd's Vineyard Drive, Apex, North Carolina 27502.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of January, 2007.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pao-Tsin Kuo, Acting Director, Division of License Renewal,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E7-324 Filed 1-11-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
23 NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection:
FR Doc E7-325
[Federal Register: January 12, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 8)]
[Notices] [Page 1561-1562] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr12ja07-106]
Comment Request AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
ACTION: Notice of pending NRC action to submit an information
collection request to OMB and solicitation of public comment.
SUMMARY: The NRC is preparing a submittal to OMB for review of
continued approval of information collections under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35). Information Pertaining to the Requirement To Be
Submitted 1. The title of the information collection: NRC Forms
540 and 540A, ``Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest
(Shipping Paper) and Continuation Page;'' NRC Forms 541 and 541A,
``Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest, Container and
Waste Description, and Continuation Page;'' NRC Forms 542 and
542A, ``Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest, Index and
Regional Compact Tabulation.'' 2. Current OMB approval numbers:
3150-0164 for NRC Forms 540 and 540A; 3150-0166 for NRC Forms 541
and 541A; and 3150-0165 for NRC Forms 542 and 542A.
3. How often the collection is required: Forms are used by
shippers whenever radioactive waste is shipped. Quarterly or less
frequent reporting is made to NRC depending on specific license
conditions.
[[Page 1562]] 4. Who is required or asked to report: All
NRC-licensed low-level waste facilities. All generators,
collectors, and processors of low- level waste intended for
disposal at a low-level waste facility must complete the
appropriate forms.
5. The estimated number of annual respondents: NRC Form 540 and
540A: 2,500 licensees.
NRC Form 541 and 541A: 2,500 licensees.
NRC Form 542 and 542A: 22 licensees.
6. The number of hours needed annually to complete the
requirement or request: NRC Form 540 and 540A: 10,050 (.75 hours
per response). NRC Form 541 and 541A: 44,341 (3.3 hours per
response). NRC Form 542 and 542A: 567 (.75 hours per response).
7. Abstract: NRC Forms 540, 541, and 542, together with their
continuation pages, designated by the ``A'' suffix, provide a set
of standardized forms to meet Department of Transportation (DOT),
NRC, and State requirements. The forms were developed by NRC at
the request of low-level waste industry groups. The forms provide
uniformity and efficiency in the collection of information
contained in manifests which are required to control transfers of
low-level radioactive waste intended for disposal at a land
disposal facility. NRC Form 540 contains information needed to
satisfy DOT shipping paper requirements in 49 CFR Part 172 and
the waste tracking requirements of NRC in 10 CFR Part 20. NRC
Form 541 contains information needed by disposal site facilities
to safely dispose of low-level waste and information to meet NRC
and State requirements regulating these activities. NRC Form 542,
completed by waste collectors or processors, contains information
which facilitates tracking the identity of the waste generator.
That tracking becomes more complicated when the waste forms,
dimensions, or packagings are changed by the waste processor.
Each container of waste shipped from a waste processor may
contain waste from several different generators. The information
provided on NRC Form 542 permits the States and Compacts to know
the original generators of low-level waste, as authorized by the
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, so
they can ensure that waste is disposed of in the appropriate
Compact.
Submit, by March 13, 2007, Comments That Address the Following
Questions 1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary
for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the
information have practical utility? 2. Is the burden estimate
accurate? 3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be collected? 4. How can the burden
of the information collection be minimized, including the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology? A copy of the draft supporting statement may be
viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD
20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC worldwide
Web site:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/index.html. The
document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days
after the signature date of this notice.
Comments and questions about the information collection
requirements may be directed to the NRC Clearance Officer,
Margaret A. Janney, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, T-5 F53,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, by telephone at 301-415-7245, or by
Internet electronic mail to INFOCOLLECTS@NRC.GOV. Dated at
Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of January 2007.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Margaret A. Janney, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of Information
Services.
[FR Doc. E7-325 Filed 1-11-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
24 Guardian Unlimited: Old Nuke Plant Site OK'd for Public Use
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Friday January 12, 2007 2:16 AM
By JOHN FLESHER Associated Press Writer
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - The lakeside grounds of a former
nuclear plant are safe for any kind of public use, including
housing or recreation, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
said Thursday.
The roughly 435-acre property once home to the Big Rock Point
Nuclear Power Plant falls below the allowable radiation dosage,
the commission said.
``Our goal was to ensure that the property was well below the
very strict standards established by regulations,'' said Kurt
Haas, general manager of the site, on the northwestern shore of
Michigan's Lower Peninsula. ``This beautiful piece of property
is ready to be enjoyed by those who come after us.''
The plant operated for 35 years ending in 1997 and was
dismantled. Site restoration was finished last year. Consumers
Energy, a subsidiary of CMS Energy Corp., operated the plant and
owns the land.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources last fall proposed
buying the site, which includes mature woodlands and 1 miles of
undeveloped Lake Michigan shoreline, and converting it into a
state park or recreation area. The price was expected to be
around $20 million.
Opponents, contending the soil was still contaminated, attacked
the plan, and the DNR withdrew the proposal.
Critics also said the property was unsuitable because highly
radioactive waste fuel will be stored nearby until it is shipped
to a national storage facility, which has yet to be built. A
100-acre buffer zone separates the concrete casks holding the
waste from the larger property.
DNR resource management deputy Mindy Koch said last month that
the DNR considered the land safe and still wanted to buy it but
must refine its plan.
The Michigan Environmental Council, which fought the purchase,
said the nuclear commission's seal of approval was based partly
on data supplied by Consumers Energy or its contractors.
``If the state is still going to pursue the purchase of this
land, we would continue to press for independent third-party
assessment of its environmental condition,'' spokesman Hugh
McDiarmid Jr. said.
The regulatory commission required that Consumers maintain $44.4
million in liability insurance, something McDiarmid called a
``red flag.''
The insurance was required for the waste storage, company
spokesman Tim Petrosky said. ``It is not in any way related to
the unrestricted property,'' he said.
Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
25 Vermont Guardian: Nuclear power is not green power
By Hattie Nestel
Posted January 12, 2007
What in the world can people be thinking to even consider a
20-year license extension for the Vermont Yankee nuclear
reactor?
According to the National Academy of Sciences 2005 report The
Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation, BEIR VII there is no
safe level of exposure to radiation.
This is not new information. The danger of radiation has been
well researched and documented. Radiation induces mutations and
can cause breaks in chromosomes to create babies born with Downs
Syndrome or other serious mental or physical disorders.
Radioactive elements can cross the placenta or be passed to a
fetus from the fathers sperm to foster abnormal cells that can
damage organs and develop into childhood cancers, lymphomas,
leukemia, or heart diseases.
John F. Kennedy knew this well when he signed the atmospheric
test ban treaty in 1963.
The number of children and grandchildren with cancer in their
bones, with leukemia in their blood, or with poison in their
lungs [due to radioactive fallout from atmospheric nuclear
testing] might seem statistically small to some, in comparison
with natural health hazards, Kennedy prophetically said at the
time. The loss of even one human life, or the malformation of
even one baby should be of concern to us all. Our children and
grandchildren are not merely statistics toward which we can be
indifferent.
Like atmospheric testing, nuclear power plants emit radiation
into our environment every day.
Why have the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Vermonts
officials allowed Entergy to ratchet up the amount of power
produced by Vermont Yankee 20 percent from what it was designed
to produce, causing it to emit at least 20 percent more
radioactive emissions?
How can it be that transports of radioactive waste that left
Vermont Yankee from Vernon, on Aug. 31 with an alleged radiation
level of 60 millirems per hour according to Vermont Yankee
records arrived in Susquehanna, PA registering 820 millirem per
hour? (Vermont Guardian, Sept. 6) The discrepancy is more than
four times the federal limit of 200 millirems mandated by the
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
Why was Vermont Yankee allowed to exceed the states 20-millirem
emissions limit in 1998, 2000, and 2004? And why is it expected,
and allowed to do so again, in 2006, according to Bill Irwin,
the states chief of radiological health? (Brattleboro Reformer,
Nov. 20)
Do we realize nuclear power depends on uranium, a finite element
that fuels the reactor? Uranium is quickly becoming less
accessible, more expensive, and of lesser quality just like oil.
Does it matter to us that uranium mining necessarily is damaging
populations on Native American lands in the Southwest? That
uranium mill tailings have been left exposed, thus emitting
radioactive elements that will remain in the air and water,
poisoning local populations and migrating into the food chain?
More than 265 million tons of uranium tailings lie around the
Southwest as a result of this uranium mining. (National
Geographic July 2002)
Every step of the way from uranium mining to crushing, milling,
enriching, and transporting the 162 tons of natural uranium
extracted from the earth to fuel one nuclear power plant each
year is fossil-fuel intensive. Manufacturing concrete and steel
for the reactor and transporting and assembling the plant on
site are fossil-fuel intensive. There is nothing clean, green,
safe, or sustainable about nuclear power.
Portrayed as emissions free, Vermont Yankee (VY), like every
nuclear reactor, routinely releases millions of curies annually.
Some of these radioactive emissions such as radioactive iodine
131, plutonium, strontium 90, many noble gases, and tritium go
into our air and water and bioaccumulate in our food chain and
bodies. These radioactive materials are extremely carcinogenic
and mutagenic. They will be passed down through our genes to
endless generations.
There is no repository available to store radioactive waste,
which must be safeguarded for one million years. All of the VY
radioactive waste is now stored in above ground casks lined up
like bowling pins only 200 feet from the Connecticut River.
(Entergy has refused to put the high-level radioactive waste in
double walled steel and concrete underground berms twenty feet
apart, rather than the above ground six feet apart, in order to
cut expenses.)
Vermont Yankee is a 675-megawatt reactor and contains an amount
of long-lived radiation equivalent to that released by 675
Hiroshima sized bombs. No nuclear reactor is accident proof. Do
we really want this ticking time bomb in Vermont?
Who will decommission this highly radioactive reactor and figure
out how to safeguard the waste for the next 12,000 human
generations? And who will pay for this to be done?
The Vermont Legislature is expected to take up the question of
relicensing Vermont Yankee for another 20 years. We must not
allow relicensing.
We have the right to give our children radiation free air to
breathe, food to eat, milk and water to drink. Even more ominous
than the cancer is the threat to future generations, warned
Alice Stewart, the prize-winning medical doctor and
epidemiologist. Thats what you ought to be really afraid of. Its
the genetic damage, the possibility of sowing bad seeds into the
gene pool from which future generations are drawn. There will be
a buildup of defective genes into the population. It wont be
noticed until its too late. Then well never root it out, never
get rid of it. It will be totally irreversible.
By shutting down Vermont Yankee, we can create a healthy
environment, free of dangerous radioactive emissions and the
potential of a catastrophic nuclear accident.
Surely we can ban nuclear power from the state of Vermont and
utilize the wonderful conservation, energy efficient products,
and affordable technologies that are safe and sustainable.
Hattie Nestel lives in Athol, MA, within the emergency planning
zone of Vermont Yankee.
Northern Vermont: PO Box 335, Winooski, VT 05404 Southern
Vermont: 139 Main Street, Suite 702, Brattleboro, VT 05301
Contact: 802.861.4880 (ph) | 802.861.6388 (fax) | 877.231.5382
(toll-free)
2005 Vermont Guardian |
Visit us: www.vermontguardian.com
This document can be located online:
www.vermontguardian.com/commentary/012007/NukePower.shtml
*****************************************************************
26 SFSS: FPL to announce site for new nuclear power plant in Florida early this year
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
[Sun-Sentinel.com
By Joseph Mann
Posted January 12 2007
Florida Power & Light Co. plans to announce the site for a
proposed nuclear power plant in the state during the first
quarter of the year, moving it a step ahead in the process that
could result in Florida's first new nuclear plant in more than
two decades.
Juno Beach-based FPL, which operates two nuclear complexes at
Turkey Point and St. Lucie, has not committed to building a new
nuclear generating facility. But choosing a site represents an
early step in the long and complicated process of deciding on
the economic merits of building a new plant, which could cost $5
billion to $6 billion, developing the project and obtaining
licensing and other approvals from federal, state and local
authorities.
If a new plant is built, FPL customers could see their bills
rise to cover a variety of costs, including preconstruction
expenses and operating and maintenance costs.
The last time FPL built a nuclear reactor was in the early
1980s. The second unit at its St. Lucie complex went into
operation in 1983.
The company is still evaluating potential sites and studying
different technologies that could be used, said FPL spokeswoman
Rachel Scott. Last April, the company initiated the approval
process when it notified the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
of its intention to submit a license application in 2009 for a
new nuclear plant. Obtaining a license for a new plant, which
would include a reactor design approved by the NRC, takes
several years. FPL estimates that it could take 12 years between
initial planning for a nuclear complex and putting it into
operation.
Last month, St. Petersburg-based Progress Energy Florida, which
operates a nuclear plant in Crystal River, selected a site in
Levy County for another proposed nuclear facility.
FPL is considering a nuclear plant as part of its long-term plan
to meet increasing demand for electricity and to diversify its
fuel sources, Scott said. Currently, the company uses natural
gas to generate about 42 percent of its electricity, while
nuclear power accounts for 19 percent. High prices for natural
gas in past years have driven up electric bills, encouraging the
company to study nuclear power as an alternative.
The Public Service Commission is looking at ways to reimburse
utilities for pre-construction costs on nuclear plants, which
can run into hundreds of millions of dollars.
Under a current plan, pre-construction costs approved by
regulators would be passed along to customers. After a plant
goes into operation, base rates would also rise if approved by
regulators.
While FPL would not comment on sites under consideration, a
spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that
choosing a site that has already been approved, for example, the
location of an existing plant, could speed up the approval
process.
There are 103 nuclear power plants operating in the United
States, but no new facilities are under construction.
Aside from FPL and Progress Energy, 12 companies or consortia
are at various stages of planning for new nuclear plants.
FPL's parent, FPL Group Inc., operates nuclear, wind, solar,
fossil fuel and hydroelectric power facilities outside Florida.
Joseph Mann can be reached at jmann@sun-sentinel.com or
954-356-4665.
Copyright 2007, Sun-Sentinel Co. & South Florida Interactive
Inc. Sun-Sentinel.com, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale,
Florida 33301
*****************************************************************
27 times and star: Nuke firm bought for £15m
workington lake district
Published on 12/01/2007
A WEST Cumbrian consultancy firm, which has had a huge hand in
the development of the area’s economy, has been bought in a
£15 million deal.
DGP International, one of Copeland’s major employers, has been
taken over by Scott Wilson, an engineering consultancy.
It advises industry on design, management and safety.
DGP, which was established in 1972 as Design Group Partnership
and has its headquarters in Manchester, employs 180 people
including architects, engineers and safety experts.
It opened a base at New Fleswick Court, Westlakes Science and
Technology Park, near Whitehaven, in 2002 and has had a long
presence in the county with former offices in Whitehaven and
Seascale.
The firm has had a big role in developing the Sellafield nuclear
power plant and Westlakes.
It has worked on many of the major infrastructure projects at
Sellafield as the site grew.
In the past it has worked for Workington firm Alan Dawson and
Workington Town rugby league club.
Its bosses, led by managing director David Platt, own 76 per cent
of the company and benefit from a big cash windfall following the
takeover.
Mr Platt and his team are staying on and no redundancies are
planned as a result of the acquisition.
Basingstoke-based Scott Wilson is paying £12.1m in cash and
shares, to be followed by a payment of up to £2.5m depending on
DGP’s profits.
DGP specialises in projects in the nuclear, petrochemical,
pharmaceutical, water and waste management sectors.
Its clients include Astra Zeneca, BP, Shell, the Home Office,
United Utilities and the University of Manchester.
*****************************************************************
28 times and star: Nuclear contracts go-ahead
Published on 12/01/2007
CUMBRIA Nuclear Solutions Ltd, a consortium of firms, competing
for nuclear decommissioning work has been given the go-ahead by
British Nuclear Group to compete for up to £60m of contracts.
The group including Shepley Engineers, James Fisher Nuclear,
Stobbarts, White Young Green and REACT Engineering has now been
given a nuclear decommissioning framework agreement by BNG and
can compete for specific jobs as they arise.
The group was formed to offer a full range of services when
bidding for nuclear work, rather than just their own specialist
areas.
A spokesman for the consortium said: “Being awarded the
framework agreement means we can compete with larger companies
for nuclear decommissioning contracts.
*****************************************************************
29 CNSNews.com: The Nuclear Option --
01/12/2007
CyberCast News Service --
By E. Ralph Hostetter
CNSNews.com Commentary
Getting rid of most of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions caused
by the combustion of fossil fuels may be one of the best economic
moves America could make. Why? It could eventually put the
equivalent of $1,600 to the use of every man, woman and child in
the United States.
America is paying an unbelievable penalty for the use of fossil
fuels to generate electrical energy.
The United States has been identified as the No. 1 emitter of
CO2, producing some 25% of all CO/sub 2/nosupersub emissions in
the world.
The threat is high that America could become the victim of the
draconian provisions of the Kyoto Protocol. The United States
has avoided being dragged into the Kyoto Protocol, particularly
through the efforts of President George W. Bush.
President Bush said: "This [reduction of CO2 emissions] is a
challenge that requires a 100% effort, ours and the rest of the
world's. The world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases
is China, yet China was entirely exempted from the requirements
of the Kyoto Protocol.
India is among the top emitters, yet India is also exempt from
Kyoto. America's unwillingness to embrace a flawed treaty should
not be read by our friends and allies as any abdication of
responsibility."
The United States has the technology to provide an alternative
replacement for fossil fuels used in the generation of the
nation's electricity.
That alternative source is the safest, environmentally clean,
efficient and lowest cost for energy production in the world. It
is atomic energy, proven over 50 years to be the most reliable
source.
After years of the spread of misinformation and outright lies by
radical activists about the safety and efficiency of atomic
energy, the entire world's attention now is being directed to
atomic methods.
THE FINANCIAL TIMES, an highly respected publication, reported
in November 2006: "For the first time in its 32-year history,
the International Energy Agency (IEA) will urge governments
around the world to help speed the construction of new nuclear
power plants.
"Fatif Birol, IEA chief economist, said, 'We need a decision
almost tomorrow if we are going to act before we reach a point
of no return in climate and security of supply.'"
Mr. Birol added, "The IEA calculated the world needs to invest
17 trillion dollars in energy until 2030. Nuclear power is
indicated for the lead."
The report continues, "We are on an energy path that is
vulnerable, dirty and expensive." Mr. Birol concluded the goal
was to "prepare an alternative path ... to a cleaner, safer,
less costly system."
China has eight atomic plants under construction with another 27
in the offing, all being built by Westinghouse Corporation,
formerly the largest builder of U.S. atomic plants, now owned by
the Japanese. Many nations are building or intend to build
atomic plants.
While the rest of the world has finally seen the light, the far
left in America is leading the United States, under the guise of
environmentalism, on to a path of darkness and the trap of the
Kyoto Protocol.
America can yet escape the forces of darkness which deal in
fantasy and falsehood, into the light of a new era.
The new era has a reward waiting in the amount of hundreds of
billions of dollars in energy savings.
The United States generates a total of 15.43 trillion kWh per
year with fossil fuels. Coal generates 6.74 trillion kWh; gas,
5.51 trillion kWh and oil, 3.18 trillion kWh. To produce these
amounts, at 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour, generation using coal
costs 148.9 billion dollars per year; using natural gas, at 7.51
cents per kWh, amounts to 412.8 billion dollars per year; using
oil, at 8.09 cents per kWh the cost is 256.7 billion dollars per
year.
The total costs for generating U.S. demand of 15.43 trillion kWh
from fossil fuels amounts to 818.7 billion dollars per year.
The price of the fossil fuels themselves adds volatility to the
market, inasmuch as raw material costs fluctuate radically. For
example, the cost of natural gas increased 88% from January 1999
to July 2000. The price of crude oil increased by 50% in the
past several years and coal keeps up a slow but steady increase
in price. From 1990 to 1999 nuclear fuel costs decreased by 46%.
By converting to atomic energy the production of 15.43 trillion
kWhs per year at 1.72 cents per kWh for nuclear power would cost
a total of 314 billion dollars in the entirety, with stable to
decreasing raw material costs. A savings of 504.7 billion
dollars per year would result.
By comparison, the Department of Defense budget for 2005 was
495.5 billion dollars. A 500 billion-dollar windfall savings
could build 50 new atomic energy plants per year; balance the
federal budget deficit two times over and be directed to the
American household to assure substantial reductions in the home
electrical bill.
None of this is possible until the day we get the far-left
millstones from around our necks.
(E. Ralph Hostetter, a businessman and publisher, is vice
chairman of the Free Congress Foundation Board of Directors.)
Copyright 2006, Free Congress Foundation
All original CNSNews.com material, copyright 1998-2006
*****************************************************************
30 SMN: Bulgaria: Bulgaria Increases Pressure to Reopen 2 Nuke Reactors
Sofia Morning News
Bulgaria in EU: 12 January 2007, Friday.
Bulgaria will try to push the European Commission to let it
reopen two nuclear units closed due to safety concerns, Energy
Minister Rumen Ovcharov said on Friday.
In an interview for Reuters, he was adamant that if not, the
country will seek to raise the EUR 570 M offered by Brussels to
help pay for mothballing four of Kozloduy's six reactors to EUR
1 B as compensation.
The Balkan country agreed to shut down two 440 MW nuclear
reactors at its Kozloduy plant at the end of 2006 ahead of its
entry into the bloc on January 1.
Now, using its new EU member status and pointing to reports from
the International Atomic Energy Agency that say upgrades have
improved safety levels at the plant, Sofia has revived hopes to
overcome concern among older EU members and restart the units.
"There is a heavy power regime in Albania," Minister Ovcharov
said. There are serious power shortages in Macedonia and Kosovo
... The Commission cannot turn a blind eye to that," he added.
Bulgaria will bring the issue up at the meeting of energy
ministers next month, the minister said, "and only after that
will we think about compensation."
Until now the leading power exporter in South Eastern Europe,
Bulgaria has warned of a potential energy crisis in the region,
where it covers 80% of the power deficit.
It exported a record 7.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity
in 2006 but plans almost no exports this year because of the
shutdowns.
Analysts say its chances of re-opening the units are slim, as
Brussels has taken a hard line on shutting down Soviet-designed
reactors in ex-communist Slovakia and Lithuania, which joined
the EU in 2004.
novinite.com Forum Google Tourism Business
All Rights Reserved Novinite Ltd., 2001-2007 - Copyright
&Disclaimer - Privacy Policy
ISO 9001:2000 Certified
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency -
www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news
provider in English that informs its readers about the latest
Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily
online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News
Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish
the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place
*****************************************************************
31 Sunday Herald: Uk Unprepared For Nuclear Threat
January 13, 2007 Est 1999 Scotland's award-winning independent
By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor
THE GOVERNMENT'S failure to prepare for a terrorist nuclear
attack is endangering thousands of lives, a former NHS radiation
advisor has warned.
Professor John Haywood, who retired five weeks ago after 27
years as radiation protection advisor to the health service in
the northeast of England, has accused the Home Office and the
NHS of ignoring the risks of a terrorist nuclear bomb.
He told the Sunday Herald that he made a series of attempts over
the last year to raise concerns through official channels, but
had received no response. "I believe that the problem has been
filed under too difficult'," he said.continued...
"It is regarded as too sensitive to discuss and so is not
addressed. The lack of a response from government is puzzling
and deeply worrying."
Haywood, who was also head of medical physics for South Tees
Hospitals NHS Trust until his retirement on November 30,
believes thousands of lives could be saved after a nuclear
explosion if the public is given the correct advice. But he is
concerned that most people are not aware what they should do.
If those in the more contaminated areas stay in homes to shelter
from radiation they would be less likely to be killed, he
argued. But if they attempt to flee by going outdoors, they
would be exposed to more radiation and increase their chances of
being killed.
"Persuading people to stay sheltered could prevent thousands of
needless deaths," he said. "It wouldn't guarantee the safety of
every citizen, but it could substantially reduce the losses."
Advice to shelter indoors after a nuclear explosion was issued
by the government in the 1970s and 1980s in a famous leaflet
called Protect and Survive'. But it was widely ridiculed for
being ineffectual against a nuclear onslaught from the Soviet
Union.
But Haywood pointed out that the threat is now very different
and that taking shelter could really save lives after a single
terrorist bomb. "It is vital that public authorities now get
that message across," he said.
"Sometime in the next few decades, a terrorist nuclear explosion
is a certainty but the government and the NHS seem to be
ignoring the risk. Thousands of lives could be lost if the
authorities fail to take the proper precautions."
In a nuclear exercise scenario submitted to NHS emergency
planners and UK Resilience (a division of the Cabinet Office),
Haywood set out what he regards as a credible terrorist threat.
A one kiloton bomb - 15 times smaller than the one that
devastated Hiroshima in 1945 - is shipped to Teesside in a
container and detonated while being manoeuvred in the River
Tees.
The resulting blast and fire would kill 1500 people within the
first five minutes, he estimated. Radiation from the explosion
would kill a further 4000 within 30 days, and another 2500 over
the next 70 years.
But if people sheltered indoors the number of deaths from
radiation could be reduced by as many as 5000 and the same logic
would apply in any urban area in the UK, he argued.
Because a nuclear explosion would probably overwhelm local NHS
facilities, Haywood has also urged all NHS regions to take part
in large-scale emergency exercises to practice helping each
other.
To help, he has developed plans for a mobile radiation
monitoring unit.
The likelihood of a attack was much higher than the
one-in-a-million a year accident risk nuclear power stations had
to guard against, Haywood pointed out. He is currently chairman
of the environmental health subcommittee of the West Cumbria
Sites Stakeholder Group, the official public liaison body
covering the Sellafield nuclear complex.
Government agencies denied they were ignoring the risks of a
nuclear attack by terrorists but declined to respond in detail
to Haywood's allegations. They all stressed precautions had been
significantly increased in the five years since 9/11.
"A lot of work has been undertaken to ensure in the event of a
chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear terrorist incident
the response from emergency services would be quick and save
lives," said a spokeswoman for the Home Office in London.
Dr Michael Clark, from the Health Protection Agency, said: "The
possible use of nuclear fission devices by terrorists is a
threat that is taken seriously."
A spokesman for the Scottish Executive in Edinburgh said: "It's
important to strengthen resilience and informing the public is
essential to that."
2007 newsquest (sunday herald) limited. all rights reserved
*****************************************************************
32 NRC: Export and Import of Nuclear Material; Exports to Libya Restricted
RIN 3150-AI02
FR Doc E7-320
[Federal Register: January 12, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 8)] [Rules
and Regulations] [Page 1426-1427] From the Federal Register
Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr12ja07-3]
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its
export/import regulations by moving Libya from the list of
embargoed destinations to the list of restricted destinations.
This amendment is necessary to conform NRC's regulations with
U.S. Government foreign policy.
DATES: The final rule is effective January 12, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Publicly available documents related to this
rulemaking may be viewed electronically on the public computers
located at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), Public File Area
O1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for
a fee. Selected documents, including comments can be viewed and
downloaded electronically via the NRC's rulemaking Web site at
http://ruleforum.llnl.gov. Publicly available documents created
or received at the NRC are available electronically at the NRC's
Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/
[fxsp0]NRC/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, the public can
gain entry into the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and
Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of
NRC's public documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if
there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS,
contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at
1-800-397-4209, 301-415- 4737 or by e-mail to PDR@nrc.gov. FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Schwartzman, International
Relations Specialist, Office of International Programs, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001,
telephone 301-415- 2317, e-mail jks1@nrc.gov, or Brooke G. Smith,
International Policy Analyst, Office of International Programs,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001,
telephone 301-415-2347, e-mail bgs@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of this final rule is to
revise the NRC's export/import regulations in 10 CFR Part 110,
``Export and Import of Nuclear Equipment and Material,'' with
regard to Libya in light of the June 30, 2006 rescission by the
Secretary of State of Libya's designation as a State Sponsor of
Terrorism. Libya was designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism
in 1979. The Executive Branch has recommended that, in light of
the rescission of the designation, 10 CFR Part 110 should be
amended by moving Libya from the embargoed destinations list to
the restricted destinations list.
This rule moves Libya from the embargoed destinations list for
exports in 10 CFR 110.28 to the restricted destinations list in
10 CFR 110.29. This means that exports to Libya of small
quantities of certain nuclear materials and byproduct materials
may qualify for the NRC general license specified in Sec. Sec.
110.21 through 110.24. The NRC staff has determined that moving
Libya from the embargoed list to the restricted list is
consistent with current U.S. law and policy, and will pose no
unreasonable risk to the public health and safety or to the
common defense and security of the United States.
Because this rule involves a foreign affairs function of the
United States, the notice and comment provisions of the
Administrative Procedure Act do not apply (5 U.S.C. 553(a)(1)).
This rule will become effective immediately upon publication.
Voluntary Consensus Standards The National Technology Transfer
and Advancement Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-113) requires that
Federal Agencies use technical standards that are developed or
adopted by voluntary
[[Page 1427]] consensus standards bodies unless using such a
standard is inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise
impractical. This final rule does not constitute the
establishment of a standard for which the use of a voluntary
consensus standard would be applicable.
Environmental Impact: Categorical Exclusion The NRC has
determined that this final rule is the type of action described
in categorical exclusion 10 CFR 51.22(c)(1). Therefore, neither
an environmental impact statement nor an environmental assessment
has been prepared for the rule.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement This final rule does not
contain new or amended information collection requirements
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et
seq.). Existing requirements were approved by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), approval number 3150-0036.
Public Protection Notification The NRC may not conduct or
sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a request
for information or an information collection requirement unless
the requesting document displays a currently valid OMB control
number.
Regulatory Analysis The NRC currently controls exports to Libya
as an embargoed destination in section 110.28. There is no
alternative to amending the regulations for the export and import
of nuclear equipment and materials. This final rule would not
result in any increase or cost to the public.
Regulatory Flexibility Certification As required by the
Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), the
Commission certifies that this final rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. This rule affects only companies exporting nuclear
equipment and materials to Libya which do not fall within the
scope of the definition of ``small entities'' set forth in the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601(3)), or the Size
Standards established by the NRC (10 CFR 2.810). Backfit Analysis
The NRC has determined that a backfit analysis is not required
for this rule because these amendments do not include any
provisions that would impose backfits as defined in 10 CFR
Chapter I.
Congressional Review Act Under the Congressional Review Act of
1996, the NRC has determined that this action is not a major rule
and has verified this determination with the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB.
List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 110 Administrative practice and
procedure, Classified information, Criminal penalties, Export,
Import, Intergovernmental relations, Nuclear materials, Nuclear
power plants and reactors, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Scientific equipment.
0 For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, the Energy
Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended, and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553,
the NRC is adopting the following amendments to 10 CFR part 110.
PART 110--EXPORT AND IMPORT OF NUCLEAR EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL 0
1. The authority citation for part 110 continues to read as
follows: Authority: Secs. 51, 53, 54, 57, 63, 64, 65, 81, 82,
103, 104, 109, 111, 126, 127, 128, 129, 161, 181, 182, 187, 189,
68 Stat.
929, 930, 931, 932, 933, 936, 937, 948, 953, 954, 955, 956, as
amended (42 U.S.C. 2071, 2073, 2074, 2077, 2092-2095, 2111, 2112,
2133, 2134, 2139, 2139a, 2141, 2154-2158, 2201, 2231-2233, 2237,
2239); sec. 201, 88 Stat. 1242, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5841; sec.
5, Pub. L. 101-575, 104 Stat. 2835 (42 U.S.C. 2243); sec. 1704,
112 Stat. 2750 (44 U.S.C. 3504 note). Sections 110.1(b)(2) and
110.1(b)(3) also issued under Pub. L. 96-92, 93 Stat. 710 (22
U.S.C. 2403). Section 110.11 also issued under sec. 122, 68 Stat.
939 (42 U.S.C. 2152) and secs. 54c and 57d, 88 Stat. 473, 475 (42
U.S.C. 2074). Section 110.27 also issued under sec. 309(a), Pub.
L. 99-440. Section 110.50(b)(3) also issued under sec. 123, 92
Stat. 142 (42 U.S.C. 2153). Section 110.51 also issued under sec.
184, 68 Stat. 954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2234). Section 110.52
also issued under sec. 186, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2236).
Sections 110.80-110.113 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 552, 554.
Sections 110.30-110.135 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 553. Sections
110.2 and 110.42(a)(9) also issued under sec. 903, Pub. L.
102-496 (42 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.). Sec. 110.28 [Amended] 0 2.
Section 110.28 is amended by removing ``Libya'' from the list of
embargoed destinations.
Sec. 110.29 [Amended] 0 3. Section 110.29 is amended by adding
``Libya'' to the list of restricted destinations in alphabetical
order.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of December, 2006.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jacqueline E. Silber, Acting Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. E7-320 Filed 1-11-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
33 "DOOMSDAY CLOCK" HAND TO BE MOVED, REFLECTING WORSENING NUCLEAR, CLIMATE THREATS TO WORLD
Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2007 18:22:13 -0500
X-Sender-Host-Name: elasmtp-spurfowl.atl.sa.earthlink.net
X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Innocent"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A
X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY
Heads up! The following News Advisory was issued
by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and is
intended for reporters.
"DOOMSDAY CLOCK" HAND TO BE MOVED, REFLECTING
WORSENING NUCLEAR, CLIMATE THREATS TO WORLD
Fri. 12 Jan 2007
The Bulletin
-- Washington, D.C. and London News Advisory for
January 17, 2007 --
Simultaneous Announcement to be Made from
Washington, D.C. and London; Bulletin of Atomic
Scientists to Underscore "Most Perilous Period
Since Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
NEWS ADVISORY//January 17, 2006///The Bulletin of
Atomic Scientists (BAS) will move the minute hand
of the "Doomsday Clock" on January 17, 2007, the
first such change to the Clock since February
2002. The major new step reflects growing
concerns about a "Second Nuclear Age" marked by
grave threats, including: nuclear ambitions in
Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials
in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing
"launch-ready" status of 2,000 of the 25,000
nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia,
escalating terrorism, and new pressure from
climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power
that could increase proliferation risks.
The BAS news event will take place simultaneously
on January 17th at 9:30 a.m. ET at the American
Association for the Advancement of Science in
Washington, D.C., and at 2:30 p.m. GMT in London
at The Royal Society.
News event speakers will include:
- Stephen Hawking, professor of mathematics at the
University of Cambridge, and a fellow of The Royal
Society;
- Kennette Benedict, executive director, Bulletin
of Atomic Scientists;
- Sir Martin Rees, president of The Royal Society,
and professor of cosmology and astrophysics and
master of Trinity College at the University of
Cambridge;
- Lawrence M. Krauss, professor of physics and
astronomy at Case Western Reserve University; and
- Ambassador Thomas Pickering, a BAS director and
co-chair of the International Crisis Group.
A live, two-way satellite feed (with full Q&A)
will connect the Washington, D.C., and London news
events.
TO PARTICIPATE IN PERSON: You can join us for the
simultaneous, two-site news event taking place on
January 17, 2007 -- 9:30 a.m. ET, American
Association for the Advancement of Science,
Auditorium, 1200 New York Avenue NW, Washington,
D.C.; and 2:30 p.m. GMT, The Royal Society,
Wellcome Trust Lecture Hall, 6-9 Carlton House
Terrace, London. Please RSVP in advance by
contacting Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266, or
pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com.
CAN'T PARTICIPATE IN PERSON?: In the U.S.,
reporters can join this live, phone-based global
news conference at 9:30 a.m. ET on January 17,
2007 by dialing 1 (800) 860-2442. (Media in and
around London should dial 0800-028-0531. All other
reporters outside of the U.S. and the London area
should dial 001-412-858-4600, which is not a
toll-free line.) Ask for the "Bulletin of Atomic
Scientists Doomsday Clock" news event. A
streaming audio replay of the news event will be
available on the Web at
http://www.thebulletin.org as of 6 p.m. ET/11 p.m.
GMT on January 17, 2007.
CONTACT: Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266 or
pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com.
BACKGROUND
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded
in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who
had worked on the Manhattan Project and were
deeply concerned about the use of nuclear weapons
and nuclear war. In 1947 the Bulletin introduced
its clock to convey the perils posed by nuclear
weapons through a simple design. The "Doomsday
Clock" evoked both the imagery of apocalypse
(midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear
explosion (countdown to zero). In 1949 Bulletin
leaders realized that movement of the minute hand
would signal the organization's assessment of
world events. The decision to move the minute hand
is made by the Bulletin's Board of Directors in
consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which
includes 18 Nobel Laureates. The Bulletin's
"Doomsday Clock" has become a universally
recognized indicator of the world's vulnerability
to nuclear weapons and other threats. Additional
information is available on the Web at
http://www.thebulletin.org.
*****************************************************************
34 FROM FRANCE: L'atelier du plutonium de Cadarache rappel l'ordre
Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2007 17:43:14 +0100
LE FIGARO, 12/1/2006
Actualit | Sciences & Mdecine
YVES MISEREY.
Publi le 12 janvier 2007
Actualis le 12 janvier 2007 : 07h55
Le 6 novembre dernier, une opration de broyage de rebuts de plutonium
a t faite sans respecter les rgles de procdure. L'atelier est
ferm.
UN INCIDENT sans consquence pour la sant et l'environnement. Un
incident que l'Autorit de sret nuclaire (ASN) a pourtant class au
niveau 2 sur l'chelle internationale des vnements nuclaires qui va
de 1 7. Un incident suffisamment inquitant pour que l'ASN parle
cette occasion de dysfonctionnements majeurs et de manque de
culture de sret parmi les oprateurs.
Le 6 novembre dernier, des employs d'Areva travaillant l'Atelier de
technologie du plutonium (ATPu) de Cadarache ont effectu le double
chargement d'un broyeur de rebuts de plutonium. Cette erreur de
manipulation a finalement rvl toute une accumulation d'autres
infractions. L'ASN les dtaillent dans une lettre adresse au directeur
du Commissariat l'nergie atomique (CEA) de Cadarache, tout en lui
demandant de corriger le tir (www.asn.fr).
Le CEA est responsable d'exploitation de cet atelier, alors qu'Areva
en est l'oprateur industriel. En attendant, l'atelier a stopp toute
activit depuis novembre. Elle ne reprendra que lorsque le CEA aura
vrifi que le nouveau dispositif matriel et organisationnel est en
place, assure Maurice Haessler, directeur adjoint du CEA.
La liste des infractions est longue. Tout ce qui met en oeuvre des
matires nuclaires est rigoureusement encadr et rglement. Pendant
huit mois, les oprateurs d'Areva ont charg le broyeur sans utiliser
la balance destine peser les rebuts de pastilles MOX (combustible
issu du retraitement) contenant du plutonium. Cette balance tait
tombe en panne en mars et les employs n'ont pas averti la direction,
comme ils auraient d le faire. La demande de rparation n'a d'ailleurs
t prise en compte par aucun service.
Le problme est ponctuel
Les oprateurs ont donc mis en place leurs propres procdures. Ce
processus n'a fait l'objet d'aucune formalisation ni mme de
concertation avec les personnes ayant autorit au-del du chef
d'quipe, relvent les inspecteurs de l'ASN. Or, il faut savoir que
la pese est cruciale dans ce type d'opration car si les matires
fissiles dpassent une certaine masse, il y a un risque de criticit
(raction en chane nuclaire spontane). En 1999, deux techniciens de
l'usine nuclaire de Tokaimura au Japon sont morts cause d'une
irradiation massive la suite d'un accident de criticit. Les deux
hommes avaient vers 16 kg d'uranium fortement enrichi dans une cuve.
Les marges de scurit sont telles que le risque de criticit tait
nul, assure le CEA, qui reconnat nanmoins le manque de culture de
sret頻 que rvle cette affaire (en France, l'industriel est le
premier responsable de la sret). Nous avons constat un manque de
respect des procdures. Ce n'est pas normal, assure Jean-Luc Lachaume,
de l'ASN. C'est ce que nous avons sanctionn. Mais le problme est
ponctuel. Les inspecteurs de l'ASN ont effectu sept inspections en
2006.
L'ATPu ne produit plus de MOX depuis juillet 2003, en raison de sa
mauvaise protection contre les risques sismiques. L'activit se limite
aujourd'hui au conditionnement des rebuts, des pastilles rejetes pour
dfaut de fabrication.
*****************************************************************
35 NIRS Alert: Account for children, fetuses, & the more
Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2007 16:05:09 -0800
X-Nohoney: yes white-hard - relay H=adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net (192.energy-net.org) [63.203.231.61]
X-Sender-Host-Address: 63.203.231.61
X-Sender-Host-Name: adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net
X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY-WHITELIST
ALERT: Comment to NRC
account for children, fetuses, & the more vulnerable in radiation standards
Deadline: February 5, 2007
Contact: Cindy Folkers 301-270-6477; email:
cindyf@nirs.org. Please send NIRS any comments you
send to NRC. NIRS will post our own comments to our website upon completion
(www.nirs.org)
ACT NOW: Please tell the NRC to approve a petition for rulemaking that
would improve radiation protection standards at older reactors. Your
comments are needed by February 5, 2007. Please see the Talking Points
below for more detailed information to help in writing your comments.
FEDERAL REGISTER SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is
publishing for public comment a notice of receipt of a petition for
rulemaking which was filed with the Commission by Sally Shaw. The petition
was published in the Federal Register on November 20, 2006, and has been
assigned Docket No. PRM-51-11.
The petitioner requests that the NRC prepare a rulemaking that will require
that the NRC reconcile its generic environmental impact statement for
nuclear power plant operating license renewal applications with current
scientific understanding of the health risks of low-level radiation,
including but not limited to those discussed in the National Academy of
Sciences Health Risks >From Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation:
Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) VII Phase 2 Report.
For background and summary of BEIR VII committee, see Monitor article at:
http://www.nirs.org/mononline/nm632.pdf
SEND COMMENTS:
Please include PRM-51-11 in the subject line of your comments.
Mail: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
E-mail to: SECY@nrc.gov. If you do not receive a reply e-mail confirming
receipt of comments, please contact the NRC directly at (301) 415-1966.
Submit via website http://ruleforum.llnl.gov.
Fax to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at (301) 415-1101.
Find Federal Register notice HERE:
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-IMPACT/2006/November/Day-20/i19568.htm
TALKING POINTS:
Exercise Precaution:
1) Protect the most vulnerable: Tell the NRC to exercise precaution by
accounting for more vulnerable populations in their standards. Since no
level of radiation dose is safe (see BEIR VII quote below), the best
precaution would be no exposure. However recognizing and regulating for
vulnerable populations is a start.
"In BEIR VII, the cancer mortality risks for females are 37.5 percent
higher. The risks for all solid tumors, like lung, breast, and kidney,
liver, and other solid tumors added together are almost 50 percent greater
for women than men, though there are a few specific cancers, including
leukemia, for which the risk estimates for men are higher." (Summary
estimates are in Table ES-1 on page 28 of the BEIR VII report
prepublication copy, on the Web at
http://books.nap.edu/books/030909156X/html/28.html.)
The BEIR VII report estimates that the differential risk for children is
even greater. For instance, the same radiation in the first year of life
for boys produces three to four times the cancer risk as exposure between
the ages of 20 and 50. Female infants have almost double the risk as male
infants. (Table 12 D-1 and D-2, on pages 550-551 of the prepublication copy
of the report, on the Web starting at
http://books.nap.edu/books/030909156X/html/550.html)."
(excerpted from
http://www.ieer.org/comments/beir/beir7pressrel.html)
2) Recognize allowablelevels are not safe: Tell the NRC that their
"allowable" levels of radionuclides are NOT conservative or protective
enough. They are based only on the obsolete "standard man", a healthy,
white male in the prime of life, and ignore the more vulnerable fetus,
growing infant and child, the aged, those in poor health, and women who
are, according to the BEIR VII report, 37- 50% more vulnerable than
standard man to the harmful effects of ionizing radiation.
3) Consider radiation damage from inhaling or ingesting radionuclides: NRC
does not consider the effects of internal radiation from ingested or
inhaled alpha and beta emitters. The amount of polonium-210 that recently
killed a former Russian intelligence officer was considered by IAEA and NRC
to be of the lowest possible risk because they failed to account for
internal radiation damage.
4) Recognize there is no safe dose: Further, regarding low dose radiation,
the BEIR VII panel has concluded, it is unlikely that a threshold exists
for the induction of cancers... Further, there are extensive data on
radiation-induced transmissible mutations in mice and other organisms.
There is therefore no reason to believe that humans would be immune to this
sort of harm.
Demand that the NRC protect all members of the public from all types of
excess radiation exposure from nuclear power and its fuel cycle, gamma,
alpha, beta, neutron, particulate, fission products, noble gases, etc. and
that measurement and monitoring should include all forms and pathways, not
just gamma at the fence line. Argue that their radiation limits should
include accidental releases as well as planned emissions.
BACKGROUND FROM FEDERAL REGISTER
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Entergy) submitted an application
for renewal of Operating License No. DPR-28 for an additional 20 years of
operation at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VYNPS). The VYNPS is
located in the town of Vernon, Vermont, in Windham County on the west shore
of the Connecticut River immediately upstream of the Vernon Hydroelectric
Station. The operating license for VYNPS expires on March 21, 2012. A
notice of receipt and availability of the application, which included the
environmental report, was published in the Federal Register on February 6,
2006 (71 FR 6102). Subsequently, the NRC published a ``Notice of Intent to
Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping Process'' on
April 21, 2006 (71 FR 20733). The NRC will prepare an EIS related to the
review of the license renewal application.
The applicable NRC regulation, 10 CFR 51.95(c), required that the NRC,
in determining whether to grant a renewal of a nuclear power plant
operating license, prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS). The
regulation provides that this EIS supplement the NRC's baseline,
generic EIS issued in 1996, NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental Impact
Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants'' (May 1996)(GEIS).
Petitioner's Request
The petitioner requests that the NRC prepare a rulemaking that would
require that the NRC reconcile its GEIS for nuclear power plant operating
license renewal applications with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
Health Risks >From Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing
Radiation: BEIR VII, Phase 2 which was released in 2005. The petitioner
asserts that the GEIS relies upon an earlier NAS report, the BEIR V, with
was released in 1990. According to the NAS Web site, the BEIR VII updates
the information contained in the BEIR V and draws upon new data in both
epidemiologic and experimental research.
The petitioner requests that NRC consider the NAS BEIR VII report as
new and significant information and recalculate certain conclusions set
forth in the GEIS, including early fatalities, latent fatalities and any
injury projections based on this information.
_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
*****************************************************************
36 Gallup Independent: Navajo Utah Commission tries to help radiation victims
January 11, 2007:
By Kathy Helms Din Bureau
WINDOW ROCK For nearly a half century, the Navajo people were
unwitting victims of radioactive fallout. They labored
unprotected in underground uranium mines, unaware of the
dangers. But the pay was good.
Now, these downwinders and those who worked the mines and mills
or hauled the ore, and even their family members are sick and
seeking federal compensation.
But federal response to those applications for compensation has
been slow to non-existent, according to Lucy Begay, coordinator
of the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program at
Utah Navajo Health System.
Begay addressed the Navajo Utah Commission Monday during its
final meeting before the incoming 21st Navajo Nation Council.
Commission Chairman Willie Grayeyes said he had a number of
family members affected by uranium mining. "Even though the
federal compensation is available, it is so doggone difficult.
It's like trying to climb Mount Everest in the winter. Either
you make it or you don't make it."
He said the feds have made it so difficult to obtain the
required documents, families spend all their resources just
trying to gather the information. The tribe's Privacy Act also
tends to get in the way.
"Sometimes it's so frustrating the people just say, 'To heck
with it. Let it go,' " Grayeyes said.
Begay said Part II of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness
Compensation Program Act approved last year is "very difficult
in the sense of evaluation, because they base their compensation
on expanded impairment (and) they base their compensation on
percentage."
"Let's say, if a person was in a wheelchair, then they're able
to get almost all their compensation. But as far as I know, very
few miners have been compensated," at least not fully, she said.
"Most of them are getting only medical benefits."
Commission member Mark Maryboy said the Navajo Utah RESEP
program is a project they worked hard on, meeting with federal
officials and raising complaints about the Utah Navajos being
left out of the loop.
"Sometimes we think we're just talking to walls. When you talk
to those senators, they don't really seem to be receptive. ...
Sometimes people come to us complaining they have to go through
tons and tons of bureaucratic process before they're
compensated," Maryboy said.
"A lot of our Utah folks worked at the mines over at VCA, Oljato
Mine,right around Cone Wash, Clay Hills and places like that.
Some of those folks died trying to get compensation," he said.
"The siblings, the kids that were at the mines when they were
growing up,now they have cancers and some of them have a hard,
hard time getting thenecessary documents to justify that they're
affected."
Some reside on lands in close proximity to the Nevada Test Site.
"They'realso in the category of downwinders. Even then, they're
struggling. Thesefolks are dying off and they're still
struggling with paperwork," Maryboysaid.
The office of U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, has been very
supportive ofthe RESEP program, according to Begay. Matheson
himself is a downwinder and has family members that have been
exposed to radiation.
"In our area, down where Mark is (Aneth), we have families that
have been affected by the radiation and nobody knows about it.
Only the families tell stories about it," Begay said.
Obtaining documentation acceptable to the federal government is
a constant struggle for Navajo victims of radiation exposure.
"A lot of applications are being denied because we're on the
reservation and we don't have physical addresses. Most of our
folks never kept records," Begay said.
The regulations are set by the National Research Council and is
all very scientific, she said. Too, because the regulations were
approved by Congress, it's difficult to change some of the
statutes.
"There are a lot of applications, a lot of setbacks. I'm asking
the commission to continue supporting our program," said Begay,
who works mainly with the Idaho Falls Resource Center.
"We work with people throughout Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New
Mexico, Arizona, California. We have people all the way from
Alaska and Hawaii. We don't work with only Navajo people. We
work with all people," she said.
The Utah Navajo Health System now has five clinics, located in
Montezuma Creek, Salt Lake City, Blanding, Monument Valley and
Navajo Mountain.
Gallup Independent
*****************************************************************
37 London Times: Kremlin 'stalling tactic' hits poison case -
January 13, 2007
Tony Halpin and Daniel McGrory
The Kremlin has unleashed a bureaucratic blitz on Scotland Yard
as part of Russias investigation into the murder of the former
spy Alexander Litvinenko.
Prosecutors in Moscow have asked British detectives to interview
more than 100 people and carry out dozens of searches in a
110-page request for assistance. Alexander Zvyagintsev, the
Russian deputy prosecutorgeneral, said that he had asked the
Home Office for its full co-operation.
The scale of the Russian request has prompted suspicions that
Moscow is seeking to stall the investigation by overwhelming
Scotland Yard with largely irrelevant demands.
The Prosecutor-Generals Office in Moscow did not open an
inquiry into Litvinenkos death until December 7, two days after
a team of British detectives arrived in Russia to interview
potential witnesses.
Mr Zvyagintsev insisted that Moscow had a lot of questions
about this case. He pointed to the assistance given to the
British detectives as justification for expecting London to
co-operate. He indicated that Russia was preparing to send its
own team to London to join the inquiry into the death of the
former FSB officer, who was an outspoken critic of President
Putin.
We asked [the UK authorities] to question more than 100
witnesses and conduct dozens of searches. In our request, we
formulated questions that we would like to have answered, he
told the official Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper.
We want these investigative efforts to proceed in the presence
of our detectives. We hope that our UK colleagues will respond
to our request as promptly as we did recently.
The Kremlin also wants Russian prosecutors to interview other
prominent critics of Mr Putin living in London. The billionaire
businessman Boris Berezovsky and the Chechen separatist envoy
Akhmed Zakayev are top of the list.
Both men were friends of Litvinenko, who fled Russia after
accusing the security service, then led by Mr Putin, of ordering
him to assassinate Mr Berezovsky.
Mr Zvyagintsev said that the British police had received every
assistance during their visit to Moscow, adding: We did even
more than they had asked us to do. Scotland Yard takes a rather
different view. Detectives were barred from questioning
witnesses directly and were allowed only to listen as Russian
prosecutors questioned them.
The British team took answers from two key Russian witnesses,
Andrei Lugovoy and Dmitri Kovtun. Both met Litvinenko at a
London hotel on November 1, the day that he was poisoned with
radioactive polonium-210.
Mr Lugovoy, a former KGB security guard, and Mr Kovtun, his
business partner, have denied any involvement in the killing.
They were interviewed in hospital, where they were said to be
suffering the effects of radiation contamination.
German police are investigating Mr Kovtun after traces of
polonium-210 were found in places he visited in Hamburg, shortly
before travelling to London. Russian prosecutors describe him as
a victim of attempted murder and say they are investigating his
case alongside that of Litvinenko.
Mr Kovtun has not been seen in public for six weeks, but Mr
Lugovoy left hospital last week after apparently making a full
recovery.
Friends and family of Litvinenko are dismissive of the Russian
inquiry, claiming that it is designed to cover up Kremlin
responsibility for his death. Russian authorities have angrily
denied any involvement and have pointed the finger instead at
critics of Mr Putin, saying that the killing was an attempt to
discredit the Presidents image in the West.
+ The story of Litvinenkos murder may be made into a film. The
Warner Brothers studio has bought the rights to the forthcoming
book Sashas Story: The Life and Death of a Russian Spy, by Alan
Cowell, London bureau chief of The New York Times. The movie
would be produced by, and might even star, Johnny Depp.
Times Newspapers Ltd.
*****************************************************************
38 Nevada Appeal: Scientists say plans flawed for Vegas-area 'Divine Strake' blast
KEN RITTER Associated Press Writer January 11, 2007
LAS VEGAS - A professional engineer who specializes in air
quality says he found fatal flaws in federal plans for a weapons
test that U.S. officials say will generate the first
mushroom-shaped dust cloud in decades at the Nevada Test Site.
A draft environmental assessment on the "Divine Strake" test
didn't look at the likelihood that the smallest measure of dust
and debris, 2.5 microns, could be churned up and sent airborne,
Algirdas Leskys said.
"The modeling is inaccurate," said Leskys, 44, a data analyst
with the Clark County Department of Air Quality and
Environmental Management who stressed that he was not acting in
his official capacity.
He provided eight pages of comments Tuesday to officials for the
National Nuclear Security Administration and Defense Threat
Reduction Agency hosting a public "open house" in Las Vegas
about the proposed weapons test. Similar sessions were planned
Wednesday in Salt Lake City and today in St. George, Utah.
"Given the right meteorological conditions, it is possible that
some portion of the PM 2.5 emissions generated by the proposed
detonation could settle in either Utah or Las Vegas," Leskys
said in an interview late Tuesday.
Michael Skougard, an NNSA official overseeing compliance with
the National Environmental Policy Act, acknowledged that test
planners and analysts looked at larger, 10 micron, particles in
making a crucial determination that a 10,000-foot cloud will
dissipate within 13 miles.
That finding has federal officials predicting that any
contaminated dirt will fall harmlessly to the ground before
reaching the Test Site boundary.
Leskys called the smaller particles "the most likely pollutant
that would carry radionuclides."
"They could stay in the atmosphere for weeks, and settle
hundreds of miles from here," he added.
Skougard said Leskys' concerns will be included in a final
environmental assessment before officials decide whether to
authorize the Divine Strake test.
"We are going to look at that," Skougard said, adding that the
draft environmental assessment released last month met
requirements of existing Nevada state air quality permits for
the Test Site.
Leskys was one of 40 people who turned out for the meeting -
which resembled a trade show more than a public hearing. Seven
people provided written comments and a stenographer took three
individual oral comments during the 212 hour affair at a Las
Vegas convention hall.
Public affairs officers from the two federal agencies narrated
in front of 12 display boards showing the design, reasons and
plans for exploding 700 tons of a fuel oil and fertilizer
mixture over a tunnel at the Test Site, some 85 miles northwest
of Las Vegas.
Officials say the blast will provide crucial data on the kind of
shock needed to destroy deeply buried or hardened targets.
Opponents call it a surrogate for a nuclear test, and a step on
the path of developing a new generation of low-yield
"bunker-buster" nuclear weapons. They have raised concerns about
the blast kicking up radioactive debris from Cold-War era
nuclear testing and casting it downwind toward Utah and beyond.
No date has been set for the blast, which was initially
scheduled for June 2006.
It has been postponed indefinitely by a lawsuit filed in Las
Vegas by Western Shoshone tribe members and "downwinders" in
Utah and Nevada.
All contents Copyright 2007 nevadaappeal.com
Nevada Appeal - 580 Mallory Way - Carson City, NV 89701
*****************************************************************
39 seMissourian.com: Radiation safety officer says SEMO radiation
problem dates back to 1973 spill
Missourian
Friday, January 12, 2007
By Mark Bliss ~ Southeast Missourian
A radiation spill in a radiochemistry lab at Southeast Missouri
State University in 1973 wasn't properly cleaned up and led to
radiation contamination in the lab and elsewhere in Magill Hall
of Science, the school's radiation safety officer said Thursday.
It appears that some of the contamination ended up on a person's
or persons' hands and feet and spread to vertical surfaces such
as doors and walls, said radiation safety officer and biology
professor Dr. Walt Lilly.
The university hired an environmental firm in 2000 to clean up
contamination in the building from that spill and a second spill
that occurred about 1997, school officials said.
At the time, crews checked for radiation contamination on floors
and walls where contamination was most likely to have occurred,
he said.
The university didn't do a radiation check of every inch of the
second-floor hallway walls, Lilly said. The chemistry labs are
on the second floor of the science building.
This week, crews under Lilly's supervision checked the surfaces
of all the second-floor hallway walls and cleaned up the
additional isolated, low-level radiation contamination that was
found.
Chemistry faculty member Dr. David Ritter on Wednesday
criticized the university for not addressing the problem years
ago.
But Lilly and Dr. Chris McGowan, dean of the College of Science
and Mathematics, said none of the current science faculty
members knew of the spills until the contamination problems were
discovered in 2000.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the chemistry department had a
radiochemist on staff, Lilly and McGowan said.
"For the most part, oversight was lax and the potential hazards
of low-level radiation materials were not understood or were
minimized," Lilly wrote in a two-page report he released to the
Southeast Missourian on Thursday.
"The radiochemistry lab was decommissioned by chemistry faculty
members who were untrained in the handling of such materials or
in the methods for assuring proper clean up of any spills,"
Lilly wrote.
From 1980 to 2000, the university operated with radiation safety
officers who didn't have the proper training, he said.
In February 2000, it was discovered that a vial of americium had
been broken and had spilled out of a safe in the basement of
Magill Hall. The lab spill was also discovered that year.
As a result, the university has spent more than $1.29 million
over the past six years identifying contaminated areas in the
building and cleaning them up, school officials said.
As part of environmental cleanup efforts, all of the
university's containers of americium were safely hauled away to
environmental disposal facilities and sites. Southeast hasn't
possessed any americium since 2002, Lilly said.
In 2002, a detailed check was made of sink drains and sanitary
sewer mains leading from Magill Hall and the adjacent Rhodes
Hall. No contamination was detected outside the buildings, he
said.
The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission fined the university
$11,000 in 2001 in connection with the radiation spills.
Lilly said the NRC has made on-site inspections at least six
times since 2000 and found no further violations.
Southeast has continued to check for radiation as part of every
remodeling project, Lilly and McGowan said. As contamination is
found, it's cleaned up, they said.
mbliss@semissourian.com 335-6611, extension 123
Magill Hall timeline
* 1960s and 1970s: Radiochemistry lab in use
* 1973: Spill of americium-241 in radiochemistry lab
* 1981: SEMO decommissions radiochemistry lab
* Late 1980s: Safe with containers of americium-241 moved to
basement
* About 1997: Safe moved by unknown person and vial of americium
was broken
* February 2000: Basement spill discovered
* June 2000: Initial remediation effort made
* July 200O: SEMO hires Science Applications International Corp.
to handle the cleanup
* August 2000 -- November 2000: Contaminated areas were found
and cleaned up, including in the former radiochemistry lab
* September 2001: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission fines SEMO
$11,000 for various violations stemming from the two spills
* July 2002: Drains and sewers serving Magill Hall and Rhodes
Hall complex checked. No contamination found outside the
buildings
* September 2002: Last containers of americium packaged and
transferred to Los Alamos National Lab for final disposal
* 2006: Magill Hall room remodeling leads to discovery of more
contamination and prompts further cleanup.
* 2007: Isolatated contamination found on second-floor hallway
walls and cleanup done to decontaminate the surfaces
SOURCE: Southeast Missouri State University
2007 Southeast Missourian
*****************************************************************
40 Pahrump Valley Times: Opponents vow to prevent Divine Strake blast
Jan. 12, 2007
By MARK WAITE PVT
Thomas Enyeart, a nuclear engineer for the National Nuclear
Safety Administration, at right, tries to dispel fears over
radioactive fallout from the Divine Strake blast to a skeptical
audience member at left in front of one of the displays at the
Cashman Center Tuesday night.
LAS VEGAS -- Comedians joked about recently executed Iraqi
dictator Saddam Hussein hiding out in his bunker during the
first Gulf War back in 1990.
The U.S. military however is seriously concerned about foreign
countries burying weapons of mass destruction in underground
bunkers. While a National Nuclear Security Administration
spokesperson wouldn't confirm what countries are suspected of
hiding armaments underground, the NNSA touted the Divine Strake
experiment as an essential test of how the military would attack
such facilities.
Citizen Alert however trotted out attorney Bob Hager before the
open house at the Cashman Center Tuesday night, who vowed to
file suit to stop the test again this year.
The test was scheduled twice before only to be cancelled. The
NNSA had talked about moving the test to New Mexico or Indiana.
The NNSA prefers the Nevada Test Site over White Sands Missile
Range in New Mexico, Dugway Proving Ground in Utah and China
Lake in Southern California because of a desire to detonate the
blast in a limestone bed with specific geological properties
similar to actual military targets, the environmental assessment
states.
Hager said the Divine Strake blast, which involves detonating
700 tons of ammonium nitrate fuel oil, ANFO, above a tunnel 100
feet in the ground, could disburse radioactive material
remaining at the test site from the years of nuclear weapons
blasts.
The NNSA issued a revised environmental assessment Dec. 22. The
comment period ends Feb. 7.
Hager said Pahrump Valley residents can be considered
downwinders, people who live downwind from the nuclear blasts. A
handful of Western Shoshone Indians have signed on as litigants
against the test in Duckwater, in northeastern Nye County.
"Everything over to Winnemucca and Death Valley would all be
contaminated with Iodine 131 from the test site. So you're
downwinders," he said. "What they're going to disburse is
contaminated with 60 different radioactive materials based on
their own data."
Hager said the NNSA can't predict where the fallout will occur.
He presented a 2004 report showing fallout from the Nevada Test
Site was recorded over wide areas of Colorado and New Mexico as
well as Utah and Nevada. Hager complained the NNSA only projects
50 miles out from the blast site, Divine Strake is expected to
send debris 10,000 feet high.
A hot spot was projected in Gem County, Idaho, because 99
percent of the radioactivity comes down in rain, Hager said.
Six above-ground nuclear experiments in the Nevada Test Site
from 1955 to 1957 caused radioactive fallout in the vicinity of
the proposed blast site, he said. Hager said there's a huge
crater in Area One, four miles from Area 16 and venting from a
previous underground test a mile away.
Area 16, where the blast will occur, is roughly 30 miles due
north of U.S. Highway 95 at Lathrop Wells, about in the middle
of the Nevada Test Site.
The environmental assessment states Area 16 was established in
1961 to support complicated nuclear effects experiments that
required a tunnel location in an isolated area away from other
active nuclear weapons test areas. No atmospheric nuclear tests
have been conducted in Area 16, the NNSA states.
The environmental assessment states, "The specific site of the
proposed Divine Strake detonation, above the U16b tunnel, was
not used for nuclear testing or other activities that would have
introduced radioactivity into the soils potentially affected by
the experiment."
The area was excavated following a January 2006 hearing of no
significant impact to prepare for placing the explosives, the
NNSA states. "Thus the ANFO emplacement would be in virgin rock
that has not been exposed to previous testing activities at the
NTS or to global fallout."
The NNSA adds, "aerial radiation surveys performed in 1992, 1994
and 2006, as well as ground-level radiation surveys performed in
2006 showed no detectable radiation above natural background
levels in the vicinity of the proposed Divine Strake experiment
site."
The blast will leave a crater with a 98-foot radius. The NNSA
states man-made radioactivity is in the vicinity of the U16a
muck pile, approximately one-mile from the U16b experiment site,
a distance they said made it extremely unlikely radioactivity
would be lofted into the atmosphere.
The NNSA plans to install 10 high-volume air samplers to test
any fallout from the blast.
At one display, NNSA Nuclear Engineer Thomas Enyeart fielded
questions from a few skeptical attendees. Enyeart said
atmospheric fallout occurs around the world from weapons
activities in Russia, China, even Chernobyl in 1986.
Weapons tests in the 1950s and 1960s left no radioactive iodine
in Utah, which has only a six-day half-life, Enyeart said.
The test site was designed for such tests, Enyeart noted- it's
huge, the size of Rhode Island, and is surrounded by other
federal facilities like the Nellis Air Force Range. Back in the
heavy testing in the 1950s and 1960s, the NNSA didn't have
public meetings on tests, conduct environmental assessments and
lay out all the studies for the public like it does today, he
said.
Enyeart said at the nearest test site boundaries the radioactive
exposure would be only .005 millirems.
"It's a very small amount of radiation, It's about the radiation
an average American gets from watching television a couple of
days," Enyeart said.
NNSA spokeswoman Cheri Abdelnour said the test isn't tied to any
particular weapon.
If the NNSA issues another finding of no significant impact and
an announcement to conduct the test, Hager plans to file another
lawsuit under a nuisance complaint and civil rights grounds.
Previous tests were scheduled June 2 and June 23 last year then
cancelled.
"We're going to be asking for the government never to be
conducting this test," Hager said.
The attorney disagreed with the open forum format at the Cashman
Center. While other attendees at the open house had sharp
comments to NNSA representatives, a stenographer sat idly
waiting to take public comment. A press contingent seemed to
outnumber members of the public.
Under the open house format the public can't hear other points
of view on residents who approve or disapprove of the project
like at a public hearing, Hager said. He said, "if you learn
anything you learn the government's position only."
"We believe it's a precursor to building nuclear bombs," said
Peggy Maze Johnson, executive director of Citizen Alert. "It's
clearly against the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and clearly
against the Non-Proliferation Treaty and how arrogant when we
are telling other countries they can't even have a nuclear power
plant and we're talking about new nuclear weapons."
For comment or questions, please e-mail
Copyright Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 -
*****************************************************************
41 Deseret News: Officials seek more Strake hearings
[deseretnews.com]
Friday, January 12, 2007
By Suzanne Struglinski and Nancy Perkins
Deseret Morning News
The federal government should conduct additional public meetings
on the proposed Divine Strake experiment, Sen. Orrin Hatch,
R-Utah, and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, told the Defense Threat
Reduction Agency (DTRA) in a letter sent Thursday.
The agency, in company with other government agencies,
held public meetings in Utah this week to discuss a planned
weapons test at the Nevada Test Site that would detonate 700
tons of non-nuclear explosive material. The concern is that the
blasts could stir up radiation-contaminated soils and put then
into the atmosphere.
But the open-house type format, instead of a public
hearing or public forum set-up, did not satisfy many who
attended in Salt Lake City on Wednesday and St. George on
Thursday. The agencies used "information stations" where 23
public affairs officers and others from the test's sponsors were
ready to answer questions about the blast. A court reporter was
on hand to take down any public comments.
"We fully agree with the disappointment felt by many of
our constituents over the lack of a plenary session, where a
senior government expert would speak on the record and answer
questions in front of all the meetings' attendees," Matheson and
Hatch wrote. "This is especially disconcerting since DTRA did
make a commitment to us to conduct such a plenary session at the
meetings."
The lawmakers said they viewed the meetings "as an
important first step" but "the format used has important
deficiencies."
Cheri Abdelnour, a DTRA public affairs officer, said the
various Divine Strake team leaders attending the open houses
were able to answer numerous questions from the public.
"We've had a good turnout and we've had some good
questions," Abdelnour said. "We're looking forward to reviewing
the comments."
Justin Jensen, 14, who attended the St. George open house
with his father, said he is worried about the proposed test.
"I'm wondering if it will affect my generation or not,"
he said. "I don't want my future to be in jeopardy."
Michelle Thomas, 54, a St. George native who has battled
numerous forms of cancer linked to radiation fallout from the
government's nuclear tests of the 1950s, called the meeting
"surreal. I really feel like we've got the ghosts of fall-outs
past here with us tonight," Thomas said tearfully. "As a
downwinder, I wouldn't wish what's happened to my hometown and
the people who live here on anybody. I don't want to do this all
over again."
Thomas attended the St. George hearing along with 338
other people, along with several St. George police officers. Ami
Budge brought two of her three children to the Dixie Center
where the hearing was being held.
"We don't want any type of testing that's going to
promote war," Budge said. "I don't believe them when they say
it's harmless. I think the government's trying to put one over
on us."
Bob Welti was one of several attendees who spoke to the
crowd during an impromptu rally held near the end of the 2
1/2-hour meeting.
"Why don't they do the test in Washington D.C.?" said
Welti, garnering applause from several dozen people who stood in
a circle around him.
In their letter, Matheson and Hatch wrote that the format
"confused" some attendees, who did not know which expert to talk
with about a topic. Some said they received inconsistent answers.
"Of course, this only increases the much-deserved
distrust many Utahns have toward statements made by the federal
government regarding radiation and activities at the Nevada Test
Site," according to the letter.
Among the many concerns of opponents of the test is that
the blast will stir up and blow downwind radioactive-
contaminated dust from the area where nuclear bomb testing took
places decades earlier.
They asked DTRA for additional public sessions, where
attendees could ask government experts questions on the record
and all the attendees could hear the answers.
E-mail: suzanne@desnews.comor nperkins@desnews.com
2007 Deseret News Publishing Company
*****************************************************************
42 The Spectrum: The Divine dividing line
The Spectrum, St. George, UT thespectrum.com
Friday, January 12, 2007
+ St. George man creatively makes his point at packed open house
on weapons test
BY PATRICE ST. GERMAIN patrices@thespectrum.com
ST. GEORGE - Groups of people clustered around scientists talking
about various components of the proposed Divine Strake test at an
open house held at the Dixie Convention Center on Thursday night.
The murmur of voices was broken when St. George resident Ed Smith
raised his arm in the air and boomed out: "Attention!"
"Attention all of you against this test, come over to this side.
All of you for it, stay over there," Smith hollered. Cheers
erupted as most of the room moved to side Smith designated as
those opposed to the test.
Several others spoke after Smith, including Pete Rasmussen, who
said, pointing to the children in the room, that they are the
ones Utahns need to stand up and have a voice for.
The open house was heavily attended with approximately 300
people attending in St. George compared with estimates of 200 in
Salt Lake City and 40 in Las Vegas, said Kevin Rohrer, spokesman
with the National Nuclear Security Administration - Nevada Site
Office.
Some people came to become better informed about the proposed
test where 700 tons of fuel oil and ammonium nitrate would be
detonated at the Nevada Test Site - only a mile from where
nuclear testing was conducted beginning in the 1950s.
Karyn Kidd attended.
"I'm concerned with my children," Kidd said of the test. "I came
to educate myself."
Kidd's reaction to the information she had gathered was to ban
the test and planned on spreading the word of the proposed test,
going home with several environmental assessments for friends.
Like Kidd, Trisha Madsen, of St. George, said she was there to
educate herself about the test.
St. George resident Jerry Christensen had one word for those
giving information about the Divine Strake test: arrogant.
"They are anti-human," Christensen said of the scientists. "They
are so sold on it they don't care how many lives are taken."
Christensen lost a brother to cancer - the result of living
downwind during nuclear testing.
While Divine Strake is not a nuclear bomb, there are concerns
that the test will raise radioactive dust and carry the dust
outside the test site, potentially creating a new generation of
downwinders.
Dressed in white as the Angel of Peace, Suzann Bang, Ivins, said
she is not a downwinder but is a 25-year resident of Washington
County and knows people who have been victims.
"I represent downwinders of the past and am crying out for
peace," Bang said.
Bob Welti, of Salt Lake City, was one of the people who gave a
public comment and explained that one week ago, at this very
hour, he had lost his sweet wife of 57 years to radiation
poisoning.
Talking about the very limited dose of radiation that would be
raised by the Divine Strake test, Welti suggested the test be
done in Washington, D.C.
"It's extremely cheap to dig a tunnel," Welti said. "Dig a
tunnel in Washington and explode the damn thing there."
While representatives from the National Nuclear Security
Administration and Defense Threat Reduction Agency who held the
meeting explained why the test was safe, many people seemed to
be unconvinced and many people took the time to fill out comment
cards before leaving.
Several people with the Code Pink organization attended the
public forum and passed out information about their group.
Carol Hansen, Code Pink coordinator, said the group was there
for downwinders who were lied to so many times that testing at
the Nevada Test Site was safe.
Health physicist Thomas Enyeart explained that the radioactive
soils, which include "low levels of manmade radionuclides
typical of radioactive fallout," strontium 90 and plutonium, was
so low that they could only be detected by taking soil samples.
Enyeart also explained about modeling that took place and how
the modeling proves the test is safe.
When asked if he was confident that the test was safe enough
that he would have his family stand where 99 percent of the
fallout was projected to land, Enyeart said: Absolutely.
"I have no concerns whatsoever," he said.
Comments by: Christian Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:25 pm
By the way, one of the presenters said something about the
comments sent in have to be addressed. If this is true, does
anyone know if there are comments which would delay the
test/experiment?
Are there any groups/petitions which have a "legitimate" issue
which can help delay the test? Are there any organizations which
are working on opposing this?
I very well might be interested in signing/joining/supporting
such a group.
Comments by: Christian Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:21 pm
Several of the presenters do live in Las Vegas. I realize this
is different area but also could be subject to some degree of
the concerns at hand. In addition, many work at the site on a
regular basis. At least one of them, also said he has family
living in Southern Utah.
I realize this does not clear the doubts. It does allow me to
think they themselves believe it is safe. However, I am not
convinced even they are always aware of the overall situation
and purpose of the work they do.
I do not think the PD was there for information as I did not see
them in the groups. I think their attendance was work related
(keeping the peace).
Thank you for the information on the hearing. Do you know more
about its purpose? Is it the lecture type format? If so, would
be good to have but think it should have been first then the
group format. But that is hindsight now.
In addition, your comments on the cutoff date and what it means
to me, probably means what I think you are implying. They very
well may have made up their minds to do this and only doing this
portion "dog and pony show" to give some level of implied
comment by the public. This is something, if true, I am not
appreciative of.
Even if I do get the information, if my input has no value then
there does is not a need to insult me by wasting my time. I
would prefer they simply say we are doing this and here is the
information in case you want to know what we think. Just do not
make me think you care what I think if you do not. This,
unfortunately, is one of the biggest reasons there is so much
concern over what the government does.
Comments by: presto Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:02 pm
christian, you make good points. perhaps my trouble in hearing
was due to the overall crowd buzz & that contributed to my
frustration. all of which could've been easily overcome by a
different presentation format.
I didn't have a problem with the police presence. I was just
amazed that they felt they needed to have so many there. Maybe
I'm wrong, maybe they were just there to get the same
information about this test as we all went for. At least I know
they live here, unlike the presenters.
The January 18th public hearing is sponsored by the State of
Utah 5-8 PM, Dunford Auditorium, Browning Bldg, Dixie State
College. You should also know there is a Feb 7th cut-off date
for public comments. What does this tell you?
Comments by: Christian Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:42 pm
I will agree there could have been a better format. I suppose
I am just pleased there was any, as often is not the case.
The changing in format would be frustrating but I was not aware
of it so it was a non-issue for me. I attended to gain
information and felt like I was successful in doing so.
I agree it was difficult to hear in many instances. The room
noise of everyone talking made it difficult to hear. I would
think someone with any sort of hearing problem would have found
it even more frustrating than I.
While I too would have liked a "lecture" style presentation so
all could be heard and easier to take notes, I also appreciated
the one-on-one (or at least small group) aspect. I found it more
personable and easier to ask questions. I am not certain I would
have felt as comfortable asking question with an entire
audience. In addition, it would have limited the number of
questions which could have been asked. On the other hand, they
probably answered the same questions over and over - but it was
to the individual asking - more satisfaction for me in getting
my questions answered in the way they did it.
What would have been really great would have been some sort of
combination. Maybe an overall presentation then breaking out
into the smaller groups. Perhaps, we might have had better
questions and maybe the repitition of questions would have been
less likely.
My appreciation was not so much in the format (it could have
been better) but in being able to participate and gather
information.
With regards to the number of police, I did not see this as a
problem. I did not witness any harrassment (might have happened
and did not see it). I was not intimidated by them in any way
and felt free to ask any question I had. Their mere attendance
probably did keep a sense of peace and keep things from
potentially getting out of hand. I am glad they did attend as I
prefer prevention over response when possible.
I missed the information on the January 18th discussion and
would appreciate anybody sharing more on the venue and what
purpose. I might want to attend it as well.
Finally, my vote (if cast) would continue to be against. I still
maintain some deep reservations and skepticism in many regards.
I believe it is justified based on the track record of the
previous testings and the government as a whole. I have no
problem with others having their position for or against as they
deem appropriate. I think they have a long way to go to
demonstrate there is not a problem and even more ground to cover
to alleviate fear and concerns of myself and many, many others.
It is my opinion, this should be a high priority. Even if they
are telling the truth and know without any doubt at all of the
consequences, I believe they should make EVERY effort to
convince us to the same level. Whether they can achieve it or
not does not negate the responsibility to make the effort.
Comments by: presto Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:30 pm
Yes, I attended. I was disappointed with the set-up. It was
designed to frustrate any meaningful exchange. To have the
attendees walk from easel to easel to hear some DTRA employee
answer the same questions over & over is very unproductive. And
that was when you could even hear them at all. Without
microphones, unless you were standing right next to them, you
could only catch bits & pieces.
If they were serious about educating the community or eliciting
community response, all those rep's should've been sitting at a
panel table. After people had time to look at their glossy easel
displays set up around the room, they should've opened up the
meeting for one-at-a-time questions. The panel member most
familiar with each subject could've then taken the mic &
answered. That way we ALL would've heard the questions &
answers.
Aaah, but providing real information to a dubious crowd did not
seem the goal of the evening. I'm hoping the public meeting at
Dixie College Jan 18th will give us more of an opportunity for a
meaningful exchange. In fact, I'm counting on it. I think we all
have many questions & concerns that have remained unaddressed.
ps, am I the only one who was amazed at the number of police
present?
Originally published January 12, 2007 Print this article
Copyright 2007 The Spectrum.
*****************************************************************
43 Salt Lake Tribune: Divine Strake: Hatch, Matheson criticize meetings on blast
Updated: 01/12/2007 10:47:24 AM MST
+ Downwinders call for additional Divine Strake public
meetingsWASHINGTON - Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Jim Matheson
say they want the Pentagon to follow through on a promise to
hold hearings where residents could question officials on the
record about the safety of Divine Strake, a massive blast slated
to take place in Nevada.
"We fully agree with the disappointment felt by many of our
constituents" at the lack of on-the-record questioning at Divine
Strake open houses held in Salt Lake City on Wednesday and St.
George on Thursday, the pair said in a letter to the director of
the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which is planning the test.
Hatch and Matheson said the Pentagon agency made a
commitment to have a question-and-answer session, but didn't
follow through.
They said those who attended the Salt Lake meeting also said
the format was confusing and answers were sometimes
contradictory.
"This only increases the much deserved distrust that many
Utahns have toward statements made by the federal government
regarding radiation and activities at the Nevada Test Site,"
Hatch and Matheson wrote in the letter.
Their earlier protests prompted the Defense Threat Reduction
Agency to hold the public meetings.
The 700-ton blast is designed to develop computer models for
new bunker buster weapons, but there is concern that the tests
could spread radioactive material from Cold War era tests at the
Nevada Test Site that sickened thousands of Utahns and lead to
new nuclear weapons development.
-Robert Gehrke
© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
44 Salt Lake Tribune: Divine Strake gets blasted
S. Utahns see a downwinder déjÀ vu of radiation poisoning
By Mark Havnes
The Salt Lake Tribune
01/12/2007 01:39:30 AM MST
St. GEORGE - There is nothing divine about Divine Strake
to Iris Mortensen.
The St. George resident believes her veterinarian husband
received the cancer that killed him from conducting autopsies on
sheep found dead in Millard County in the 1950s.
Mortensen blames radiation from the nuclear tests conducted
at the Nevada Test Site in the 1950s for killing the sheep and
infecting her husband. Now she's voicing her concerns about
Divine Strake, the non-nuclear blast the federal government
plans for the same test site.
"It's insanity," she said.
Mortensen was one of about 300 residents of southwestern
Utah who gathered at the Dixie Center in St. George on Thursday
night to ask questions, voice concerns and hear information from
officials with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which
dreamed up the test.
The proposed explosion would involve 700 tons of ammonium
nitrate and cause a blast that many fear would throw into the
atmosphere soil contaminated by earlier nuclear blasts at the
test site. The tainted dust, critics say, would again blanket
southwestern Utah with unacceptable amounts of radiation.
Nuclear tests 50 years ago are blamed for cancers in the
population in southwestern Utah. Those sickened by the nuclear
testing in the 1950s are known as Downwinders because
southwestern Utah was downwind from the blasts.
So far, the environmental assessment being conducted is
cautiously optimistic that the test would be safe, say federal
officials. But no matter how convincing the officials sounded,
Mortensen and many others remain skeptical of Divine Strake's
safety.
"After the damage from the first tests, I have a hard time
believing the leopard has changed its spots," said Mortensen.
Near the end of Thursday's meeting, some residents stood on
chairs to tell of relatives who they claim died of radiation
exposure from earlier testing. They vowed not to let such a
tragedy happen again. Among those remembering loved ones was
former Salt Lake City television weatherman Bob Welti.
"My wife of 57 years died from cancer one week ago to the
hour from radiation poison," said Welti. "If the blast is so
safe, why not do it in Washington, D.C.?" Welti's comments were
met with applause. He said that while in military training in
Denver in the 1950s, his wife, Georgia, and their children,
stayed with her family in Circleville in Piute County. That's
where he claims she was affected by the testing.
"She'd shake nuclear ash out of the kids' diapers," he
recalled.
Downwinder Ilene Jones said that in 1956, the year she was
born, her family went to an "Easter picnic" to witness a blast
deemed safe by the government in an area near the test site. She
blames radiation exposure from the blasts for her breast cancer
and the cancer that killed her grandmother.
"There were no signs warning us to stay away," she said.
Jones is convinced that the Divine Strake blast would send
up a contaminated cloud that would again make people ill.
"I know beyond a doubt it is still hot [at the Test Site],"
said Jones.
mhavnes@sltrib.com
© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
45 New West Network: Divine Strake Meeting Criticized |
Salt Lake City |
Divine Intervention
By Tracy Medley, 1-12-07
Just in case you were wondering if the Pentagon would make good
on their promise to hold open and on-the-record town-hall
meetings in Utah to discuss the potential safety hazards of
their planned Divine Strake testing in Nevada; dont bother.
Wednesdays public information meeting held at the Grand America
Hotel was a complete bust, left many frustrated according to
The Salt Lake Tribune.
While the government agency laid out plenty of science-fair-type
displays meant to quell the fear of downwind radiation
poisoning, few in attendance were convinced: wanting instead
more dialogue and more direct answers from their government
hosts. The lack of discourse only stoked the fire of distrust
among citizens worried about the test.
Among those disappointed with the meeting were Utah Sen. Orrin
Hatch and fellow Divine Strake opponent Rep. Jim Matheson, who
wrote an open letter criticizing the Pentagon for not keeping
their commitment to be up front with Utahns about the potential
dangers of setting off a 700-ton blast in their back yards.
This only increases the much deserved distrust that many Utahns
have toward statements made by the federal government regarding
radiation and activities at the Nevada Test Site, the two
statesmen wrote.
2006 NewWest, All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
46 Metro Pulse: Thank Heaven for Whistlers
Web metropulse.com
More than 11,000 people who needed cardiac care in our region
over the past several years owe a debt of gratitude to Kristi
Moore and Valerie Byrd, the East Tennessee Heart Consultants
(ETHC) employees who alerted authorities to accounting errors
that resulted in overpayments by patients and their insurers.
Our legal system reflects the gratitude of those due refunds.
Moore and Byrd will share a $300,000 award as part of a
settlement announced last week.
Moore and Byrd first alerted their employer to the mistake, but
when ETHC opted not to refund the overpayments, the two women
contacted investigators and wound up filing suit under the False
Claims Act, which allows private citizens to sue on behalf of
the government and collect 30 percent of any settlements or
awards. The act also triples penalties, and ETHC must be
regretting its inaction at this point.
The case parallels a much larger suit that could make a native
Tennessee man a millionaire. Bobby Maxwell left Tennessee
decades ago to join the Army, later earned undergraduate and
graduate degrees in business, and eventually made a career as a
federal auditor. During his time with the Department of
Interiors Minerals Management Service, responsible for
collecting royalties on oil, gas, coal and timber taken from
federal lands, Maxwell uncovered hundreds of millions of dollars
worth of fraud. A Montana coal mine paid the federal government
$100 million after Maxwell discovered it had been underreporting
its take, and Maxwell helped an Apache tribe recover $20 million
worth of natural gas royalties.
Such diligence earned him accolades and promotions, but it did
not make him wealthy. Now that he is retired, however, Maxwell
has filed suit against Kerr-McGee, alleging underpayment of $10
million in royalties for oil. The trial is due to begin on Jan.
16 in Denver. As with the local case, Maxwell first alerted his
supervisors, but they refused to pursue the matter. He decided
to retire and become a whistleblower.
Maxwell alleges mismanagement, claiming Interior officials
ignored reports showing inaccuracies and underpayments of
royalties and even impeded collection efforts. Three of his
fellow auditors, still federal employees, have filed similar
suits against other oil companies.
The other industries Interior regulates get favorable
treatmentlax permitting, small or unenforced fines, subsidies,
obsolete pricingbut the costliest example of all might be the
offshore oil drilling contracts written in the 1990s. Interior
officials call it an inadvertent mistake, but standard language
linking royalty payments to the market price for a barrel of oil
was omitted from agreements. A Congressional investigation is
underway, but if the problem is not rectified, the federal
government will miss out on an estimated $7 billion in
royalties.
The problem is not career bureaucrats like Maxwell, but their
superiors, political appointees who come and go with
administrations. Often these appointees come from the industries
they are charged with regulating and return as lobbyists or
board members after their stint on the federal payroll. In
September, Interiors own inspector general, Earl Devaney, told
Congress, Short of crime, anything goes at the highest levels of
the Department of the Interior.
The nonchalance of the ETHC board when confronted with their
accounting problem is symptomatic of a similar attitude in the
corporate world. If it looks good on the bottom line, it must be
good. Perhaps this is why CEOs demand exorbitant salaries and
severance packages: They are expected to break laws and find
ways to obscure their actions or buy off inspectors, so they
want compensation for their potential criminal exposure, should
the permissive political winds shift.
Fat chance. Corporations spend tens of millions of dollars on
political campaigns and lobbyists each year to stay in favor
with whoever is in power. These are not charitable contributions
to the democratic process, but investments. They buy loopholes,
earmarks, reduced fines and favorable appointments to the
agencies that oversee their industries. Such favors are doled
out by Republican and Democratic administrations alike, and the
congressional committees that approve nominations get their
wheels greased too.
Rather than working to end corruption, politicians are looking
for new ways to hide it. The Bush administration wants to crack
down on leaks by selling the fiction that whistleblowers
jeopardize national security. There is a word for people who do
that sort of thing, and its not whistleblower. Its spy, and
spies do not alert media and law enforcement to their actions
and hope terrorists read the newspaper the day their story
appears. If insiders are helping our enemies, they are doing it
clandestinely.
Whistleblowers are the good guys. They see when secrecy is used
not to protect corporate property or American agents, but to
hide corruption. Right now we have laws protecting
whistleblowers, but they still face job loss, harassment and
character assassination. Corporate boards and politicians want
to erode whistleblower protections. Just trust us, they say, but
accounting scandals and cover-ups betray their real motives.
If you are one of the thousands getting a refund from ETHC, you
know what the good whistleblowers can achieve. It takes a great
deal of courage to expose corruption in government or in a
corporation, and whistleblowers deserve protection and every
penny courts award. In a culture that too often mistakes wealth
for virtue and fealty for loyalty, we need more people like
Bobby Maxwell, Kristi Moore and Valerie Byrd. Our forefathers
who rebelled against kings and fought tyrants would be proud of
them, all the more so for battles that are not epic, but
everyday.
Rikki Hall
1991-2007 Metro Pulse LLC
*****************************************************************
47 Taunton Gazette: A skeptical audience awaits cancer report
By: GERRY TUOTI Staff Writer
01/12/2007
NORTON - For years, Norton and Attleboro residents living near
the Shpack superfund site have suspected radioactive waste dumped
there has caused the neighborhood to suffer a high rate of
cancer. On Tuesday they may get their answer.
That's when the state Department of Public Health is expected
to release the findings of a study it did on cancer rates in the
area from 1982 to 2002. But many residents doubt they'll learn
much from the presentation, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Norton
Public Library.
"I don't think it will be indicative of the depth of the
problem," said Ron O'Reilly, who's lived a quarter-mile down
Union Road from the Shpack site since 1972. "A lot of people
died back in the '70s."
The highest point of activity at the former dump was in the
1950s and '60s. Many residents of the time have either moved
away or died.
Located in Norton's Chartley section, the Shpack site was a
privately owned dump that accepted radioactive, chemical,
industrial and residential waste from 1946 to 1965. The
government began investigating the site in 1978, after a
resident detected elevated levels of radioactivity.
"It's a sad reflection on the regulating authorities of
Massachusetts and the federal government that they allowed
something like that to happen," O'Reilly said.
O'Reilly is a member of a grassroots group called the Citizens
Advisory Shpack Team.
CAST coordinator Heather A. Graf, who has lived about two miles
from the former dump for 34 years, said her group has lobbied
politicians and state agencies to respond to problems at the
site.
"We pretty much fought for this [study]," she said.
The group has worked closely with U.S. Rep. Barney Frank,
D-Newton, on issues relating to the former nuclear waste dump.
The Army Corps of Engineers and the federal Environmental
Protection Agency have worked on the site cleanup for several
years, but work halted in June due to a lack of funding. It is
expected to resume this summer, when more funding should be
available, and finish in 2010.
"I am very disappointed with the latest news regarding the need
for the Corps to temporarily demobilize at the Shpack superfund
site due to unexpected levels of radiological contamination
uncovered during their initial digging," Frank said on his Web
site.
"This action underlines the inadequate level of funding for
essential environmental projects, and I will do everything in my
power to ensure that this cleanup is completed in the shortest
time possible," Frank's statement continued. "Norton has waited
long enough to see the Shpack site cleaned to safe levels, and I
will continue to work with the Corps of Engineers and the EPA
until that goal is accomplished."
Before the hazardous contaminants were discovered, kids used to
walk and scavenge through the former landfill, Graf recalled.
People would hike in the area, go hunting in the adjacent woods
and fish in a nearby pond.
The Department of Public Health's study matched census data for
people living near the old landfill from 1982 to 2002 and
compared it with information in the Massachusetts Cancer
Registry, a record of all cancers diagnosed in the state since
1982. All Massachusetts cancer records before 1982 are
anecdotal. The study specifically examines the incidence of 13
cancers that could be related to the radioactive waste and toxic
chemicals buried in the area.
gtuoti@tauntongazette.com
The Taunton Gazette 2007
*****************************************************************
48 Japan Times: Britain tells five Japanese to get polonium-exposure test |
Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007
LONDON (Kyodo) British health authorities have advised five
Japanese they should be tested for possible exposure to
polonium-210, the radioactive substance believed to have caused
the death of ex-Russian Federal Security Service agent Alexander
Litvinenko late last year, Japanese Consulate General officials
said Thursday.
The names of the five Japanese, who have since returned to
Japan, were given to the London consulate, which contacted the
five by telephone and other means, they said.
The five had visited the bar at the Millennium Mayfair Hotel in
London around Nov. 1, the same bar visited by Litvinenko on Nov.
1 before he fell ill, they said.
The consulate said it cannot release the names or addresses of
the five.
British health authorities have so far tested urine samples of
596 British residents who were confirmed to be at places visited
by Litvinenko. While more than 100 of them were suspected of
being exposed to polonium, the level of radiation posed no
health risk to most, authorities said.
But Britain has been advising about 450 others, mostly foreign
tourists, around the world who were possibly exposed to the
radiation but have yet to be tested.
It is thought that Litvinenko, who was a constant critic of
Russian President Vladimir Putin, was deliberately given a
lethal dose of polonium.
The Japan Times (C) All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
49 Guardian Unlimited: Russia Asks Britain to Help in Spy Case
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Friday January 12, 2007 11:46 PM
MOSCOW (AP) - Moscow has asked Britain for permission to
interview more than 100 people in connection with the poisoning
death of a former KGB agent, a top Russian prosecutor was quoted
as saying Friday.
Russia sent the request to Britain's Home Office, Deputy
Prosecutor General Alexander Zvyagintsev told the official
newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta. He declined to name the people
Russia wanted to interview, and it was unclear if any were
considered suspects. The Home Office declined to comment.
Alexander Litvinenko died in a London hospital Nov. 23, several
weeks being poisoned with the rare radioactive isotope
polonium-210. In a deathbed statement, Litvinenko blamed the
Kremlin for his poisoning. Russian officials have denied the
allegation.
Litvinenko, a Kremlin critic who lived in exile in London, fell
ill after meeting with an Italian security expert to discuss
possible suspects in the killing of Russian journalist Anna
Politkovskaya a month earlier. Politkovskaya was known for her
coverage of alleged human rights abuses in Chechnya.
British police say they are treating Litvinenko's death as a
murder. Scotland Yard investigators who traveled to Russia in
December were not allowed to question anyone directly, but only
to sit in while Russian authorities conducted the interviews.
Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
50 [NukeNet] California coastal commission sued over nuclear
Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2007 16:02:28 -0800
X-Nohoney: yes white-hard - relay H=adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net (192.energy-net.org) [63.203.231.61]
X-Sender-Host-Address: 63.203.231.61
X-Sender-Host-Name: adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net
X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY-WHITELIST
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2007/01/12/state/n004515S83.DTL
California
coastal commission sued over nuclear power plant
-
Friday, January 12, 2007
(01-12) 00:45 PST Los Angeles (AP) --
An environmental group has sued state coastal regulators, alleging they
violated state laws by authorizing a project at a nuclear power plant
without requiring its operator to follow measures to ease the facility's
damaging impacts on the central coast.
The Coastal Law Enforcement Action Network is challenging the Coastal
Commission's decision to approve the replacement of two steam generators at
the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant north of San Luis Obispo.
The project is intended to extend the life of the plant. Without the new
generators, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company would have to shut down
the facility by 2014, according to the civil suit filed Thursday in San
Francisco Superior Court.
The suit said the commission held hearings and considered a staff review of
the plant's environmental impact on the coastline. But the commission also
approved the project without following a staff recommendation to impose
mitigation measures, according to the suit.
The lawsuit claimed violations of the California Coastal Act and other
environmental and land use laws. The environmental group, based in Playa
Del Rey, is asking the court to invalidate the commission's decision.
"For the Commission to ignore the staff's recommendations related to
mitigation was unconscionable, and is a clear violation of the law," said
plaintiff's attorney David Weinsoff.
An after hours call Thursday to the Coastal Commission was not immediately
returned.
URL:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2007/01/12/state/n004515S83.DTL
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Each of the Iraqi children killed by the United States was our child. Each
of the prisoners tortured in Abu Ghraib was our comrade. Each of their
screams was ours. When they were humiliated, we were humiliated. The U.S.
soldiers fighting in Iraq - mostly volunteers in a poverty draft from small
towns and poor urban neighborhoods - are victims just as much as the Iraqis
of the same horrendous process, which asks them to die for a victory that
will never be theirs": Source: Arundhati Roy, "Tide? Or Ivory Snow? Public
Power in the Age of Empire,"
Molly Johnson
6290 Hawk Ridge Place
San Miguel, CA 93451
Cell: 805 296-0524
Need Mail bonding?
Go to the
Yahoo!
Mail Q&A for
great
tips from Yahoo! Answers users.
_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings or access the archives at:
http://mail.energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net
*****************************************************************
51 [NukeNet] Setback for safe storage of nuclear waste
Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2007 16:03:36 -0800
X-Nohoney: yes white-hard - relay H=adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net (192.energy-net.org) [63.203.231.61]
X-Sender-Host-Address: 63.203.231.61
X-Sender-Host-Name: adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net
X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY-WHITELIST
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
Setback for safe storage of nuclear waste
* 10 January 2007
* Rob Edwards
http://www.newscien
tisttech. com/article/ mg19325865. 400-setback- for-safe- storage-of-
nuclear-waste. html
A material that promised to lock up nuclear waste for hundreds of
thousands of years may not be up to the job.
At present high-level waste is "vitrified" by combining it with liquid
borosilicate glass and solidifying the mixture. This makes the waste safer
as it delays leakage of the radioactive material. The glass is not ideal,
though, because geological activity can break it up, so researchers are on
the lookout for more robust "immobilisation" materials.
Minerals such as zircon (ZrSiO4) are believed to have kept naturally
occurring radioactive uranium and thorium locked in the Earth's crust for
up to 4.4 billion years, surviving earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. As
a result researchers have argued that zircon, or similar synthetic
ceramics, could trap nuclear waste within their crystalline structures for
at least 241,000 years, the time plutonium-239 takes to become relatively
safe.
Now a study shows that this is unlikely. It turns out that alpha particles
released as plutonium decays knock the atoms in zircon out of position
faster than originally predicted, impairing the material's ability to
immobilise waste (Nature, vol 445, p 190).
Ian Farnan of the University of Cambridge and colleagues at the Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, added plutonium to
zircon and used nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to distinguish
between crystalline zircon and its leaky, damaged form.
The researchers found five times as many damaged zircon atoms as estimated
by computer simulations. They conclude that radioactive plutonium trapped
in zircon would start leaching out after just 210 years and lose its
crystal structure entirely after 1400 years.
The result could dash hopes for ceramics similar to zircon under
consideration in Australia, Russia and the US. Farnan believes, however,
that it is still possible to develop synthetic ceramics that don't lose
their crystalline structure as quickly as zircon. "We have demonstrated a
method that will allow us to be more confident about the storage of waste
in the future," he says.
From issue 2586 of New Scientist magazine, 10 January 2007, page 26
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Each of the Iraqi children killed by the United States was our child. Each
of the prisoners tortured in Abu Ghraib was our comrade. Each of their
screams was ours. When they were humiliated, we were humiliated. The U.S.
soldiers fighting in Iraq - mostly volunteers in a poverty draft from small
towns and poor urban neighborhoods - are victims just as much as the Iraqis
of the same horrendous process, which asks them to die for a victory that
will never be theirs": Source: Arundhati Roy, "Tide? Or Ivory Snow? Public
Power in the Age of Empire,"
Molly Johnson
6290 Hawk Ridge Place
San Miguel, CA 93451
Cell: 805 296-0524
Looking for earth-friendly autos?
Browse
Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center.
_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings or access the archives at:
http://mail.energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net
*****************************************************************
52 reviewjournal.com: Land set aside for Yucca rail study
Jan. 12, 2007
The government has set aside a 130-mile stretch of land through
central Nevada so that the Energy Department can study whether
it wants to use it to build a rail line to the proposed Yucca
Mountain nuclear waste repository, officials said.
The federal Bureau of Land Management withdrew the mile-wide
corridor from Hawthorne to Goldfield from public use and withdrew
an additional 107 square miles of property along portions of a
previously designated study route from Caliente to the Yucca
Mountain site, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
The moves became official with a Wednesday posting in the
Federal Register in Washington, D.C.
Setting aside 140,000 acres along the so-called 130-mile Mina
corridor means that no new mining or property claims can be
made, said Dennis Samuelson, a BLM realty specialist in Reno. It
forbids the government from selling or trading the land. Grazing
and other public access are not restricted.
The land withdrawals will allow the Energy Department to conduct
environmental studies of the rail routes to the proposed nuclear
repository.
The Mina route would run north-south and could cost less than a
319-mile east-west rail line proposed from Caliente, near the
Utah border, across rural Nevada to the waste site. The Energy
Department had said it favored the Caliente route, but the cost
has been estimated at $2 billion.
There is no rail line to the Yucca Mountain site, which Congress
and the Bush administration picked in 2002 as the place to
entomb 77,000 tons of radioactive waste now being stored at
nuclear reactors in 39 states. The project has been stalled by
funding shortfalls and questions about quality control during
site selection.
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007
*****************************************************************
53 RGJ.com: Several mine site updates expected at Tuesday meeting
PATRICK ABANATHY
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL -->
Posted: 1/12/2007
Community Action Group meeting cancelled in light of stakeholder
gathering
Even as winter takes firm hold on the valley, it does not mean
cleanup discussions have ceased regarding the old Anaconda Mine
site west of town; and several items are up for discussion for
next Tuesday's stakeholder meeting.
The meeting takes place Tuesday, Jan. 16, from 2-5 p.m. at the
Lyon County Library located at 20 Nevin Way in Yerington.
Just about every aspect of the ongoing assessment and cleanup is
of concern to the community on some level. On the agenda, first
and foremost, is a status update on negotiations with site
managers Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) for an administrative
order on consent for site assessment and cleanup.
Also, a status report is expected on the remedial investigation
of heap leach pads left behind via former site operators Arimetco
Next will be a status update of site security. New and improved
fencing is likely to be a topic of interest for those concerned
of health and physical hazards associated with trespassing.
Also, with this, is discussion on maintaining site security and
update on moving mine documents into off-site storage.
Other agenda topics include ongoing ambient air monitoring and
proposed modifications to operation and maintenance of Arimetco
fluid management and groundwater pumpback systems. This comes as
a result of fluid sampling performed in 2006.
A follow-up on process area soil sampling with background soils
sampling is to be conducted by ARCO once BLM approves, the
agenda notes.
As for groundwater, an update is expected on the evaluation for
uranium in domestic and agricultural wells north of the site. A
second-step work plan for the hydrogeologic framework was
submitted Nov. 27 with EPA comments expected this month.
With removal actions, a status report is expected on ARCO's
proposed removal of radiological contamination in a portion of
the Process Area.
Also, an update is expected on the Nevada Division of
Environmental Protection's monthly visit to the site in
follow-up to some of the Arimetco heap leach ponds being
removed.
Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a
Gannett Co. Inc.Newspaper.
*****************************************************************
54 Salt Lake Tribune: Arena spurs edit meltdown on Wikipedia site
EnergySolutions nickname gibes appear, disappear on Web
By Judy Fahys The Salt Lake Tribune
01/12/2007 12:25:10 AM MST
It's hard to miss that EnergySolutions has been polishing its
image.
In television ads, the hazardous and radioactive waste
company has linked its name to saving the world from global
warming. On downtown Salt Lake City's premier sports venue, it's
now associated with one of Utah's favorite pastimes, the Utah
Jazz.
Recently, the fight for hearts and minds landed in
Wikipedia, the volunteer-written, Web-based encyclopedia.
Shortly after the Salt Lake City nuclear-services company
bought the naming rights to the home of the Jazz, a battle broke
out on Wikipedia over the alternate names for the stadium
previously known as the Delta Center.
Frank Bednarz, a University of Utah graduate and Salt Lake
City resident, noticed how sarcastic names for the stadium were
stripped from the Wikipedia entry.
On Nov. 30, The EnergySolutions Arena entry concluded:
"Early nicknames for the arena include The Dump, a jab at
the company's radioactive and hazardous waste disposal
operations. Other suggestions include The Glow Bowl, the
Isotope, ChernoBowl, JazzMat (short for Jazzardous Materials),
the Big Bang, the Tox Box, The Power House, the Hot Spot, The
Fallout Shelter and the Melta Center."
By Dec. 1, it was gone.
"The same block had been removed three times," says Bednarz,
now attending law school in Chicago.
In and of itself, that may not have been so surprising.
Sometimes these edit wars break out on Wikipedia.
Anyone can change an entry, according to Bednarz, a frequent
Wiki contributor on the subjects of Utah, Mormon history and
Salt Lake City architecture.
And sometimes people disagree about what belongs. Or what
should be deleted.
After the third excision, Bednarz decided to use Wikipedia's
history tool to track down who had done the cutting.
The trail led to computer addresses at EnergySolutions, the
Salt Lake City company that operates a mile-square hazardous and
radioactive landfill 80 miles west of Salt Lake City.
"Somebody who had access to the company's computers did it,"
he concludes.
But Bednarz doubts the censor in this case is associated
with EnergySolutions management.
Greg Hopkins, communications vice president for the company,
says no one in management is behind the censorship.
"If an employee wanted to go and edit that stuff, it's OK as
far as Wikipedia is concerned, and I don't have any problem with
it," he says.
The Wiki war, described in the latest issue of City Weekly,
emerged at an odd time for the EnergySolutions Arena.
On Monday, arena officials nixed a public hearing on Divine
Strake, a massive explosion test upwind of Utah that some fear
will send radiation-tainted dust over Utah.
It was short notice for the two federal agencies involved,
which had sent off a signed contract for meeting space at the
arena last month.
David Rigby, communications director for the meeting host,
the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, said he was surprised by
the last-minute cancellation.
"EnergySolutions management informed [the federal agencies]
that 'they are unable to support the event,' " said Rigby, whose
red-faced agency issued a public apology for any inconvenience
the venue change might have caused.
There was a lot of speculation at the public meeting
Wednesday about the last-minute location change, with many
attendees speculating that the arena, whose name-change woes
have been fodder for local media and The New York Times, didn't
want to associate the EnergySolutions name with a controversial
event.
Hopkins says it ain't so. "We don't have any role in the
operations of that building. Period."
Linda Luchetti, vice president of communications for the
EnergySolutions Arena, says Rigby's agency went looking for a
new location after learning rooms in the arena would be too
small.
As for the idea that the meeting topic drove the decision,
she says: "No. Not at all."
Vanessa Pierce, director of the Healthy Environment Alliance
of Utah, says 400 people who oppose the stadium's new name have
signed a petition urging owner Larry Miller to change it.
Pierce is not surprised about the latest image
controversies.
"It's right in keeping with their P.R. campaign in that they
want to paint a rosy picture of their business, even if that
includes some half-truths or misleading statements," she says.
"The reality is, their profits come from bringing nuclear
waste to Utah and burying it in our west desert."
And, it's worth noting that some of the flak is coming from
the other side. A few entries on Larry Miller also were edited
shortly after the name change.
The entries said he owned "Radium Stadium," and they came
from computers owned by Larry Miller.
fahys@sltrib.com
© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
55 nature.com: Canned nuclear waste cooks its container -
Estimates of radiation damage to materials have been too low.
Published online: 10 January 2007; | doi:10.1038/news070108-6
Philip Ball
The atomic order of a ceramic is muddled into a glassy mess by
radiation.
Storing high-level nuclear waste without any leakage over
thousands of years may be harder than experts have thought,
research published in Nature today shows.
Ian Farnan of Cambridge University, UK, and his co-workers have
found that the radiation emitted from such waste could transform
one candidate storage material into less durable glass after
just 1,400 years much more quickly than thought1.
Current plans for disposal of some of the most dangerous
material generated in nuclear power plants, such as radioactive
elements extracted from spent fuel rods, differ from one country
to another. A common strategy being explored is to encase the
waste in a hard, crystalline ceramic material a kind of
synthetic rock and then put it in steel canisters and bury
them in cavities excavated underground.
Because many radioactive substances continue emitting radiation
for a very long time, the containment must persist for an
awesome duration. Plutonium-239, one of the most deadly
by-products of nuclear power, has a half-life of 24,000 years,
meaning that only half of any initial batch has decayed over
this time. Ideally it should stay put for about ten times as
long: a quarter of a million years.
Candidate ceramic
Farnan and colleagues have investigated one candidate material
hoped to do the job, called zircon (zirconium silicate). The
plan is that this ceramic material will hold on fast to the
radioactive atoms and stop them from finding their way into the
environment for example by being dissolved and dispersed in
ground water.
The problem is that the radioactive waste damages the matrix
that contains it. Many of the waste substances, including
plutonium-239, emit alpha radiation, which travels for only very
short distances (barely a few hundredths of a millimetre) in the
ceramic, but creates havoc along the way.
A fast-moving alpha particle knocks into hundreds of atoms in
its path, scattering them like skittles. Worse still, the
radioactive atom from which the particle comes is sent hurtling
in the other direction by the recoil. Even though its path is
even shorter than that of an alpha particle, the atom is much
heavier, and can knock thousands of atoms out of place in the
ceramic.
All this disrupts the crystalline structure of the ceramic
matrix, jumbling it up and turning it into a glass. That can
make the material swell and become a less secure trap. Farnan
says that some zircons that have been heavily damaged in this
way by radiation have been found to dissolve hundreds of times
faster than undamaged ones. So if the ceramic gets wet, there
could be trouble.
Hit and run
Previous estimates of the radiation damage to waste-storage
ceramics have relied largely on calculations and computer
simulations. Now Farnan and colleagues have measured it
directly.
They used a technique called nuclear magnetic resonance
spectroscopy similar to the method of magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) used in biomedicine to measure the relative
amounts of crystalline and glassy material, both in artificial
zircon containing plutonium and in naturally occurring mineral
zircon, which commonly contains radioactive uranium. They
estimate that each alpha-decay event of a radioactive atom
displaces around 5,000 atoms in the zircon - between 2.5 and 5
times more than predicted previously.
"There's more damage than we thought," says Rod Ewing, a
specialist in nuclear-waste disposal at the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor.
There are other materials that may fare better than zircon,
including other zirconium minerals. But Farnan's work implies
that we probably don't yet fully understand how well any of
these materials might stand up to the battering of radiation. He
thinks the findings should encourage engineers to think very
carefully about the matrix encasing the radioactive waste,
rather than focusing on the geological characteristics of the
burial site. Ideally, the best material would be able to heal
itself, with the atoms displaced by alpha decay moving back
slowly into their crystalline positions.
Ewing notes that the technique used in this study could be used
to investigate these alternative materials, hopefully to find a
longer-lived candidate.
References
1. Farnan I., et al. Nature, 445. 190 - 193 (2007). | Article
2007 Nature Publishing Group | Privacy policy
*****************************************************************
56 Ely Times: 2nd Yucca Mountain rail route considered
elynews.com
Land Management (BLM) published a Notice of Proposed Withdrawal
in the Federal Register on Wed., Jan. 10, for public lands that
will be studied as a second possible route for a rail line to
transport high-level nuclear waste to the Yucca Mountain
repository.
Publication of the notice segregates lands along a one-mile
corridor from the end of an existing rail line at the Hawthorne
Army Depot south to the Yucca Mountain site for up to two years.
The Department of Energy will evaluate the so-called Mina
corridor during the segregation to determine if a withdrawal is
appropriate.
The BLM will hold at least one public meeting to provide
information about the withdrawal application. A meeting date has
not been set.
If the evaluation indicates a withdrawal is appropriate, the BLM
would make a recommendation that would lead to a public land
order and a withdrawal notice to be published in the Federal
Register.
A similar withdrawal was approved for a potential rail line
along the Caliente corridor in December 2005. If the Mina
corridor is withdrawn, it will follow the same time line as the
Caliente corridor withdrawal.
For information about the withdrawal application, call Dennis
Samuelson at 775-861-6532.
Copyright 2007, The Ely Times
*****************************************************************
57 PE.com: Hearing set on water contamination
CLEANUP: After five years of investigations, a case will be
presented at a meeting in March.
10:00 PM PST on Thursday, January 11, 2007
By JENNIFER BOWLES The Press-Enterprise
A long-awaited hearing on the Inland region's largest unabated
plume of perchlorate pollution in groundwater is scheduled for
March 23, officials said Thursday.
The hearing is aimed at assigning blame and cleanup of the plume
of the rocket-fuel chemical, which pollutes a key drinking-water
basin and stretches several miles below Rialto and Colton. It
has shut down more than a dozen drinking-water wells that served
some 150,000 residents in the two cities.
"I hope this will be a really big first step to cleaning up the
entire perchlorate contamination. The polluters have to start
going to work," said Davin Diaz, an activist with the Center for
Community Action and Environmental Justice in San Bernardino.
Perchlorate, also used in road flares, fireworks and similar
products, has been detected in the water supplies of Corona,
Redlands, Fontana, Riverside and other Inland communities.
The chemical can interfere with the thyroid gland's ability to
make hormones that guide brain and nerve development in fetuses,
babies and young children.
The state has proposed a drinking water standard of 6 parts per
billion. In the Rialto plume, tests have revealed that
groundwater below the suspected source, a 160-acre industrial
site in the northern end of the city, contains concentrations of
perchlorate at 10,000 parts per billion.
The March hearing will act much like a trial. Regional
water-quality investigators will present testimony from
witnesses and evidence that workers at Goodrich Corp., a
subsidiary of Black & Decker, and a local fireworks company,
Pyrospectacular, dumped perchlorate on the ground or burned it
in pits at the industrial site, where the chemical eventually
seeped into the groundwater.
The three companies will have an opportunity to respond.
Officials at Emhart, the subsidiary of Black & Decker, say that
the company is the corporate successor of West Coast Loading --
which made perchlorate-containing flares and ground-burst
simulators for the Army at the site from 1952 until 1957, said
the company's attorney, Bob Wyatt.
2007 Press-Enterprise Company
*****************************************************************
58 Engineer Online: Plugging radioactive leaks
Published: 12 January 2007 12:00 PM
Industry Channel: Chemical &Process
Source: The Engineer Online
Scientists have laid the foundations for a method of containing
radioactive waste that would not leak for thousands of years.
A joint team, from the University of Cambridgeand the Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory(PNNL) in the US, has begun to
devise ways to measure the effectiveness of storing radioactive
waste in different crystal forms.
These tests could be used to develop a method of storing highly
radioactive elements that would only begin to leak thousands of
years into the future. By then most of the radioactivity would
have decayed.
As well as making the storage of the waste safer, the process
could also end up saving governments huge quantities of money.
Earlier this year, Britain announced plans to bury its nuclear
waste stockpile – about 470,000 cubic metres of radioactive
waste – hundreds of metres beneath the earth’s surface. Read
The Engineer's article on the subject here.
At the moment, doing so would necessitate the selection of a site
which had sufficiently stringent geological features to withstand
any potential leakage at a cost of billions of pounds. In the
United States, $7bn has already been spent researching the
viability of the Yucca Mountain burial site. Questions about its
safety still remain, and the project is expected to cost between
$50bn and $100bn in total.
‘By working harder on the waste form before you started trying
to engineer the repository or choose the site, you could make
billions of pounds worth of savings and improve the overall
safety,’ Cambridge earth scientist Dr Ian Farnan, who led the
research, said.
‘At the moment, we have very few methods of understanding how
materials behave over the extremely long timescales we are
talking about. Our new research is a step towards that.
‘We would suggest that substantive efforts should be made to
produce a waste form which is tougher and has a durability we are
confident of, in a quantitative sense, before it is stored
underground, and before anyone tried to engineer around it. This
would have substantial benefits, particularly from a financial
point of view.’
When highly radioactive substances like plutonium are stored they
are naturally unstable. According to current thinking, elements
like plutonium should be combined with a synthetic mineral at a
very high temperature to form a crystal.
However, the crystal structure can only hold the radioactive
elements for so long. Inside the crystal, radioactive decay
occurs and tiny atomic fragments called alpha particles shoot
away from the decaying nucleus, which recoils like a rifle. The
structure is blasted repeatedly until it breaks down, increasing
the potential for leakage.
Some earth and materials scientists believe it is possible to
create a structure that rebuilds itself after these “alpha
events” so that it can contain the radioactive elements for
much longer. The tests developed by the Cambridge and PNNL team
would enable scientists to screen different mineral and synthetic
forms to test which would be the most durable.
The initial findings, reported in the journal Nature, suggest
some mineral forms would not be sufficiently effective. During
their research the team measured crystals comprising plutonium,
silicon and zirconium oxides (zircons) that were created 25 years
ago. The magnetic resonance measurements suggest that these would
be more susceptible to leakage within 1,400 years and that the
crystal would swell and potentially crack much sooner, perhaps
within just 210 years.
However, the work did not address leakage and William J Weber, a
fellow at the Department of Energy national laboratory in
Richland, Washington, who made the samples used in the study,
cautioned that the researchers detected no cracking. Weber noted
that the “amorphous” or structurally degraded natural
radiation-containing zircon can remain intact for millions of
years and is one of the most durable materials on earth.
PNNL senior scientist and nuclear magnetic resonance expert
Herman Cho, who co-wrote the report, said: ‘The testing method
we have developed adds a valuable new perspective to research on
radioactive waste forms in general.
‘It has also raised the question: ‘How adequate is our
understanding of the long-term behaviour of these materials?
Studies of other waste forms, such as glass, could benefit from
this technique.’
Copyright Centaur Media PLC. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
59 Cumberland News: Firms strengthen bid for clean-up
Published on 12/01/2007
Contracts worth £60m:
Pete Woolaghan of REACT Engineering Contracts worth £60m: Pete
Woolaghan of REACT Engineering SIX Cumbrian firms have cleared
the first hurdle in accessing £60m worth of nuclear clean-up
work.
The firms are part of the Cumbria Nuclear Solutions Ltd (CNSL)
consortium, set up to compete for decommissioning work on the
Sellafield site and other UK plants.
The group includes Shepley Engineers, James Fisher Nuclear,
Stobbarts, White Young Green and REACT Engineering.
It has now been awarded a Nuclear Decommissioning Framework
Agreement by the British Nuclear Group, the first step in
accessing up to £60m worth of decommissioning contracts.
The agreement means the consortium can now compete for specific
jobs as they arise.
Bosses formed the group to offer a full range of services when
bidding for nuclear work, rather than just their own specialisms.
A spokesman for CNSL said:“Being awarded the Framework
Agreement is hugely important as it means we can compete with
larger companies bidding for nuclear decommissioning contracts.
We can now provide a complete package of services.”
Pete Woolaghan, director of REACT Engineering Ltd, said the
nuclear legacy of the 1940s, 50s and 60s meant an enormous
amount of decommissioning work in the future.
“Potentially we are talking about contracts worth between
£40m and £60m and REACT will certainly be looking to recruit
more engineers,” he added.
*****************************************************************
60 times and star: Clearance to re-open Thorp
Published on 12/01/2007
SELLAFIELD’S controversial Thorp reprocessing plant has been
cleared for reopening.
The facility was closed in April 2005 after a radioactive leak
went undetected for eight months, spilling 83,000 litres of
liquid. The leak was contained within the plant.
British Nuclear Group (BNG) bosses have always signalled that
they intended to reopen the plant, despite the fact it is
scheduled to close for good in March 2011.
On Wednesday, the Health and Safety Executive said it was
satisfied BNG has done all work necessary to ensure Thorp can be
restarted and operated safely.
*****************************************************************
61 The Herald: HOLYROOD
Web Issue 2723 January 13 2007
menuBombs away, when it comes to votes and the cost of Trident
IAN BELL January 12 2007
Holyrood Sketch
Breaching the peace at the Faslane submarine base is, of course,
a very serious matter. Oh, dear me, yes. Or rather, it is a
dashed serious matter if the polis say it is. As generations of
demonstrators know, the constabulary are from time to time
creative. They can hear a peace being breached at half a mile,
should the need arise.
Equally, the cost of having coppers freeze their nethers just to
deter people from approaching the deterrent is no small
matter.continued...
Hard-pressed council tax-payers, possibly including those who
could live without Trident, are stumping up 27m a year to
protect the ultimate breach of anyone's peace.
Obviously, we can't have folk breaking the law. This may be why
hordes of respected jurists can be found who will tell you that
possession of weapons of mass destruction is itself a bit,
possibly very, illegal.
Numerate objectors can meanwhile divide the 25bn (minimum) cost
of Trident replacement by the money it takes to police protests
against that lavish outlay.
The political calculations are easier. The SNP notes the number
of Scots who would rather have a holiday than a holocaust at the
seaside is best understood in terms of votes to be claimed.
If you believe Annabel Goldie, it is only thanks to Trident
that SSP MSPs can find themselves in a position to be arrested
at Faslane
Jack McConnell, and those of his party who are not hiding under
the seats, can do the same sums. In electoral terms, it's bombs
away.
Nicola Sturgeon, for the Nationalists, wanted to know why Jack
had promised freedom of conscience to his colleagues, and then
sacked Malcolm "Don't Call Me Jessie" Chisholm as Communities
Minister, just for believing the fib.
Here's a fact: Chisholm is no longer a minister. Here's another
fact: he says he was given no choice in the matter. But was he
handed a black bin-liner and a map to the back benches?
Not according to Jack. He said yesterday that Chisholm was not
sacked. I quote: "No one was sacked. Simply not true".
That's a relief. Where would we be if a First Minister was found
to be saying things that omitted any reference to known facts?
Chisholm should therefore be back at work first thing this
morning and Rhona Brankin, promoted to the delight of her
rivals, will be back where she started. This time, on both
counts, I really am just kidding.
I'm taking lessons from Annabel Goldie. If you believe the Tory
leader, it is only thanks to Trident that SSP MSPs can find
themselves, wholly accidentally, in a position to be arrested at
Faslane. But are they grateful?
Tush, as Annabel might say. They simply abuse the liberty
afforded by a device designed to eradicate the species. What's
more - a far more serious matter in Annabel's book - "they owe
an apology to Scottish taxpayers!" (Anyone strapped for an extra
apology can have mine. I won't be using it this week. It's
either that, or I put it on eBay).
The fun part in all this was the duet performed by Annabel and
Jack.
Does one hear the patter of tiny parliamentary understandings?
Repeatedly, she invited him to agree that anti-nuclear
politicians are a shower of shockers.
Repeatedly, she wooed him with promises of proper debates.
Submarines, she said, are not a Scottish issue, whatever the
Scots might think. (I only added the last part).
Jack, rapidly discovering who his real friends are - goes by the
name of Jack, bit of a loner - did not put up much of a fight.
Increasingly, he and Annabel are in this together, defending the
honour of the Union, which is more than Unionists usually do.
Strange days, and growing stranger.
All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without
permissionis prohibited.
Copyright Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights
*****************************************************************
62 DOE: DOE Announces U.S.-Russia Fourth Report on Bratislava Agreement
January 12, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary
Samuel Bodman announced today that he and Russian Federal Atomic
Energy Agency Director Sergey Kiriyenko have submitted to
Presidents Bush and Putin the fourth report of the Senior
Interagency Working Group on implementation of the February 2005
Bratislava Checklist.
"The accelerated schedule adopted under Bratislava is being
implemented with great success," Secretary Bodman said. "Our
efforts to minimize and secure highly enriched uranium and
plutonium are making the world safer. Our cooperation with
Russia on emergency response and nuclear security culture
continues to enhance our nonproliferation goals."
The report highlights progress over the past six months,
including a U.S. and Russian collaborative radiological source
search/consequence management exercise and the completion of
cooperative material protection, control and accounting system
upgrades at several Russian nuclear sites. Furthermore, in
December, more than 590 pounds of highly enriched uranium was
returned from a former East German civilian nuclear facility to
Russia.
During the February 2005 meeting in Bratislava, Presidents
George Bush and Vladimir Putin committed both governments to
securing nuclear weapons and fissile material to prevent the
possibility that such weapons or materials could fall into the
hands of terrorists. The Presidents established a bilateral
Senior Interagency Working Group to address issues of
cooperation on nuclear security; the group is charged with
reporting on the status of cooperation to the Presidents.
Work under this initiative is of utmost importance for U.S.,
Russian and world security. It is the intention of both sides to
continue cooperation for the foreseeable future and to provide
the Presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation
with periodic reports on progress made. The Senior Interagency
Working Group will submit its next report in June 2007.
Media contact(s): Aimee Whitelaw, (202) 586-4940 [ ]
U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW |
Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403
*****************************************************************
63 SF New Mexican: Domenici: NNSA boss to move on
Fri Jan 12, 2007 5:59 pm
Andy Lenderman | The New Mexican
U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici to Ed Wilmot: You're gone.
Domenici, R-N.M., announced Thursday that Wilmot, the head of
the National Nuclear Security Administration in Los Alamos, was
reassigned to another job. It was the latest in a series of
moves to change direction at the embattled agency.
"For some time, I have been dissatisfied with NNSA," Domenici
said in a news release. "My dissatisfaction has included the
lack of progress on security management at Los Alamos National
Laboratory."
Dan Glenn of the agency's Pantex Plant, near Amarillo, Texas,
will take over in an acting capacity on Feb. 5, federal
officials said.
Wilmot's boss got the ax last week. Agency administrator Linton
Brooks resigned, and security problems at Los Alamos were listed
as reasons by Brooks and his boss, Energy Secretary Samuel
Bodman. Police found classified information at the home of a
former lab archivist during an October police call. No charges
have been filed in connection with the case. But the story made
national headlines, and the U.S. House of Representatives might
hold hearings into security problems at the lab.
Now Glenn and Tom D'Agostino, who took over the NNSA, have some
homework to do. It starts in Domenici's office.
"I would like to invite the new appointees to my office to
discuss LANL operations, oversight, community relations and the
need to make (Los Alamos Site Office) cleanup a higher priority,"
Domenici said. "Rather than fighting over highway bypasses, I
would encourage them to work with the community to release excess
property and facilitate economic growth."
Last year, the Los Alamos County Council sued Wilmot and his
agency over a $24 million road security project, arguing the
government did a bad job of considering the impact of the project
on local issues like tourism, economic development and emergency
evacuations.
Domenici and others in New Mexico's delegation were drawn into
the fight, which was eventually settled.
Meanwhile, a new private company is working to take over direct
management of the lab and deal with an estimated $175 million
budget shortfall. And the state of New Mexico continues to
pressure the lab to deal with hazardous waste leftover from the
Cold War. Wilmot essentially oversaw these and other issues for
the federal government.
Wilmot has been assigned to the NNSA's Albuquerque office, where
he'll work on Complex 2030, which is the agency's plan to
modernize the nuclear weapons complex, a spokesman said.
Wilmot was reportedly in Washington, D.C., on Thursday and could
not immediately be reached for comment.
One longtime Los Alamos observer said Wilmot's firing won't do
anything to change the lab. Greg Mello of the Los Alamos Study
Group said federal managers are outnumbered by the private
contractors that operate much of the nuclear weapons complex.
"There's too much privatization," Mello said.
/ Terms of Use | 2007, Santa Fe New Mexican,
*****************************************************************
64 Tri-City Herald: DOE OKs new price tag for vit plant
Published Friday, January 12th, 2007
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
The Department of Energy has approved the new estimate for
Hanford's huge vitrification plant after adding $57 million to
the price tag.
That brings the official cost estimate to $12.26 billion, more
than double the official estimate in 2003.
The new figure will stand only if Congress approves at least
$690 million for the plant each year until it's ready for full
operation in late 2019.
The latest estimate is based on an in-depth cost review by the
Army Corps of Engineers completed last year that put the plant's
cost at $12.203 billion without contractor Bechtel National's
fee payment.
That was up from an estimate of $5.5 billion in 2003, also
without fee.
The additional $57 million covers in part the contractor's fee
and more money for technical project review and oversight. It
would be more, but the contingency costs budgeted have been
reduced somewhat as progress has been made to reduce some of the
uncertainties on the project.
The new estimate is "an important step in the process that
follows review of technical merit, the project work plan and the
validation of our estimates by the Army Corps of Engineers,"
said Megan Barnett, a DOE headquarters spokeswoman. "And it
gives us an estimate from which we can effectively plan."
In September, when the Corps report was released, DOE said that
the estimate then likely would be close to the number it adopted
for the project's budget baseline.
Bechtel National, the contractor on the project, told its
employees this week that Clay Sell, the deputy energy secretary,
had approved the new cost estimate along with the scheduled
completion date of November 2019 that the Corps had recommended.
The previous completion date had been July 2011 to meet a
legally binding Tri-Party Agreement deadline.
The plant is being built to turn some of Hanford's worst
radioactive waste now held in underground tanks into a stable
glass form for permanent disposal. The 53 million gallons of
waste in the tanks is left from the past production of plutonium
for the nation's nuclear weapons program.
Costs for the vit plant have risen since late 2004 in part
because of technical problems, including a revised design
standard to ensure the plant can withstand a severe earthquake.
Congress has criticized management of the project and reduced
funding in 2006 as its confidence waned and money was needed for
hurricane relief.
DOE and Bechtel have warned that the cost will go up again if
annual federal appropriations drop below $690 million and
construction and testing of the plant are stretched over a
longer time.
Although the new estimate for the plant is $12.26 billion,
Congress already has appropriated $3.64 billion for the plant,
which is under construction. That leaves $8.62 billion needed to
complete it.
Sell wrote in a letter to James Rispoli, DOE assistant secretary
for environmental management, that the revised baseline is
subject to, among other things, maintaining an aggressive risk
and contingency management process to keep the project on
schedule and accommodate risk impacts, according to information
given by Bechtel to its employees.
Sell also asked for monthly status briefings on the project
covering design and construction, use of contractor and DOE
contingency, risk management and certification of a formal
management system that Congress required in language
accompanying a budget bill, according to Bechtel's information.
DOE considers the letter an internal memo and has not made it
public.
The scope of the construction project has changed as Bechtel
National has had to check thousands of calculations to meet
DOE's new earthquake standards for the plant.
That means it has to renegotiate the contract and the fee it
pays Bechtel National because of the additional work.
Bechtel has lost a potential $200 million in fees for the
project in the unrevised contract. That fee was tied to bringing
the project in at around $5 billion.
In June, DOE asked Bechtel to return the $48 million in
preliminary fee payments it had already received for design and
construction work.
2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
65 Tri-City Herald: Oil spill caused by tumbleweeds
Published Friday, January 12th, 2007
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
Hanford's terrible tumbleweeds are at it again.
The weeds already are notorious because of past Herald stories
about how Department of Energy contractors rounded up
radioactive tumbleweeds. The deep-rooted Russian thistles sucked
up contaminated ground water, then went rolling off to spread
the contamination across the landscape.
Of more than 1,100 documented findings of contaminated
vegetation at Hanford in the past half-century, about 80 percent
were tumbleweeds.
Now those wandering weeds are being blamed for new dastardly
deeds -- a spill of 400 gallons of used oil.
Contractor Fluor Hanford says tumbleweeds were blown with enough
force on Dec. 15 to open the valve on a holding tank storing the
oil. Gusts of up to 74 mph were recorded that day by the Hanford
Meteorology Station.
Fluor spokesman Geoff Tyree said the tumbleweeds built up
beneath the tank and got wrapped around the tank's ball valve
handle. The wind was strong enough to blow the weeds wrapped
around the handle back and forth, he said.
There was no indication the valve had not been closed properly,
Tyree said. It's since been capped to prevent the problem from
reoccurring.
All 400 gallons of oil spilled from the tank, which was in a
vehicle maintenance yard in the 200 East Area of central
Hanford.
The spill was reported to regulators and workers used absorbing
pads to help contain it. The oil was not radioactively
contaminated.
The oil-contaminated sandy surface beneath the tank has been dug
up and 30 cubic yards piled on heavy-duty tarps. Fluor and the
Department of Energy still are deciding what to do with the
contaminated soil.
2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
66 lamonitor.com: Local NNSA manager transferred
The Online News Source for Los Alamos
ROGER SNODGRASS Monitor Assistant Editor
The new acting director of the National Nuclear Security
Administration has informed employees of the Los Alamos Site
Office that manager Ed Wilmot will be reassigned to the
Albuquerque Service Center.
Dan Glenn, currently site manager for NNSA at the Pantex Site in
Amarillo, Texas, will become the LASO acting manager until a new
permanent site manager can be found, said Bernie Pleau,
spokesman for LASO.
Meanwhile, he added, referring to a memo from Washington, Acting
NNSA Administrator Tom D'Agostino has created a new position for
Wilmot, "to oversee the implementation of Complex 2030."
Wilmot will work with George Allen, who directs the Office of
Transformation at NNSA headquarters in the capitol. Complex
2030, the subject of a series of public scoping meetings across
the country last month, refers to a plan under consideration by
the agency for reorganizing the nuclear weapons complex over the
next two decades.
"I want an experienced manager in the field to help drive
Complex 2030 to a successful implementation," wrote D'Agostino
announcing the transfer, effective Feb. 5.
Responding to the change, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said, "I
have appreciated Ed Wilmot's responsiveness to me and my office
on a variety of important issues related to the lab." Bingaman
is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee.
D'Agostino was designated by the president on Friday to replace
former NNSA administrator Linton Brooks, under circumstances
that implied more changes were yet to be announced.
As Brook's dismissal was expressly related to continuing
management problems at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Wilmot
was in the same chain of command between headquarters and LANL.
A series of security and safety issues have followed upon
property management issues that were of paramount concern when
Wilmot took over the job as federal supervisor of the laboratory
in April 2004.
On his watch, the plan to compete the laboratory contract was
developed and awarded, and the arduous first-time transfer of
responsibility to a new for-profit manager was carried out.
His office was frequently understaffed, according to a number of
reports by the Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board, and Wilmot
has set in motion Washington's pilot program to transfer many
non-nuclear safety responsibilities to the contractor.
Wilmot was in charge of the local office when it was decided to
suspend operations at the laboratory, because of increasing
safety issues and a security problem that was later determined
to be a false alarm. The stand-down lasted several months and
cost an amount of money that LANL and NNSA never publicly agreed
upon.
Also on behalf of NNSA, Wilmot has overseen efforts to expand
radioactive waste storage capacity at the lab in preparation for
a significantly larger role in manufacturing plutonium triggers
for nuclear weapons.
NNSA has assumed lead responsibility for a number of cleanup
projects at the laboratory, but environmental projects have been
subject to thousands of dollars of penalties by state regulators
for missing schedules in the last six months.
During Wilmot's tenure, heightened security requirements led to
the imposition of new vehicle access arrangements for entering
and transiting the laboratory.
This issue was the subject of litigation by the county, which
led to a settlement last year, but continues to be a source of
friction in the community. (See "Bypassing the large intestine,"
page 1)
In a prepared statement alerting his constituents to the change,
Sen. Pete Domenici thanked Wilmot for his service and wished him
luck in his new job.
"I would like to invite the new appointee to my office to
discuss LANL operations, oversight, community relations and the
need to make LASO cleanup a higher priority," Domenici said.
"Rather than fighting over highway bypasses, I would encourage
them to work with the community to release excess property and
encourage economic growth."
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:
*****************************************************************