***************************************************************** 01/22/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.17 ***************************************************************** 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 [NYTr] The Unthinkable: US-Israeli Nuclear War on Iran 2 Prominent lobbyist Perle: U.S. will attack Iran if it obtains nukes 3 [NYTr] Iran Permits Some IAEA Inspectors, Refuses 38 Entry 4 Guardian Unlimited: Iran president defiant in face of critical MPs 5 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: New US approach foments violence 6 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: US misled on ME issues - Larijani 7 AFP: Iran to block 38 UN nuclear watchdog inspectors 8 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Bars 38 IAEA Nuclear Inspectors | World Lat 9 AFP: IAEA in talks with Iran after inspectors blocked 10 AFP: EU to call for implementing UN Iran sanctions - 11 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Prepares Public for Possible Clash 12 UPI: Iran and China team up for gas 13 UPI: Woolsey: Attack Iran as last resort 14 UPI: Netanyahu speaks against Iran 15 Korea Herald: Economic engagement the way forward with N.K. 16 Korea Herald: N.K. changes position on nuclear talks 17 Korea Herald: U.S. mulls easing on N.K. funds 18 Korea Times: US Nuclear Envoy Expects Six-way Talks to Resume Soon 19 Korea Times: Election, NK Nukes, Real Estate to Hit Economy 20 AFP: NKorea offered to freeze reactor in exchange for aid - report - 21 AFP: US says talks with NKorea paved way for disarmament progress - 22 UPI: Report: N.Korea agrees to halt nukes 23 UPI: Six-party talks urged on nuclear issue 24 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Envoy Sees Potential in Korea Talks 25 Guardian Unlimited: Analysis: Notes of Optimism on N. Korea 26 Secretary-general Ban Urges All States Not To Expand Nuclear Arsenal 27 IHT: Israeli atomic energy official describes country as nuclear "th 28 UPI: U.N. seeking nuclear non-proliferation NUCLEAR REACTORS 29 SAf: News24: Koeberg is back in action 30 RIA Novosti: Russia to supply nuclear fuel to Indian Kudankulam NPP 31 BBC: 'Multiple attempts' on Litvinenko 32 BBC: Nuclear firm targets clean power 33 FT.com: Berlin warned on phasing out nuclear energy 34 US: NRC: Amergen Energy Company, LLC Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating 35 US: NRC: Regulatory Information Conference 36 US: MSNBC.com: New nuclear power 'wave' - or just a ripple? - Power 37 NewsRoom Finland: Finland needs sixth nuke up and running by 2016 -P 38 UPI: Russia to supply India with nuclear power 39 US: Guardian Unlimited: Bush Expected to Stress Energy Security 40 US: NRC: Live NRC Meeting Webcast NUCLEAR SECURITY NUCLEAR SAFETY 41 US: reviewjournal.com: Radiation-related compensation hard to come b 42 US: Spectrum: Washington Co. commissioners take stance against bomb 43 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Divine deceit: Let's call a bomb a bomb 44 US: SLCC Globe: Divine Strake is Back 45 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Find 46 St. Petersburg Times: Polonium Traces Indicate Earlier Poisoning Att 47 US: Guardian Unlimited: Rare Snow Storm Surprises Arizona (rad accid NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 48 US: Sydney Morning Herald: Wildhorse set to produce uranium by 2010 49 US: AU ABC: Uranium gathering to tackle royalty system concerns 50 BBC: Waste store planned for Dounreay PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY 51 DOE: Global Science Gateway Agreement Signed in London 52 KnoxNews: Award another sign of evolving contract strategy 53 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Oak Ridg 54 Oak Ridger: Oak Ridge sees 900 layoffs, research at risk in budget d 55 KNDO/KNDU: Investigation into Radiation Leak at Hanford Continues ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 [NYTr] The Unthinkable: US-Israeli Nuclear War on Iran Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 03:36:53 -0500 (EST) X-Sender-Host-Name: olm.blythe-systems.com X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Innocent"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Info Clearing House - Jan 22, 2007 http://www.ichblog.eu/content/view/60/1/ The Unthinkable: The US-Israeli Nuclear War on Iran By Michel Chossudovsky The World is at the crossroads of the most serious crisis in modern history. The US has embarked on a military adventure, "a long war", which threatens the future of humanity. At no point since the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945, has humanity been closer to the unthinkable, a nuclear holocaust which could potentially spread, in terms of radioactive fallout, over a large part of the Middle East. There is mounting evidence that the Bush Administration in liaison with Israel and NATO is planning the launching of a nuclear war against Iran, ironically, in retaliation for its nonexistent nuclear weapons program. The US-Israeli military operation is said to be in "an advanced state of readiness". If such a plan were to be launched, the war would escalate and eventually engulf the entire Middle-East Central Asian region. The war could extend beyond the region, as some analysts have suggested, ultimately leading us into a World War III scenario. In this regard, the structure of military alliances is crucial. China and Russia have entered into farreaching military cooperation agreements with Iran. The latter have a direct bearing on the conflict. Iran possesses an advanced air defense system as well as capabilities to target US and allied positions in Iraq and the Gulf States, as demonstrated in recent military exercises. The US-led naval deployment (involving a massive deployment of military hardware) is taking place in two distinct theaters:the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean. The militarization of the Eastern Mediterranean is broadly under the jurisdiction of NATO in liaison with Israel. Directed against Syria, it is conducted under the façade of a UN peace-keeping mission. In this context, the war on Lebanon last Summer must be viewed as a stage of the broader US sponsored military road-map. The naval armada in the Persian Gulf is largely under US command, with the participation of Canada. The naval buildup is coordinated with the air attacks. The planning of aerial bombings of Iran started in mid-2004, pursuant to the formulation of CONPLAN 8022 in early 2004. In May 2004, National Security Presidential Directive NSPD 35 entitled Nuclear Weapons Deployment Authorization was issued. While its contents remain classified, the presumption is that NSPD 35 pertains to the stockpiling and deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in the Middle East war theater in compliance with CONPLAN 8022. Despite Pentagon statements which describe tactical nuclear weapons as "safe for the surrounding civilian population", the use of nukes in a conventional war theater would trigger a nuclear holocaust.The resulting radioactive contamination, which threatens future generations, would by no means be limited to the Middle East. In 2005, Vice President Dick Cheney is reported to have instructed USSTRATCOM to draw up a contingency plan "to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States". The presumption was that if such a 9/11 type event were to take place, Iran would, according to Cheney, be behind it, thereby providing a pretext for punitive bombings, much in the same way as the US sponsored attacks on Afghanistan in October 2001, allegedly in retribution for the alleged support of the Taliban government to the 9/11 terrorists More recently, several analysts have focussed on the creation of a "Gulf of Tonkin incident", which would be used by the Bush administration as a pretext to wage war on Iran. We bring to the attention of our readers a selection of Global Research articles, which document various aspects of US-Israeli war preparations. It is essential that this information reaches the broader public. We invite our subscribers and readers to distribute and forward these articles far and wide. To reverse the tide of war requires a massive campaign of networking and outreach to inform people across the land, nationally and internationally, in neighborhoods, workplaces, parishes, schools, universities, municipalities, on the dangers of a US sponsored war which contemplates the use of nuclear weapons. The message should be loud and clear: It is not Iran which is a threat to global security but the United States of America and Israel. Debate and discussion must also take place within the Military and Intelligence community, particularly with regard to the use of tactical nuclear weapons, within the corridors of the US Congress, in municipalities and at all levels of government. Ultimately, the legitimacy of the political and military actors in high office must be challenged. There seems to be a reluctance by members of Congress to exercise their powers under the US Constitution, with a view to preventing the unthinkable: the onslaught of a US sponsored nuclear war. The consequences of this inaction could be devastating. Once the decision is taken at the political level, it will be very difficult to turn the clock backwards. Moreover, the antiwar movement has not addressed the US sponsored nuclear threat on Iran in a consistent way, in part due to divisions within its ranks, in part due to lack of information. Moreover, a significant sector of the antiwar movement considers that the "threat of Islamic terrorism" is real. "We are against the war, but we support the war on terrorism." This ambivalent stance ultimately serves to reinforce the legitimacy of the US national security doctrine which is predicated on waging the "Global War on Terrorism" (GWOT). At this juncture, with the popularity of the Bush-Cheney regime at an all time low, a real opportunity exists to initiate an impeachment process, which could contribute to temporarily stalling the military agenda. The corporate media also bear a heavy responsibility for the cover-up of US sponsored war crimes. Until recently these war preparations involving the use of nuclear weapons have been scarcely covered by the corporate media. The latter must also be forcefully challenged for their biased coverage of the Middle East war. What is needed is to break the conspiracy of silence, expose the media lies and distortions, confront the criminal nature of the US Administration and of those governments which support it, its war agenda as well as its so-called "Homeland Security agenda" which has already defined the contours of a police State. It is essential to bring the US-Israeli war project to the forefront of political debate, particularly in North America, Western Europe and Israel. Political and military leaders who are opposed to the war must take a firm stance, from within their respective institutions. Citizens must take a stance individually and collectively against war. This article was first published at Global Research Copyright © 2005 - 2007 Information Clearing House Blog. * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 2 Prominent lobbyist Perle: U.S. will attack Iran if it obtains nukes 22 Jan 2007 Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 00:21:42 -0600 (CST) X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Innocent"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government 22 January 2007 http://www.legitgov.org/ All links to articles as summarized below are available here: http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news Prominent lobbyist Perle: U.S. will attack Iran if it obtains nukes 22 Jan 2007 President [sic] George Bush will order an attack on Iran if it becomes clear to him that Iran is set to acquire nuclear weapons capabilities while he is still in office, Richard Perle told the Herzliya Conference on Sunday. MP says Iran bars 38 atomic inspectors: agency 22 Jan 2007 Iran has barred 38 inspectors with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), from entering the country, an Iranian lawmaker was quoted by Iran's ISNA news agency on Monday as saying. Iraqi PM told Bush to withdraw US troops from Baghdad 21 Jan 2007 Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki proposed to President [sic] George W. Bush in November to withdraw US troops from Baghdad and let the Iraqi government take over security in the capital, a US newspaper [The Washington Post] reported. But soon after, Bush rejected the idea, the paper said. Bush rejects timetables for pullout from Iraq 22 Jan 2007 US President [sic] George W. Bush distanced himself from predictions US troops could begin leaving Iraq by late summer, stating bluntly he would accept no timetable for such a pullout. Confidence in Bush Leadership at All-Time Low, Poll Finds 22 Jan 2007 President [sic] Bush will deliver his State of the disUnion address on Tuesday at the weakest point of his presidency, facing deep public dissatisfaction over his Iraq war policies and eroding confidence in his 'leadership,' according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll... The poll also shows that 65 percent of Americans oppose sending more troop to Iraq. Bombs Kill at Least 100 People in Iraq 22 Jan 2007 Twin bombings Monday tore through stalls of vendors in a busy Baghdad market. A market also was attacked north of the capital, and police said nearly 100 people died in the renewed campaign blamed on 'Sunni Muslim insurgents' [US terrorists]. US troops surge into Iraq as death toll mounts 22 Jan 2007 The first troops in President [sic] George Bush's "surge" arrived in Baghdad yesterday to the news that America had suffered its deadliest day in Iraq for nearly two years. U.S. Troops Caught in Ambush in Iraqi City --Gunmen, using disguises, infiltrated secured Iraqi site 22 Jan 2007 Five American service members were killed in a hail of grenades and gunfire in a breach of security that Iraqi officials called unprecedented. 2 U.S. Marines Killed in Anbar Province 22 Jan 2007 Two U.S. Marines were killed in separate attacks in Anbar province, the military said Monday. U.S. Toll in Iraq Is 27 for Deadly Weekend 22 Jan 2007 The United States military said that two marines died Sunday in western Iraq and that an additional seven service members died Saturday. The deaths brought the weekend toll to 27 and made Saturday the third-deadliest day for United States forces since the war here began. Details Emerge About Possible Terror Threat --Suspects, Reportedly Tied to Al Qaeda [al-CIAduh] in Iraq, Sought Student Visas 22 Jan 2007 Mimicking the 'hijackers' who executed the Sept. 11 attacks, 'insurgents' reportedly tied to al Qaeda in Iraq considered using student visas to slip terrorists into the United States to orchestrate a new attack on American soil. Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, recently testified that documents 'captured' [planted] by occupation forces during a raid of a safe house believed to house Iraqi members of al Qaeda six months ago "revealed [AQI] was planning terrorist operations in the U.S." Carlyle Group mentioned in UK nuclear subs yard talks --MoD floats consolidation plan 15 Jan 2007 BAE Systems is in talks with Rolls-Royce over a #200 million bid for Devonport as part of moves to consolidate Britains submarine industry, The Times has learnt. BAE has also lined up Carlyle Group, the private equity investor, as an alternative should it be unable to agree terms with industry partners. U.S. Plans Missile Bases in Europe 22 Jan 2007 The United States has entered a decisive phase in a plan to set up missile defense sites in Eastern Europe. Czechs give go-ahead for US 'son of star wars' base 22 Jan 2007 The Czech government has announced that it wants to host a large US military site for the Pentagon's much-criticised missile shield system, confirming for the first time that Washington had asked Prague for permission to build a radar site for the national missile defence programme. Israeli Knesset passes law to revoke citizenship of 'unpatriotic' Israelis 10 Jan 2007 A new law passed Wednesday will allow the Israeli government to revoke the citizenship of citizens considered unpatriotic to the Jewish state of Israel. The law is expected to be applied especially to the 20 percent of Israeli citizens who are of Palestinian origin. Canada making enemies, Hamas warns --Palestinian minister shunned by MacKay 22 Jan 2007 Canada risks making itself an enemy of the Palestinian people and of the broader Islamist movement by boycotting Hamas and openly siding with Israel, Palestinian foreign minister Mahmoud Zahar said Sunday after he was shunned by visiting Foreign Minister Peter MacKay. During an hour-long interview that he said was a replacement for the meeting Mr. MacKay denied him, Mr. Zahar alternated between saying he was anxious to open a dialogue with Canada and saying he looked forward to the moment that Canadians voted the "extremist" Conservative government out of office. [We are all waiting!] Blair likely to quit if aides charged in loans inquiry 22 Jan 2007 Tony Blair is likely to stand down early if charges are brought in the cash-for-honours affair against any of his key aides, including Ruth Turner, arrested on Friday on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. Chavez to U.S.: 'Go to Hell, Gringos!' 21 Jan 2007 President Hugo Chavez told U.S. officials to "Go to hell, gringos!" and called Secretary of State [War Criminal] Condoleezza Rice "missy" on his weekly radio and TV show Sunday, lashing out at Washington for what he called unacceptable meddling in Venezuelan affairs. Turning the tables on Washington, Cuba says US harbours terrorists 22 Jan 2007 Cuba, which for years has figured on the US list of states that sponsor terrorism, has turned the tables on Washington, claiming the United States harbors terrorists responsible for the deaths of dozens of people. The Cuban government is waging a major campaign to demand the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles, who is accused here and in Venezuela of masterminding the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people. SAS unit moves to London in terror fight 22 Jan 2007 An SAS unit is now for the first time permanently based in London on 24-hour standby for counter-terrorist operations, The Times has learnt. The basing of a unit from the elite special forces regiment "in the metropolitan area" is intended to provide the police with a combat-proven ability to deal with armed terrorists in the capital. The small unit also includes surveillance specialists and bomb-disposal experts. Defence sources emphasised that a minister would have to make the decision to use the unit based in London. Parliament protester's legal win 22 Jan 2007 Anti-war protester Brian Haw has won his latest legal battle to maintain his demonstration in Parliament Square. Police claimed Mr Haw, from Redditch, Worcestershire, posed a threat as terrorists could hide bombs under his many banners and placards [!?!]. Police Printed Flier Warning of Activist 19 Jan 2007 (CT) Hours before the controversial arrest of political blogger Kenneth Krayeske at Gov. (R) M. Jodi Rell's Jan. 3 inaugural parade, state police distributed copies of a full-color, two-page document describing Krayeske as an activist who had invited people to join him in a protest outside Rell's inaugural ball that night. Political T-shirt leaves man stranded 23 Jan 2007 An anti-war protester who was refused boarding on a Qantas flight to London because he wore a provocative T-shirt has issued a challenge to the airline to fly him home dressed the same way. Allen Jasson, an IT specialist living in London, risks missing his chance of permanent residency if he spends more than two months out of Britain. Mr Jasson was told he could not fly last Friday from Melbourne Airport while wearing a T-shirt that said US President [sic] George Bush was the world's number one terrorist. [He is!] Pa. man's letter brings Secret Service 21 Jan 2007 An elderly man who wrote in a letter to the editor about Saddam Hussein's execution that "they hanged the wrong man" got a visit from Secret Service agents concerned he was threatening Dictator Bush. The letter by Dan Tilli was published in Monday's edition of The Express-Times of Easton, Pa. It ended with the line, "I still believe they hanged the wrong man." [Well, they did!] Companies Refusing to Reveal Biotech Research 10 Jan 2007 By Sherwood Ross Some 113 university, government, hospital and corporate laboratories engaged in research often with potential to be used for germ warfare have refused to disclose their operations to the public as required by Federal rules, a nonprofit watchdog agency has charged. Website offers whistleblowers chance to go global 20 Jan 2007 The internet could become even more difficult for governments to regulate with a new website, Wikileaks, promising to provide a safe haven for whistleblowers to upload confidential documents. Court Rules Against Sentencing Rules in Calif. 22 Jan 2007 The Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 today that Californias system of sentencing criminals is unconstitutional because it gives judges some authority that really belongs to jurors and thus deprives a defendant of a fair trial. FBI Should Have Pursued Foley E-Mails, Report Says 22 Jan 2007 The FBI should have followed up on e- mails sent in 2005 by then-U.S. Representative (GOPervert) Mark Foley to a former teenage male congressional page instead of deciding not to investigate, a Justice Department report says. More U.S. states consider erecting barriers to Wal-Mart's banking plans 22 Jan 2007 Wal-Mart Stores, the world's largest retailer, faces legislation in at least five more U.S. states that would ban it and other nonfinancial companies from operating banks. Surge in carbon levels raises fears of runaway warming 19 Jan 2007 Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere much faster than scientists expected, raising fears that humankind may have less time to tackle climate change than previously thought. Please Contribute for January's expenses. Thank you! [21 Jan lead stories:] US prison is 'threat' to Geneva treaties 21 Jan 2007 The United States is undermining international law by unilaterally rejecting demands to grant detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp protection against mistreatment and torture, an influential committee of British MPs has warned. The Foreign Affairs Committee claims the US is threatening the future of the Geneva Conventions by refusing to recognise the terror suspects interned at the camp as "military combatants" and give them the rights due under the international agreements. Guantanamo fails to meet basic British standards-lawmakers 21 Jan 2007 The U.S. detention centre in Guantanamo fails to meet even basic British standards for prisoners, British lawmakers who visited the base said on Sunday. A cross-party parliamentary committee also said a new U.S. military commissions system, expected to start trying terrorism suspects this year, gave cause for concern and London should raise any human rights misgivings with Washington. UK admits prior knowledge of secret CIA prison network 20 Jan 2007 British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett admitted Friday in a written response to a parliamentary question that Britain was "aware of the existence of a secret US detention program" prior to a September speech by President [sic] Bush acknowledging the existence of CIA-operated secret prisons for terror detainees. A cabinet Intelligence and Security Committee report has also stated that British intelligence service MI5 was also aware that the US was holding detainees in facilities other than those in Guantanamo, but did not have knowledge of the locations, conditions and access to the detainees. Please forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested. Those who'd like to be added to the Newsletter list can sign up: http://www.legitgov.org/#subscribe_clg. Please write to: signup@legitgov.org for inquiries. CLG Newsletter editor: Lori Price, Manager. Copyright ) 2007, Citizens For Legitimate Government . All rights reserved. CLG Founder and Chair is Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D. ***************************************************************** 3 [NYTr] Iran Permits Some IAEA Inspectors, Refuses 38 Entry Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 13:29:42 -0600 (CST) X-Sender-Host-Name: chumbly.math.missouri.edu X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY-WHITELIST Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [So much for the crowing last week about how Ahmadinejad's influence is withering in Iran, and how cooler heads will prevail. Iran has permitted an IAEA inspection team into the country, but has refused entry to individuals. The IAEA is, of course, infiltrated by US intelligence, its assets and covert provocateurs. This story somehow manages not to say how many inspectors WERE permitted to enter the country. -NY Transfer] AP via USA Today - Jan 22, 2007 http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-01-22-iran-nuke_x.htm?csp=34 Iran bars 38 U.N. nuclear agency inspectors, but allows others to enter TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran said Monday it has barred 38 members of a U.N. nuclear inspection team from entering the country, in what appeared to be retaliation for sanctions imposed last month over its contentious atomic program. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said some inspectors were admitted, but maintained that Iran could decide who should be turned away. "The International Atomic Energy Agency submits a long list of inspectors to member countries and the countries have the right to oppose the visit by some inspectors," Mottaki told the official Islamic Republic News Agency. The head of the parliamentary committee of national security and foreign policy, Alaeddin Borojerdi, had been quoted by a students' news agency as saying Iran had barred 38 inspectors. Last month, the U.N. Security Council imposed limited trade sanctions on Iran because of its refusal to cease uranium enrichment, a process that produces the material for nuclear reactors or bombs. Days later, the country's parliament passed a motion that obliged the government to revise its cooperation with the IAEA, but gave it a free hand to determine the steps to be taken. The United States and some of its allies accuse Tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies this, saying its program is only to produce electricity from nuclear sources. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's has come under increasing criticism for drawing the enmity of the international community with his aggressive handling of the nuclear issue, including among some conservative allies who feel he has concentrated too much on fiery, anti-U.S. speeches and not enough on the economy. In comments published Monday, Iran's most senior dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, joined the criticism. He said Iranians have the right to nuclear power, but questioned Ahmadinejad's dealings with the international community in obtaining it. "One has to deal with the enemy with wisdom, not provoke it," he said, according to a copy of his comments made available to The Associated Press. "This (provocation) only creates problems for the country," he told a group of reformists and opponents of Ahmadinejad on Friday in the holy city of Qom, 80 miles south of the capital Tehran. Montazeri, 85, is one of a few grand ayatollahs, the most senior theologians of the Shiite Muslim faith. He had been the designated successor of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the 1979 Islamic revolution, until he fell out with Khomeini shortly before his 1989 death after complaining about powers wielded by unelected clerics. Prices of fruit, vegetables and food staples have skyrocketed since the U.N. Security Council imposed the limited sanctions. "Some countries don't have oil and gas. Yet, they run their country and stand on their own. We have so much oil and gas but make useless expenditures work for others and don't think of our own people's problems and the price of basic commodities go higher and higher every day," Montazeri said, Montazeri appeared to be referring to Ahmadinejad's foreign trips, the latest of which was to Latin America, and to Iranian financial aid to the Palestinians. The Palestinian foreign minister for the Hamas-led government said in November while visiting Iran that Tehran had given his government more than $120 million in the previous year. On Sunday, the president told parliament prices of staples such as tomatoes were lower than some people claimed and told people to buy from his neighborhood, not high-priced shops elsewhere. Ahmadinejad was elected last year on a populist agenda promising to bring oil revenues to every family, eradicate poverty and tackle unemployment. His critics say he has failed to meet those promises and isolated Iran over the nuclear issue. The European Union on Monday called on "all countries" to enforce the U.N. sanctions. British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said a coordinated enforcement of the sanctions was important "to keep pressure on Iran to accept the offer of the international community to come back to the negotiating table." She told reporters that the 27-nation EU would implement the sanctions "as speedily and effectively as we can." EU officials said the bloc would implement the measures in early February. Despite the domestic pressure on Amadinejad for his anti-American rhetoric, the hard-line leader again launched into criticism of the United States, describing U.S. accusations against his county of meddling in Iraq as the "most ridiculous" of Washington's charges against Iran, state media reported Monday. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 4 Guardian Unlimited: Iran president defiant in face of critical MPs Robert Tait in Tehran Monday January 22, 2007 The Guardian The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, defied his domestic critics yesterday by vowing not to retreat from his nuclear and economic policies despite growing pressure. Addressing MPs, he dismissed last month's UN security council resolution imposing sanctions for Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, and said further embargoes would not halt the country's nuclear programme. He also claims to have tamed inflation amid an outcry over rising prices. "The UN resolution was born dead and even if they issue 10 more of such resolutions it will not affect Iran's economy and policies," Mr Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech to parliament introducing next year's budget. "We have become a nuclear country today without promising anything to the major powers and this is a great victory that belongs to the people and the parliament." Article continues His comments represented a riposte to criticism from MPs and the media blaming his belligerent anti-western rhetoric for the resolution, which many fear has set Iran on a course of confrontation. They coincided with the start of three days of weapons tests in the Kavir desert, about 60 miles south-east of Tehran. State television reported that short-range Zalzal and Fajr-5 missiles would be fired in the manoeuvres, which follow an American decision to send a second aircraft carrier, USS Stennis, to the Gulf. The UN sanctions ban the sale of technology and materials that can be used in Iran's nuclear programme, which the country's leaders insist is peaceful. They have been accompanied by intensified US moves to restrict the international dealings of Iranian banks. Even the president's former allies in parliament say the sanctions are exacerbating runaway inflation and could plunge the country's economy into crisis. [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 5 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: New US approach foments violence 2007/01/22 Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the new US approach to regional problems would encourage more violence and insecurity in the region. Mottaki's remarks came during a meeting with the visiting Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani during which he pointed to the failure of US policies in Iraq. Referring to the good relations between Tehran and Doha, he said "consultations and political exchanges between the two countries' senior officials and their strong political determination have paved the ground for all-out expansion of ties." The Qatari minister, for his part, spoke of Iran's key role in regional affairs, and said his country would not support threats against Iranian interests. In the meeting, the two ministers discussed crucial regional issues -- the need to end violence in Iraq, resolve Lebanon's political problem with the participation of all Lebanese groups and strengthen unity among all Palestinians in order to thwart the plots of the Zionist regime. Mottaki and al-Thani also exchanged views on the status of their countries' economic cooperation and the results of meetings held by their joint commission. The Qatari foreign minister arrived in Tehran Sunday at the head of a high-ranking delegation for bilateral talks with senior Iranian officials. 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 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: US misled on ME issues - Larijani 2007/01/22 Secretary of Islamic Republic of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani said in Damascus Sunday evening that certain regional countries were misleading Washington and giving it wrong signals with regard to regional issues. Talking to IRNA, he said American antagonism towards Iran is not new, adding that it has been opposing Iran's interests in the region for several years now. "I believe that America is facing several problems in the region," he said, and blamed certain regional states for misleading the Americans and making their situation in the region more difficult. Referring to his meetings with President Bashar al-Assad and Vice-President Farouq al-Shara, he said Tehran-Damascus bilateral relations as well as latest regional developments, including the current situation in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, were among topics discussed in the meetings. He said the situation in the region was "very sensitive," and underscored the need for continued consultations among friendly states in the region. "We are making efforts to ensure peaceful co-existence among countries of the region," Larijani added. Larijani arrived in Damascus before noon Sunday on a short, undeclared working visit. Talking briefly to reporters upon his arrival at Damascus International Airport, he referred to Syria as a friend of Iran, and added that the two countries regularly exchange views on various political and economic issues as well as on bilateral ties and regional developments. Larijani said that Iran will continue exchanging views with all parties in the region in the interest of maintaining stability andpeaceful co-existence and that this was the main subject of his talks with Syrian officials. sam Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir ***************************************************************** 7 AFP: Iran to block 38 UN nuclear watchdog inspectors Mon Jan 22, 7:22 AM ET TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran " /> has decided to block 38 inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency " /> from entering the country, the head of parliament's national security commission has told a news agency. "The committee (in charge of implementing the parliamentary legislation) decided not to allow 38 inspectors to enter Iran and this restriction has been officially announced to the IAEA," Alaeddin Borujerdi was quoted as saying Monday by ISNA. In December 2006, parliament adopted a bill requiring the government to revise its cooperation with the IAEA after the UN Security Council passed a resolution to impose sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment work. "This is the first step in implementing the parliament legislation," he said. IAEA inspectors regularly visit Iranian nuclear sites under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which Iran is a signatory. The parliament adopted the bill in response to the UN resolution 1737 that imposes sanctions on Iran's nuclear and missile programmes. Iran, OPEC " /> 's second largest oil exporter, insists its nuclear programme is solely aimed at meeting peaceful energy needs. However, the West fears that it could be diverted towards building a bomb. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 8 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Bars 38 IAEA Nuclear Inspectors | World Latest | From the Associated Press [UP] Monday January 22, 2007 9:31 PM AP Photo VAH109 By NASSER KARIMI Associated Press Writer TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran has barred 38 nuclear inspectors on a United Nations list from entering the country, the foreign minister said Monday in what appeared to be retaliation for the U.N. sanctions imposed last month. The rejected officials are on a list of potential inspectors drawn up by the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit and monitor Iran's nuclear facilities. ``The act of rejecting some inspectors is legal and in accordance with the agency's regulations,'' Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the official Islamic Republic News Agency. He said others on the U.N. nuclear watchdog's list remain eligible, but did not explain how Iran decided which inspectors to bar. The IAEA ``submits a long list of inspectors to member countries and the countries have the right to oppose the visit by some inspectors,'' Mottaki said. Last month, the U.N. Security Council imposed limited trade sanctions on Iran over its refusal to cease uranium enrichment, a process that can produce the material for nuclear energy or bombs. Days later, the Iranian parliament passed a motion that obliged the government to revise its cooperation with the IAEA, but gave it a free hand to determine the steps to be taken. IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming and other agency officials did not immediately return after-hours calls from The Associated Press. The United States rebuked Iran for the move. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said it was ``another example of the Iranians trying to dictate the terms to the international community - in this case, the IAEA.'' The United States and some of its allies accuse Tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies this, saying its program is only to produce nuclear energy. Iranian hard-liners had urged the government to respond to sanctions by abrogating the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty - the agreement under which the inspections are held. Analysts said the decision to bar a limited number of inspectors appeared to be a measured retaliation. ``Iran is carefully calibrating its response, saving harsher measures for a further tit-for-tat response to the next U.N. Security Council resolution,'' said Mark Fitzpatrick, an Iran expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. When the Security Council imposed sanctions on Dec. 23, it gave Iran 60 days to cease enrichment or face the likelihood of additional penalties. Fitzpatrick said the decision to bar some inspectors was largely ``a symbolic act of defiance.'' ``The IAEA has about 200 inspectors it could send to Iran, so stopping 38 of them will not impede its ability to carry out inspections, at least in the short term,'' he said. The move ``demonstrates Iran's unwillingness to accept the U.N. Security Council mandate that it suspend enrichment.'' The IAEA last visited Iranian nuclear facilities earlier this month when two inspectors came. --- Associated Press reporter Jasper Mortimer contributed to this report from Cairo. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 9 AFP: IAEA in talks with Iran after inspectors blocked Mon Jan 22, 3:25 PM ET VIENNA (AFP) - The International Atomic Energy Agency " /> said it was discussing with Iran " /> its demand to withdraw some nuclear inspectors but was confident it could continue monitoring the country's nuclear facilities. "It should be noted however, that there are a sufficient number of inspectors designated for Iran and the IAEA is able to perform its inspection activities in accordance with Iran's Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement," IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said. Earlier, the head of the Iranian parliament's national security commission told ISNA news agency that Iran has decided to block 38 IAEA inspectors in a fresh show of defiance over its nuclear aims. Last month, Iran's parliament adopted a bill requiring the government to revise its cooperation with the IAEA after the UN Security Council passed a resolution to impose sanctions on Tehran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment work. Alaeddin Borujerdi, head of parliament's national security commission, said on Monday that the blocking of the inspectors was a "first step in implementing the parliament legislation." IAEA inspectors regularly visit Iranian nuclear sites under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which Iran is a signatory. The parliament adopted the bill in response to the UN resolution 1737 that imposes sanctions on Iran's nuclear and missile programmes. Iran, OPEC " /> 's second largest oil exporter, insists its nuclear programme is solely aimed at meeting peaceful energy needs. However, the West fears that it could be diverted towards building a bomb. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters on Monday that "any country had the right to refuse admission to inspectors", a position confirmed by IAEA diplomats. Last July IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said that 200 inspectors were charged with investigating Iran's nuclear activities, but did not stay permanently in Iran. Previously they have only mainly encountered only minor problems, like delays in getting visas and restrictions on access to certain nuclear installations. A diplomatic source at the IAEA said that Iran had a right to refuse access to its inspectors without giving a reason. However, under Iran's agreement with the IAEA on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, the IAEA can take action if Iran repeatedly refuses access to designated inspectors. "If as a result of the repeated refusal of the government of Iran to accept the designation of agency inspectors, inspections to be conducted under this agreement would be impeded," according to the agreement. "Such refusal shall be considered by the (IAEA) board upon referral by the director general of the agency with a view to its taking appropriate action," it says The next meeting of the IAEA's council of governors is slated for March 5. It is not the first time that Iran has denied access to an IAEA inspector. Tehran banned a Belgian inspector, Chris Charlier, last April for talking to the press. It has also limited inspectors' access to some of its sites on several occasions. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 10 AFP: EU to call for implementing UN Iran sanctions - Mon Jan 22, 7:41 AM BRUSSELS (AFP) - European Union foreign ministers were to call for the full implementation of United Nations sanctions against Iran over its suspect nuclear programme, as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed not to bow to pressure. The ministers, meeting in Brussels Monday, are to agree to halt the import and export of nuclear-related goods, freeze the assets of those linked to the programme and impose a travel ban on some individuals, diplomats said. British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett said they would see "how we can fully implement the UN resolution so as to keep pressure on Iran to accept the offer of the international community to come back to the negotiating table." When asked how long it would take for Britain to apply the sanctions, she told reporters: "In common with everyone else, we will implement them as speedily and as effectively as we can." The UN Security Council passed resolution 1737 on December 23 imposing sanctions on Iran because it has repeatedly refused to fully cooperate with the UN atomic energy watchdog or suspend uranium enrichment. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency and is a key player in the Iran dossier, said he supported a "strict application" of the resolution, as he arrived to chair the meeting. Highly-enriched uranium can be used to build an atom bomb and the West fears that the Islamic republic could be trying to develop such a weapon under the cover of a civilian nuclear programme. Iran maintains that it is only exercising its right as a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to develop nuclear technology to meet its energy needs. In Tehran on Sunday, Ahmadinejad vowed that Iran will never bow to UN resolutions on its nuclear programme, as the military prepared for war games that were to include short-range missile tests. "Even if they adopt 10 other resolutions it will not have any effect," he told the Islamic republic's parliament. On Monday, the head of the assembly's national security commission said that Iran had decided to block 38 inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from entering the country. But a diplomat in Brussels said Friday that "the EU is really determined to interpret the resolution in a very strict way. We want to send a clear message to Iran." According to a draft of the conclusions they may adopt Monday, drawn up in advance by ambassadors, the ministers will call "on all countries to implement the measures in full and without delay." Officials say the EU has imposed a "de-facto" arms embargo on Iran for the last decade and the ministers will only recall "EU policy not to sell arms to Iran", if their draft text remains in the form seen by AFP. The ministers are expected to prepare a list of officials subject to visa bans, which could differ from the list annexed to the UN resolution as it might include Iranians studying proliferation-sensitive subjects in Europe. Overall, they will "deplore Iran's failure to take the steps repeatedly required" by the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog agency, and the Security Council. A senior EU diplomat underlined that the 27-nation bloc has not withdrawn last year's offer of a package of political and economic incentives to encourage Tehran to give up the sensitive enrichment activities. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 11 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Prepares Public for Possible Clash From the Associated Press [UP] Monday January 22, 2007 11:01 PM AP Photo VAH110, VAH109 By ALI AKBAR DAREINI Associated Press Writer TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran conducted missile tests Monday as its leadership stepped up warnings of a possible military confrontation with the United States. In another show of defiance, Tehran said Monday it had barred 38 United Nations nuclear inspectors from entering the country, apparently in retaliation for a U.N. Security Council resolution last month imposing limited sanctions on Iran. The drum-beating suggested Iran does not intend to back down in its standoff with the West. It could also aim to rally the public behind the government and silence increasingly bold criticism at home of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's antagonism toward the United States. Iran's leaders have touted the possibility of a U.S. attack since President Bush announced on Jan. 9 the deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf region, a move U.S. officials have said is a show of strength directed at Iran. Last month, the Security Council imposed limited trade sanctions on Iran over its refusal to cease uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear energy or bombs. The Iranian military on Monday began five days of maneuvers near the northern city of Garmsar, about 60 miles southeast of Tehran, state television reported. The military tested its Zalzal-1 and Fajr-5 missiles, the report said. The Zalzal-1, able to carry a 1,200-pound payload, has a range of 200 miles. That would put Iraq, U.S. bases in the Gulf, and eastern Saudi Arabia in its range. The Fajr-5, with a 1,800-pound payload, has a range of 35 miles. Neither could reach Israel, but Iran has other missiles that can. It was not known whether the missiles tested are capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The Iranian show of strength came as the American aircraft carrier USS Stennis was heading toward the Gulf, joining the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in a beefed-up American military presence. The Stennis is expected to arrive in late February. The U.S. is also deploying Patriot missiles and nuclear submarines to the Persian Gulf and F-16 fighter planes to the Incirlik base in neighboring Turkey. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the buildup aimed to impress on Iran that the four-year war in Iraq has not made America vulnerable. Washington and its allies accuse Iran of secretly trying to develop atomic weapons. Tehran denies the allegation, insisting its nuclear activities are aimed only at producing energy. The U.S. also accuses Iran of backing militants fueling Iraq's violence. The U.S. buildup has sparked loud warnings from Iranian officials that the United States will attack. U.S. officials have long refused to rule out any options in the faceoff with Tehran, but say military action would be a last resort. A military official told the Associated Press Iranian forces have been put on high alert. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information to the media. Over the past few days, hardline newspapers have threatened suicide attacks against American targets and claimed missiles fired from Iran would turn Israel into ``a scorching hell'' if the U.S. takes military action. One of the papers that carried the threats on Monday is close to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - suggesting the highest levels are involved in ringing the alarm over the American deployment. In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack rebuked Iran on Monday for barring the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, saying it was ``another example of the Iranians trying to dictate the terms to the international community - in this case, the IAEA.'' The rejected officials are on a list of potential inspectors drawn up by the IAEA to visit and monitor Iran's nuclear facilities. Countries submitting their nuclear programs to IAEA purview have the right to ask that certain experts be taken off rosters of inspecting teams. ``The act of rejecting some inspectors is legal and in accordance with the agency's regulations,'' Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the official Islamic Republic News Agency. He said others on the U.N. nuclear watchdog's list remain eligible, but did not explain how Iran decided which inspectors to bar. Analysts said the decision appeared to be a measured retaliation for the U.N. sanctions. IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said designating inspectors was a confidential matter between the IAEA and the country concerned. But she added that the agency had enough investigators lined up to conduct inspections in Iran. ``In this case, we are discussing with Iran its request for withdrawing the designation of certain safeguards inspectors,'' she said. It was not the first time Iran had asked the IAEA to bar certain inspectors from visiting the country. Tehran last spring asked the agency to remove the head of the inspection team probing the country's nuclear program. More recently, Tehran delayed entry visas for some inspectors late last year, including Olli Heinonen, the IAEA's deputy director general in charge of the Iran nuclear dossier. Ahmadinejad said last week that Iran is ``ready for anything'' in its confrontation with the United States. At the same time that he soundly rejected criticism at home over his policies. Iranian reformers and conservatives, who were once allies of Ahmadinejad, now accuse him of hurting Iran with his virulent anti-U.S. rhetoric, while failing to repair Iran's weakening economy. Rising prices have fueled anger against the president. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 12 UPI: Iran and China team up for gas United Press International - Energy - Analysis: 1/22/2007 1:56:00 PM -0500 By DEREK SANDS UPI Energy Correspondent CAIRO, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Amid ever-increasing U.S.-Iran tensions, a recent $3.6 billion gas deal between China and Iran not only reflects Beijing's need for energy and Tehran's need to develop its gas sector, but also a desire by both countries to shrug off American pressure. The recent for the China National Petroleum Corp. to develop part of the Iranian offshore South Pars gas field is not the first between the two countries, but it comes at a time when the United States is becoming increasingly aggressive with Iran, and soon after Beijing publicly requested that Washington not interfere in its dealings with Tehran. A $16 billion agreement in December for Chinese development of the 48 trillion cubic foot North Pars gas field immediately attracted U.S. criticism. Iran has long been the target of U.S. economic pressure. American oil and gas companies have been barred, under U.S. law, from doing business with Iran because of Tehran's alleged support of terrorist groups. More recently the United States has criticized Iran for supporting insurgents in Iraq. And the United States has led Western countries in trying to stop Iran from uranium enrichment activities that could lead to a nuclear bomb, an effort that in December resulted in the United Nations Security Council imposing limited sanctions on Iran. While Iran holds more than 970 trillion cubic feet in proven reserves of natural gas, according to the Energy Information Administration, the data arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, it is in desperate need of investment, partially due to U.S. pressure. "Iran has the second-largest gas reserves in the world, after Russia, but they are not developed currently, and there is a shortage of gas these days," according to Judith Kipper, director of the Energy Security Group at the Council on Foreign Relations. "Russia's gas is committed, Qatar is not accepting any new contracts until 2009 so the market for gas is very tight," Kipper said. Indeed, Iran cut off gas shipments to Turkey this winter because it needed available supplies for domestic use. The recent gas deals with Beijing are not a new approach for Iran. It has been pursuing investment with China long before December's U.N. sanctions against Tehran, according to Farideh Farhi, a political science professor at the University of Hawaii Manoa, and an expert on Iranian policy. "Given the longstanding U.S. sanctions against investments in the oil and gas sector by U.S. companies in Iran (as well as the less effective extra-territorial sanctions for non-U.S. companies), Iran has been trying very hard to diversify the sources of investment in the Iranian oil and gas industries for years, and China constitutes an important component of that strategy," Farhi said. And China is as desperate for energy as Iran is to develop their resources. "China's strategic plans to assure adequate energy supplies to maintain 10 percent growth, which they need for stability, is an economic necessity," Kipper said. China has been aggressively pursuing new sources of energy in recent years, often doing business in countries that the United States seeks to isolate, such as Sudan and Iran. But larger issues may prevent Washington from pressing the Chinese government too hard over recent gas deals. "The U.S. doesn't like it, but it is more of an annoyance than a major factor. The U.S. needs China for North Korea, and to stick with U.N. sanctions, so Washington is not likely to press China on economic deals," Kipper said. China is widely seen as the key to convincing North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions, a problem Washington has been struggling with for more than a decade. China also holds a permanent seat, and veto power, on the U.N. Security Council. Although Beijing may not be likely to overtly flex its power at the U.N., it could prove useful to Tehran in the delicate negotiations over its nuclear program. But while there could be political benefit for Iran to have a friend at the United Nations, analysts agree that the motivation for the deals is fundamentally economic. "It is political in so far as any important or significant deal, particularly within the current context of enhanced economic squeeze of Iran by the United States, will be considered a political victory for Iran and to a lesser extent a statement by the Chinese about their ability to weather U.S. pressures (hence the Chinese warning about the US not meddling in Chinese affairs that came last week). But the roots of the deal for both countries are economic," Farhi said. Kipper shares a similar view. "Obviously China's appetite for energy and its willingness to invest are positive elements for Iran. The cultural and economic shift toward Asia will produce many such deals between China, and other countries, as well as India. At the same time, this is expedience, and China is not likely to isolate itself within the Security Council on strategic issues if Russia goes along," Kipper said. -- © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 13 UPI: Woolsey: Attack Iran as last resort United Press International - Intl. Intelligence - 1/22/2007 8:19:00 AM -0500 HERZLILYA, Israel, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Former CIA director James Wollsey Monday recommended using force if there is no other way to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb. "If we need to use force, we should do it decisively, not some surgical (attack) on some single, or two or three facilities," he said at the Herzliya conference, near Tel Aviv. Wollsey regretted Israel did not attack Syria during the summer's war against Hezbollah, in neighboring Lebanon. Syria and Hezbollah are allied with Iran. "It's a shame that Israel did not, and the United States did not help and participate in moving against Syria last summer when Hezbollah gave the opportunity," he said. Hezbollah sparked those hostilities in July when it kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border operation. The background for the debate was set by Princeton University's Prof. Bernard Lewis, a renowned expert on Muslim history, who said Muslims are now in their "third and final attempt to bring the true faith to the world." The earlier attempts were made when the Muslims reached Spain and the Turks reached Vienna. Wollsey maintained the defeat of "Islamic totalitarianism...is the great challenge of our age, just as the defeat of Nazism and the defeat of Communism." He claimed the world should not tolerate a nuclear weapons capability in Iran, though "I do not believe we are yet at the point where we have to use force against Iran." Analysts were divided on how long it would take Iran to produce a bomb -- Israeli experts have been talking of the end of the decade -- but Woolsey said he saw no reason why North Korea, which exports counterfeit American money, heroin and ballistic missile technology, would not be happy to make several hundred million dollars by shipping a few kilograms of plutonium or highly enriched uranium if it already has that. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 14 UPI: Netanyahu speaks against Iran United Press International - NewsTrack - 1/21/2007 5:39:00 PM -0500 JERUSALEM, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday it's time for the international community to "to isolate and de-legitimize Iran." Netanyahu also said the international community should stop investing in Iran, YNet News reported. He said the "extremist regime" in Tehran "is sowing the seeds for its own destruction." "Iran is vulnerable, it doesn't allow economic growth," said Netanyahu. He said there is a growing movement within Iran opposing the regime of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "Most doors can be closed in the face of Ahmadinejad ... The key is the de-legitimizing of the regime, with economic and political pressure," Netanyahu told YNet News. The former prime minister and current opposition leader in Israel urged the Jewish community to round up international support. He said he will visit the British Parliament next week to discuss Iran. "No one will stand behind the Jews if they do not stand up for themselves," Netanyahu told YNet News. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 15 Korea Herald: Economic engagement the way forward with N.K. 'U.S. needs to support forces inside the North that may lead to transformation' Almost all observers - whether they favor the broad strategies of engagement or containment - agree on the basic goals of any approach to North Korea: At a minimum the abolition of the North's nuclear program and at best a complete change of regime behavior or even the regime itself. Their disagreement lies in which strategy best reaches these goals. Furthermore, the basic contours of any deal over North Korea's nuclear program are well-known: The North abandons its nuclear program in exchange for U.S. security guarantees and normalization of ties. Indeed, this was the core of an "agreement in principle" reached during the six-party talks in 2005. However, the 2005 agreement in principle almost immediately fell victim to issues of implementation. The United States wants the North to make major steps toward dismantling its programs first, while the North wants demonstrated commitment by the United States first. This issue of implementation remains the key problem between the United States and North Korea, as the most recent round of six-party talks demonstrated this past December. Essentially, both sides mistrust each other so much that they are unwilling to make the first move. Some believe that applying more pressure on North Korea is the solution. However, sanctions or other coercive actions (even if China and South Korea go along with these measures) are unlikely to change North Korean behavior. Indeed, the United States needs to decide whether coercion is helping contain and resolve the North Korean nuclear threat, or whether it is in fact exacerbating that threat by prompting a response from North Korea. As is the case of most countries, North Korea has historically met external pressure with pressure of its own. Some believe that coercion will eventually cause the North to capitulate. Unfortunately, past history reveals that this appears unlikely. There is little reason to think that applying even more pressure on North Korea will finally result in a de-escalation of tension. Indeed, the lesson of the October nuclear test is not that South Korean and Chinese engagement has failed - rather, the lesson is that U.S. coercion has failed. Furthermore, those who argue that if only South Korea and China followed a U.S. strategy the North would capitulate overlook two key points. First, pressure has only resulted in a response in kind by North Korea. Given that previous pressure has not worked, I'm doubtful that even a considerable increase in pressure would result in any change in North Korean behavior. Second, these states recognize clearly the implications and costs of regime failure for their own populations. This difference in national strategies is a result of different national interests, and it is probably unrealistic to expect China and South Korea to put U.S. interests above their own. As 2007 begins, all sides are farther from a resolution to the nuclear issue than ever before. Indeed, mistrust and suspicion are so high on each side that I am increasingly pessimistic that any negotiated solution can be found. The one strategy that has the potential to be successful in the long run is a strategy of careful, focused economic engagement - with demands for reciprocity - that addresses North Korean security concerns while saturating North Korean citizens with capitalist ideas is the best strategy for the United States to pursue: it is transformative, gradual, and peaceful. Capitalism is a powerful force, and when it is unleashed, it is very difficult to turn it back. Give North Koreans a taste of economic freedoms and outside ideas and the next generation will view their own leadership and the world in different terms. Economic transformation is also the most likely to help North Korean citizens: our quarrel is not with the people of North Korea - they are the victims of a brutal and repressive regime. Some have argued that Kim will resist opening his country's economy to external forces because the more North Korean citizens learn about the outside world, they more they will be likely to defy his rule. Yet that is exactly why we should pursue this strategy: If Kim is so afraid of opening his country to external influences, then why don't we do everything possible to expose North Koreans to the outside world? Furthermore, Kim has already been forced down the path of limited economic reform by the devastating economic circumstances of the 1990s, and through China's not-so-subtle prodding. We should do everything in our power to support and expand those reforms. Although there is heated debate among observers about the extent and seriousness of the halting reforms that North Korea has undertaken, it is fairly clear that North Korea in 2006 is far more open to foreign influences than it was a decade ago. South Korean and Chinese trade with North Korea probably topped $2 billion in 2006, which amounts to between 5 percent and 10 percent of North Korea's GDP. It makes no sense to criticize Kim as isolationist and then refuse to trade with him. The October nuclear test has in fact proven that nothing short of a catastrophe in North Korea will bring all the parties together, and then it will be too late for all of us. To the extent that there is still an opportunity to transform North Korea, it lies in the market forces that are beyond the control of all governments to manipulate, especially North Korea's. Kim Jong-il's recent rear-guard actions (under the name of reform) against the role of the markets show that North Korea is being transformed despite his leadership and that his power base is shrinking day by day. The best remaining option available to Kim Jong-il for extending his regime and distracting his populace from the erosion of his power as markets expand is to ensure that the United States continues to confront the North while also ensuring that such a confrontation does not lead to an attack on Pyongyang. Given the Bush administration's obvious inability to contain North Korea, it should also recognize the limits of its power, and instead expand the forces inside North Korea that may lead to transformation, rather than remaining complicit in the extension of the regime and risking the prospect that economic desperation might bring about the worst result: the possible sale by Kim of nuclear material to the highest bidder. The writer is a professor at Dartmouth College, Hanover, in the United States. His latest book "China's Peaceful Rise in East Asia," is forthcoming in 2007. The views expressed here are his own. He can be reached at david.c.kang@dartmouth.edu - Ed. By David C. Kang 2007.01.22 ***************************************************************** 16 Korea Herald: N.K. changes position on nuclear talks North Korea has agreed to discuss the disarmament of its nuclear weapons when international negotiations resume, Seoul sources said yesterday. The communist state agreed to directly address moves to disarm when its nuclear negotiator, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, met his U.S. counterpart, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, in Berlin last week, a South Korean official said on condition of anonymity. The agreement would mark a shift in North Korea's stance. Previously, Pyongyang said it would not discuss nuclear disarmament unless the United States first lifted financial restrictions imposed on a Macau bank involved in the North's alleged counterfeiting and money laundering. That defiant stance resulted in a deadlock at last month's six-party talks. The negotiations were the first since the North's Oct. 9 nuclear test. They aimed to forward a 2005 deal in which North Korea agreed to disarm in exchange for security guarantees and aid. According to the official, during the Berlin talks the North agreed to discuss initial steps to implement the 2005 accord. Hill said yesterday he hoped the six-party talks would resume "very soon" as he arrived here for consultations with his Chinese counterpart. Hill met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei at the end of a regional tour and briefed his Asian negotiating partners on his talks with the North Korean envoy. "I will ask him (Wu) about his thoughts on when they could schedule the next round of six-party talks because we would like to do that as soon as that is convenient for the Chinese government," Hill told journalists upon his arrival in Beijing Sunday. "We would like them very soon, but it will be up to him ... and of course he has to talk to the other participants." Hill is scheduled to return to Washington early Monday. In Japan on Saturday, Hill described the talks with Kim as "substantial" but declined to confirm a report that six-way negotiations would resume Feb. 6. "They were very concrete. We discussed some of the specific issues that we would need to negotiate in the six-party talks but in no way are those meetings in Berlin a substitute," Hill said. The talks - bringing together North and South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan - made little tangible progress in the last round in Beijing in December. Hill voiced hope on Saturday that "the next session, whether it's a late January or an early February session, does achieve more progress." He said that would mean implementing a September 2005 statement under which North Korea agreed in general terms to give up its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees. Meanwhile, South Korea's nuclear envoy will visit China early this week to discuss the resumption of the six-nation talks, Seoul officials said. Chun Young-woo's travel to Beijing will precede a trip to the Chinese capital by South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon scheduled for Feb. 25-27, they said. "We are discussing Mr. Chun's schedule with the Chinese side so that he will discuss the date for the next round of the six-way talks and other preparations," a diplomatic source in Seoul said on condition of anonymity. Sources also said the U.S. and North Korea are likely to hold a working meeting in New York or Beijing on Jan. 25-26 to try to resolve their financial sanctions dispute. The row is about U.S. financial sanctions over the North's alleged currency counterfeiting and other illegal activities. After boycotting the nuclear talks for 13 months in anger over U.S. sanctions, the North returned to discussions in mid-December. Hill said the U.S. Treasury Department would resume talks in the coming two weeks with Pyongyang about Macau's Banco Delta Asia, which holds 24 million dollars in frozen North Korean funds. He also said that China, the host of the full six-nation talks, was sounding out the other capitals regarding the date of the next session. Hill played down North Korea's assertion that the Berlin negotiations had yielded "a certain agreement." "I'm glad they have a positive assessment because we believe our discussions were very useful," Hill told reporters after talks at the Japanese foreign ministry on Saturday. The U.S. envoy visited Seoul and Tokyo before heading to Beijing. 2007.01.22 ***************************************************************** 17 Korea Herald: U.S. mulls easing on N.K. funds Beijing to announce date soon for resumption of six-party talks The United States is reportedly considering easing its restriction of North Korean funds believed to have come from legitimate business as the Chinese government could announce a date soon for a resumption of six-party negotiations on Pyongyang's nuclear programs. The U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted the Banco Delta Asia bank in Macau in September 2005, accusing it of aiding the North's illegal financial activities, such as counterfeiting and money laundering. The U.S., however, is now considering unfreezing some of the funds, Yonhap news agency reported yesterday. Citing an official in Washington, the report said the U.S. government has begun a review of several North Korean accounts at the BDA following a recent Seoul government intelligence report that said the accounts appear to contain legitimate funds. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it was not clear whether Washington's review was prompted by the report, but it may lead to unfreezing as much as half of North Korea's funds, or $12 million. Officials at the South Korean Foreign Ministry said they were unaware of such a report being relayed to the U.S., but said "some other intelligence offices" may have done so. Financial officials from Washington and Pyongyang were expected to picked up on their December meeting in the near future, according to officials. The venue for the financial talks has yet to be decided. North Korea had stayed away from the nuclear talks for 13 months before rejoining them late last year, demanding the U.S. first remove the financial restrictions. Washington has insisted the sanctions have nothing to do with the nuclear talks and are only measures aimed at guarding the international financial market from Pyongyang's illegal activities. Washington's envoy to North Korean nuclear talks said yesterday he saw a basis for progress, saying the Chinese government could announce a date soon for a resumption of six-party negotiations that broke off in December. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill made the comments after talks with Wu Dawei, China's chief negotiator. "We hope that the Chinese government will be able to announce soon the start-up of the talks," Hill told reporters before returning to Washington, adding that Beijing would have to consult other participating countries before setting a date. In upcoming talks, Hill suggested, those roadblocks would be cleared after he and North Korea's envoy Kim Kye-gwan held three days of bilateral talks in Berlin last week. "Based on all the consultations we've had in the last week or so, I think we have a basis for getting together as soon as possible in the six-party process and making progress," he told reporters, adding there was no certainty of a breakthrough. North Korea's envoy Kim arrived in Beijing on Monday for talks with Chinese officials, the Xinhua news agency reported. Kim made no comments after arriving. Hill said that Beijing's test of an anti-satellite missile that blew apart a Chinese satellite this month, prompting alarm in Washington, would not interfere with the six-party talks. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said on Sunday that the earliest possible date for reopening the talks was early February, Kyodo news agency reported. Kim held talks in Moscow on Sunday with Russia's chief negotiator, Alexander Losyukov, on prospects of solving the dispute, the Russian foreign ministry said. 2007.01.23 ***************************************************************** 18 Korea Times: US Nuclear Envoy Expects Six-way Talks to Resume Soon Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation Christopher Hill, the U.S. envoy to talks on North Korea's nuclear program, said Monday there was potential for progress in the next round negotiations, noting that China will announce a start date for the meeting soon. The envoy's remarks in Beijing came after the United States and North Korea, the two key players in the talks, pledged to strive for progress in the six-way talks involving South Korea, Japan, China, Russia. Hill told reporters that Washington was disappointed with the lack of progress in the December round but that he believed there was ``a basis for making progress'' when negotiators meet again. North Korea created a crisis with its neighbors in October by exploding a nuclear bomb. But the latest round of talks ended in December in Beijing with no breakthroughs. Meanwhile, a South Korean official confirmed Monday that China is set to announce the date for a new round of international negotiations aimed at removing North Korea's nuclear weapons. ``China is expected to announce the date for the new round either today or tomorrow,'' the Yonhap News Agency quoted an official at South Korea's Foreign Ministry as saying on condition of anonymity. China has hosted the nuclear negotiations since they began in 2003. While visiting South Korea last week, Hill said he and North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan ``certainly had an agreement on getting the six-party talks going soon.'' ``I can't tell you at this point when it will be, but I think probably in the next couple of weeks,'' Hill told reporters in Beijing Sunday, following his meeting with China's chief nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei. Hill's Beijing trip came after a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Kenichiro Sasae in Tokyo Saturday. 01-22-2007 11:46 ***************************************************************** 19 Korea Times: Election, NK Nukes, Real Estate to Hit Economy Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Biz/Finance The Dec. 19 presidential election, North Korea¡¯s nuclear program and the burst of the real estate bubble are three key issues that could set back the economy this year, a leading private research institute said Monday. In its report, entitled ``top reasons to set back corporate capital spending,¡¯¡¯ the Samsung Economic Research Institute also expected Korean Inc. to tighten its purse strings on capital spending because of the won¡¯s appreciation _ which sours their bottom lines, and slows growth _ which drives down domestic spending. ``The appreciated won and slower growth will likely hit the corporate bottom line this year,¡¯¡¯ the report said. ``When this combines with the instability that will accompany the presidential election, uncertainties will be multiplied, in turn bringing down investors¡¯ confidence.¡¯¡¯ The institute pointed out that the capital spending for the third quarter last year marked a year-to-year 8.1 percent increase but over the entire year it will be reduced to around 6.0 percent. Another factor is the dim outlook for the global economy, it said. ``This year, exports of Korea¡¯s key products such as mobile phones, semiconductors, automobiles and ships are likely to slow down.¡¯¡¯ Then, it pointed out the possibility that these slowing exports will trigger a domino effect by bringing down the increased wage rate, dampening consumption and weakening household ability to repay debts. ``The result, when combined with the instability to be brought about by the election, would not just strike the manufacturing sector¡¯s capital spending but also that of non-manufacturing sector.¡¯¡¯ Specifically referring to the election, it warned of the decreased coordination among ministries concerned regarding the establishment and implementation of economic policies. This will likely cause corporations to wait and see rather than go aggressively for capital spending. 01-22-2007 18:24 ***************************************************************** 20 AFP: NKorea offered to freeze reactor in exchange for aid - report - Mon Jan 22, 12:39 AM SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea offered during talks with the United States last week to freeze operations at one nuclear reactor in exchange for aid, according to a report. Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's largest-circulation paper, quoted sources as saying the North offered to suspend operations at its Yongbyon reactor and allow on-site monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency as the first steps towards abandoning its nuclear programme. North Korea's senior nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-Gwan made the offer in exchange for US energy and economic aid and assurances that Washington would work to unfreeze 24 million dollars of the North's assets in a Macau bank, the paper said. Kim met his US counterpart Christopher Hill three times in Berlin last week for talks which both sides described as positive. Hill, who flew to South Korea, Japan and China after his Berlin discussions, said in Beijing on Monday that six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear programme should resume as soon as possible. The talks, which group the two Koreas with China, Japan, Russia and the United States, have been going on since 2003 but assumed added urgency after the North staged its first nuclear weapons test last October. The last round of negotiations in December ended with little apparent progress, with Pyongyang demanding that the US financial curbs be lifted before any further discussions. Hill said the US Treasury Department would resume separate bilateral talks with North Korea soon on Macau's Banco Delta Asia. Chosun Ilbo quoted other sources as saying the North demanded that Washington consider transforming the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War into a peace treaty as soon as it starts implementing the initial measures, and the US gave a positive response. The North's official media said last week the Berlin talks resulted in an unspecified agreement. Hill denied any deal had been reached but described the meetings as "very useful." Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 21 AFP: US says talks with NKorea paved way for disarmament progress - Mon Jan 22, 12:47 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - Informal US-North Korean talks last week paved the way for progress on ending Pyongyang's nuclear arms program when six-party negotiations resume, the State Department said. But the United States refused to confirm a South Korea " /> press report that North Korea " /> offered to freeze operations at a nuclear reactor and allow UN inspectors into the country in exchange for aid during the talks in Berlin between the two nations' top nuclear negotiators. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack described three days of meetings between US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill and North Korean negotiator Kim Kye-Gwan as "a good round of consultations". The talks were aimed at paving the way for a new round of six-party disarmament negotiations involving China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the United States. The six met for five days last month in Beijing for the first time in over a year, but failed to make any progress on convincing North Korea to recommit to a September 2005 pledge to abandon its nuclear arms program in exchange for aid and security guarantees. The North reportedly refused to discuss the nuclear issue at the December meeting unless Washington agreed to drop financial sanctions against a Macau bank accused of money-laundering for the communist regime. McCormack said the North Koreans had provided Hill with some responses to proposals put forward by Washington and its allies at the Beijing talks and said a new round of multilateral negotiations could take place "in the not too distant future". "If the talks do resume in the relatively near future, we believe these consultations provide a good solid basis for making some progress," McCormack said. But he went on to caution that "you never know what the results will be until you get around the negotiating table". McCormack declined to comment on a report in South Korea's mass circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper saying North Korea offered in Berlin to suspend operations at its Yongbyon reactor and allow on-site monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency " /> as the first steps towards abandoning its nuclear program. Hill in return offered US energy and economic aid and assurances that Washington would work to unfreeze 24 million dollars of the North's assets in the blacklisted Macau bank, the paper said. McCormack declined to predict when the next round of six-party talks would begin. Russia's top negotiator said earlier Monday that the next round was likely to be held early next month. Parallel talks between the US Treasury department and North Korea on the financial sanctions against Macau's Banco Delta Asia were due to resume this week, McCormack said, but he could not confirm a precise date or venue. The six-party talks began in 2003 but assumed added urgency after the North staged its first nuclear weapons test last October. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 22 UPI: Report: N.Korea agrees to halt nukes United Press International - Intl. Intelligence - 1/22/2007 7:24:00 AM -0500 SEOUL, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- North Korea has agreed to halt its nuclear activities in return for economic and energy aid from the United States, a Seoul newspaper said Monday. During bilateral talks with the United States in Berlin last week, the North also agreed to allow international inspectors back into the country to "monitor" its nuclear facilities, according to South Korea's largest daily Chosun Ilbo. In return, the North called for the United States to ease financial sanctions on the communist country, the paper said, citing sources in Seoul and Beijing. "North Korea's top nuclear envoy Kim Kye Gwan told his U.S. counterpart Christopher Hill that North Korea will yield in return for economic and energy aid from the United States and assurances that the United States will seek to unfreeze North Korea's $24 million in accounts with the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia," it said. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 23 UPI: Six-party talks urged on nuclear issue United Press International - NewsTrack - 1/22/2007 12:09:00 AM -0500 BEIJING, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. chief negotiator Christopher Hill is in Beijing to talk with Chinese officials about resuming six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue. Hill was to meet with his Chinese counterpart, vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, and brief him about a recent meeting in Berlin with KimKye Gwan, a top negotiator for North Korea, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. "I will ask him about his thoughts on when we can schedule the next round of six-party talks, because we'd like to do that as soon as possible," Hill told reporters in Beijing. The six-party talks involve China, North Korea, South Korea), the United States, Japan and Russia. The first such talks were held in 2003. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 24 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Envoy Sees Potential in Korea Talks From the Associated Press [UP] Monday January 22, 2007 3:46 AM AP Photo XHG103 By ALEXA OLESEN Associated Press Writer BEIJING (AP) - The U.S. envoy to talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament said Monday he believed there was potential for progress in the next round of negotiations and China would soon announce a start date. The comments follow pledges by the key players, Washington and Pyongyang, to strive for progress in the slow-moving negotiations. The Chinese-organized international talks took on added urgency after North Korea alarmed its neighbors in October by testing a nuclear bomb. But the latest round ended in December in Beijing with no breakthroughs. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters that Washington was disappointed with the lack of progress in the last round but that he believed there was ``a basis for making progress'' when negotiators meet again. He did not elaborate. Hill said that in talks Sunday with his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei, the two sides agreed the high-level negotiations should start again ``as soon as possible.'' ``We hope that the Chinese government will be able to announce soon the start up of the talks,'' he said. Meanwhile, South Korean media reported that North Korea has agreed to discuss the disarmament of its nuclear weapons when talks resume, which would mark a shift in the North's stance. North Korea agreed to directly address moves to disarm when Hill and the North's chief nuclear envoy, Kim Kye Gwan, met in Berlin last week, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing unidentified diplomatic sources. A South Korean newspaper reported Monday that at the Berlin meeting, North Korea and the United States came close to an agreement for the communist state to freeze its nuclear activity and allow international monitoring in exchange for aid. Chosun Ilbo newspaper, citing unidentified officials in Seoul and Beijing, said Kim offered to halt the operation of the five-megawatt reactor at the North's main nuclear complex and other nuclear activity while allowing monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog. In return, Kim demanded the United States provide the impoverished North with economic and energy aid and show ``sincerity'' in efforts to resolve a dispute over Washington's imposition of financial restrictions against Pyongyang, the report said. Hill responded positively to Kim's request for aid, the paper said. But the report did not say how the U.S. diplomat reacted to the North's request over the financial dispute. South Korean officials were not immediately available for comment. Previously, Pyongyang said it would not discuss nuclear disarmament unless the United States first lifted financial restrictions imposed for the North's alleged counterfeiting and money laundering. Separate talks between the U.S. and North Korea on the financial sanctions issue were also expected to resume soon, but no date or location had been fixed yet, Hill said. ``I think they will be very soon, probably the same time or before the six party talks,'' he said. The participants in the six-party talks are North Korea, the United States, Japan, South Korea, China and Russia. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 25 Guardian Unlimited: Analysis: Notes of Optimism on N. Korea From the Associated Press [UP] Monday January 22, 2007 7:46 PM By BURT HERMAN Associated Press Writer SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Envoys to the six-party talks on North Korean nuclear disarmament are sounding rare notes of optimism, raising hopes for progress after their expected return to the bargaining table in coming weeks. The talks could bring the first steps toward turning back the clock on North Korea's nuclear development since Pyongyang restarted its main nuclear reactor more than four years ago and proved its long-claimed atomic arsenal with its first test explosion in October. At the last round of the talks in December, the United States and its partners - China, Japan, Russia and South Korea - could not even get North Korea to talk about its nuclear program. Instead, the North stuck to its previous demand that Washington desist from a campaign to financially isolate the country for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering. But there have recently been hints of a positive foundation being laid for future arms talks, even though no date has been set for their resumption. That includes hopeful talk from the North itself, after an unusual series of one-on-one meetings in Berlin last week between the main U.S. and North Korean negotiators. The North went out of its way Friday to say that a ``certain agreement'' had been reached at those sessions, sentiment that encouraged other countries involved. ``On the whole, the impression is developing that the North Korean side has interpreted the results of the talks in Berlin with a certain optimism,'' Russian nuclear envoy Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said Monday after meeting over the weekend with North Korean negotiator Kim Kye Gwan, according to a report by Russia's Interfax news agency. The Russian news agency Interfax also reported that separate talks between the U.S. and North Korea on the financial sanctions will resume in Beijing from Wednesday to Saturday. The report cited an unidentified North Korean diplomat as saying the North's chief nuclear envoy will take part in those talks. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, who represents Washington at the nuclear talks, said Monday in Beijing that there was ``a basis for making progress'' when the six-nation nuclear negotiations resume. Officials have not publicly elaborated on what progress would mean. But a South Korean newspaper report Monday said the North and U.S. had come close to an agreement in Berlin for freezing North Korea's reactor and allowing the return of international monitoring in exchange for aid for the impoverished country. Pyongyang kicked out international inspectors at the end of 2002 as it restarted its nuclear reactor. That prompted the latest nuclear crisis, sparked after the U.S. accused the North of a secret uranium enrichment program in violation of an earlier disarmament deal. Since then the North's reactor has churned out more plutonium for use in bombs, with experts estimating the country could now have enough radioactive material for as much as about a dozen bombs. The six-nation talks started in August 2003, and since then only resulted in a single agreement in September 2005 on a statement of principles for the North's disarmament in exchange for aid and security guarantees. They have yet to be put into practice. Several envoys have said they expect the nuclear talks to resume before mid-February, when the Lunar New Year is celebrated across Asia. Actual progress could be added cause for celebration this year on the continent, where North Korea's nuclear ambitions have rattled nerves and raised prospects for an arms race that could spread across northeast Asia. But if there are no results this time, the holiday will instead be a time for serious soul-searching about the viability of the process - possibly leading to new means of pressuring North Korea to give up its nuclear arms. --- Burt Herman is chief of bureau in Korea for The Associated Press. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 26 Secretary-general Ban Urges All States Not To Expand Nuclear Arsenals, Reduce Stockpiles Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:00:25 -0500 SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN URGES ALL STATES NOT TO EXPAND NUCLEAR ARSENALS, REDUCE STOCKPILES New York, Jan 22 2007 2:00PM Preventing further expansion of nuclear arsenals and reducing weapon stockpiles should be the key aims of this year’s Conference on Disarmament, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today in his message to the meeting’s first session in Geneva, where he also noted that military spending worldwide has risen to over $1.2 trillion. “Our aim should be twofold: we must prevent any expansion of nuclear arsenals, and we must accelerate the reduction of existing weapons and stockpiles. All countries should move towards halting production of fissile material for weapons,” Mr. Ban said in a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2416">speech read out by Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament and Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva. “Maintaining the moratorium on nuclear tests is equally important, and should be in effect at least till the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty enters into full force,” he said, urging all States that have not yet done so to sign or ratify that pact. Preventing an arms race in space also continues to be an “urgent challenge,” he added. Mr. Ban told the 65 Member States of the Conference, the world's sole multilateral forum for disarmament negotiations, that “stakes are high” in dealing with these issues, as he also highlighted the massive amount of money spent on arms and suggested this would be better used helping to fund the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce poverty and other global ills by 2015. “World military spending has now risen to over $1.2 trillion,” he said. “This incredible sum represents 2.5 per cent of global GDP (gross domestic product). Even if one per cent of it were redirected towards development, the world would be much closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.” Today’s plenary session also heard speeches from Ambassador Glaudine Mtshali of South Africa, the President of the Conference, and the representatives of Poland, Slovakia, the United States, the Netherlands and the Russian Federation. During 2007, the rotating presidency of the Conference will be held by Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland and Syria. The three parts of the 2007 session will be held from 22 January to 30 March for the first part; 14 May to 29 June for the second part; and 30 July to 14 September for the third part. In 2006, the Conference was not able to reach agreement on a programme of work and so was unable to start work on substantive issues, however it did debate the Conference’s agenda items, focusing mainly on cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament, prevention of nuclear war and other related issues. 2007-01-22 00:00:00.000 ___________________ For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news To listen to news and in-depth programmes from UN Radio go to: http://radio.un.org/ _______________________________ To change your profile or unsubscribe go to: http://www.un.org/apps/news/email/ ***************************************************************** 27 IHT: Israeli atomic energy official describes country as nuclear "threshold state" - International Herald Tribune The Associated Press Published: January 22, 2007 [ JERUSALEM: A senior Israeli official said the Jewish state had been on the threshold of producing nuclear arms at least three decades ago, but he stopped short of confirming the widely-held — though never confirmed — belief that Israel has a nuclear arsenal today. Speaking at a security conference near Tel Aviv on Sunday, Ariel Levite, deputy head of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, recounted the history of world nuclear development and the creation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which limited the possession of nuclear weapons to those who had them before 1967. The treaty, ratified by most countries, went into effect in 1970. It was largely successful in putting the brakes on the nuclear race, he said, "but nevertheless there was some creeping forward, as a result of which three threshold states appeared, those who were outside the nuclear agreement, India, Pakistan and Israel." Levite, who prefaced his remarks by saying they were his own opinion and not an official commission statement, did not specifically refer to any Israeli weapons, although India and Pakistan went on to become declared nuclear powers. His remarks were first reported in the Jerusalem Post on Monday. Contacted by The Associated Press on Monday, Levite said his remarks should not be interpreted as a policy statement nor as an indicator of Israel's past or present nuclear status. "I meant that, in terms of world perception, during that period, some were seen as closer (to a nuclear capacity) and some were further away, I'm not going into it any further than that," he said. "In the context of a 10-minute presentation I was making an analytical observation, not an official statement." Israel officially has a policy of "nuclear ambiguity," saying only that it will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East, while refusing to confirm or deny reports that it has hundreds of nuclear bombs and may be the world's six-largest nuclear power. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert caused a stir last month with a remark he made to a German TV station, which was widely interpreted as confirming Israel has nuclear weapons. Olmert said he had been misunderstood. [ All rights reserved [IHT] ***************************************************************** 28 UPI: U.N. seeking nuclear non-proliferation United Press International - Intl. Intelligence - 1/22/2007 5:05:00 PM -0500 GENEVA, Switzerland, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- The United Nations says preventing expansion of nuclear arsenals and reducing weapon stockpiles should be the key aims of this year's disarmament conference. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Monday also told the Conference on Disarmament opening session in Geneva, Switzerland, that military spending worldwide has risen to over $1.2 trillion. "Our aim should be twofold: we must prevent any expansion of nuclear arsenals, and we must accelerate the reduction of existing weapons and stockpiles. All countries should move towards halting production of fissile material for weapons," he said in a message delivered by Sergei Ordzhonikidze, secretary-general of the conference. "Maintaining the moratorium on nuclear tests is equally important, and should be in effect at least till the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty enters into full force," Ban said, urging all states that have not yet done so to sign or ratify that pact. Preventing an arms race in space also continues to be an "urgent challenge," he added. Ban told the 65 member states of the conference, the world's sole multilateral forum for disarmament negotiations, that "stakes are high" in dealing with these issues, as he also highlighted the massive amount of money spent on arms and suggested this would be better used toward the Millennium Development Goals to reduce poverty and other global ills by 2015. "World military spending has now risen to over $1.2 trillion," he said. "This incredible sum represents 2.5 percent of global gross domestic product. Even if 1 percent of it were redirected towards development, the world would be much closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals." © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 29 SAf: News24: Koeberg is back in action Johannesburg - No load shedding took place on Saturday night and Sunday morning and it is anticipated that this status will remain should no additional problems arise on the network, national power utility Eskom said on Sunday. "Lethabo Unit 2 is back on full load and Koeberg Unit 1 synchronised to the grid. It is expected that Koeberg Unit 1 will be on full load on Monday," the statement said. South Africa was hit by a series of power cuts countrywide last Thursday as Eskom experienced unplanned outages of 4 600MW due to technical generating plant problems. Eskom said this was 3 000MW higher than was anticipated for this period and electricity demand was 1 000MW higher than planned. Koeberg nuclear power station's Unit One shut down at 02:18 on Thursday morning when the turbine tripped. Jacob Maroga, Eskom's Managing Director (Transmission) thanked all consumers and industrial customers for their positive efforts in conserving electricity over the past few days. "The era of excess electricity capacity in South Africa is unfortunately over. Energy, and thus electricity, is a resource which we need to use efficiently and appropriately and we appeal to all consumers to continue to use electricity responsibly," Maroga concluded. ***************************************************************** 30 RIA Novosti: Russia to supply nuclear fuel to Indian Kudankulam NPP in 2Q07 22/ 01/ 2007 KUDANKULAM (India), January 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will supply nuclear fuel to the Kudankulam nuclear power plant it is helping to build in India in the second quarter of 2007, the country's top nuclear official said Monday. Atomstroyexport, Russia's nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly, has been building the Kudankulam plant in the southern province of Tamil Nadu since 2002 in line with a 1988 agreement between India and the Soviet Union and an addendum signed in 1998. The plant is designed to have the capacity of 2,000 MW. "In the second quarter of this year, we will deliver nuclear fuel to the first power unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant," Sergei Kiriyenko, currently on a visit to India, said, adding that the first delivery had already been coordinated with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Kiriyenko said Russia was prepared to provide the Kudankulam plant with nuclear fuel throughout its entire operational life, which is expected to begin later this year. "Russia believes that India has an unimpeachable reputation in the nuclear non-proliferation sphere, and therefore we are going to push for an end to relevant sanctions against India," said the head of the Federal Agency for Nuclear Power. India, one of the world's eight confirmed nuclear powers, has never been party to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and has been under U.S., Japanese and European sanctions since 1998 when it tested nuclear weapons. Kiriyenko visited the construction site of the plant and said it was his second visit in the past 10 months, adding that a great deal of work had obviously been done since then. He also said the Russian and Indian partners had agreed to accelerate the plant's construction in a bid to finish it ahead of schedule. Russia has offered India a government loan on favorable terms for the Kudankulam project. © 2005 RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 31 BBC: 'Multiple attempts' on Litvinenko Last Updated: Monday, 22 January 2007 [Alexander Litvinenko] An attempt may have been made on Mr Litvinenko's life in October There may have been multiple attempts to kill Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko before he died, BBC One's Panorama programme has discovered. The first poison bid may have come two weeks before he met Mario Scaramella in a sushi bar on 1 November. It may have been at the same restaurant, but when Mr Litvinenko met former KGB men Andrei Lugovoi and Dimitri Kovtun on 16 October. Mr Litvinenko suffered a fatal overdose of radioactive isotope polonium-210. Traces of the poison were discovered not where Mr Litvinenko and Mr Scaramella sat, but elsewhere in the restaurant, most likely where Mr Litvinenko met the Russians. Where we seated there is no polonium Mario Scaramella Several other sites, including a hotel visited by Mr Lugovi and Mr Kovtun, were also contaminated. 'Lethal information' Mr Scaramella, an academic, said he had no idea how polonium reached the sushi bar and denied "absolutely" taking part in the poisoning. "I know they closed it because they found the polonium, but seems it was not in the place where we seated. So lots of things must be clarified. Where we seated there is no polonium," he said. It was widely reported that Mr Scaramella had tested positive for polonium. But Panorama has discovered that his initial test results were inaccurate. Subsequent tests proved negative. Mr Litvinenko had collaborated with Mr Scaramella on an Italian KGB mole-hunt. [Mario Scaramella] Mario Scaramella tested negative for polonium, Panorama has learned. "Some of this information was lethal information, shall we say. Other people have been killed for this kind of co-operation," Mr Scaramella said. 'Radioactive poisons' Mr Litvinenko's widow Marina said her husband's tea may have been spiked at another meeting with the two ex-KGB men on 1 November. She said: "At the Millennium Hotel Sasha (Mr Litvinenko) told me he met Lugovoi and during this meeting he had drunk tea. "He said it was tea already served, on the table, and he just took this cup of tea, and he didn't finish it at all, and how he later said tea wasn't very tasty, 'because it was cold'." Panorama found Mikhail Trepashkin, a jailed former officer with the Russian secret service, who was ordered to monitor Mr Litvinenko in 2001. [Marina Litvinenko] The Kremlin has called Marina Litvinenko a liar The programme also visited Laboratory Number 12 in Moscow. An anonymous ex-Soviet intelligence officer said: "It's the laboratory that every year gets its budget to work with radioactive poisons." Prodi 'a KGB friend' Panorama has also obtained a document classified "top secret" in Italy in which Mr Litvinenko accuses Italian prime minister Romano Prodi of being a friend of the KGB. Mr Scaramella said: "Some qualified sources, including Litvinenko, told me that some officers in Moscow considered him as their man, KGB man." Mr Litvinenko was warned off defecting to Italy "because there are some big friends of Russia in this country", he added. Mr Prodi has always denied having KGB links. Marina Litvinenko told Panorama the poisoning could not have been carried out without Russian President Vladimir Putin's knowledge, as he is "behind everything that happens in Russia". Mr Putin's spokesman, Dimitry Peskov, responded: "I answer directly that Russia has not done it and it is absurd even to think about it. "If she says that Russia has killed Sasha, she's a liar for these words." Panorama: How to Poison a Spy will be shown on BBC One at 2030 GMT on Monday 22 January. ***************************************************************** 32 BBC: Nuclear firm targets clean power Last Updated: Monday, 22 January 2007 [Wind farm] Wind farms are expanding as clean energy gains in appeal French firm Areva - the largest maker of nuclear reactors - has tabled a $1bn (£506m; 772m euro) bid for leading clean energy firm Repower of Germany. Areva said it would pay 105 euros a share for the wind turbine firm, a move that would allow it to tap into the growing wind energy sector. Climate change has fuelled a greater commercial interest in clean energy, as firms try to reduce carbon emissions. News of the offer pushed Repower shares up by 23.5% to 110.23 euros. The 105 euros a share offer represents a 17% premium on the firm's closing price on Friday on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Areva said the deal would give it access to the technology, financial means, and expertise to speed up development especially in off-shore projects. Repower is one of Germany's major wind turbine producers and is present in Europe, Japan, China, India and Australia. Areva's move comes after it said its operating income would be considerably lower for 2006 than in 2005, but that it would "easily remain well in the black". News of the deal also gave a boost to fellow companies in the wind power sector. ***************************************************************** 33 FT.com: Berlin warned on phasing out nuclear energy By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin Published: January 22 2007 Germany will miss its CO2 emission targets, face rising electricity prices and become “dramatically†more reliant on Russian gas if it keeps to its policy of phasing out nuclear energy, a new study warns. The 60-page paper by Deutsche Bank will add to the pressure on Angela Merkel, chancellor, to renegotiate the phase-out deal agreed by the previous government in 2000, despite her pledge not to reopen the controversial debate. Rising concern about global warming and energy security have sparked a lively dispute in Ms Merkel’s Christian Democrat-led grand coalition government about the wisdom of renouncing nuclear energy. Michael Glos, the conservative economics minister, has campaigned vigorously against the phase-out, triggering equally vigorous opposition from Sigmar Gabriel, the Social Democratic environment minister. Without nuclear energy, the bank says, the chancellor faces a painful choice between the three goals she has set herself – to reduce emissions, cut reliance on Russian fossil fuel and keep energy prices in check. “Shutting down nuclear is inconceivable as a serious policy,†Mark Lewis, energy analyst and author of the report, said. “It will mean missing your carbon emission targets and lead to gas-powered plants replacing today’s nuclear plants.†A spokesman for the environment ministry said Germany’s goal of cutting CO2 emissions by 40 per cent of their 1990 level by 2020 “can be achieved without nuclear energy. But of course, nobody ever said it would be easy.†The SPD has yet to show any willingness to renegotiate the nuclear exit deal. Rainer Wend, a Social Democratic MP and member of parliament’s economics committee, said: “If we must import more Russian gas, then so be it. Russia is a reliable supplier.†Backers of nuclear energy point out that the phase-out has left Berlin isolated as holder of the European Union’s rotating presidency, which complicates Ms Merkel’s task of drafting a European energy policy at the next European Council summit in March. With nuclear covering 25 per cent of Germany’s electricity needs – and taking into account rising electricity demand and the need to replace old fossil-fuel plants – DB calculates 42,000MW of new plants will be needed by 2022. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 34 NRC: Amergen Energy Company, LLC Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating FR Doc E7-798 [Federal Register: January 22, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 13)] [Notices] [Page 2715] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr22ja07-108] Station; Notice of Availability of the Final Supplement 28 to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Regarding the License Renewal of Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, Commission) has published a final plant-specific supplement to the ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants (GEIS),'' NUREG-1437, regarding the renewal of operating license DPR-16 for an additional 20 years of operation for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station (OCNGS). OCNGS is located along the western shore of Barnegat Bay between the South Branch of Forked River and Oyster Creek, in Ocean County, New Jersey. Possible alternatives to the proposed action (license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative energy sources. As discussed in Section 9.3 of the final Supplement 28, based on: (1) The analysis and findings in the GEIS; (2) the Environmental Report submitted by AmerGen Energy Company, LLC; (3) consultation with Federal, State, and local agencies; (4) the staff's own independent review; and (5) the staff's consideration of public comments, the recommendation of the staff is that the Commission determine that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for OCNGS are not so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy-planning decision makers would be unreasonable. The final Supplement 28 to the GEIS is publicly available at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, 20852, or from the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). The ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room is accessible at http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm. The Accession Numbers for the final Supplement 28 to the GEIS are ML070100234 (Volume 1) and ML070100258 (Volume 2). Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC's PDR reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, or 301- 415-4737, or by e-mail at pdr@nrc.gov. In addition, the Lacey Public Library, located at 10 East Lacey Road, Forked River, New Jersey 08731, has agreed to make the final Supplement 28 to the GEIS available for public inspection. For Further Information Contact: Dr. Michael Masnik, Environmental Branch B, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop O-11F1, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Dr. Masnik may be contacted at 1-800-368- 5642, extension 1191 or via e-mail at mtm2@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of January, 2007. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Rani Franovich, Branch Chief, Environmental Branch B, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. E7-798 Filed 1-19-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 35 NRC: Regulatory Information Conference RIC Notices Register on-line now for the conference! Make your hotel room reservation now! New for 2007, Paperless Conference &Exhibition View the RIC Invitation [PDF Icon] Regulatory Information Conference (RIC) “The USNRC announces the upcoming 19th Annual Regulatory Information Conference” Welcome to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Regulatory Information Conference (RIC) web page. This page is intended to provide planning information and updates about the upcoming conference, as well as information on previous RIC events. Historically, the RIC has thrived on the challenge of new ideas, and the 2007 Conference will be no exception. RIC 2007 will be held March 13 - 15, 2007 at the [EXIT icon] , located just off Route 355 (Rockville Pike) at 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, Maryland 20852. Please check back with us frequently as the following detailed conference information will be posted as it becomes available: + Conference Program * Updated 01/19/2007 * + Keynote Speakers + Conference Registration + On-Line Registrant List + Additional Events + Hotel and Reservations + Travel Information + Past RIC Information + Frequently Asked Questions + Contact Us About RIC * This information will be posted as it becomes available. Throughout the RIC pages, you will see icons. The Exit icon is placed directly after an external link to let you know that the link is going to take you away from the NRC pages. For more information, refer to the Site Disclaimer. Last revised Monday, January 22, 2007 ***************************************************************** 36 MSNBC.com: New nuclear power 'wave' - or just a ripple? - Power Play How millions for lobbying, campaigns helped fuel U.S. industry's big plans MSNBC.COM VIDEO •Nuclear neighbor In a debate certain to be replayed over and over again in the next few years, residents of Lacey Township, N.J., debate the future of the Oyster Creek nuclear plant -- the nation's oldest operating nuclear facility -- as its operators seek a 20-year extension of its operating license. MSNBC.com Mike StuckeySenior news editorMSNBC Mike Stuckey Senior news editor Buoyed by billions of dollars in subsidies pushed through Congress by the Bush administration, the U.S. nuclear power industry says 2007 is the year its plans for a "renaissance" will reach critical mass. "We see a wave," said Steve Kerekes, a spokesman with the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's chief lobbying arm, pointing to letters of intent by a dozen firms to seek licenses for as many as 31 new nuclear power reactors. "We definitely believe it's going to be a whole new era of new plant construction in this country." Kerekes credits improvements in plant design and efficiency and the ability to operate without spewing carbon into the air - a key advantage amid mounting concern about global warming - as chief reasons for the resurgence. But critics say the real catalyst has been well-funded lobbying by the industry. They believe tax dollars spent to jump-start the dormant industry would be better devoted to alternative energy sources like wind and solar power. "If this were a renaissance, you wouldn't need to be enticing giant corporations with subsidies in order to get them to build reactors they claim are economically viable," said Jim Riccio, nuclear policy analyst for the environmental group Greenpeace, a staunch foe of nuclear energy. A remarkable turnaround Regardless of which side is eventually proved correct, the mere discussion of building dozens of new reactors is a remarkable turnaround for an industry that less than 10 years ago was widely viewed as the energy sector's unsafe and expensive also-ran. And it's a textbook case of how the wheels of government can change direction quickly when enough money, influence and political will are applied. Nuclear power proponents say the interest in new plants is just one sign that the technology may finally be on the verge of achieving the widespread acceptance and use they have long envisioned. Among them: + The relicensing of four dozen U.S. commercial reactors. + The emergence of well-known environmentalists as supporters of nuclear technology. + Groundbreaking for a new uranium enrichment plant in New Mexico. + A breathtakingly ambitious Bush administration plan for a global nuclear fuel cartel to light up the developing world with electricity while avoiding the threat of nuclear proliferation. • Day 1: Industry on verge of rebound? • Day 2: The nuclear renaissance man • Day 3: Reality check for cartel plan • Day 4: The French connection • Day 5: Do 'nukeonomics' make sense? Ardent foes of nuclear energy like Paul Gunter of the Nuclear Information and Resources Service respond that these actions all are the result of pro-nuclear work by industry supporters in Congress and the Bush administration, not a genuine watershed in how investors and the public view nuclear power. "There's a big difference between a letter of intent and the filing of an application," he said of the new plants, predicting that problems with waste disposal, safety and security will ultimately stall what he refers to as a nuclear power "relapse." And while key committee chairmanships will remain in the hands of strong pro-nuclear lawmakers, the retaking of Congress by the Democrats could also present some roadblocks, especially on the central issue of waste, he said. That lawmakers are once more considering such issues shows how far the nuclear energy needle has moved since the mid-1990s. Three Mile Island: The last straw After its birth as an outgrowth of weapons programs in World War II, the nuclear energy industry battled design problems, cost overruns, safety issues and environmental foes for years to wind up with the 103 U.S. reactors that remain in commercial operation today from California to New Hampshire. As construction delays and costs escalated, the meltdown at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant in the spring of 1979 was the last straw for those who held the purse strings to new reactor construction. No new commercial reactors have been ordered since, although previously ordered plants continued to be built and come online until 1996. •How a nuclear plant works The basic steps involved in turning a nuclear reaction into electricity The 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Russia, which is blamed for about 60 deaths by the World Health Organization, further tarnished the technology's image. At that point, "any talk about a new plant (in the U.S.) would have been dismissed as childish optimism," admits nuclear power's chief congressional cheerleader, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M. While accidents and economics halted nuclear expansion in the U.S., they did not have the same impact elsewhere. Of the 322 operating electricity-generating reactors currently in operation outside the United States, 171 began operating in the 1980s, 48 in the 1990s and 28 so far this century, according to the NEI. Twenty-nine more reactors are under construction outside the country, and 10 nations get more than 40 percent of their electricity from nuclear reactors, led by France at 78.5 percent. In the U.S., chastened nuclear operators focused on improving safety and efficiency at existing plants. They were successful: There have been no notable U.S. accidents since Three Mile Island and the U.S. reactor fleet has produced at about 90 percent of licensed capacity since 2001, up considerably from efficiency figures of the early 1980s. Nuclear plants today produce about 20 percent of the electricity used in the United States. Industry improvements are "an outgrowth, in all honesty, of the Three Mile Island accident," NEI's Kerekes said, "because the steps that were taken after that do a better job of sharing information in our industry and applying best practices."  Industry gets a second wind The industry's first big step in its transformation from bastard stepchild to energy panacea and clean air savior came in 1997. That's when Domenici delivered what he calls a "storied speech on nuclear power" at Harvard. The veteran senator was well-acquainted with nuclear issues by virtue of representing New Mexico, the birthplace of nuclear weapons and the home of two of the nation's nuclear laboratories. Long fascinated by "gee-whiz-bang technical stuff," in the words of one acquaintance, and mindful of the nuclear industry's improving efficiency record, Domenici became convinced the technology was not getting a fair shake. Urged on by a number of true believer aides that included Alex Flint, now the industry's chief lobbyist, and Pete Lyons, now a Nuclear Regulatory Commission member, Domenici urged U.S. policy-makers to undo "bad decisions" of the past and harness "the full potential of the nucleus." The Domenici speech was followed up by a 1998 forum that gathered 60 participants from industry, government and academia to draft a plan to put nuclear power back on the nation's energy agenda. With those talking points in hand, the industry saw its best opening in years in the 2000 presidential election and backed the Bush-Cheney ticket with nearly $270,000 in contributions, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The victorious Republicans welcomed industry representatives to their energy transition team and later private discussions by Vice President Dick Cheney's task force on energy. Familiar names from the 1998 forum popped up on the energy transition team: Flint, Domenici's former aide who was in between Senate staff jobs and working as a lobbyist for the industry; Flint's new boss, former Louisiana Sen. Bennett Johnston, a strong ally of the nuclear industry while in Congress; and Joe Colvin, then president of NEI. At least another half-dozen of their industry colleagues also were involved. Bush administration ties But nuclear interests had long had the attention of Bush and Cheney, themselves major players in the oil and gas industry. One of the biggest names on the Bush energy transition team was Thomas Kuhn, president of the Edison Electric Institute, which represents the electric power industry and its nuclear reactor owners. Not only was Kuhn the president's Yale classmate and longtime friend, he was one of Bush's biggest fund-raisers. A study by Common Cause found that in the six years that bracketed the 2000 election, Kuhn's organization and its members gave $41 million to political campaigns, three-fourths of it to Republicans. Cheney also had close ties to players with stakes in the nuclear sector. When the vice president was CEO of Halliburton, the company's portfolio included Nuclear Utility Services. His close friend, former Texas Rep. Tom Loeffler, another big Republican fund-raiser, worked as a lobbyist on nuclear issues. And Cheney's wife, Lynne, had served on the board of directors of Lockheed Martin, which earned millions from the federal government managing the Sandia Nuclear Laboratory in New Mexico. Once in office, Cheney's energy task force worked quickly and behind closed doors. Kuhn had regular input, though he was not a member of the group. As the administration's energy policy began to emerge in the spring of 2001, its support for the nuclear power industry was beyond "my wildest dreams," Christian H. Poindexter, chairman of the Constellation Energy Group, later told the New York Times. A number of the policy's final recommendations, including broad administration support for "the expansion of nuclear energy," streamlining the regulatory process and opening the way to reprocessing spent fuel, had been included in the action plan drafted by the 1998 forum that followed Domenici's Harvard speech. At a press conference in the spring of 2001 to herald the administration's energy plan, Domenici congratulated Bush and Cheney for "being courageous and realistic" on the nuclear front and embarked on a four-year effort to turn the plan into law. Task force records remain secret Cheney's conduct of the task force sessions in secret angered journalists and others. Groups at opposite ends of the political spectrum sued over what Tom Fitton of the conservative group Judicial Watch, one of the plaintiffs, called an "unprecedented assertion of executive branch supremacy," but were largely unsuccessful in forcing the release of records they sought. Six months after unveiling its energy plan, the administration forged ahead with the "Nuclear Power 2010 program," which the Department of Energy described as a cost-sharing demonstration project by government and industry to get a new generation of nuclear reactors up and running by "early in the next decade." On Capitol Hill, however, energy legislation languished until Republicans regained control of the Senate in 2003, giving Domenici the chairmanship of the Senate Energy Committee. He hired back Flint, his former aide, from the nuclear lobbying ranks to direct the committee's work and after 2« years of horse-trading, parliamentary maneuvering and secret conference committee meetings, the bill finally became law in August 2005. Flint has since returned to work for the industry as its chief lobbyist. Domenici, meanwhile, led the fight to build a new uranium enrichment plant in his state to help fuel the presumed nuclear resurgence. On June 23, 2006, it became the first nuclear facility to win a new NRC license in 30 years. Both have declined repeated requests to be interviewed by MSNBC.com. The senator also has become a strong supporter of the Bush administration's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, a futuristic and controversial plan for the United States and other nuclear "haves" to supply technology to "have-nots." The plan envisions the reprocessing of spent fuel, banned for decades by previous administrations because it was feared it could lead to the spread of nuclear weapons. Billions pour into `renaissance' Nuclear industry perks in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 were spotlighted when President Bush signed the bill at Sandia National Lab in Domenci's home state of New Mexico. With his signature, billions in federal assistance flowed from Bush's pen into the nuclear "renaissance," including: * $3 billion in research subsidies. * More than $3 billion in construction subsidies for new nuclear power plants. * Nearly $6 billion in operating tax credits. * More than $1 billion in subsidies to decommission old plants. * A 20-year extension of liability caps for accidents at nuclear plants. * Federal loan guarantees for the construction of new power plants. Critics say the energy bill amply rewarded the industry for years of investment in campaign contributions and lobbying. Story continues below  advertisement "There no question that the utility industry lobbying and campaign contributions has had a huge influence," said Tyson Slocum of the anti-nuclear group Public Citizen. "... These are business people and business people do not part with money easily unless they are making investments. Politics is not a charity, it's not tax deductible. The return on that investment dwarfs anything that they could get on Wall Street." But NEI's Kerekes said the legislation reflects the energy realities of the new century. LIVE VOTE Does the industry's safety record warrant a 'renaissance'? "That would be a wonderful myth to peddle," he said, arguing that nuclear power found new favor on Wall Street and in Congress on its own merits. "Unless they're going to accuse us of stoking concerns about global climate change over the past 15 or 20 years, I think that argument becomes pretty hollow pretty quickly." Patrick Moore, a co-founder of the vehemently anti-nuclear group Greenpeace and one of a number of well-known environmentalists who now back nuclear power, agrees that nuclear energy earned a second look. Greenpeace founder embraces nuclear energy "I honestly believe that the concern for emissions is why people are saying, `Hey we should be building more nuclear,'" said Moore, whose Vancouver, B.C.-based, consulting firm is now retained by the nuclear industry to improve its image. While the effect of the industry's campaign contributions and lobbying efforts in the years before the energy bill's passage are debatable, the amount of money invested is remarkable by any measure. Numerous reports from watchdog groups provide some details, but the fragmented nature of campaign finance disclosure and lobbying reports makes it difficult to determine cumulative figures. Many contributors, such as General Electric (owner of NBC Universal, which in turn is a partner with Microsoft in MSNBC.com), have numerous business concerns beyond nuclear energy. Others, like the U.S. Enrichment Corporation and NEI, are exclusively focused on nuclear energy. But even a partial accounting is eye opening. MSNBC.com culled these statistics from campaign finance data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics via federal reports: * Companies in the energy and natural resources sectors, which includes nuclear power, and their employees, have donated $212.2 million to the campaigns of federal candidates since 2000 alone, three-fourths of it to Republicans. * Employees and political action committees of 23 large companies involved in efforts to build new U.S. nuclear reactors gave nearly $41 million to federal candidates from 1998 through this year. The donations accelerated as nuclear power regained favor, totaling $3.5 million in the 1998 election cycle, $4.6 million for 2000, $9.5 million for 2002, $11.3 million for 2004 and more than $12 million in 2006. * Lobbying expenses reported by the same 23 firms from 1998 through 2005 exceeded $292.5 million. * Four members of Congress singled out by Bush at the signing ceremony as instrumental in the energy bill's passage have been major recipients of nuclear industry largesse. Since 1989, Domenici has received $384,923 from electric utilities with big stakes in nuclear power, and his list of donors includes at least three dozen firms on the membership roster of the NEI. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who succeeded Domenici as chairman of the Senate Energy Committee in January, got $406,576 from electric utilities in the same period and five of his top seven donors are tied to the nuclear industry. Former House Energy Committee Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, received $1 million from electric utilities and his Lone Star colleague on the panel, Republican Ralph Hall, got $536,670. Probe of energy task force promised While there is little expectation that the Democratic-controlled Congress will seek to substantially roll back provisions of the energy bill, which was approved by an overwhelming majority in both houses, skeptics say some elements of the onrushing "nuclear renaissance" could face new scrutiny. In particular, the new chairman of the House Energy Committee, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., has vowed to investigate the Cheney energy task force, saying it was "carefully cooked to provide only participation by oil companies and energy companies." Dingell himself has been a favorite recipient of campaign contributions from the nuclear power industry over the years. Dr. Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists and other critics say the industry now faces the challenge of proving its economic argument. The only way to do that, he said, is by demonstrating that the resurgence will result in the construction of more than "a small number of reactors, exactly the number that receive subsidies under the Energy Policy Act." But Adrian Heymer, NEI's senior director for new plant deployment, said the extent of the rebound will soon be clear; applications to build a majority of the 30-plus new nuclear reactors are expected by year's end. Story continues below  advertisement He also brushed aside complaints that the streamlined NRC review process for the new license applications shuts out important opportunities for public comment and participation. "There's more opportunity for public involvement, a lot more information is available earlier to the public," he said. Besides, he added, there may be little opposition to some of the plants, slated to be built on existing nuclear sites and actively sought by community leaders who look favorably on the economic benefits of large construction projects and the permanent jobs the plants will bring. Don't count on it, countered Gunter. "The anti-nuclear movement has been seasoned; we're a lot more sophisticated and far more educated now as to the hazards and folly of nuclear power," he said. "None of the concerns that brought about the anti-nuclear movement in the 1970s have disappeared. They've only been magnified. We have no better clue as to how to manage nuclear waste now than we did in 1975." Waste disposal remains key issue All parties agree that any large-scale nuclear renaissance will depend on answering the thorny political and technical questions surrounding the handling of spent fuel. The industry and administration's current bid to get the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada licensed are seen as dead by many observers because the new Senate majority leader, Democrat Harry Reid of Nevada, has always firmly opposed the facility. But new initiatives are afoot to break the Yucca deadlock. And given long lead times for licensing and construction, "that doesn't have to happen next year or even in the next Congress," said Scott Peterson, another NEI spokesman. LIVE VOTE Should the government continue to subsidize nuclear power? Still the prediction that one or more new nuclear reactors will be operating "early in the next decade," as envisioned by the Bush administration, remains open to question. And some experts are betting against the house. Matthew Bunn, a senior researcher on nuclear issues at Harvard and a supporter of nuclear power, doubts it. Certainly, he said, "The fast pace of growth just ain't going to happen for some number of years." He recalls a bet he made with a friend a couple years back that work would not begin on a single new nuclear power plant in the United States within 10 years. "We're now down to eight years, so I'm a little more nervous, but I still think I'll win," he said. PART 2 Sen. Pete Domenici, nuclear renaissance man On a cool morning last August, the senior U.S. senator from New Mexico hefted a shovel of desert earth and invited 800 onlookers to witness history. "I have been talking over the last several years about the coming of the nuclear renaissance in commercial nuclear energy in America," the senator said, helping to dedicate a $1.5 billion uranium enrichment facility in his state's southeast corner, about five miles east of the small town of Eunice. "I am delighted and proud that the renaissance is in New Mexico." If the renaissance that the U.S. nuclear power industry predicts for itself is indeed occurring, then Pietro "Pete" Vichy Domenici, the son of Italian immigrants, may be seen as both its Michelango and its Machiavelli. And the New Mexico uranium plant is just one piece of deft political artwork the conservative Republican has brought to a nuclear industry that has showered him with praise - and hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions. Casting himself as Congress' "chief nuclear apostle," Domenici has for years painted a glowing picture of nuclear energy's potential to give Americans "a cleaner, healthier, sustainable and self-sufficient energy future" and even contribute to global peace, as he wrote in his 2004 book on the topic, "A Brighter Tomorrow." To those ends, he worked tirelessly as the chairman of two powerful Senate committees with direct control of federal spending on nuclear energy and regulation. For a New Mexico politician, a passion for nuclear power is as natural as sagebrush on the mesa. The state has strong ties to all things nuclear: It is the birthplace of nuclear weapons, home to two national labs that provide 20,000 jobs and bring in billions of dollars a year in federal funds and is host to a Department of Energy nuclear waste site. It also has substantial uranium deposits and depends heavily on nuclear-generated electricity. But Domenici's reach on nuclear matters has become ubiquitous. He boasts proudly of how he brought an "adversarial" Nuclear Regulatory Commission to heel. He has helped broker U.S.-Russian deals to convert nuclear bomb materiel into fuel for nuclear plants. He's the only American to have been honored with the French Nuclear Energy Society's highest award. He has championed the Bush administration's controversial deal to conduct nuclear business with India and its Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, a plan to bring nuclear energy to developing nations. Captains of the industry sing his praises and his former aides have graduated to some of the most influential positions in the nuclear industry and the government agencies that work with it and oversee it. The senator's signature achievement was winning passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which contained $85 billion in subsidies and tax breaks across all energy sectors, including $13 billion for nuclear power. Money goes both ways It's been a two-way street. Since 1989, Domenici has received $1.2 million in campaign donations from individuals and political action committees in the energy and natural resources sector, well over a tenth of the total $10.8 million he has raised for his Senate campaigns in that time, according to federal election records. Electric utilities, with big stakes in the future of nuclear power and government subsidies for it, kicked in $384,923. The list of Domenici's campaign donors includes at least three dozen firms on the membership roster of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's main lobbying arm. While Domenici is proud of his nuclear stewardship, as his book attests, his handlers can be prickly when it comes to discussing his relationship with the industry. His staff refused repeated requests from MSNBC.com to speak to him for this series, in one case canceling an appointment after a reporter and photographer had flown across the country for an interview. Now 74 and starting his 35th year in the Senate, the bespectacled, stern-faced Domenici is at a crossroads as he contemplates the nature of his nuclear legacy. With both the House and Senate reverting to Democratic control earlier this month, he lost the chairmanships of the Energy Committee and the Appropriations Subcommittee on Water and Energy. Given that the Energy Policy Act had strong bipartisan support and that his successor as chairman of the Energy Committee, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Bingaman's counterpart in the House, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., both are staunch supporters of nuclear power, there is no expectation that a legislative U-turn is in the cards. `Too soon to tell' Domenici's work on the energy bill and other nuclear matters could ultimately see him revered as a visionary architect of global energy abundance for the 21st century or reviled for boosting what critics maintain is a dangerous and inefficient way to produce electricity. The prevailing view will not be clear for many years. * Test your knowledge of all things nuclear * Share your thoughts on the U.S. News message board "I think his legacy is big, but I'm reminded of (former Chinese Premier) Chou En Lai's remark about the legacy of the French Revolution being that it's too soon to tell," said Matthew Bunn, a senior researcher in Harvard's Project on Managing the Atom who has worked with Domenici on non-proliferation issues and has testified before the senator's panels on nuclear power matters. "The Energy Policy Act is very big, but how big it will be depends on what actually gets appropriated and how many plants get built." Whatever his legacy on nuclear power, the tale of his rise from minor league ballplayer to one of the U.S. Senate's most powerful and tenured members is the classic local-boy-makes-good story that weaves its way through much of America's political fabric. The only son of five children born to Italian immigrants Cherubino and Alda Domenici, the future senator grew up in Albuquerque, working in the family's wholesale grocery business and attending Catholic schools. After graduating from the University of New Mexico with a degree in education in 1954, Domenici pitched for a Brooklyn Dodgers farm team for a year. Acknowledging that he couldn't get his curve over the plate, he became a junior high math teacher. By 1958, he had earned a law degree, married Nancy Burk and started a family that would eventually include eight children. From young mayor to senior senator Domenici, who had held class presidencies in high school and college, first ran for public office in 1966 at age 34, goaded by friends to put up or shut up when he complained about Albuquerque's city government. He won that contest for a seat on the City Commission and served three years as mayor. A 1970 loss in the New Mexico governor's race was the only defeat of his political career. In 1972, Domenici was elected to the Senate by a healthy margin and he has easily won re-election five times. Now the longest-serving senator in his state's history, he is the Senate's No. 2 Republican in seniority and the chamber's fifth-longest-serving member overall. He's voted to confirm every sitting member of the Supreme Court. On Sept. 7, work on the Senate floor halted while Domenici was honored for becoming just the eighth member of the body ever to cast 13,000 votes. Although in recent years he has worked tenaciously to subsidize the nuclear power industry, Domenici first won notoriety as a freshman senator by putting an end to subsidies for U.S. barge operators. In 1978, Capitol Hill watched in amazement as the upstart from New Mexico took on Russell Long, the extremely powerful Democratic senator from Louisiana, to get the Inland Waterways Bill passed. Domenici's collegial, bipartisan approach belied a fierce determination to get his way and won admiration from all quarters. His legislative skill served him well during the 2« years he spent shepherding the energy bill to passage after he took over as chairman of the Energy Committee in 2003. He overcame partisan roadblocks by using a Democratic plan as a starting point and cut the Bush administration's plan to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve to avoid a filibuster. Story continues below  advertisement "He always struck me as a lawmaker who saw both sides of the aisle working for the good of the country," recalled Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC TV's "Hardball," who worked with Domenici as a Budget Committee staffer in the 1970s. "He was a perfect gentleman, although he could get passionate when he saw something going on he didn't think was on the level." `Misinformation' campaign seen In the mid-1990s, Domenici became convinced that the U.S. retreat from the use of nuclear power after the accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl was not on the level. He came to believe, he later wrote, that "irrational fear," "deliberate misinformation" and "propaganda" from foes of nuclear power and the actions of an overzealous Nuclear Regulatory Commission were keeping the nation from reaping the benefits of a safe electricity source that could also dramatically reduce air pollution. In a 1997 speech at Harvard, Domenici praised nuclear technology, including reprocessing spent fuel, and vowed to lead the charge for a resurgence of the U.S. nuclear power industry. He has more than kept his promise, from a 1998 showdown with the head of the NRC in which he threatened to slash the agency's budget unless it became friendlier to industry, through the passage of the energy bill last year to a current bid to speed nuclear waste shipments to the Yucca Mountain storage facility in Nevada. While Yucca Mountain remains mired in technical and political disputes, many anti-nuclear activists today consider the NRC toothless. And the pro-nuclear planks of the Bush administration's energy policy, some of which sprang from Domenici's leadership on the issue, were praised by one utility executive as "beyond our wildest dreams." Even staunch foes of Domenici's work on the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) and other matters, like Dr. Ed Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists, see the senator as a "true believer in nuclear energy" rather than a political opportunist. But Lyman warns that if Domenici reaches too far, especially with initiatives on reprocessing that are part of GNEP, "It's only going to backfire and he's going to end up without the legacy that he craves." Not wealthy, but well-entrenched Domenici's devotion to legislative causes has kept him from reaping the financial gains realized by congressional contemporaries like former Sen. J. Bennett Johnston and Rep. Billy Tauzin, who have parlayed their Capitol Hill resumes into lucrative lobbying careers. Domenici's net worth in 2005, listed as between about $566,000 and $1.52 million on disclosure forms, places him 64th on the list of 100 senators. It pales in comparison with the fortune of the junior senator from New Mexico, Democrat Bingaman, which may approach $38 million. While Domenici proudly recalls helping lead the 1974 Senate "revolt" to improve the lot of freshmen like himself against the likes of Long and other well-entrenched members, he is now as entrenched and shielded as they come. Staffers who had scheduled a pair of on-camera interviews for Domenici with MSNBC.com abruptly canceled them after determining that "controversial" questions might be asked about the nuclear power industry's cozy ties with members of Congress and the administration, and its influence on Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force. "He'd come down on me like a ton of bricks if I let you ask him that," said Domenici spokeswoman Marnie Funk. While avoiding such questions, Domenici has done little to avoid potential appearances of conflict in his own close ties with members of the nuclear power industry, including accepting thousands of dollars in campaign funds from them while working on their behalf. The uranium-enrichment plant that Domenici helped dedicate last summer is a prime example. For years, a consortium called Louisiana Energy Services - made up of some of the biggest players in the nuclear power field, including general partner Urenco - had tried to locate the plant in Louisiana and Tennessee. But local protests in both states blocked the project. `Stop putting up with all this guff' "I said, 'You ought to stop putting up with all this guff and apply to build the facility in New Mexico,' " Domenici said at the ground-breaking ceremony in New Mexico. Not only did the consortium take Domenici's advice, quickly finding open arms in Lea County, it got him to insert language into the energy bill requiring the U.S. Department of Energy to take charge of radioactive waste generated by the plant. Domenici made the change after his staff solicited ideas from one of the consortium's partner firms, Exelon, for ways the senator could help grease the skids for the plant, an Exelon executive told the Wall Street Journal. It was a perk that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., decried as congressional pork "almost in a class by itself," saying it would would cost the government $500 million. The provision was eventually removed from the bill. Domenici, as chairman of the committee that holds the purse strings for the Energy Department, also successfully lobbied Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to obtain a security waiver that allowed the project to proceed. In a press release, Domenici touted the enrichment plant, its 1,000 construction jobs and permanent workforce of as a "powerful new pillar" for southeast New Mexico's economy. It did not mention what a powerful pillar the project's partners and contractors have been to the campaign coffers of U.S. politicians, including Domenici. At the time the consortium sought NRC licensing, its partners included three of the top U.S. nuclear power plant operators - Exelon, Entergy and Duke - and the leading reactor maker, Westinghouse, which has since left venture. It has now engaged the Shaw Group to design and engineer the plant and signed an agreement with French nuclear behemoth Areva to handle waste from the facility. In the past eight years, political action committees linked to those six firms spent more than $15 million trying to influence the outcome of U.S. elections, an MSNBC.com review of records filed with the Federal Elections Commission and compiled by the Center for Public Integrity showed. Domenici received nearly $38,000, well more than the per capita income in his state and enough to buy a modest home in Eunice. The PAC expenditures are just a fraction of what Urenco and its consortium partners and contractors spent from 1998-2004 on their lobbying efforts, according to records filed with the U.S. Senate. That figure tops $45 million. Friends in the right places More than money has passed between Domenici and his allies in the nuclear industry. As the senator was busy trying to accommodate the project, his top Energy Committee aide was Alex Flint, who had previously been a highly paid, registered lobbyist for nuclear interests, including Exelon, Westinghouse and Areva. Flint has since left Senate employ to become the nuclear industry's top lobbyist at the Nuclear Energy Institute, in effect now working for all the consortium companies. And the license for the enrichment plant was approved by the NRC, which numbers longtime former Domenici aide Peter B. Lyons among its members. (Also on the NRC is Edward McGaffigan, a longtime former aide to Bingaman, the junior New Mexico senator, and another booster of the project.) Anti-nuclear organizations have criticized many aspects of the enrichment plant deal and continue to dog it with legal proceedings. One of their most chilling points: Enrichment technology stolen by notorious Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan from consortium general partner Urenco in the 1970s - a key component in making nuclear weapons - is believed to now be in the hands of Iran and North Korea. Domenici is indicating a willingness to ride into battle once more on behalf of the nuclear industry. He recently told a local newspaper that he plans to run for re-election in 2008, saying only poor health would keep him out of the race and that he's currently in good health. But he has acknowledged problems in recent years dealing with extremely painful arthritis in his back and a nerve problem in his shoulder, and he looked as if he almost needed assistance to hobble in and out of a September meeting of his appropriations subcommittee. "I don't walk 100 percent fast," he told the audience after taking his seat. c 2007 MSNBC Interactive Video: Debate over nuclear neighbor . Part 1: Nuclear rebound, or another false start? . Video: Debate over nuclear neighbor . Interactive: How a nuclear plant works . Test your knowledge of all things nuclear . Power Play Section Front ***************************************************************** 37 NewsRoom Finland: Finland needs sixth nuke up and running by 2016 -PVO 22.1.2007 at 12:32 Timo Rajala, the chief executive of Finnish utility Pohjolan Voima (PVO), said Friday that Finland needed its sixth nuclear power station ready and humming by 2016 at the latest. Mr Rajala added that climate policy and trends in the demand for electricity dictated that a decision on the project had to be made this year. PVO holds the biggest stake in Teollisuuden Voima (TVO), which runs two of the existing four nuclear stations. A consortium formed by France's Areva and Germany's Siemens is currently building TVO's third nuclear unit in Olkiluoto. /STT/ © Copyright STT 2007 © 1995 – 2005, Virtual Finland Produced by: Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland Department for Communication and Culture/Unit for Promotion ***************************************************************** 38 UPI: Russia to supply India with nuclear power United Press International - NewsTrack - 1/22/2007 10:42:00 AM -0500 KUDANKULAM, India, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Russia will provide nuclear fuel to an Indian nuclear power plant it is helping to build, Russia's top nuclear official said Monday. The Russian Atomstroyexport nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly will provide the fuel to the Kudankulam plant in India's southern province of Tamil Nadu by June and is prepared to provide it with nuclear fuel throughout its entire operational life, the Russian news agency Novosti reported. Russia has been working with the Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd. to build the 2,000 megawatt plant since 2002. The plant is scheduled to begin operations this year. India, one of the world's eight confirmed nuclear powers, has not signed or ratified the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. It has been under U.S., Japanese and European sanctions since 1998, when it successfully tested nuclear weapons. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 39 Guardian Unlimited: Bush Expected to Stress Energy Security From the Associated Press [UP] Monday January 22, 2007 2:01 AM AP Photo WX111, DCEV101 By H. JOSEF HEBERT Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - A year after warning America of its addiction to oil, President Bush is expected to renew concerns about energy security in his State of the Union address. But will the rhetoric be followed by action? Up to now, the record has been mixed. Aides hint of a major pronouncement on energy in the speech before Congress and the nation Tuesday night. Yet the president is expected to take a predictable path, urging expanded use of ethanol in gasoline, more research into cleaner burning coal and on gas-electric ``hybrid'' cars, and greater nuclear energy. He may tweak his voluntary program on climate change. Aides, however, say the president remains opposed to mandatory cuts in carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping ``greenhouse'' gases as has been proposed in Congress. A year ago, Bush declared ``America is addicted to oil'' and he set a goal of replacing three-fourths of today's oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. He pledged to press for alternatives to oil and for more efficient use of energy. He has had some success in getting more domestic production. The Bush administration has opened new federal lands for oil and gas drilling. Last month, Congress approved opening a large new area in the Gulf of Mexico to drilling. This month, Bush lifted a longtime ban on oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Bristol Bay. But when it comes to weaning the country away from oil, the president's critics say his rhetoric has not been matched by action. ``President Bush actually cut funding for the key energy-saving technologies,'' says Joseph Romm, a former head of the renewable fuels and efficiency programs at the Energy Department during the Clinton administration. The department's requests for renewable fuel and conservation programs have stayed flat at about $1.18 billion annually over the past six years - really a decline if inflation is considered, energy efficiency advocates say. ``Since 2002, the energy efficiency programs at the Energy Department have dropped by a third in real dollars,'' says Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Safe Energy, a private advocacy group. When one program is increased, others have suffered, these critics maintain. They acknowledge spending increases for research into solar and wind energy, but contend that came at the expense of two other renewable energy programs that were eliminated: research into geothermal energy deep within the earth and efforts to make hydroelectric dams more fish friendly. Congress has not been all that helpful, either. The energy law passed in 2005 authorized $3.8 billion worth of renewable energy and conservation programs. But a vast majority of those programs are without funds, neither requested by the administration nor approved by Congress. Callahan points to a $450 million consumer education and outreach campaign on energy efficiency in that law, but says ``not one penny has been appropriated'' nor has the money been sought by the administration. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman says the administration over the years has spent nearly $12 billion in developing new energy technologies. He cited the president's $2.1 billion ``advanced energy initiative'' in the State of the Union a year ago. But most of that program goes for nuclear research and clean coal technology that generally has little impact on the country's dependence on oil, 70 percent of which is used in transportation. For that, Bush told a renewable fuels conference last year in St. Louis, ``we need to change how we power our automobiles. ... I like the idea of promoting a fuel that relies upon our farmers.'' Bush has supported lawmakers' push to use more corn-based ethanol as a gasoline blend and he is expected to call for a sharp escalation of ethanol use in his speech. It is a political sure bet as ethanol has widespread bipartisan support. Among the first bills introduced in the new Democratic-run Senate calls for using 60 billion gallons of ethanol, 10 times current production capacity, by 2030. Two 2008 presidential hopefuls, Democratic Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Joe Biden of Delaware, are its leading co-sponsors. Ethanol is ``riding a big wave'' this year, says Mark McMinimy, a policy analyst at the Stanford Group. ``The renewable fuels-ethanol juggernaut enjoys one of the most prized commodities in Washington - broad-based support, bipartisan political momentum.'' But even there, the administration has been criticized for not living up to the rhetoric. In last year's State of the Union speech, Bush announced a goal to make a ``new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years.'' His administration followed within days with a budget calling for only a modest increase - about $29 million - for research into cellulosic ethanol development. Last week, the House passed legislation that would funnel $14 billion in money collected from oil companies into a renewable fuel fund. Ethanol lobbyist Bob Dinneen of the Renewable Fuels Association welcomed the action and urged that the fund finance loan guarantees - approved by Congress in 2005, but not funded - for cellulosic ethanol plants. Yet the White House strongly opposed the House-passed bill in part because it said additional taxes on the oil companies should not be used to pay for such new programs. A report last week by the General Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, concluded ``it is unlikely'' that the government's current research and development programs will provide the alternative energy sources needed to ``reverse our growing dependence on imported oil.'' Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 40 NRC: Live NRC Meeting Webcast The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission broadcasts some Commission meetings over the Internet as a means of improving communications with the public. Upcoming webcasts are: Date Subject 1/23/07 Joint Meeting with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Grid Reliability 1:30 P.M. + Slides 2/1/07 Briefing on Strategic Workforce Planning and Human Capital Initiatives 1:30 P.M. 2/15/07 Briefing on Office of Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) Programs, Performance, and Plans 9:30 A.M. 2/28/07 Briefing on New Reactor Issues (PUBLIC MEETING) (Contact: Donna Williams, 301-415-1322) 9:30 A.M. The following resources will assist you in participating: + Public Meeting Schedule - provides a complete listing of agency meetings. Live meetings shown as [webcast] + Commission Meeting Schedule - lists all Commission meetings for a six week period. Live meetings shown as [webcast] + Slides - available in advance of the meeting + Transcripts - available within 48 hours of the conclusion of the live meeting + Meeting SRM - documentation of any Commission's decisions from the meeting To view a webcast you will need to download the RealOne plugin [RealNetworks Media Streaming Player icon] . You may also view previous webcasts at our . Comments and Feedback To help us determine the value of continuing to provide this service, the NRC would appreciate your assistance by providing comments and feedback on the usefulness, performance, and frequency with which you might use this service or any other items related to this service. + Contact Us About Webcasts + Webcast Interest Survey Notes on Accessibility Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires equal access to the Federal government's electronic and information technology. In compliance with this Act, NRC is including text equivalents (captioning) as part of the video image being shown over the Internet during the Commission meeting. Although every effort is made to assure the accuracy and completeness of this text, users should be aware that errors may nonetheless occur. Expressions of opinion in this text do not necessarily reflect final determination or beliefs. No pleadings or other paper may be filed with the Commission in any proceeding as a result of any statement or argument contained in the text-equivalent (captioned) material. Last revised Monday, January 22, 2007 ***************************************************************** 41 reviewjournal.com: Radiation-related compensation hard to come by Jan. 22, 2007 Former sailor echoes accusations of delays, unfairness Hayden Hoyle, left, Jim Staite and John Funk sit in the recreation room of an apartment building in Las Vegas, where they discussed their problems last month in seeking compensation for radiation-related illnesses under government programs. Photo by . Jim Staite was an 18-year-old sailor fresh out of boot camp when he got a glimpse of the awesome power of a nuclear bomb. Fifty years later, at age 69, the Las Vegas resident continues to fight the government over compensation for a health problem he alleges was caused by his Navy experience in the Marshall Islands. In some ways, he said, he faces the same dilemma as former Nevada Test Site workers who accuse the government of foot dragging and unfairness in denying their compensation claims. It was the early morning of July 8, 1956, when government scientists set off the nuclear test that Staite witnessed: the 1.85 megaton Apache shot from a barge in the Marshall Islands, near Enewetak atoll. The thermonuclear device was 123 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that the U.S. military dropped on Hiroshima in World War II. On the horizon with a view across open water, sailors in Staite's construction battalion stood arms-length apart on the Kwajalein airstrip. "They woke us up at predawn and lined up 497 men single file ... and gave us a piece of purple plastic to protect our eyes," Staite said in an interview. He said he kept his eyes closed for at least a minute until his chief tapped him and said, "It's over." As an added precaution, Staite had tilted his head back and pressed his thumbs against his eye sockets. "Even then, I said they were using us as guinea pigs," he said. Records from the Department of Energy and the Defense Nuclear Agency show that the bomb exploded more than 400 miles from Kwajalein and that the fallout plume blew to the northwest, even farther away. Nevertheless, Staite said he later felt the effects. Photos from the government's archives on the Apache test show a black cloud over the explosion's bright orange mushroom shape. While Staite was stationed at Kwajalein, from May 13, 1956, to July 13, 1956, there were 13 other nuclear tests around the Enewetak and Bikini atolls including the first airdrop of a U.S. thermonuclear weapon, the 3.8 megaton Cherokee shot, on May 20, 1956. Staite said witnessing the Apache shot and being in the Marshall Islands for those other tests was just the beginning of 48 years of dealings with at least five government agencies that followed after his first attempt to seek compensation in 1958. His military papers from the National Records and Archives Administration show that he shipped out to the Philippines from Kwajalein on July 13, 1956, five days after the Apache test. Within three months, Staite's health started failing. He eventually lost function of his thyroid, the gland that takes iodine from foods and converts it into hormones that regulate the body's metabolism and calcium balance. He said his thyroid gland "shriveled up like a grape." At first he couldn't focus on things, mentally. Then he couldn't wake up in the morning. "I went to sick bay. It deteriorated to the point I couldn't wake up, and they court-martialed me and put me on a boat back to Point Hueneme" in Southern California, he said. In late 1956, he woke up one day in a San Diego hospital. A nurse asked him if he had been standing in front on an X-ray machine because his thyroid had been over-irradiated. "I said, 'No. It was an atomic bomb.'" With that, a private physician in San Diego prescribed pills to keep his metabolism in check. At first he took pills made from animal thyroids. Now, every morning he swallows a tablet of levothyroxine, a synthetic compound, for his condition. In the eyes of the Navy he was an "undesirable" sailor because of "unfitness," according to a 1957 Navy discharge document. Nevertheless, he pursued a compensation claim with the Veterans Administration in 1958. The VA treated him as "dishonorable" despite his insistence that he "was made undesirable by the United States government." After wranglings, the VA decided to send his case to the responsible agency, the Atomic Energy Commission. "They would not even communicate with me until my case was transferred to the Department of Justice," he said. For years his case was mired in the Justice Department, then transferred to the Labor Department in 2000 because the Justice Department has no appropriation power. Eventually, radiation cases were consolidated under the energy agency responsible for nuclear weapons. Later, the U.S. government spent millions of dollars to compensate some of the islanders including setting up a $150 million trust fund in 1986 under a compact that prohibited them from seeking future legal remedies and dismissing all court cases. In 2002, two years after the case was transferred from the Justice Department to the Labor Department's Office of Workers Compensation Programs in Seattle, Staite sought $150,000 that was being offered under a Department of Energy program for employees with illnesses linked to their work in the nation's nuclear weapons complex. The claims by civilian energy workers and atomic veterans later were transferred to the Department of Labor because Congress determined the Energy Department couldn't handle the task. "They've just been waltzing me around ever since," Staite said, noting that his case worker in Seattle told him he is the sole survivor of atomic veterans from Kwajalein. Finally, in a letter he received Dec. 8, the Labor Department terminated his case. He sought an explanation from his case worker. "She said you're not an energy worker. You need to go to the (Department of Veterans Affairs). That's where I started. They've got me going in a circle," he said. Staite is one of thousands seeking compensation for medical conditions related to radiation exposure from the detonation, research, development, production and testing of nuclear weapons including 2,518 former Nevada Test Site workers and survivors. As of Jan. 5, 384 cases filed by former Nevada Test Site workers and survivors have been approved for benefits with another 70 cases recommended for approval, the Labor Department said. Since the inception of the program in 2001 through last year, the Labor Department has spent $246 million to administer the part of the program that deals with radiation claims. The department has paid out $1.8 billion in compensation to 22,000 claimants nationwide in addition to paying out more than $125 million in medical benefits, said Labor Department spokeswoman Dolline Hatchett. Hayden Hoyle is among those who have been rejected. Hoyle, 85, is pursuing appeals for the claim he has been denied as a former Nevada Test Site worker. The paperwork from various agencies that handled his case is confusing enough. In three letters he has received, two from the Department of Health and Human Services and one from Department of Labor, his name was changed from Hayden Hoyle to "Mr. Hayle," and "Hayden Doyle." In a recent interview, Hoyle talked about his frustration that began in 2001 when he filed a cancer claim with the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. Five years later, on Dec. 14, he was notified that his claim had been denied after a government contractor tried to reconstruct the dose he received as a mechanical engineer logging radioactive bits of a nuclear reactor. "They played their little game of figuring out the average amount of radiation it would take," said Hoyle, who underwent surgery and chemotherapy for prostate cancer in 1985. "I plan to appeal," he said. "They should cut me a check for $150,000." The reactor, a test for developing nuclear-powered rockets, was part of the Kiwi program in the early 1960s. It was blown up in the southwest portion of the test site on Jan. 12, 1965. "I spent several hours with the scientist walking off and marking big pieces with consecutive numbers," Hoyle recalled about the effort to gather the larger bits of the blown-up reactor. Wearing a dosimeter and equipped with devices to detect radioactive particles, Hoyle said he spent more than a half day in the radiation field. "Within a few days later, I was informed I had burned out for a year, exceeding my limit" for radiation exposure, he said. Program managers arranged for Army soldiers to clean up a square-mile area that had been saturated with radioactive debris. "They were picking the stuff up by hand," he said. "They put them in a bag and drove off some place and buried them," he said. John Funk, 66, of Las Vegas empathizes with the frustration of Staite and Hoyle. In 2003, he was interviewed on three separate occasions by officials from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health about his work history at the Nevada Test Site. "After the third interview, I received my final draft of my dose reconstruction, which had been condensed to 10 short sentences," Funk said. "They can't seem to get your statements down without editorializing." Funk was a carpenter who installed bulkheads in tunnels where nuclear weapons effects tests were conducted. He worked in numerous areas at the test site other than tunnels. Since working at the test site, he has been treated for skin cancer and two types of colon cancer. He still suffers from a type of bone cancer called myeloproliferative, a chronic disorder in which the bone marrow produces too many red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets. He believes his illnesses are linked to exposure to radioactive materials, benzene or both. After barely missing the mark for proving that his occupational exposure more than likely caused his cancers, Funk found a number of mistakes that were made in handling his case not the least of which was failure by evaluators to include bone cancer in their calculations. In late December, an official for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health assured Funk in an e-mail that his dose reconstruction report and case file were complete despite Funk's assertion to the contrary. The e-mail from Larry J. Elliott, director of compensation analysis and support for NIOSH, urged him to sign a form confirming that he has no more information to offer. Without Funk's signature within 60 days, his case for dose reconstruction will be closed. Funk objected, telling Elliott in a Dec. 27 e-mail that his employment date was incorrect; that one of the areas he worked in at the Nevada Test Site was omitted from the report; that he had never been irradiated by a full body scan as evaluators had assumed; and that they failed to consider resuspension of radioactive materials from road building and grading in areas where he worked. "You are working with a severely flawed document ... You do not have my complete records," Funk wrote to Elliott. Also, a panel that oversees the compensation program found flaws last year with the so-called "site profile" for the Nevada Test Site, which weighs heavily in determining exposures of former workers. Reached Jan. 5 at his office in Cincinnati, Elliott said he cannot talk about specific claims but said in general that errors and questions about employment are the responsibility of the Labor Department. "They need to go to the Department of Labor about any documentation they have that shows their employment history in a claim file. That kind of allegation of an error goes to DOL not to us," he said. As for flaws in the test site's profile, Hatchett, the Labor Department spokeswoman, said NIOSH "is responsible for the site profiles, and if changes are made to the site profile that would affect the dose reconstruction, DOL would send the case back to NIOSH for a new dose reconstruction." A NIOSH spokeswoman in Cincinnati, Amanda Harney, said a site profile is not needed to complete all dose reconstructions. "Not all facilities covered under our program have a site profile completed for the facility," she said. Congressional investigators for a subcommittee led by Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., also found memos indicating that Bush administration officials discussed procedures to contain growth in the cost of benefits under the compensation program. Shelby Hallmark, the Labor Department's director of workers' compensation programs has denied that any ideas on curbing the cost of benefits was pursued. Instead, the emphasis has been to be fair and consistent in handling claims, Hallmark said. Elliott said that claimants can appeal whatever information they feel is unfair or incorrect. Funk said based on his experience, fairness and consistency is virtually nonexistent in the program. "I'm on my fifth try, and I really don't know what they're going to do," he said. "They don't have an accurate record. They don't have my employee evaluation report cards, which will tell what I did out there. It took me four years to convince them that we did other things besides build boxes and saw horses." Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 ***************************************************************** 42 Spectrum: Washington Co. commissioners take stance against bomb test www.thespectrum.com - The Spectrum, St. George, UT Monday, January 22, 2007 ST. GEORGE — Washington County Commissioners issued a statement this afternoon to oppose the detonation of 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil at the Nevada Test SIte. The proposed Divine Strake test has already been opposed officially by the cities of Springdale and St. George and the governor's office. The announcement was a surprise. Last week commissioners Jim Eardley and Alan Gardner indicated the commission statement would be in support of the test. Commissioner Denny Drake said he was opposed. It's not known what changed their minds. However, today's statement reads, in part: "We are opposed to Divine Strake and any other similarly crafted weapons experiment. We will remain opposed until the federal government finishes a full and complete Enviromnmental Impact Statement which clearly demonstrates the continued safety of our citizens. The EIS must be transparent and open to the public for its study, comment and full review." For more, please see tomorrow's edition of The Spectrum &Daily News. Originally published January 22, 2007 Print this article Copyright ©2007 The Spectrum. ***************************************************************** 43 Salt Lake Tribune: Divine deceit: Let's call a bomb a bomb Tribune Editorial Article Last Updated: 01/21/2007 11:09:04 PM MST For more than 40 years, like little boys with a big box of firecrackers, U.S. government officials used the Nevada Test Site like an atomic playground. They dropped bombs from planes and balloons. They attached them to towers and fired them from cannon. They exploded them inside craters, tunnels and shafts. Until July1962, many of the weapons were detonated in the atmosphere or on the ground, and many downwind residents, having been told the tests were safe, paid with their health as radioactive fallout scattered to the winds. Each test had its own name, from Aardvark to Zuni. Some seem quite fitting for atomic weapons: Ticking, Red Hot, Pile Driver. Others - Tomato, Tuna, Salmon - sound more like lunch. They gave them sweet names, like Chocolate and Gumdrop, Milkshake and Sugar. They gave them silly names: Danny Boy and Johnnie Boy. Little Feller and Tiny Tot. Russet and Spud. They named them after persons: Ray, Ruth, Romeo. After places: Sacramento, San Juan, Santa Fe. And after things: Mallet, Mullet, Mushroom. Nuclear weapons testing ceased altogether in 1992 with the signing of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, but the residue remains from the bombs that keep on giving. The test site has been dusted with fallout from more than 900 tests, and now Pentagon officials seem intent on stirring it up again. There's a test planned for this year that could raise a cloud of radioactive dust 10,000 feet in the air. It would probably settle downwind, perhaps in southern Utah, where some citizens still suffer from illnesses related to radiation exposure. This time it will be a regular bomb, but a big one, 700 tons of conventional explosives, the mother of all bombs. They'll blow up an underground tunnel to determine if underground bunkers on distant battlefields can be destroyed by smaller-sized bombs. Nuclear bombs. And, in keeping with tradition, they've given the test a name - Divine Strake - and they've labeled it harmless. We have a better suggestion. How does "Divine Cancer" grab you? Or "Divine Leukemia"? Or "Divine Thyroid Disease"? Let's call it like it is. Let's call a bomb a bomb. Better yet, let's call the whole thing off. © Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 44 SLCC Globe: Divine Strake is Back Salt Lake City Community College Globe College Publisher Network Stewart N. Thorpe Issue date: 1/22/07 Section: News Media Credit: Hatch.senate.govDr. James Tegnelia, right, Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, meets with Senator Orrin Hatch in August about Divine Strake. Utah politicians pressed the federal government to keep their promise of holding meetings in Utah before deciding on plans for Divine Strake at the Nevada Test Site. Divine Strake is a 700-ton chemical explosion that would "simulate a low-yield nuclear weapon ground shock environment" for the purpose of bunker-busting, according to the Tunnel Target Defeat Advanced Concept and Technology Demonstration (ACTD) 2003 fiscal year documents. The mid-December deadline for the meetings is nearing, but Matheson spokeswoman Alyson Heyrend said that Defense Threat Reduction Agency has not scheduled any meetings. Divine Strake was originally scheduled at the Nevada Test Site on June 2, but was postponed after Western Shoshone tribe members and "downwinders," victims of radioactive fallout from previous nuclear weapon testing in Utah and Nevada, filed suit in a Las Vegas federal court. At least tens of thousands are estimated to have died or encountered illness in Utah and Nevada as a result of nuclear fallout from the testing that was done in Nevada. In May 2006, after scrutiny and criticism by officials, members of the Western Shoshone tribe, and citizen groups, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) withdrew their Environmental Assessment for Divine Strake of "Finding of No Significant Impact." A new Environmental Assessment of the Nevada Testing Site for Divine Strake is expected this month. The Pentagon has not yet released a new date for Divine Strike. A government lawyer has told a federal judge on Nov. 2 that she could not promise 60 days notice before the test would be carried out sometime after Feb. 1. When the scheduled June 2 date for Divine Strake was postponed, NNSA said it would consider alternate locations for Divine Strake. Divine Strake has had its proposed location shifted from a gravel quarry in Indiana to White Sands, New Mexico, and now, five months later, to Nevada being considered again for Divine Strake. Continued... Page 1 of 2 next > While Defense Threat Reduction Agency officials say radioactive material would not escape the Nevada Test Site, Matheson and Hatch wrote in a letter sent to Director James Tegnelia that they "rightfully doubt" it. "Inaccuracies in previous government predictions regarding radiation exposure, coupled with errors contained in the initial environmental assessment, have not resolved our delegation's concerns about the test," Matheson and Hatch wrote. Richard Miller, an industrial health technician, disagrees with the government's assessment that radioactive material would fall within a mile or two of the explosion. A study showed that a similar-scaled debris column from the underground test "Baneberry" in 1970 was caught up in an jet stream and traveled as far up as Canada. Plutonium-239 and Americium-241 are among the possible radioactive isotopes left over from past nuclear weapon tests that Divine Strake's opponents worry could contaminate air, soil, water and food supplies. Most of the United States nuclear weapons testing happened within the 1,375 square miles of land in southern Nevada. There are also concerns about the carcinogenic and poisonous gases that the 700-ton chemical explosion would form. It was these gases which prompted Indiana Congressional candidate Barry Welsh to refer to the plan for Divine Strake in Indiana "idiotic and dangerous." Divine Strake's explosion is estimated to release into the jet stream more than two tons of cyanide compounds, 1,535 pounds of phosgene gas (a key ingredient in mustard gas), as well as carcinogenic gases such as 1,318 pounds of methylene chloride and 2,387 pounds of carbon tetrachloride, as well as 1,650 pounds of chlorine, a lethal poison. In a report by Robert W. Nelson, a theoretical physicist of the Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton University, Nelson also calculates that a one-kiloton, "mini-nuke" bunker buster used in an urban environment such as Baghdad would release a lethal dose of radioactive fallout that would result in tens of thousands of civilian fatalities. "Earth-penetrating weapons cannot penetrate deeply enough to contain the nuclear explosion and will necessarily produce an especially intense and deadly radioactive fallout," concluded Robert W. Nelson. Rep. Jim Matheson said he is concerned that the Pentagon seeks to develop nuclear bunker-busters when Congress has already refused to fund the development of nuclear bunker-busters. While Matheson says he supports development of conventional weaponry that can destroy deeply buried targets, he opposes any renewal of nuclear weapons testing. ***************************************************************** 45 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding FR Doc E7-793 [Federal Register: January 22, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 13)] [Notices] [Page 2715-2717] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr22ja07-109] of No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials License Nos. 29-05218-28 and 29-15188-01, for Amendment of the Licenses and Unrestricted Release of the Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Environmental Services Building Annex in Piscataway, NJ AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------ FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Hammann, Health Physicist, Commercial and R Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; telephone (610) 337-5399; fax number (610) 337-5269; or by e-mail: . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the issuance of license amendments to Byproduct Materials License Nos. 29- 05218-28 and 29-15188-01. These licenses are held by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of [[Page 2716]] New Jersey (the Licensees), for the Environmental Services Building Annex (the Facility), located at 126 Davidson Road in Piscataway, New Jersey. Issuance of the amendments would authorize release of the Facility for unrestricted use. The Licensees requested this action in a letter dated November 2, 2006. The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of this proposed action in accordance with the requirements of Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 51 (10 CFR Part 51). Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate with respect to the proposed action. The amendments will be issued to the Licensees following the publication of this FONSI and EA in the Federal Register. II. Environmental Assessment Identification of Proposed Action The proposed action would approve the Licensees' November 2, 2006, license amendment requests, resulting in release of the Facility for unrestricted use. Utilization of licensed material at the Facility started on March 13, 1962, with the use of an irradiator for research and development. The irradiator ceased operations in the mid 1970s. From the mid 1970s through August 2005, the Facility served as a processing, packaging, and storage area for radioactive wastes for the Licensees. The Facility is situated on approximately one acre of land and has three attached buildings with a total area of 2,461 square feet. The Facility is located on the Bush Campus of Rutgers University. In August 2005, the Licensees ceased licensed activities at the Facility and on September 22, 2006, initiated a final status survey of the Facility. Based on the Licensees' historical knowledge of the site and the conditions of the Facility, the Licensees determined that only routine decontamination activities, in accordance with their NRC- approved operating radiation safety procedures, were required. The Licensees were not required to submit a decommissioning plan to the NRC because worker cleanup activities and procedures were consistent with those approved for routine operations. The Licensees conducted surveys of the Facility and provided information to the NRC to demonstrate that it meets the criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release. Need for the Proposed Action The Licensees have ceased conducting licensed activities at the Facility and seek the unrestricted use of the Facility. Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the Facility shows that the radionuclides of concern with half-lives greater than 120 days are hydrogen-3, carbon-14, and cesium-137. Prior to performing the final status survey, the Licensees conducted decontamination activities, as necessary, in the areas of the Facility affected by these radionuclides. The Licensees conducted a final status survey on September 22, 2006. The final status survey report was submitted to the NRC with the Licensees' amendment request dated November 2, 2006. The Licensees elected to demonstrate compliance with the radiological criteria for unrestricted release as specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 by using the screening approach described in NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance,'' Volume 2. The Licensees used the radionuclide-specific derived concentration guideline levels (DCGLs), developed there by the NRC, which comply with the dose criterion in 10 CFR 20.1402. These DCGLs define the maximum amount of residual radioactivity on building surfaces, equipment, and materials, and in soils, that will satisfy the NRC requirements in subpart E of 10 CFR part 20 for unrestricted release. The Licensees' final status survey results were below these DCGLs and are in compliance with the As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) requirement of 10 CFR 20.1402. The NRC thus finds that the Licensees' final status survey results are acceptable. Based on its review, the staff has determined that the affected environment and any environmental impacts associated with the proposed action are bounded by the impacts evaluated by the ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities'' (NUREG-1496) Volumes 1-3 (ML042310492, ML042320379, and ML042330385). The staff finds there were no significant environmental impacts from the use of radioactive material at the Facility. The NRC staff reviewed the docket file records and the final status survey report to identify any non-radiological hazards that may have impacted the environment surrounding the Facility. No such hazards or impacts to the environment were identified. The NRC has identified no other radiological or non- radiological activities in the area that could result in cumulative environmental impacts. The NRC staff finds that the proposed release of the Facility for unrestricted use and the termination of the NRC materials license is in compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its review, the staff considered the impact of the residual radioactivity at the Facility and concluded that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment. Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action Due to the largely administrative nature of the proposed action, its environmental impacts are small. Therefore, the only alternative the staff considered is the no-action alternative, under which the staff would leave things as they are by simply denying the amendment request. This no-action alternative is not feasible because it conflicts with 10 CFR 30.36(d), requiring that decommissioning of byproduct material facilities be completed and approved by the NRC after licensed activities cease. The NRC's analysis of the Licensees' final status survey data confirmed that the Facility meets the requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted release. Additionally, denying the amendment request would result in no change in current environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action and the no-action alternative are therefore similar, and the no-action alternative is accordingly not further considered. Conclusion The NRC staff has concluded that the proposed action is consistent with the NRC's unrestricted release criteria specified in 10 CFR 20.1402. Because the proposed action will not significantly impact the quality of the human environment, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed action is the preferred alternative. Agencies and Persons Consulted NRC provided a draft of this Environmental Assessment to the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for review on December 4, 2006. On December 14, 2006, the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection responded by letter. The State agreed with the conclusions of the EA, and otherwise had no comments. The NRC staff has determined that the proposed action is of a procedural nature, and will not affect listed species or critical habitat. Therefore, no further [[Page 2717]] consultation is required under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. The NRC staff has also determined that the proposed action is not the type of activity that has the potential to cause effects on historic properties. Therefore, no further consultation is required under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. III. Finding of No Significant Impact The NRC staff has prepared this EA in support of the proposed action. On the basis of this EA, the NRC finds that there are no significant environmental impacts from the proposed action, and that preparation of an environmental impact statement is not warranted. Accordingly, the NRC has determined that a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate. IV. Further Information Documents related to this action, including the application for license amendment and supporting documentation, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at . From this site, you can access the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. The documents related to this action are listed below, along with their ADAMS accession numbers. 1. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;'' 2. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, ``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;'' 3. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions;'' 4. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC- Licensed Nuclear Facilities;'' 5. Notification Letter dated September 6, 2006 (ML062850444); 6. Amendment Request Letter with Final Status Report (ML063210371). 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 . These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee. Dated at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania this 12th day of January, 2007. For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission. James P. Dwyer, Chief, Commercial and R Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I. [FR Doc. E7-793 Filed 1-19-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 46 St. Petersburg Times: Polonium Traces Indicate Earlier Poisoning Attempt Issue #1239 (105), Tuesday, January 23, 2007 LONDON — Former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko may have survived a first attempt to poison him with radioactive polonium-210 more than two weeks before receiving the dose that killed him, the BBC reported on Monday. “How to poison a spy”, a documentary by the BBC’s Panorama program, said a first attempt may have occurred on Oct. 16 last year at the Itsu sushi restaurant in London’s Piccadilly. Itsu first came to attention in the investigation into Litvinenko’s murder because of a meeting he held there with Italian contact Mario Scaramella on Nov. 1, the day the Russian fell violently ill. But the BBC said radioactive contamination discovered there by investigators was in a different part of the restaurant from where Litvinenko and Scaramella were sitting. It said the traces were “most likely” at the seats where Litvinenko had met two Russian businessmen, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, at Itsu on Oct. 16. Scaramella told the Panorama program, due to be broadcast on Monday evening: “I know they closed [the restaurant] because they found the polonium, but [it] seems ... © Copyright The St. Petersburg Times 1993 - 2006 ***************************************************************** 47 Guardian Unlimited: Rare Snow Storm Surprises Arizona (rad accident) From the Associated Press [UP] Monday January 22, 2007 10:31 AM AP Photo AZJM101 By AMANDA LEE MYERS Associated Press Writer PHOENIX (AP) - Parts of northern Arizona received more than a foot of snow, and children as far south as Tucson got a rare chance to play in the whiteness as one of the strongest winter storms of the year moved through the state. Sunday's storm came amid a wave of winter storms that have brought snow, ice and strong winds to the Plains region, but also to the Southwest, including Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. The harsh, frigid conditions were blamed for 11 traffic fatalities in the Plains over the weekend. Although the heaviest snowfall in Arizona on Sunday was in the north, snow also fell in downtown Phoenix and Tucson, which received up to 1 inches, according to the National Weather Service. Glenn Jones, who lives on a small farm in Marana northwest of Tucson, said he was cold and wet and would be glad when it warms up again. ``I had chores to do today, animals to feed, to get ready for the week,'' he said. ``I don't like to work in it. It's too cold. That's the reason I moved here - to get out of it.'' In Colorado, several inches of snow fell and strong winds created whiteout conditions on the state's eastern plains. Officials closed a long stretch of Interstate 70, from near Denver International Airport almost to the Kansas state line because of high winds, blowing snow, poor visibility and ice. Snow and icy roads caused accidents that shut down southbound Interstate 25 near Fort Collins for two hours Sunday morning. State Patrol Master Trooper Ron Watkins said no injuries were reported. In Oklahoma, where an ice storm disrupted power to as many as 125,000 homes and businesses more than a week ago, about 25,000 electrical customers remained without power late Sunday - mostly in the eastern part of the state. Hundreds of utility linemen worked through the night in hopes of fully restoring power by Monday or Tuesday, authorities said. Warmer temperatures in the state led to melting ice and snow that have turned roads into slushy rivers, yards into quagmires and streams into rushing torrents. A pickup truck carrying radioactive materials used in pipeline scanning equipment was swept from a bridge and disappeared in a swollen creek in Pittsburg County, said Undersheriff Richard Sexton. The truck's two occupants escaped unharmed, but efforts to locate the truck and its radioactive cargo were suspended after dark. ``The radioactive materials are still in the truck, and that's what we're worried about,'' Sexton said. In Missouri, more than 45,000 people remained in the dark from the same storm. Winter weather has also hit hard on the East Coast, bringing snow, sleet and freezing rain to Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland and making roads treacherous. An accident on Interstate 81 in Virginia killed one person and injured five, authorities said. ^--- On the Net: National Weather Service: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ --- Associated Press writer Tim Talley in Oklahoma City contributed to this report. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 48 Sydney Morning Herald: Wildhorse set to produce uranium by 2010 - www.smh.com.au January 22, 2007 - 9:06PM Uranium hopeful Wildhorse Energy Ltd is looking to establish itself as a producer by 2010, and mining major Rio Tinto could play a big hand in its ambitions. Wildhorse has flagged its intention to join the ranks of the producers within the next four years with its two key assets in the United States the focus of this goal. These assets include the Bison Basin and Sweetwater project's located in the state of Wyoming and adjacent to the largest uranium mill in the US, owned by Rio Tinto. Rio recently withdrew from the proposed sale of the mill, which has been on care and maintenance since the early 80s, following the renewed interest in the uranium price. Wildhorse managing director Richard Pearce said the company had calculated it would cost up to $60 million to bring a new facility online, but if Rio decided to re-start the mill it could have considerable economic benefits. "Toll treating with Rio changes things considerably," Mr Pearce said. "Rio Tinto has a feed issue and Bison Basin is an option for them. "There are also other mines in the area coming online." Mr Pearce said Rio had already formed a team to investigate re-starting the mill, which has a capacity of four million pounds per annum. Bison Basin and Sweetwater are both historical producing assets. Longer term, Wildhorse holds three projects in Hungary which it hopes to bring to a feasibility stage over the next two years. Mr Pearce said the company would look to prove up to about 45 million pounds in resources across its suite of projects over the next 18 months. "We are not an exploration company, it is very much a development focus," Mr Pearce said. "We have a sizeable resource, (we're) in locations where we can develop mines with the likelihood of doing that in a relatively short period of time." Wildhorse is backed by Macquarie Bank Ltd and a company associated with James Packer. Shares in the company added 13 cents to close at $1.81. © 2007 AAP Brought to you by [aap] Copyright © 2007. The Sydney Morning Herald. ***************************************************************** 49 AU ABC: Uranium gathering to tackle royalty system concerns ABC Australian Capital Territory | Local News | Story January 2007. 08:37 (ACDT)Tuesday, 23 January 2007. 06:37 (AWDT) Uranium royalties will be on the agenda when government and mining industry delegates meet in Canberra today. Late last year the Uranium Industry Framework (UIF) steering group made 20 recommendations for removing impediments to growth in the sector. The group complained about the complexity of the royalty system, especially for mines in the Northern Territory. Northern Territory Minerals Council spokeswoman Kezia Purick says mining companies need certainty about their future royalty liabilities. "The question arises, well, what would a new mine pay and, more importantly, what will a mine that has a combination of minerals pay?" she said. "For example, if it has uranium plus other minerals, will it be a hybrid system or will it be one or will it be the other? So there are some complex issues that need to be worked through and that in particular is of great relevance to the Territory." Ms Purick says Darwin is currently the only Australian port exporting uranium, and the industry needs to lock in transport routes now for future uranium mines. "If there are new mines elsewhere in the country, for example Queensland or Western Australia, where will they export their commodity through?" she said. The group is working on a two-year action plan for implementing the recommendations. ***************************************************************** 50 BBC: Waste store planned for Dounreay Last Updated: Monday, 22 January 2007 [Dounreay] The site is being decommissioned at a cost of £2.9bn The operators of the Dounreay nuclear complex in Caithness have lodged a planning application for a £100m treatment and storage plant. The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) proposes to construct three buildings at the site for handling intermediate-level waste. Highland Council planning officials have recommended initial approval. The UKAEA said it would be needed until a national disposal facility for waste becomes available. According to the energy authority the plant will have a lifespan of 100 years by which time coastal erosion will be an issue for the site on the Caithness coast. ***************************************************************** 51 DOE: Global Science Gateway Agreement Signed in London January 22, 2007 DOE Partners With British Library on Science.world Initiative LONDON, ENGLAND -- Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, Under Secretary for Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), yesterday signed an agreement with Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive, the British Library, to partner on the development of a global science gateway. The gateway would eventually make science information resources of many nations accessible via a single Internet portal. "It is timely to make the science offerings of all nations searchable through one global gateway, Dr. Orbach said. Science is international, and centralizing access will enhance the rate of scientific discovery. It is a privilege to be associated with such a venture. The agreement notes that international collaboration is essential to revolutionary advances in science. Science projects are becoming increasingly international in scope, with researchers across the globe collaborating on projects as diverse as energy, linear colliders, genomes and the environment. Projects such as ITER, the large-scale international fusion energy research effort, and the particle accelerator known as the Large Hadron Collider are being conducted as major international collaborations. Dubbed Science.world, the planned resource would be available to scientists in all nations and to anyone interested in science. The approach will capitalize on existing technology to search vast collections of science information distributed around the globe, enabling much-needed access to smaller, less well-known sources of highly valuable science. Following the model of Science.gov, the U.S. interagency science portal that relies on content published by each participating agency, Science.world will rely on scientific resources published by each participating nation. Other countries have been invited to participate in this international effort. The U.S. and Great Britain have recognized the importance of providing their citizens with one-stop electronic access to increasing volumes of science information, with a growing sense of the need for reciprocity and sharing of science knowledge across national boundaries. Objectives of the Science.world initiative are to: + Search dispersed, electronic collections in various science disciplines; + Provide direct, seamless and free searching of open-source collections and portals; + Build upon existing and already successful national models for searching; + Complement existing information collections and systems; and + Raise the visibility and usage of individual sources of quality science information. DOEs Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) (www.osti.gov) will work with the British Library (www.bl.uk) and international counterparts to develop a prototype of Science.world in 2007. OSTI has extensive experience in offering searching of distributed, deep web databases, having played a central role in the development of Science.gov (www.science.gov), the U.S. governments one-stop searchable portal to major science databases of federal science agencies. Through Science.gov and other OSTI web products, scientists and citizens access U.S. R&D results over 50 million times per year. DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the nation and helps ensure U.S. world leadership across a broad range of scientific disciplines. For more information about the Office of Science, go to www.science.doe.gov. Media contact(s): Jeff Sherwood, (202) 586-5806 [ ] U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 52 KnoxNews: Award another sign of evolving contract strategy By FRANK MUNGER, news@knoxbusinessjournal.com January 22, 2007 Navarro-GEM Joint Venture, a partnership of locally based small businesses, has taken over management of solid wastes at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge. The wastes include a range of hazardous and radioactive materials generated at the warhead plant, some of which will be packaged and shipped for disposal at an EnergySolutions facility in Utah. EnergySolutions is identified as the major subcontractor, and the company has local waste-handling facilities formerly operated as Duratek Federal Services (which last year joined with Envirocare and BNG America to form EnergySolutions). The five-year contract agreement at Y-12 includes a two-year base with three option years, and it has a value of about $20 million, according to information provided by the companies. BWXT, which manages Y-12 for the National Nuclear Security Administration, awarded the contract to Navarro-GEM following a competition. The contract signals a changing of the guard on the waste-management front in Oak Ridge. It also adds complexity to the already complex contract arrangements at the federal operations. I'll try to explain. For many years, the U.S. Department of Energy (or its predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission) had one main contractor in Oak Ridge, such as Union Carbide's Nuclear Division or Martin Marietta Energy Systems. The contractor basically managed the Oak Ridge plants and performed most of the support services in-house. In the 1990s, DOE began a period of contract reform in which the big contracts were broken up into specialized pieces. Prime contractors were selected to operate the different plants (for instance, UT-Battelle at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and BWXT at Y-12), and Bechtel Jacobs won a giant contract to manage DOE's environmental cleanup and waste-handling programs in Oak Ridge. New tiers of subcontractors also appeared on the scene. Then things got even crazier. In the wake of the Wen Ho Lee spy scandal at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, Congress insisted on creation of the National Nuclear Security Administration. The NNSA was set up in 2000 as a semi-independent unit within the Department of Energy and given responsibility for overseeing the nuclear weapons complex and DOE's other high-security components. This, of course, had an effect in Oak Ridge. Instead of DOE's field office overseeing all of the Oak Ridge operations, a new office of the NNSA was established at the site for federal management of Y-12. At first the NNSA had a relatively small staff in Oak Ridge and "purchased" most of its federal services from the existing DOE operation. Over time, however, the NNSA staff at Y-12 grew and became more independent, adding its own personnel for public affairs, legal, engineering and procurement. That trend is continuing. Until recently, Bechtel Jacobs handled the waste and cleanup activities for all of the Oak Ridge operations, including Y-12, but the new contract to Navarro-GEM is another step toward NNSA becoming independent from the rest of DOE. Instead of purchasing those environmental services from Bechtel Jacobs via DOE, the work will now come under BWXT and the NNSA umbrella. According to NNSA spokesman Steven Wyatt, Y-12 and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (a weapons research lab in California) were directed by Congress in late 2005 to take ownership of their environmental activities. "Similar transfers of waste management functions had already been completed for all other NNSA sites," Wyatt said. "This action was consistent with ongoing efforts to align management responsibility of activities at nuclear weapons facilities directly under NNSA." Even though management responsibility for that Y-12 work was transferred to NNSA in late 2005, BWXT continued to use Bechtel Jacobs for processing newly generated wastes at the weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Wyatt said. That was done under a "purchase agreement" until a competition for the new contract could be conducted, he said. The solid waste work turned over to Navarro-GEM with the recent contract award, as noted earlier. Navarro is a woman-owned small business that's based in Oak Ridge, performing a broad range of nuclear and energy-related services. It's been cited as one of the fastest growing businesses in the country. Navarro has an existing mentoring relationship with GEM Technologies, a small and disadvantaged business that's based in West Knoxville. Both of the companies have considerable experience in the DOE contracting world. Michael Evans, president and CEO of GEM Technologies, said the solid-waste contract shared with Navarro is the company's largest job yet. "It's getting us in a position where we're more involved in Y-12, and our waste management experience is growing quite a bit. It enhances our corporate resume. This is a very big thing for GEM," Evans said. An upcoming Oak Ridge contract will be awarded for the management and disposition of liquid wastes at Y-12, Wyatt said. Until then, Bechtel Jacobs will handle the liquids, he said. Bechtel Jacobs' contract for environmental management expires at the end of fiscal 2008. DOE has not divulged its contract strategy for cleanup operations and waste management in Oak Ridge beyond that. Stay tuned. Metrology Center recertified The Oak Ridge Metrology Center, a facility that calibrates equipment and performs advanced measurements at the Y-12 National Security Complex, recently received a two-year renewal of its accreditation. The National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program did the assessment. The Oak Ridge Metrology Center was the first facility in the U.S. nuclear weapons complex to be certified under the voluntary program (in 1999), and one of only three facilities to currently hold the accreditation. Y-12's strategic plan BWXT late last year distributed copies of its 2006 Strategic Plan to its 4,500 employees, outlining objectives and future plans for the Y-12 National Security Complex. Among the strategic objectives is to broaden Y-12's role in providing solutions to "national security challenges." That includes a substantial increase in the plant's "complementary work," which translates into work for other federal agencies besides DOE. Historically, Y-12 has done work for the military and NASA and other agencies, but that effort seemed to decline in recent years. BWXT's stated goal is to increase that work by more than 50 percent. Another objective is to be recognized, nationally and internationally, as the Uranium Center of Excellence. The Oak Ridge plant is sometimes known as the Fort Knox of Uranium, because it houses the nation's stockpile of weapons-grade uranium. Y-12 manufactured uranium parts for every weapon in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. According to the BWXT report, the contractor wants to up the ante, build the uranium research program, hire more expertise, and "expand and broadcast the center's capabilities through a global outreach program." Another big deal for BWXT is modernization of Y-12 facilities and demolition of old, unnecessary buildings. That would ultimately reduce the plant's "footprint" and minimize the cost of bomb making. Plant officials have indicated the future size of the plant's protected area, surrounded by a perimeter intrusion and detection system, will be only about 15 percent of the today's high-security zone. Future employment? Bill Wilburn, a Y-12 spokesman, said BWXT expects the workforce to remain "fairly stable" over the next five years. © 2007 - Knoxville News Sentinel ***************************************************************** 53 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Oak Ridge FR Doc E7-795 [Federal Register: January 22, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 13)] [Notices] [Page 2673] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr22ja07-45] Reservation AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Oak Ridge Reservation. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Wednesday, February 14, 2007; 6 p.m. ADDRESSES: DOE Information Center, 475 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pat Halsey, Federal Coordinator, Department of Energy Oak Ridge Operations Office, P.O. Box 2001, EM-90, Oak Ridge, TN 37831. Phone (865) 576-4025; Fax (865) 576-5333 or e- mail: halseypj@oro.doe.gov or check the Web site at http://www.oakridge.doe.gov/em/ssab . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of environmental restoration, waste management, and related activities. Tentative Agenda: The primary meeting topic will be an update on the DOE National Low-Level and Mixed Low-Level Waste Disposition Strategy. Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public. Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral statements pertaining to the agenda item should contact Pat Halsey at the address or telephone number listed above. Requests must be received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable provision will be made to include the presentation in the agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Individuals wishing to make public comment will be provided a maximum of five minutes to present their comments. Minutes: Minutes of this meeting will be available for public review and copying at the Department of Energy's Information Center at 475 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, or by writing to Pat Halsey, Department of Energy Oak Ridge Operations Office, P.O. Box 2001, EM-90, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, or by calling her at (865) 576-4025. Issued at Washington, DC on January 17, 2007. Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. E7-795 Filed 1-19-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 54 Oak Ridger: Oak Ridge sees 900 layoffs, research at risk in budget debate The Oak Ridger (AP) The Oak Ridge National Laboratory has big plans for 2007 that could be dashed if Congress passes a budget resolution that keeps funding at last years levels.--> Story last updated at 1:35 pm on 1/22/2007 (AP) The Oak Ridge National Laboratory has big plans for 2007 that could be dashed if Congress passes a budget resolution that keeps funding at last years levels. With more than 20 percent of the labs planned budget at risk, the lab is predicting 900 layoffs in a worst-case scenario and major disruption to some of its top research projects. Of particular concern is the impact to the labs plans with Seattle-based Cray Inc. to develop the worlds fastest supercomputers for open research and to the newly completed $1.4 billion Spallation Neutron Source research facility. You can certainly create a very disturbing scenario, Lab Director Jeff Wadsworth told The Knoxville News Sentinel on Thursday. Wadsworth said Oak Ridge officials are hopeful that Congress will take action within the next few weeks to avert severe effects on the nations science programs. Meantime, they are preparing assessments of various 2007 spending plans and providing those to decision-makers in Washington, he said. Wadsworth said sudden budget shifts can have long-term consequences. It takes a national laboratory five to 10 years to put together a world-class research team, and if reduced funding causes a breakup it can take that long to put a team back together, he said. You can kill a team in a weekend, Wadsworth said. Theyre all highly employable. They can go elsewhere. ORNL officials hope that Congress passes a spending bill at proposed levels or authorizes the Department of Energy, the labs chief funding source, to redirect some of its budget allotment to meet top priorities, Wadsworth said. A decision is anticipated before Feb. 15, when a temporary spending resolution expires. U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who supported a big increase in science research last year, is circulating a letter among fellow senators urging that the DOEs science budget not be cut. Even during times of tight budgets, we need to make this pro-growth investment in scientific research to grow new jobs and keep them from being shipped overseas, Alexander said. The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 55 KNDO/KNDU: Investigation into Radiation Leak at Hanford Continues Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA | It is too early to say whether the U.S. Department of Energy will fine the company, Washington Closure spokesman Todd Nelson said. "They're going to have to say," he said. "We're taking aggressive action to get work going and make sure it doesn't happen again." Radioactive tritium contamination was found to have spread outside a tent where radiological work was being performed near the closed B and C reactors on the nuclear reservation's north side. The levels of contamination were too low to require reporting and were not believed to have affected worker health, Nelson said. Washington Closure and Energy Department officials were working on a decontamination plan for the tritium, an isotope of hydrogen that spreads easily because it binds with oxygen. The spread of tritium and the problem with landfill compacting records discovered last week "make us concerned about the conduct of operations," said Nick Ceto, Hanford project manager for the Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates the cleanup project. EPA will discuss its concerns with DOE and Washington Closure officials, he said. Tritium, which is used in hydrogen bombs, was produced at Hanford reactors from 1949-1952 until its production was moved elsewhere. The leak occurred after workers tapped a small canister Friday that was among debris retrieved from a burial ground that held waste from Hanford's B Reactor and nearby buildings. They discovered tritium gas inside. Work inside the radiological tent was halted Monday after tritium contamination was found. Additional tests found the contamination had been tracked outside the tent. Washington Closure has about 700 workers and its subcontractors have about 300. The company is in charge of cleaning 761 waste sites and burial grounds contaminated by radioactive and chemical wastes. The radiation contamination comes on the heels of the discovery last Friday that a subcontractor employee had falsified records at a low-level radioactive waste landfill. S.M. Stoller, which operates the landfill, said that one employee had been recording compaction test data even though he had not performed the test at times over the past year. The test ensures that compacting of waste is adequate so that contents won't settle and possibly affect the integrity of an engineered cap that will cover the landfill. "While this is tough work, worker safety is the department's priority and any action or process breakdown that calls that into question is simply unacceptable," she said. "That's what we'll be looking at as we continue to gather facts and examine the causes." A radiation leak just days after the discovery that an employee had falsified records halted some cleanup efforts at the Hanford nuclear reservation so workers could take a "safety break." The safety review Wednesday affected about 1,000 employees and subcontractors of Washington Closure Hanford, which is cleaning up contaminated areas near former reactor sites along the Columbia River. Workers returned to their jobs Thursday, Washington Closure spokesman Todd Nelson said. Associated Press & Staff Reports All content © Copyright 2000 - 2007 WorldNow and KNDO/KNDU. 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: *****************************************************************