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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 [NYTr] Our Cooperation with IAEA Continues: Iran
2 Guardian Unlimited: Reports: Russia Fulfills Iran Missile Deal
3 New York Times: Iran Bars Inspectors; Cleric Criticizes President -
4 IRNA: Brzezinski slams Bush's "stupid" Iran policy
5 AFP: Iran dismisses nuclear sanctions as ineffective
6 AFP: Iran remains defiant on nuclear, flexes military muscles -
7 Guardian Unlimited: Korean Nuclear Envoys Meet in China
8 Korea Herald: Envoys from Koreas meet
9 AFP: Seoul asks Washington to ease sanctions on Pyongyang - reports
10 AFP: NKorea says positive US attitude may bring nuclear breakthrough
11 Guardian Unlimited: NKorea Envoy Upbeat on Meeting With Hill |
12 US: Columbus Free Press: 'Un-inventing nukes'
13 US: Idaho Press-Tribune: Craig counters Gore on warming
14 IPS-English CHINA: Intriguingly Silent on Star Wars Capability
15 Guardian Unlimited: Trident replacement 'premature'
16 BBC: Nuclear weapons plan 'premature'
17 Reuters: Post-war Lebanon faces major environmental harm-UN
18 Scotsman.com News: Glasgow - Doctors plan Trident protest at Faslane
NUCLEAR REACTORS
19 US: NRC: NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards to Meet Feb. 1
20 ForUm: Only Ukrainian wastes will be stored in Chornobyl zone
21 Sydney Morning Herald: Debnam remains firm on nuclear stance -
22 HindustanTimes.com: Russia to help India build N-facilities
23 US: NRC: Agency Holding the Meetings: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
24 BBC NEWS: Nuclear power climate change risk
25 US: Star Tribune: Monticello nuclear plant is up and running again
26 US: APP.COM: Turn up heat on nuke plant |
27 CANADA: Hamilton Spectator: Nuclear industry good for economy
28 National Post: Conservatives say nuclear power on the table
29 US: NRC: ACTION: Notice of pending NRC action to submit an informati
30 US: EnergyBiz Magazine: Nuclear Energy's Potential Comeback
31 AFP: Japan, China eye nuclear cooperation: report
32 AFP: General Electric interested in Lithuania nuke plant project - o
33 Telegraph: An eye-opener for the atomic world
34 FPON: On 'Glow-In-The-Dark' Energy
35 AFP: Russia to pitch for Indian nuclear market during Putin trip -
36 US: PRN: Key Facts About Nuclear Energy's Clean-Air Benefits
37 US: MarketWatch: What Bush has said on energy before -
NUCLEAR SECURITY
38 Guardian Unlimited: China Denies Intent to Militarize Space
NUCLEAR SAFETY
39 Police match image of Litvinenko's real assassin
40 iafrica.com: sa news Radiation-exposed workers to march
41 US: Las Vegas SUN: Judge moves 'Divine Strake' court hearing up to J
42 US: San Bernardino County Sun: Plutonium crash a wake-up call
43 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Speak out on bomb
44 US: Spectrum: Commission opposes Divine Strake
45 US: Daily Herald: Judge moves 'Divine Strake' court hearing up to Ja
46 Scotsman.com: A nuclear legacy of shame - and voices that won't fall
47 US: Deseret News: County joins foes of Divine Strake
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
48 reviewjournal.com: YUCCA MOUNTAIN: 'It may be time to stop digging'
49 US: AU ABC: States urged to drop uranium shipment bans
50 US: ENS: Geothermal Heat Mining Promises Abundant, Cheap Energy
51 US: Platts: NRC's McGaffigan says US should start over on waste disp
52 US: Patriot Ledger: Nuke board wont force Pilgrim plant to address
53 US: Rutland Herald: NRC dismisses spent fuel concerns
54 Herald: Dounreay Given Goahead To Construct 100m Plant To Deal With
55 Energy Daily: U.S. Should Rethink Yucca--Retiring NRC Commissioner -
56 Scotsman.com: 100m Dounreay waste store plan wins approval
PEACE
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
57 [NukeNet] New nuke plans are up in the air
58 DOE: DOE Announces $17 Million to Promote Greater Automobile Efficie
59 DOE: Statement from Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman on the
60 Hanford News: Truck carrying plutonium crashes
61 The Enquirer: Fernald cleanup leads to lawsuit
62 DOE: ACTION: Notice of Proposed Subsequent Arrangement.
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 [NYTr] Our Cooperation with IAEA Continues: Iran
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 17:18:45 -0600 (CST)
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Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com
Iran: Cooperation with IAEA Continues
Teheran, Jan 23 (Prensa Latina) Ali Lariyani, Iranian secretary of the
National Security Council, affirmed on Tuesday that his country is
cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency as established in
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and other documents.
Concerning Teheran s decision to deny entry to 38 IAEA inspectors on
Monday, Lariyani explained that the country is following the
non-proliferation treaty norms and that those officials continue with their
controls on the nuclear plants and have not detected violations.
He added that IAEA Director Mohamed El Baradei has repeatedly recognized
that the Islamic Republic is working under NPT norms.
hr ccs ymr jcd
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2 Guardian Unlimited: Reports: Russia Fulfills Iran Missile Deal
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Tuesday January 23, 2007 7:01 AM
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia fulfilled a contract to sell air defense
missiles to Iran, Russian news agencies quoted the head of the
country's state-run weapons exporter as saying Tuesday.
Russia fulfilled its contract obligations and ``completed in
full the delivery of Tor M-1 missiles to Iran,'' ITAR-Tass
quoted Rosoboronexport chief Sergei Chemezov as saying in
Bangalore, India, where he was on a visit along with Defense
Minister Sergei Ivanov.
Defense Ministry officials previously said Moscow would supply
29 of the sophisticated missile systems to Iran under a $700
million contract signed in December 2005, according to Russian
media reports.
Ivanov said last week that at least some of the missiles had
been sent, the first high-level confirmation that their delivery
took place despite U.S. complaints. At the time, however, a
ministry official speaking on condition of anonymity because of
the sensitivity of the subject said not all the systems
contracted for had been delivered. There was no immediate
explanation for the discrepancy.
The U.S. last year called on all countries to stop all arms
exports to Iran, as well as end all nuclear cooperation with it
to put pressure on Tehran to halt uranium enrichment activities.
Israel has also severely criticized arms deals with Iran.
Russian officials say that the missiles are purely defensive
weapons with a limited range and argue that the Tor-M1 deal,
involving conventional weapons, does not violate any
international agreements.
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.
On Monday, Iran conducted missile tests and said it had barred
38 United Nations nuclear inspectors from entering the country.
Blocking inspections apparently came in retaliation for a U.N.
Security Council resolution last month imposing limited
sanctions on Iran over its refusal to cease uranium enrichment,
a process that can produce fuel for nuclear energy or bombs.
Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
3 New York Times: Iran Bars Inspectors; Cleric Criticizes President -
James Hill for The New York Times
Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri in 2005. He has said
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejads attitude toward the West is
provocative.
By NAZILA FATHI Published: January 23, 2007
TEHRAN, Jan. 22 Iranis barring 38 nuclear agency inspectors
from entering the country in retaliation for a United
Nationsresolution aiming to curb Irans nuclear program, a
senior Iranian lawmaker said Monday.
The announcement came only days after Grand Ayatollah Hossein
Ali Montazeri, Irans most senior dissident cleric, criticized
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejads defiant stance against the West
on the nuclear issue in a speech on Friday, calling it
provocative. His comments were the first direct public attack on
the presidents nuclear policy by such a senior cleric.
The two developments suggest an increasingly open debate within
Iran over how forcefully to confront the West over Irans
nuclear ambitions, even as its government continues to defend
them.
Two hard-line newspapers, including one owned by the supreme
leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have already called for the
president to stay out of all nuclear matters. Ayatollah
Montazeri said Iran has the right to nuclear technology but
questioned the way Mr. Ahmadinejad has confronted the West.
One has to deal with the enemy with wisdom, he said. We
should not provoke the enemy, otherwise the country will be
faced with problems.
We should get our right in a way that it does not create
problems or excuses for others, he said.
Besides, is this our only irrefutable right and we have no
other rights? he asked, referring to rising inflation since Mr.
Ahmadinejad took office over a year ago.
Ayatollah Montazeri was once in line to become Irans supreme
religious leader, until he was banished and put under house
arrest for his criticisms. His comments reflect the growing
concern in Iran over additional economic sanctions if Iran
continues to defy the international demand to halt its uranium
enrichment program.
The United Nations Security Councilpassed a resolution on Dec.
23 and imposed sanctions banning the trade of goods related to
Irans nuclear program. It also gave Iran a deadline of two
months to halt its uranium enrichment program or face tougher
sanctions.
In response, Parliament passed a bill last month calling for the
government to limit its cooperation with the International
Atomic Energy Agency.
The committee has decided to bar 38 inspectors from coming to
Iran and we have announced the new limitation to the agency,
said Alaedin Boroujerdi, the head of Parliaments committee for
foreign policy and national security, the ISNA news agency
reported.
The nuclear agencys inspectors visit Irans nuclear facilities
regularly. But last summer Iran said that it had decided not to
let some of the inspectors return.
Still, Mr. Boroujerdi said that Iran planned to continue its
cooperation with the agency, and that Iran would remain a party
to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
An I.A.E.A. spokeswoman, Melissa Flemming, said that the agency
was confident that it could continue to monitor Irans nuclear
program.
There are a sufficient number of inspectors designated for
Iran, and the I.A.E.A. is able to perform its inspection
activities in accordance with Irans Comprehensive Safeguard
Agreement, she said in an agency statement.
For his part, Mr. Ahmadinejad vowed again on Sunday that Iran
would continue with its nuclear program, and brushed off the
United Nations resolution as insignificant.
In Brussels on Monday, European Unionforeign ministers called
for all countries to enforce the sanctions against Iran. The
British foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, said a collective
application of the sanctions was essential to keep pressure on
Iran to accept the offer of the international community to come
back to the negotiating table.
European Union officials said they would apply the measures next
month, including a ban on selling materials and technology that
could be used in Irans nuclear and missile programs and the
freezing of the assets of 10 Iranian companies and individuals.
Germanys foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said it was
time to take a tough and united stance on Iran but kept the
option of diplomacy open. There is a need to send a clear
signal, and we need to show resolve, he said. More Articles in
NYTimes.com
Copyright 2007The New York Times Company
*****************************************************************
4 IRNA: Brzezinski slams Bush's "stupid" Iran policy
, Jan 23, IRNA
Former US National Security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski harshly
criticized the Iran policy of US President George W Bush,
branding it as "stupid and self-blinding," the Hamburg-based Die
Welt newspaper reported in its Tuesday edition.
Asked about Bush's refusal to hold direct talks with Iran on
Iraq, Brzezinski replied: "Iran is in the region. It has
legitimate interests in what is happening in Iraq. It is utterly
absurd to adopt a position that the US has the the right to
dictate what happens in Iraq, as if Iran has nothing to say."
He added: "That is simply so stupid and self-blinding. It is
difficult rationally to discuss. The point of the Baker-Hamilton
Study Group was that we need to engage in talks with the
countries of the region who have an interest in what happens in
Iraq, even if their interests are not the same as America's."
Brzezinski, who served as national security advisor to former
US president Jimmmy Carter from 1977 to 1981, accused the Bush
administration of being in "a state of self-denial" with regard
to the ongoing political developments in the Middle East.
The ex-US official has repeatedly urged direct negotiations
between Washington and Tehran.
*****************************************************************
5 AFP: Iran dismisses nuclear sanctions as ineffective
Tue Jan 23, 6:10 AM ET
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran" /> Iranhas dismissed UN sanctions imposed on
its nuclear programme as ineffective, and vowed to continue its
controversial nuclear work.
"Such sanctions will have no effect on us," government
spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters a day after the
European Union" /> European Unioncalled for the full
implementation of UN sanctions imposed on Iran for its refusal
to suspend uranium enrichment.
Uranium enrichment lies at the focus of fears over Tehran's
nuclear ambitions, as the process can make the fissile core of
an atom bomb as well as nuclear fuel.
Elham said that Iran would press ahead with its nuclear fuel
cycle work despite the sanctions.
"This sanction does not affect our national will to complete the
fuel cycle in order to meet industrial needs and the development
of the country, which has started and will continue," he said
Tuesday.
In a new show of defiance Iran said on Monday it would block 38
International Atomic Energy Agency" /> International Atomic
Energy Agency(IAEA) inspectors from entering the country in
reprisal for the sanctions.
The Vienna-based IAEA said it was discussing the issue with
Iran, but added that it could continue monitoring its nuclear
facilities even without the presence of inspectors.
Elham said on Tuesday, however, that Iran would "continue
working with the IAEA" and advised European countries "not to
take hasty decisions influenced by the Americans".
On December 23 UN Security Council passed resolution 1737
imposing sanctions on Iran for its repeated refusal to cooperate
fully with the UN atomic energy watchdog or to suspend uranium
enrichment.
Copyright 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
6 AFP: Iran remains defiant on nuclear, flexes military muscles -
Tue Jan 23, 12:33 PM ET
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran" /> remained defiant on its nuclear
programme, dismissing UN sanctions as ineffective as it fired off
short-range missiles in a new round of military exercises.
"Such sanctions will have no effect on us," government
spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham Elham told reporters a day after
the European Union" /> called for the full implementation of UN
sanctions imposed on Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium
enrichment.
Uranium enrichment lies at the focus of fears over Tehran's
nuclear ambitions, as the process can make the fissile core of
an atom bomb as well as nuclear fuel.
Elham said that Iran would press ahead with its nuclear fuel
cycle work despite the sanctions.
"This sanction does not affect our national will to complete the
fuel cycle in order to meet industrial needs and the development
of the country, which has started and will continue," he said.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini
described the EU move for applying the sanctions as "irrational"
and advised the EU to distance itself from the United States.
"It is deplorable that the European Union bases its certain
irrational decisions on the unjust and unlawful resolution 1737.
"The European Union should not link its vital interests in the
region with America's provocative approaches," he said in a
statement.
In a new show of defiance Iran said on Monday it would block 38
International Atomic Energy Agency" /> (IAEA) inspectors from
entering the country in reprisal for the sanctions.
The Vienna-based IAEA said it was discussing the issue with
Iran, but added that it could continue monitoring its nuclear
facilities even without the presence of inspectors.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani insisted on Tuesday
that "nothing especial has happened in our relations with the
IAEA and our cooperation continues under the Non-Proliferation
Treaty."
On December 23, the UN Security Council passed resolution 1737
imposing sanctions on Iran banning transfer of material and
technology to its nuclear and missile programmes over its
refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.
Oil-rich Iran says it only wants to enrich uranium for peaceful
energy ends, vehemently denying charges that it seeks to
secretly develop nuclear weapons.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards meanwhile Tuesday fired off a
number of short-range missiles during military exercises but
played down the importance of the event, saying the weapons had
been test-fired before.
The tests come just days after Larijani said the armed forces
were ready to face any threat to its nuclear installations amid
speculation Washington may be planning a military strike.
Zelzal missiles, which have a range of about 100 to 400
kilometres (60 to 250 miles), and Fajr 5, which can hit a target
70 kilometres (44 miles) away, were tested in war games held 140
kilometres (90 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran.
"Although it is a limited war game, Western and some regional
media, which are politically-motivated, exaggerated the
dimensions of this specialist exercise," a statement by the
Revolutionary Guards said, carried by the ISNA news agency.
Iran has conducted a series of war games in the past year in its
southern Gulf waters, showing off a wide range of home-grown
military equipment and missiles.
A top US official warned on Tuesday that Washington will not
allow Iran to "control" the oil-rich Gulf as a second US
aircraft carrier battle group steamed towards Gulf waters.
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said the United States
was "not seeking a war" with Tehran and wanted a diplomatic
solution to the standoff over the Iranian nuclear programme.
But he ruled out negotiations with Iran unless it met the
"international community request" to suspend uranium enrichment
work.
Copyright 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
7 Guardian Unlimited: Korean Nuclear Envoys Meet in China
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Tuesday January 23, 2007 7:46 AM
AP Photo XED107
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea's nuclear envoy said
Tuesday there had been changes in the U.S. stance on his
country's nuclear weapons program, a news report said Tuesday,
brightening the prospect of progress in negotiations aimed at
ending the communist regime's nuclear program.
North Korean negotiator Kim Kye Gwan made the comments in regard
to his talks last week with U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill
in Berlin, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported. The
North's Foreign Ministry earlier said the Berlin meeting
produced an agreement but didn't elaborate.
Kim's comments came after his meeting with his South Korean
counterpart, Chun Yung-woo, in Beijing.
Chun said there was a basis for making progress in the next
round of nuclear disarmament talks, adding that he had a frank
dialogue with Kim, Yonhap reported.
The meeting between the two Koreas' top nuclear envoys is the
latest in a series of talks between envoys from the countries
involved - China, Japan, Russia, the U.S. and the two Koreas -
aimed at setting a date for the resumption of wider negotiations
on dismantling North Korea's nuclear programs.
The last session of the talks in December, the first after the
North's nuclear test, failed to make any progress. Officials
have said they expect the negotiations to resume before
mid-February.
Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
8 Korea Herald: Envoys from Koreas meet
Chief nuclear negotiators from the two Koreas met in Beijing
yesterday to discuss their positions ahead of nuclear talks
which are likely to resume soon.
South Korea's Chun Yung-woo and North Korea's Kim Kye-gwan met
for lunch in the Chinese capital, where the 3-year-old six-party
negotiations are held.
They had separately met Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei earlier.
The Beijing meetings followed heavy diplomacy by the two key
players, the United States and North Korea, last week.
U.S. chief negotiator Christopher Hill met his North Korean
counterpart in Berlin then visited South Korea, Japan and China.
Kim, after talking with Hill, visited Russia and China, meeting
all the other chief negotiators except for Japan's Kenichiro
Sasae.
Sasae is to arrive in Beijing today to meet Wu.
North Korea reportedly agreed to discuss implementing the first
stage of its denuclearization when the official negotiations
resume, putting aside its prior demand to solve the issue of
U.S. financial sanctions first.
The United States offered a broad implementation proposal to
North Korea during the last round of six-way talks in December.
The proposal reportedly includes a first-stage agreement on how
to implement the Sept. 19, 2005, Joint Statement on an
action-to-action principle.
North Korea suggested meeting with the United States in Berlin
with a "certain response" to Washington's proposal, according to
sources.
Kim, after meeting Chun, told reporters that there was a change
in the U.S. position regarding North Korea's nuclear program. He
did not elaborate further.
Sources say the next round of the six-party talks is most
likely to open in the week of Feb. 5.
News reports from Japan said financial officials from the
United States and North Korea could meet for the second time
between today and next Monday.
The U.S. State Department said no venue or date had been agreed
yet.
North Korea's frozen Banco Delta Asia accounts due to measures
by Washington against currency counterfeiting have been the key
sticking point in the nuclear negotiations.
The next round of talks is likely to open with optimism for
substantial agreement as both the United States and North Korea
appear openly positive.
Upon returning from the Berlin talks, North Korea had said
there had been "certain agreement."
Hill had said North Korea was "absolutely" prepared to return
to the negotiations.
South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon described the next
round of talks as the "first chapter of act two in a three-act
drama."
He referred to the agreement on the Joint Statement as act one.
The first chapter of the second act would involve agreeing on
the first-stage implementation measures, detailing the
implementation schedule and entering the implementation stage,
he said.
(angiely@heraldm.com)
By Lee Joo-hee
2007.01.24
*****************************************************************
9 AFP: Seoul asks Washington to ease sanctions on Pyongyang - reports -
Mon Jan 22, 10:13 PM ET
SEOUL, Jan 23, 2007 (AFP) - South Korea" /> South Koreahas told
the United States that some of the frozen North Korean accounts
in a Macau bank are from legitimate business and should be
unblocked, news reports said Tuesday.
North Korea" /> North Koreainsists its accounts be unfrozen
before any more multinational talks are held on dismantling its
nuclear weapons programme.
Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted an unidentifed high-ranking source
in Washington as saying that South Korea asked the United States
to consider unfreezing at least five of the 50 accounts with
Banco Delta Asia (BDA).
Yonhap news agency also said on Monday that top South Korean
officials have told US counterparts that five to seven of the BDA
accounts are legitimate.
"This means that as far as we've confirmed, those accounts have
nothing to do with drug trafficking, money-laundering or
counterfeit dollars," the source was quoted as saying by Chosun.
"Releasing money in those accounts from the freeze is aimed at
saving North Korea's face in order to encourage it to proceed
with the six-party talks," the source said.
The talks that began in 2003 and reached a tentative deal in
September 2005 have failed to bring any tangible progress.
Pyongyang insists that a US blacklist, which led to a freeze of
its Macau accounts and others in Asia, be withdrawn.
The US has said the matter is a law enforcement issue aimed at
curbing the North's counterfeiting of dollars and is unrelated to
the six-party talks.
Chosun quoted Kim Kye-Gwan, North Korea's chief delegate to the
six-party talks, as saying he and his US counterpart Christopher
Hill made progress on the bank issue in talks in Berlin last
week.
"When we say progress, it includes the financial sanctions, of
course," Kim reportedly told journalists in Moscow.
"(The result of the Berlin talks) was okay with us as we have
agreed that the US side must not shun the issue (when the
six-party talks resume)."
Hill said on Monday in Tokyo that host China is expected to
announce the date for a new round this week.
Copyright 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
10 AFP: NKorea says positive US attitude may bring nuclear breakthrough
Tue Jan 23, 6:26 AM ET
BEIJING (AFP) - A top North Korean envoy has said that a welcome
change in attitude by the United States in nuclear negotiations
could lead to initial steps in dismantling Pyongyang's weapons
programme.
"There was a positive change in the American side's attitude,"
Japan's Jiji press quoted Pyongyang's top nuclear negotiator,
Kim Kye-Gwan, as saying in Beijing Tuesday.
Kim was referring to rare one-on-one talks held last week in
Berlin with his US counterpart, Assistant Secretary of State
Christopher Hill, which focused on the nuclear dispute.
"I am satisfied (with the talks)," he said.
When asked if the next round of six-nation talks on North Korea"
/> 's nuclear weapons programme would lead to implementation of
some initial steps agreed to in the forum in September 2005, Kim
responded affirmatively.
"We are working hard at the moment to create that possibility,"
he said.
The Stalinist regime stunned the world last October when it
tested a nuclear device for the first time, triggering global
condemnation and UN sanctions but also adding urgency to efforts
to resume stalled disarmament talks.
North Korea had agreed in the September 2005 pact to dismantle
its nuclear programme in return for diplomatic recognition and
food and energy aid, but it was never implemented because
Pyongyang later walked out in protest at US financial sanctions.
The six-nation talks, which began in 2003, involve hosts China,
the United States, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia.
Kim met with South Korea" /> 's envoy to the talks, Chun
Yung-Woo, in Beijing on Tuesday.
Hill, who departed Beijing on Monday after briefing his Chinese
counterparts on the Berlin meeting, said he expected China to
announce the next round of six-party talks by the end of this
week.
On Tuesday, China's foreign ministry spokesman said no date for
resumption of the talks had been decided, but urged all sides to
maintain constructive efforts.
"All sides have agreed to resume the six-party talks as soon as
possible and China is actively making preparations for the
resumption," Liu said.
"All sides should adopt a constructive attitude, an attitude
that is beneficial for pushing forward the Korean Peninsula
nuclear problem through peaceful dialogue."
Copyright 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
11 Guardian Unlimited: NKorea Envoy Upbeat on Meeting With Hill |
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Tuesday January 23, 2007 11:01 AM
AP Photo XED107
By AUDRA ANG
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) - North Korea's nuclear envoy suggested Tuesday
that Pyongyang could soften its approach to the six-party talks
seeking to convince the communist nation to halt its nuclear
weapons program, while also sounding upbeat about a recent
meeting with U.S. officials.
North Korean negotiator Kim Kye Gwan made the comments to
reporters after a bilateral meeting with his South Korean
counterpart Chun Yung-woo in Beijing, South Korea's Yonhap news
agency reported.
When asked if North Korea's demands that have contributed to the
nuclear talks being stalled might change, Kim said: ``Doesn't
everything change?''
Asked to describe his feelings about a meeting last week in
Germany with American nuclear envoy U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State Christopher Hill, Kim said: ``I am satisfied.'' He also
described a change in the U.S. attitude as ``positive,'' but did
not give details.
The North's Foreign Ministry has said without elaborating that
the meeting in Germany produced an agreement.
The hard-line communist North had refused during six-nation
talks in December to engage in any discussion of its nuclear
program and repeated a demand for the U.S. to lift economic
sanctions it leveled against the North before doing so.
The U.S. had accused a Macau-based bank of being complicit in
the North's alleged counterfeiting of $100 bills and money
laundering, leading the bank to freeze North Korean assets worth
about $24 million.
The South Korean nuclear envoy said after meeting Kim that there
was a basis for making progress in the next round of nuclear
disarmament talks, Yonhap reported.
The meeting is the latest in a series of exchanges between
representatives from the countries involved in the six-party
talks - China, Japan, Russia, the U.S. and the two Koreas -
aimed at setting a date for the resumption of wider negotiations
on dismantling North Korea's nuclear program.
China's envoy Wu Dawei, who has spoken with Hill, Kim and Chun,
will also meet Japan's representative Kenichiro Sasae on
Wednesday, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao.
Beijing is expected to announce a date for new talks soon, but
Liu said Tuesday it hadn't been fixed yet.
``We believe these meetings and talks are good for the next
phase of the six-party talks,'' Liu said at a regular press
briefing. ``The relevant parties are hoping for the early
resumption of the talks.''
He said China hoped for progress on implementing a September
2005 joint statement - the only one ever reached at the talks -
in which the North pledged to disarm in exchange for security
guarantees and aid.
Also Tuesday, Japan's Foreign Minister said he believes the
disarmament negotiations must address specific steps to end the
North's nuclear program or they will be ``meaningless.''
The last session of the talks in December, the first after the
North testes a nuclear bomb on Oct. 9, failed to make any
progress. Officials have said they expect the negotiations to
reconvene before mid-February.
Hill wrapped up a week of shuttle diplomacy on Monday in Beijing
and said he believed there was ``a basis for making progress''
when negotiators meet again.
---
Associated Press Writers Kwang-tae Kim in Seoul and Carl Freire
in Tokyo contributed to the report.
Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
12 Columbus Free Press: 'Un-inventing nukes'
Departments National Issues
by Robert C. Koehler
January 22, 2007
Ever notice how we're always getting the "done deal" treatment
from the powers that be? We blunder into Iraq on lies and
inanities and suddenly, you know, the proprietors of the Pottery
Barn step out from behind the counter and inform us: "You break
it, you bought it."
And so we have no choice, apparently, but to keep on stomping
our unintended purchase with a mad frenzy - that is to say,
allowing the same swaggering blunderers who precipitated the
disaster to do more of the same, except at greater cost and with
more collateral damage. The only logic here is the
self-perpetuating logic of incompetence. This becomes our
foreign policy: a fait accompli sinkhole.
Thus temporary necessity is the fallback justification for every
initiative that pushes against conscience and sanity, however
permanent the ramifications. Nowhere is this more evident than
in the nuclear weapons industry, which has managed to remain
viable and prosperous a generation after the Cold War ended. Its
latest ploy is to develop something called the Reliable
Replacement Warhead, a $100 billion program to modernize the
U.S. nuclear arsenal.
"While the program has gotten very little attention here, it is
a public-relations disaster in the making overseas," the New
York Times editorialized this week. "Suspicions that the United
States is actually trying to build up its nuclear capabilities
are undercutting Washington's arguments for restraining the
nuclear appetites of Iran and North Korea."
Against such basic arguments, defenders invoke the done deal.
Gen. James E. Cartwright, head of U.S. Strategic Command, put it
as simply as possible: "We will not 'un-invent' nuclear
weapons," he recently told the Times. In other words, sorry,
peaceniks, you're too late. From this observation everything
flows, including a multibillion-dollar "make-work program
championed by the weapons laboratories," as the paper of record
called the Reliable Replacement Warhead Program.
Meanwhile, the editorial board of the Bulletin of the Atomic
Scientists just moved its Doomsday Clock, which has been
graphically representing humanity's state of danger from
self-annihilation since 1947, forward by two minutes, to five
minutes till midnight.
"We stand at the brink of a second nuclear age," the board
members' statement reads. "Not since the first atomic bombs were
dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has the world faced such
perilous choices. North Korea's recent test of a nuclear weapon,
Iran's nuclear ambitions, a renewed U.S. emphasis on the
military utility of nuclear weapons, the failure to adequately
secure nuclear materials, and the continued presence of some
26,000 nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia are
symptomatic of a larger failure to solve the problems posed by
the most destructive technology on Earth."
As Gen. Cartwright says, we can't "un-invent" nuclear weapons,
but by no means does carte blanche, unimpeded weapons
development follow as the only possible option. Our only hope as
a species is to rise above this invention and redefine ourselves
as less fearfully impulsive and short-sighted than has
heretofore been the case.
This is a tall order when so many powerful people have a stake
in our fearful short-sightedness. A massive reinvestment in our
nuclear arsenal is more than just "hypocritical," as the Times
put it.
"It's insanity."
This was the assessment last week of Iris Mortensen, as reported
in the Salt Lake Tribune. Mortensen, widow of a veterinarian and
one of the "downwinders" - folks living downwind of the Nevada
Test Site who were exposed to cancer-causing radiation during
the glory days of nuclear testing there in the 1950s and '60s -
was among those who voiced never-again anger when the Defense
Threat Reduction Agency came to St. George, Utah, to sell the
locals on an above-ground test, known as Divine Strake, the Bush
administration wants to conduct at the site.
This 700-ton "sub-nuclear" blast, which would raise a
10,000-foot mushroom cloud over Las Vegas and quite likely stir
up contaminated ground, has generated fierce opposition in one
of the most conservative corners of the country for more than a
year, from people who know the true cost - their own health, and
that of their loved ones - of our WMD program.
Last summer, the agency, in the face of opposition from across
the political spectrum, postponed the test. Now they're back
with a slicker power-point program, but the firestorm of
opposition is not going to abate, Preston Truman, director of
Downwinders United, told me.
At five minutes to midnight, people are taking a stand. Maybe we
can't "un-invent" nuclear weapons, but we can reinvent
citizenship and insist on a sane self-defense policy.
---
Robert Koehler, an award-winning, Chicago-based journalist, is
an editor at Tribune Media Services and nationally syndicated
writer. You can respond to this column at bkoehler@tribune.com
or visit his Web site at commonwonders.com. 2007 Tribune Media
Services, Inc.
1240 Bryden Road Columbus, Ohio 43209 Ph/Fx 614.253.2571 Email
truth@freepress.org']
The Columbus Free Press
*****************************************************************
13 Idaho Press-Tribune: Craig counters Gore on warming
Vance Green / IPT
Former Vice President Al Gore speaks with reporters before
giving his keynote speech Monday night at Taco Bell Arena in
Boise.
Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 10:47 AM EST
Politics: Idaho senator says technology, not regulations, can
combat climate change
By Mike Butts - Idaho Press-Tribune
BOISE Idaho U.S. Sen. Larry Craig has a message for Al Gores
eager Idaho audience: Be skeptical about the former vice
presidents viewpoint.
Craig held a counter-Gore press conference Monday at the Boise
Airport on his way back to Washington, D.C.
The Republican senator welcomed Gores visit and supported the
publics interest in Gores speech at Boise State University. But
he refuted what he called the former vice presidents proposal to
turn the lights out and shut the world down to fight global
warming.
They better listen very, very closely to the message involved,
Craig said of Gores audience. Its really an old message in a
new wrapper.
Craig said new technology and incentives for new technology can
offset global warming.
Policies proposed by Gore and the Kyoto Protocol, a
controversial global plan to fight climate change, would do harm
by putting government restrictions on energy use and supplies,
he said. Craig added that he believes it remains uncertain
whether global warming is a normal cycle or man made. As Al Gore
prepared to present his views Monday in Boise on global warming,
Idaho Sen. Larry Craig criticized the former vice president for
his work to kill the use of nuclear energy.
It is the cleanest form of energy and it is what the world is
turning to today, Craig said.
Craig said used copies of Gores 1992 environmental treatise
Earth in the Balance could be had for 5 cents and the
controversial Kyoto Protocol is destined to be forgotten.
The Kyoto Protocol is an agreement made under the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change in which countries commit
to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
The United States has neither ratified nor withdrawn from the
protocol. President Bush also opposes the treaty, saying it is
flawed and would put undue strain on the economy.
Republicans in the Senate, including Craig, have voiced similar
objections.
By 2012 Kyoto will be simply a footnote in history because
nobody will be able to comply with it, Craig said.
Craig said hype over Gores documentary An Inconvenient
Truth has spurred interest in the former presidential
candidates views. But he said some people went to see him in
Boise because they were curious about climate change, and not
necessarily because they believe his theories.
Craig wasnt the only one taking shots at Gore Monday.
Conservative Christian group the Idaho Values Alliance released
a statement calling Gores point of view bad science.
Copyright 2007 Idaho Press-Tribune. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
14 IPS-English CHINA: Intriguingly Silent on Star Wars Capability
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 14:49:52 -0800
X-Nohoney: yes white-hard - relay H=adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net (192.energy-net.org) [63.203.231.61]
X-Sender-Host-Address: 63.203.231.61
X-Sender-Host-Name: adsl-63-203-231-61.dsl.snfc21.pacbell.net
X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY-WHITELIST
ROMAIPS AP WD DV IP SC=20
CHINA: Intriguingly Silent on Star Wars Capability
Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING, Jan 23 (IPS) - China's furtive attitude regarding its growing mi=
litary capability has rekindled an on-off international debate about whet=
her its military is a paper tiger or a real power to reckon with in Asia =
and beyond.=20
Despite a chorus of concern from Tokyo to Canberra and Washington over Ch=
ina's satellite-killing missile test reported by the United States intell=
igence agencies earlier this month -- the first such experiment in more t=
han 20 years -- Beijing has declined to explain the motives behind the te=
st.=20
The test is significant because it shows that China has now mastered key =
technology to track and destroy spy satellites operated by other nations.=
Beijing could use this =91space control' as a leverage to help project i=
ts growing power in the region and beyond.=20
The shooting down of an old weather satellite with a ground-based ballist=
ic missile took place on Jan. 12, according to U.S. reports, scattering d=
ebris that could potentially damage other satellites, as they remain circ=
ling in orbit for years.=20
Because of its potential to ignite an arms race in space, the incident ha=
s sparked frenzy in the international media. Chinese official press thoug=
h, carried no reports of it, or the controversy that ensued. The Chinese =
Foreign Ministry has denied knowledge of the test but stressed that Beiji=
ng supported the peaceful use of space.=20
=94What I can say is that as a matter of principle, China opposes the wea=
ponisation of space, and also opposes any form of arms race,=94 Foreign M=
inistry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters during a Chinese New Year r=
eception, last week.=20
Security experts believe China's military is at least two decades behind =
that of the U.S. and other western powers in terms of technology and abil=
ity to coordinate joint operations of its forces. Beijing has made clear =
its intentions of transforming the People's Liberation Army (PLA) into a =
modern military force and has revved up arms purchases to narrow the gap.=
=20
The size of the force has fallen dramatically, from some 4 million soldie=
rs in the late 1970s to 2.3 million in the end of 2005. Defence spending =
in 2006 totalled 36.3 billion US dollars, up 14.7 percent from the year b=
efore, meaning it grew faster than China's booming economy.=20
While few dispute the need for China to step up military expenditure so t=
hat its military power reflects the country's overall growth, what puzzle=
s defence analysts is Beijing's lack of transparency surrounding this mil=
itary rise. U.S. defence-policy makers contend secrecy shrouds everything=
about the People's Liberation Army -- from its annual defence budget to =
its long-term intentions.=20
The Pentagon annual report last year asserted that China's defence spendi=
ng is two to three times higher than the official government estimates of=
36 billion dollars. It called on China to share more information about t=
he state of its army modernisation. =94Absent greater transparency, inter=
national reactions to China's military growth will understandably hedge a=
gainst theses unknowns,=94 the report said.=20
Beijing however, dismisses such criticism saying the U.S. feels intimidat=
ed by China's economic and military rise and wants to keep it in check. I=
n a special defence paper published last month Beijing argued that =94heg=
emonism and power politics=94 were behind the resurrection of =94China th=
reat=94 in recent years.=20
=94A small number of countries have stirred up a racket about a =91China =
threat' and intensified their preventive strategy against China=94 in an =
effort to =94hold its progress in check=94, the paper said.=20
Some defence analysts suggest the sole purpose of Pentagon's annual repor=
ts on China's military is to justify the sale of sophisticated weaponry t=
o Taiwan.=20
=94Because Taipei has stalled on the U.S. arms purchase bill now for a lo=
ng time, the Pentagon feels annoyed and in need to warn that the balance =
of power has shifted in favour of mainland China,=94 Jin Yinan, expert wi=
th the China Defence University said.=20
China claims the island as part of its territory despite the fact that Ta=
iwan has been in essence independent for nearly 60 years. Opposing the pr=
o-independence forces in Taiwan remains the key aim of the People's Liber=
ation Army. The PLA's efforts to build an aircraft carrier and deploy mor=
e short-range missiles along its east coast are focused on preventing a f=
ormal declaration of Taiwan independence and on achieving the ability to =
take the island by force.=20
After the satellite-destroying test Taiwan questioned Beijing's commitmen=
t to keeping peace in space and said the number of mainland missiles aime=
d at the island stood at 900.=20
=94This action is bad for regional security,' cabinet spokesman Cheng Wen=
-tsang was quoted as saying on Monday. =94This does not fit with communis=
t China's =91peaceful rise'. They say one thing and do another.=94=20
The different messages from Beijing's civilian and military leaders on si=
gnificant issues like nuclear policy are only heightening global concerns=
about the ramifications of China's economic and military rise.=20
While China's top diplomats have tried to present the country as a benign=
power that, in pointed contrast with the U.S., is committed to a multi-p=
olar world and has only goodwill towards other nations, China's military =
leaders have been more assertive about Beijing's need to broaden its stra=
tegic reach.=20
In the white defence paper last month Beijing said it is pursuing a road =
to =94peaceful development' but stressed that the country's military powe=
r should increase in =94step=94 with its expanding economy in order to pr=
otect China's increasingly global interests.=20
The satellite-killing test comes at a time when China and the U.S. are de=
bating space nuclear policy at the United Nations. Last year U.S. Preside=
nt George W. Bush signed an order asserting the right of the U.S. to deny=
adversaries access to space for hostile purposes. Beijing's test, which =
was carried without an advance warning or explanation, has been received =
as an indirect challenge to U.S. supremacy in space.=20
=94We're looking for greater understanding of exactly what their intent w=
as, what the specifics were surrounding this test, as well as any program=
s they may have to conduct future such tests,=94 U.S. State Department sp=
okesman Steve McCormack was quoted as saying in Washington on Monday.=20
=94The bottom line is we encourage them to be more forthcoming, more tran=
sparent with respect to not only this test but also their space programme=
,=94 McCormack said.
(END/IPS/AP/IP/WD/DV/SC/AB/RDR/07)
=20
=3D 01231617 ORP005
NNNN
*****************************************************************
15 Guardian Unlimited: Trident replacement 'premature'
Ian Sample
Wednesday January 24, 2007
Plans to replace Britain's ailing Trident nuclear deterrent were
branded "premature and wasteful" yesterday by a leading US
nuclear expert, who claimed that delaying the decision for 15
years would save 5bn.
Inexpensive engine repairs to the four Vanguard-class submarines
that carry Trident missiles could extend the vessels' active
service by 10 to 15 years, according to Professor Richard Garwin,
former chair of the US government's science advisory committee
and consultant to the nuclear weapons programme. He added that
this would maintain the deterrent while saving funds for other
projects and safeguarding flexibility to choose an alternative
beyond 2035.
Giving evidence to the defence select committee yesterday, Prof
Garwin claimed that pressure to commission a fleet of submarines
was rooted in the shipbuilding industry's urge to land lucrative
contracts.
"If Britain wants to preserve a strategic nuclear choice, then
taking a decision now to replace the Trident submarines is a
highly premature and wasteful approach. Unless some grave error
has been made in the design of the Vanguard, it should last 100
years," he said.
According to a government white paper published last month, the
steam generators in the Vanguard submarines are nearing the end
of their 25 year life. Building a fleet of submarines and
refurbishing the nuclear warheads has been estimated to cost
20bn, but that amount is expected to double over the lifetime
of the system.
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
16 BBC: Nuclear weapons plan 'premature'
Last Updated: Tuesday, 23 January 2007
[HMS Vanguard]
Trident is a submarine-based nuclear weapons system
Moves to replace Britain's nuclear submarine fleet are "highly
premature", an American expert has told MPs.
Tony Blair says a decision has to be taken now to develop new
submarines carrying the Trident missiles, as they are due to be
decommissioned in 2024.
But Richard Garwin, who worked on the design of the first
hydrogen bomb, said they could keep going into the 2030s.
"I think the government is hastening into this decision before
the facts are really available to it," he said.
Mr Blair has said it would be "dangerous" for the UK to give up
its nuclear weapons and wants to develop a new generation of
submarines.
Lifetime extended
He said even if their working life is extended by five years, it
will take 17 years to design and build new craft.
MPs will vote on the plans in March.
But Dr Garwin told the Commons Defence Select Committee that US
Trident submarines, which spend more time at sea than their UK
equivalents, had had their lifetime extended to 45 years.
TRIDENT MISSILE SYSTEM
[Trident]
Missile length: 44ft (13m) Weight: 130,000lb (58,500kg) Diameter:
74 inches (1.9m) Range: More than 4,600 miles (7,400km) Power
plant: Three stage solid propellant rocket Cost: 16.8m ($29.1m)
per missile Source: Federation of American Scientists [ border=]
How Trident works
"I would expect that the UK submarines, from the point of view of
wear-out, would last 100 years," he said.
"I see no reason why they shouldn't last 45 years."
Dr Garwin has advised the US government on national security
since the 1950s and chaired the State Department's Arms Control
and Non-proliferation Advisory Board.
He said the submarines' steam generators would not keep going for
45 years, but could easily be replaced, much more cheaply than
the 15-20bn the Ministry of Defence estimates the new vessels
will cost.
Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Nick Harvey said Dr Garwin's
comments added weight to his party's position.
"We must not rush to a decision just to secure Blair's political
legacy. The wise and cost-effective solution is to take a final
decision only when it becomes operationally necessary," he said.
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament chairwoman, Kate Hudson, added:
"We strongly encourage MPs to question the urgency of the
Government's decision.
"Any decision made now will commit the UK to possessing nuclear
weapons for many decades to come."
*****************************************************************
17 Reuters: Post-war Lebanon faces major environmental harm-UN
Tue 23 Jan 2007 7:00 AM ET
BERLIN, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Unexploded cluster bombs and factories
contaminated with toxic chemicals after last year's conflict
between Israel and Hezbollah pose major environmental risks to
Lebanon, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
A new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
warned that if it fails to act quickly to remove the debris,
Lebanon will face serious public health hazards, including water
supply contamination.
Unexploded cluster bombs are a particular risk, especially in
the south of the country where large areas of economically
important agricultural land have become no-go areas for farmers.
"Valuable pasture lands have been rendered out of bounds which
will likely lead to overgrazing in accessible areas and habitat
degradation," says the report, adding that some 90 percent of
southern Lebanon's population depends on agriculture.
De-mining could take up to 15 months, it added.
The report also recommended further investigations to check and
remove highly radioactive materials in some areas.
In addition, many bomb-damaged factories, including the Jiyeh
power plant south of Beirut, were contaminated with toxic
substances, said the U.N.
"Urgent action is needed to remove and safely dispose of such
substances which include ash and leaked chemicals amid concerns
they represent a threat to water supplies and public health,"
said the report.
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner urged world nations,
including those attending a Lebanon reconstruction meeting in
Paris this week, to consider the environment in their talks.
The UNEP report was based on research carried out by 12
environmental experts last September and October.
Some 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis, most of
them soldiers, were killed in fighting which started in July
2006.
Reuters 2007. All Rights
*****************************************************************
18 Scotsman.com News: Glasgow - Doctors plan Trident protest at Faslane
The Scotsman" />Tue 23 Jan 2007
DOCTORS and other health workers are set to protest outside the
Faslane naval base in opposition to the government's plans to
replace the Trident nuclear missile programme.
A group of about 30 health professionals will gather at the
Clyde base on Thursday and Friday, saying it is "illegal,
immoral and unethical" to possess such weapons.
The doctors, led by Dr Lesley Morrison from the Borders, are
prepared to face arrest if police attempt to clear the blockade.
Dr Morrison said: "The prevention of nuclear war and the
proliferation of nuclear weapons should be a matter of concern
to all health professionals."
2007 Scotsman.com| contact| terms & conditions
*****************************************************************
19 NRC: NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards to Meet Feb. 1-3 in Rockville, Maryland
News Release - 2007-00 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office
of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC
20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 07-009 January 23,
2007
The Nuclear Regulatory Commissions Advisory Committee on Reactor
Safeguards (ACRS) will hold a public meeting Feb. 1-3 in
Rockville, Md., to discuss, among other items, the final review
of the 5 percent power uprate application for Browns Ferry
Nuclear Plant Unit 1. Portions of this discussion may be closed
to protect proprietary information. The committee will also
perform the final review of the license renewal application for
the Oyster Creek Generating Station.
The meeting will be held in Room T-2B3 of the agencys Two White
Flint North building, at 11545 Rockville Pike. It will begin at
8:30 a.m. each day and end at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and
at 1 p.m. on Saturday. A complete agenda is available on the
NRCs Web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acrs/agenda/2007/.
Anyone with questions or those wishing to make public statements
during the meeting should contact Sam Duraiswamy at
301-415-7364. To pursue videoconferencing services, contact
Theron Brown at 301-415-8066.
The ACRS advises the Commission on licensing and operation of
nuclear power plants and related safety issues.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NRC news releases are available through a free list server
subscription at the following Web address:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home
Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the
News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to
subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site.
Last revised Tuesday, January 23, 2007
*****************************************************************
20 ForUm: Only Ukrainian wastes will be stored in Chornobyl zone
[ForUm] Wednesday,
News / 23 January 2007 | 11:24
Only Ukrainian wastes will be stored in Chornobyl zone
In Chernobyl estrangement zone at the expense of international
technical help number of objects on handling with radioactive
wastes of Chernobyl origin and waste nuclear fuel of Chernobyl
Nuclear Power-Station is constructed.
One of such objects is storehouse of wasted nuclear fuel
(SWNF-2). The French company Areva/Framatome and American
company Holtec International are participating in its
construction.
It should be noted that SWNF is intended for long term secure
storage of waste nuclear fuel exceptionally of Chernobyl Nuclear
Power-Station. Holtec International is planned to complete its
construction and set it into operation.
As for construction in the estrangement zone of storehouse for
waste nuclear fuel of other Nuclear Power-Stations of Ukraine,
the Verkhovna Rada makes a decision on allocation and
construction, according to the law of Ukraine. At present the
construction of such storehouses is not planned. The Emergency
Ministry of Ukraine didnt receive any considerations on
allocation of such object in the estrangement zone yet.
ForUm [ ] [ ]
All rights are reserved by LTD. Inter-Media, ForUm 2001-2007
*****************************************************************
21 Sydney Morning Herald: Debnam remains firm on nuclear stance -
www.smh.com.au
January 23, 2007 - 11:39AM
NSW opposition leader Peter Debnam has reiterated his opposition
to nuclear power in the state, despite a young Liberal push to
endorse it.
The NSW branch of the Young Liberals has put forward a nuclear
power policy for debate at the national Young Liberals
convention in Melbourne at the weekend.
It has urged the federal government to not take any action on
global warming until there is "conclusive scientific evidence"
and says nuclear power is a "clean alternative energy source".
Mr Debnam said he remained fundamentally opposed to nuclear
energy in NSW.
"I've made my statement on the nuclear energy a number of times
over the last year, I've ruled it out in NSW, it's not going to
happen," Mr Debnam told reporters.
"I'm looking at new energy sources not old - nuclear technology
is 50 years old, we want to move forward."
Mr Debnam also rejected the NSW branch's proposal to raise the
pension age to 70 years, but welcomed the divergence in opinion
from the Young Liberals, saying it was important to debate
policy issues.
2007 AAP
Brought to you by [aap]
*****************************************************************
22 HindustanTimes.com: Russia to help India build N-facilities
January 23, 2007|22:57 IST
We will directly help India build N-facilities: Putin
Press Trust of India
Ahead of his visit to New Delhi, President Vladimir Putin has
disclosed that Russia will help India "directly" in the
construction of atomic energy facilities, declaring, "We stand
ready to support our Indian friends."
Cooperation in the construction of new reactors, supply of
nuclear fuel and transfer of reprocessing technology are on the
anvil during the Russian leader's visit starting a day prior to
the Republic Day at which he will be the chief guest.
"We intend to help India directly in the construction of atomic
energy facilities for peaceful use. On top of that some of our
companies are very much interested in acquiring large contracts
for construction of new facilities," he said during the
90-minute interview to PTI in the ornate 'Kaminiy' (fireplace)
Hall at the historic Kremlin.
In a clear statement that Russia will pursue India's case in the
Nuclear Suppliers Group for ensuring supplies of fuel, Putin
said "on various occasions we provided India with nuclear fuel.
And we will help India settle her problems in international
affairs with the proviso that Russia will abide by international
obligations."
The 55-year-old leader, however, politely refused to go into the
details of the agreements expected to be finalised other nuclear
issue and the on sale of multi-role transport aircraft and the
fifth generation fighter jets to India.
"This is exactly what we are going to discuss there. Do you want
me to tell the whole story? Then what should we do in the course
of our negotiations," he said when asked whether more reactors
are likely to be set up in the Russian-aided Kudankulam project
in Tamil Nadu and whether agreements would cover supply of fuel
and reprocessing technology.
*****************************************************************
23 NRC: Agency Holding the Meetings: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
FR Doc 07-279
[Federal Register: January 23, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 14)]
[Notices] [Page 2908-2909] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr23ja07-85]
Date: Weeks of January 22, 29, February 5, 12, 19, 26, 2007
Place: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland.
Status: Public and Closed.
Matters to be Considered: Week of January 22, 2007 Monday,
January 22, 2007 1:25 p.m.--Affirmation Session (Public Meeting)
(Tentative) a. Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC, & Entergy
Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station),
LBP-06-20 (9/ 22/06): Entergy Nuclear Generation Company &
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station),
LBP-06-23 (10/16/06) (Tentative.) b. Exelon Generation Company,
LLC (Early Site Permit for Clinton ESP) (Tentative).
1:30 p.m. Discussion of Security Issues (Closed-Ex. 1). Tuesday,
January 23, 2007 1:30 p.m.--Joint Meeting with Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission on Grid Reliability (Public Meeting)
(Contact: Mike Mayfield, 301 415- 0561).
This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address-- .
Week of January 29, 2007--Tentative Monday, January 29, 2007
10:50 a.m.--Affirmation Session (Public Meeting) (Tentative) a.
Final Rulemaking to Revise 10 CFR 73.1, Design Basis Threat (DBT)
Requirements (Tentative).
b. AmerGen Energy Company, LLC (License Renewal for Oyster Creek
Nuclear Generating Station) Docket No. 50-0219, Remaining Legal
challenges to LBP-06-07 (Tentative).
c. Nuclear Management Co., LLC (Palisades Nuclear Plant, license
renewal application); response to ``Notice'' relating to San
Louis Obispo Mothers for Peace (Tentative).
d. System Energy Resources, Inc. (Early Site Permit for Grand
Gulf ESP Site); response to NEPA/terrorism issue (Tentative).
e. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (Diablo Canyon ISFSI), Docket No.
72- 26-ISFSI, response to the Supreme Court's potential denial of
certiorari (Tentative).
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 10 a.m.--Discussion of Security Issues
(Closed-Ex. 3). Wednesday, January 31, 2007 9:30 a.m.--Discussion
of Security Issues (Closed-Ex. 1 & 3). To be held at Department
of Homeland Security Headquarters, Washington, DC.
Thursday, February 1, 2007 9:25 a.m.--Affirmation Session (Public
Meeting) (Tentative). a. USEC, Inc. (American Centrifuge Plant)
(Tentative). 9:30 a.m.--Discussion of Management Issues
(Closed-Ex. 2). 1:30 p.m.--Briefing on Strategic Workforce
Planning and Human Capital Initiatives (Public Meeting) (Contact:
Mary Ellen Beach, 301 415-6803).
This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address-- .
Week of February 5, 2007--Tentative There are no meetings
scheduled for the Week of February 5, 2007.
Week of February 12, 2007--Tentative Thursday, February 15, 2007
9:30 a.m.--Briefing on Office of Chief Financial Officer (OCFO)
Programs, Performance, and Plans (Public Meeting) (Contact:
Edward New, 301 415-5646).
This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address-- .
Week of February 19, 2007--Tentative There are no meetings
scheduled for the Week of February 19, 2007.
Week of February 26, 2007--Tentative Wednesday, February 28, 2007
9:30 a.m.--Periodic Briefing on New Reactor Issues (Public
Meeting) (Contact: Donna Williams, 301 415-1322).
This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address-- .
* * * * * The schedule for Commission meetings is subject to
change on short notice. To verify the status of meetings call
(recording)--(301) 415- 1292. Contact person for more
information: Michelle Schroll, (301) 415- 1662.
* * * * * The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the
Internet at: .
* * * * * The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to
individuals with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a
reasonable accommodation to participate in these public meetings,
or need this meeting notice or the transcript or other
information from the public meetings in another format (e.g.
braille, large print), please notify the NRC's Disability Program
Coordinator, Deborah Chan, at 301-415-7041, TDD: 301-415-2100, or
by e-mail at . Determinations on requests for reasonable
accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
* * * * * This notice is distributed by mail to several hundred
subscribers; if you no longer wish to receive it, or would like
to be added to the distribution, please contact the Office of the
Secretary, Washington, DC 20555 (301-415-1969). In addition,
distribution of this meeting notice over the Internet system is
available. If you are interested in
[[Page 2909]] receiving this Commission meeting schedule
electronically, please send an electronic message to .
January 18, 2007.
R. Michelle Schroll, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 07-279 Filed 1-19-07; 11:11 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
24 BBC NEWS: Nuclear power climate change risk
Science/Nature |
Last Updated: Tuesday, 23 January 2007, 22:29 GMT [
By David Shukman BBC science correspondent
[UK nuclear power plant worker]
The government is soon to release its criteria for possible new
sites
A new study into the potential impact of climate change on
Britain's nuclear power stations highlights the threat of rising
seas and increasingly severe storms, BBC News learns.
Specialists from the Met Office were commissioned by the nuclear
power company British Energy to assess the risks of global
warming.
All of the UK's working nuclear power stations are located on
the coast - sites originally chosen for their remoteness and to
guarantee supplies of cooling water.
But the Met Office researchers have forecast global warming is
likely to bring three changes which could combine to pose
serious risks - rising sea-levels, increased wave height and
increased height of storm surges.
Constant maintenance
The study concludes none of the current generation of power
plants are at risk.
But the findings have implications for the planning of the next
generation of British nuclear power stations.
The government is planning to release its criteria for possible
sites in March.
We would locate the station within the site in such a position
that we don't perhaps have to work quite so hard in maintaining
these hard defences [ border=] David Norfolk, British Energy
At Sizewell in Suffolk, for example, site of Britain's most
modern reactor, the prediction is for the most severe storm
surges to be 1.7 metres higher in 2080 than at present.
And at Dungeness in Kent, the storm surge increase could be up
to 0.9 metres.
Already the Dungeness plant, which is sited on land only two
metres above sea-level, is protected by a massive wall of
shingle which needs constant maintenance in the winter.
Waves erode so much of it that it needs to be topped up
constantly with 600 tons of shingle every day.
'Hard defences'
Met Office researcher Rob Harrison, who led the study, told the
BBC "very large potential changes are in prospect" what we're
trying to do is avoid a catastrophic effect.
"There's no immediate concern but in the future the extremes may
become more severe, especially with the combination of bigger
waves and surges. It's reassuring that British Energy are being
proactive about this."
[Hinkley Point nuclear power station]
All working nuclear power stations in the UK are located by the
sea
The Met Office study finds the rise in storm surge heights will
be most extreme along the coast of south-east England - the
shorelines at Dungeness and Sizewell bearing the brunt of the
effects.
One option for the nuclear operators is to build stronger sea
defences. Another is to site future power stations further
inland.
David Norfolk, a member of British Energy's strategy team, said
any new power plant could be located further from the sea to
provide more of a buffer for any flooding.
"We would locate the station within the site in such a position
that we don't perhaps have to work quite so hard in maintaining
these hard defences - put it further back so we have more land,
more space to absorb any water that comes over, to attenuate the
energy of the sea."
The study follows a similar Met Office investigation last year
into the impact of climate change on conventional power plants.
*****************************************************************
25 Star Tribune: Monticello nuclear plant is up and running again
The Monticello nuclear power plant is producing power again,
after a shutdown that lasted nearly two weeks, officials said
Tuesday.
By Tom Meersman, Star Tribune
Last update: January 23, 2007 7:37 PM
The Monticello nuclear power plant is producing power again,
after a shutdown that lasted nearly two weeks, officials said
Tuesday.
The plant, owned by Xcel Energy, shut itself down automatically
on Jan. 10 after a 35,000-pound control box inside the plant
came loose and dropped about 6 inches onto a pipe carrying
radioactive steam.
Arline Datu, spokeswoman for Nuclear Management Co., which
operates the power plant, said that an investigation found that
the design of the control box was inadequate, and that some of
the welds holding it to steel beams were "undersized or lacked
quality."
She said that workers checked other welds and found no
additional areas of concern.
None of the plant's main steam lines were damaged, Datu said,
and no radiation escaped within the plant or outdoors. "At no
time was there any threat to the health and safety of the
public," she said.
The control box and other equipment near it have been repaired
and tested, Datu said, and plant operators began to start up the
reactor Tuesday morning.
The 600-megawatt Monticello nuclear plant is about 45 miles
northwest of the Twin Cities. It began producing power in 1970
and last year received a license to operate for another 20 years
after its current license expires in 2010.
TOM MEERSMAN
Copyright 2007Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
26 APP.COM: Turn up heat on nuke plant |
Asbury Park Press Online
Issues:Tuesday, January 23, 2007
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has never rejected a license
extension application for a nuclear generating plant. It's
doubtful the Oyster Creek plant in Lacey, which is seeking a
20-year license renewal, will become the first. But a hearing
before an advisory committee of the NRC last week provided
further evidence that it should be.
With the clock ticking on a decision, Gov. Corzine, state
environmental commissioner Lisa Jackson and Reps. Christopher
Smith and H. James Saxton, both R-N.J., must intensify the
pressure to make certain the numerous concerns about plant
safety are addressed and, if necessary, redressed in the federal
courts should the NRC continue its tradition of ignoring them.
Last week's hearings underscored the gravity of the concerns
about the plant's corroded drywell, a 100-foot-tall steel liner
surrounding the reactor designed to keep radioactive vapors from
escaping in the event of an accident. The biggest red flag was
an NRC-commissioned report by the Sandia National Laboratories
that raised serious questions about the stress levels Oyster
Creek's drywell could handle.
The advisory committee also expressed unease about water that
has been flowing into, and pooling, in the drywell that plant
operator AmerGen Energy Co. has failed to address. And it heard
Richard Webster, an attorney hired by a coalition of citizen
groups opposing license renewal, testify about the flawed
testing process used to determine the extent of corrosion of the
drywell. The committee is expected to present its
recommendations to the full NRC Feb. 1.
Terrorism concerns also resurfaced last week. The U.S. Supreme
Court decided not to review a California appeals court ruling
requiring federal regulators to assess the environmental impact
of a possible terrorist attack on a new storage facility for
nuclear waste. Aware of the implications the top court's ruling
could have on Oyster Creek, the five NRC commissioners in
September postponed making a decision on New Jersey's request
for a terrorism-impact hearing on Oyster Creek.
Fears about the consequences of a terrorist strike on Oyster
Creek's spent fuel pool were heightened by the disclosure of an
internal memo in which an Oyster Creek manager, reviewing plant
safety issues relevant to license renewal, observed that the
floor of the spent fuel pool was not constructed to design, and
was not adequately attached to the wall.
". . . (F)rom a nuclear safety perspective, the controlling
structure with least margin is the floor of the fuel pool," the
memo said. "The floor was supposed to be attached to the walls
with a rebar configuration . . . This is not the configuration
we found and was why we had to limit the fuel pool temperature
to 125 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure the floor did not detach and
drop during a seismic event and rupture the fuel pool liner. If
this rebar is really corroding as projected, I suspect our
design analysis of the floor support is not valid today, let
alone for a 20-year life extension."
That was a safety specialist at Oyster Creek talking. If no one
at the NRC is listening, we hope a judge in a courtroom
somewhere will be.
Several comments are in order regarding your latest
editorial on the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant and its
license renewal application, which remains under review by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Rather than try to address
every item discussed, I will focus only on two specific ones for
now.
Your assertion that an NRC-commissioned report by Sandia
National Laboratories raises serious questions about the plants
drywell liner does not jibe with the reports conclusions, which
are clearly stated on Page 83. They are as follows: The
structural integrity of the degraded Oyster Creek drywell shell
has been analyzed in this study. The allowable stresses and the
buckling stability were both examined in accordance with the
ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) B&PV (Boiler &
Pressure Vessel) code. The ASME allowable stresses are met for
all three load cases examined here given the modeling and
loading procedures outlined in Section 2. The only potential
exception is for the primary plus secondary stresses located at
the base of the sandbed region of the accident condition due to
the thermal expansion of the shell. There are a number of
modeling and loading assumptions in this region that may
contribute to the stress magnitudes recorded in the current
analysis. ... The authors note that the potential exception may
be the result of overly conservative assumptions in the computer
modeling used to perform the study.
Rather than rely on only partial or cursory descriptions of what
the report has to say, I would encourage your readers interested
in this topic to read the actual document. It can be found in
our electronic documents system, which can be accessed at:
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html . Once there,
they just need to type in the Accession Number ML070120395.
Another issue raised by your editorial has to do with questions
involving water found in trenches in the plants drywell liner.
Specifically, during the Oyster Creek refueling and maintenance
outage conducted in October, water was found in two trenches
inside the liner after grout was removed. On Jan. 17, NRC issued
a report on an inspection we conducted during that outage and
that dealt with, among other things, the trench-water discovery.
During that inspection, we closely followed the actions of
AmerGen, the plants owner, to identify and mitigate the source
of the water. These efforts included tracer dye testing of the
drywell leakage collection trough inside the reactor pedestal,
inspection of the drywell sump, inspection and repair of the
leakage collection trough, and caulking of the joint between the
concrete drywell floor and the steel drywell shell. Based on our
reviews, we concluded the following: Repairs performed by
AmerGen in and around the trough within the reactor vessel
pedestal area did not result in any adverse conditions. ... The
water discovered in the drywell trenches had no adverse impact
on the structural integrity of the concrete floor or the
potential for corrosion of the embedded portion of the drywell
shell. AmerGen has taken actions to prevent further accumulation
of water in this area. ...
Our inspection report also points out that AmerGen undertook the
following steps in response to the discovery of the water:
(1) Conducted walkdowns of the structure and examined drawings
to determine the source of the water. The actual source of the
water was not positively determined.
(2) Sampled the water and performed dye tracer testing to
determine the source of the water.
(3) Removed the water from the trenches and conducted the
planned UT (ultrasonic Testing) thickness measurements of the
drywell shell in the trenches.
(4) Conducted technical engineering evaluations by an industry
corrosion expert and AmerGen engineering personnel to assess the
structural integrity of the drywell concrete slab given the
presence of the water.
(5) Installed a seal between the concrete curb and drywell shell
to prevent water from entering the drywell shell-to-concrete gap.
(6) Made a repair to the drywell trough drain, which eliminated
(the) leakage path into the concrete.drywell liner gap.
(7) Removed an additional 5" of concrete from the trench in Bay
5 and collected more UT thickness data in a previously
unmeasured area.
([Cool] Performed and documented a VT (Visual Testing)
inspection of the drywell shell in the trenches.
In other words, this issue received a significant amount of
attention during the outage and has been addressed. As is the
case with the Sandia report, I would encourage your readers to
go to the source documentation. The NRC inspection report is
available in our electronic documents system. Its Accession
Number is ML070170396.
Suffice it to say, the Oyster Creek license renewal application
has received, and will continue to receive, a high level of
attention from the NRC. In addition to our numerous inspections
and thousands of hours of review by our license renewal staff,
it has been discussed twice by the Advisory Committee on Reactor
Safeguards (ACRS) Subcommittee on License Renewal and is
scheduled to be a topic at a meeting of the full ACRS in early
February. The ACRS is an independent body of experts that offers
recommendations to the Commission on reactor safety issues,
including license renewal applications. More information about
the Oyster Creek application and the license renewal review
process in general is available on the NRC web site at:
www.nrc.gov . Any member of the public with questions about our
review can also e-mail us at opa1@nrc.gov.
Neil Sheehan
NRC Public Affairs Officer
Posted by: nas1 on Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:34 pm
This article really perturbed me, in particular the
information about the rebar configuration attaching the floors
to the wall of the fuel pool structure.
Years ago, in the beginning stages of the second plant at Oyster
Creek, we were having lunch at a local tavern. A group of
construction workers who were in the operating engineers union,
were at the bar discussing the
actions of a supervisor, who when told by one of the foremen
that the specifications re: the dimensions of the rebar and the
o.c. spacing, were not to code, was told that the concrete was
coming in and to sign off so they could get it covered up.
This conversation stayed with me for all these years, even after
the project was aborted probably because at one time in my life,
I was an estimator\purchaser for an commercial builder and
understood the significance of adherance to the specifications
vs. the stability of a structure.
Then I watched a Channel 13 documentary on the role of the
Scarfo mob in bulding Oyster Creek (the masonry part) and the
deficiencies of another building which was to be used as storage
for "hot" material but was not to code.
Finally, having dinner with an engineer and his girlfriend. It
was during the period of time when two engineers who had worked
in the design and construction of the original reactor had come
out publicly to raise the alarm about the design of Oyster
Creek. We discussed this, then he, having just left Oyster Creek
to go to the NRC as inspector, bluntly stated that "I know just
where to look" before he clammed up.
Obviously, his input was not taken to heart by the NRC. But to
read the statement from an Oyster Creek manager re: the rebar in
the editorial today and to consider the implications is
appalling.
Longtime residents of Lacey Township seem to be immune to any
consideration of danger, vs. weighing danger vs. monetary gain
via lower taxes. But if there were to be an "incident" the loss
of property values would wipe out any tax gains - like how do
you assess "worthless"?
I think that if residents were educated to the notion that by
the time the plant was decommissioned and offline, and that the
benefits to a host town are protected, they might pay more
attention to this issue.
We've often thought of removing ourselves from this immediate
area, despite enjoying waterfront living but where do you go?
[Question] That's the point I guess.
Posted by: jayburn on Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:30 am
Copyright 2007 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
27 CANADA: Hamilton Spectator: Nuclear industry good for economy
By Michael Ingram, Ancaster, Vice-President, CANDU Services,
AECL, Mississauga
(Jan 23, 2007)
Re: 'Clark opens surprise attack on nuclear plant' (Column, Jan.
12)
The nuclear industry is the only industry in Canada that
accounts for all its used fuel, ensuring no harmful by-products
escape plants. Compared to other types of thermal power plants,
nuclear reactors produce only small amounts of used fuel. A
700-megawatt CANDU nuclear reactor, for example, produces about
0.30 tonnes of used fuel per day, while an equivalent sized
coal-fired station produces 1,440 tonnes of solid ash per day
and eight tonnes of fly ash.
All the used fuel produced by all Canadian nuclear reactors over
the past 40 years could be stored on one soccer field, to the
height of a typical player. The small amount of used fuel
produced by Canadian nuclear power plants is controlled and
stored in carefully managed facilities. For the first five
years, it is stored inside the station in pools where radiation
is shielded by three metres of water, then it is placed in large
canisters of metre-thick concrete for dry storage.
On-site storage is designed to be safe and secure for a century
or more, and in Canada's 40 years of using nuclear energy, no
member of the public has ever been harmed as a result of a
radiation leak from a nuclear power plant or its storage
facility. In fact, eating one banana a day for a month or
drinking a glass of milk every day for 45 days contains the same
radiation dose as a year living beside a nuclear power plant.
Generating electricity using nuclear power is good for the air
we breathe. The use of CANDU technology in place of generating
the same amount of electricity from coal has, in the past four
decades, prevented the release of more than two billion tonnes
of carbon dioxide emissions, 11 million tonnes of sulphur
dioxide, and 2.5 million tonnes of nitrogen oxides. Improved air
quality helps reduce incidents of asthma attacks and some lung
diseases.
Nuclear energy in Canada is a $6 billion per year industry,
providing employment for more than 30,000 people in more than
150 companies. The economic impact in the Hamilton-Niagara
region alone includes 17 companies employing hundreds of people
who are key suppliers to the CANDU nuclear industry.
1991-2006, The Hamilton Spectator. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
28 National Post: Conservatives say nuclear power on the table
Canadians cannot afford to shy away from nuclear power if the
country is to make any real progress in reducing greenhouse-gas
emissions, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn said Tuesday.
Chris Wattie,
Published: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
TORONTO — Canadians cannot afford to shy away from nuclear
power if the country is to make any real progress in reducing
greenhouse-gas emissions, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn
said Tuesday.
“You either believe in reducing greenhouse gases or you
don’t,” Lunn said in a speech to the Economic Club of
Toronto. “We shouldn’t be afraid to look at all of the
potential energy options. We need clean, reliable, affordable
energy to ensure that we have our economic growth ... I think
there are some very, very good opportunities for nuclear in the
future and we’re not afraid to talk about them.”
The government is also on the verge of announcing a
comprehensive plan to deal with radioactive waste from nuclear
plants, he said, which could allay environmentalists’ main
criticisms of nuclear power.
“We’re looking at various options, which we haven’t
announced ... it’s something that our government is seriously
looking at,” Lunn said during a question-and-answer session
after his speech. “There’ll be more specifics on the exact
storage, where we put the permanent storage of nuclear waste,
but you’re going to have to wait.”
Lunn said he is “very, very impressed” by what he saw of the
nuclear industry’s current facilities to deal with waste, but
added the Conservatives want to improve that system.
“Previous governments have been under pressure for years and
years to do something and refused to do. Well I think we should
talk about it and put the resources in to get the job done,”
he said.
Lunn acknowledged, however, the decision on whether to use
nuclear-power plants rests with provincial governments.
He refused to give specifics on what incentives Ottawa might
offer to make the nuclear option more attractive.
“At the end of the day it will be up to the provinces to
decide on their energy mixes but we will be there to support
them.”
As well, he took direct aim at Liberal Leader Stephane Dion’s
publicly stated discomfort with nuclear power, saying the
Conservative government is willing to look at every
power-generating option.
“It’s clean, it produces zero emissions, it produces no
greenhouse gasses and we know that Ontario has been using
nuclear energy for over 40 years,” he said. “As a nation of
energy consumers we must be prepared to have an open discussion
about nuclear power.”
The minister is on a cross-country tour to promote the
government’s renewable energy policies, announced last week by
Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The Conservatives unveiled a series of programs to fund
technologies that reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, although
skeptics have complained the government has only repackaged
programs launched by the former Liberal government which were
subsequently frozen or cut by the Tories when they came to power
one year ago.
cwattie@nationalpost.com
2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of . All rights
*****************************************************************
29 NRC: ACTION: Notice of pending NRC action to submit an information
collection request to OMB and solicitation of public comment.
FR Doc E7-902
[Federal Register: January 23, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 14)]
[Notices] [Page 2907-2908] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr23ja07-84]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection:
Comment Request
AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
SUMMARY: The NRC is preparing a submittal to OMB for review of
continued approval of information collections under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35). Information Pertaining to the Requirement To Be
Submitted
1. The title of the information collection: NRC Form 314,
Certificate of Disposition of Materials.
2. Current OMB approval numbers: 3150-0028.
3. How often the collection is required: The form is
submitted once, when a licensee terminates its license.
4. Who is required or asked to report: Persons holding an NRC
license for the possession and use of radioactive byproduct,
source, or special nuclear material who are ceasing licensed
activities and terminating the license.
5. The estimated number of annual respondents: 171.
6. The number of hours needed annually to complete the
requirement or request: 85.5.
7. Abstract: NRC Form 314 furnishes information to NRC
regarding transfer or other disposition of radioactive material
by licensees who wish to terminate their licenses. The
information is used by NRC as part of the basis for its
determination that the facility has been cleared of radioactive
material before the facility is released for unrestricted use.
Submit, by March 26, 2007, comments that address the
following questions:
1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for
the NRC
to
[[Page 2908]]
properly perform its functions? Does the information have
practical utility?
2. Is the burden estimate accurate?
3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of
the information to be collected?
4. How can the burden of the information collection be
minimized, including the use of automated collection techniques
or other forms of information technology?
A copy of the draft supporting statement may be viewed free
of
charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White Flint North,
11555
Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD 20852. OMB clearance
requests are available at the NRC worldwide Web site:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/index.html.
The document
will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days after
the
signature date of this notice.
Comments and questions about the information collection
requirements may be directed to the NRC Clearance Officer,
Margaret A.
Janney, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, T-5 F54, Washington,
DC
20555-0001, by telephone at 301-415-7245, or by Internet
electronic
mail to INFOCOLLECTS@NRC.GOV.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of January 2007.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Margaret A. Janney,
NRC Clearance Officer, Office of Information Services.
[FR Doc. E7-902 Filed 1-22-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
30 EnergyBiz Magazine: Nuclear Energy's Potential Comeback
January 22, 2007
Ken Silverstein, EnergyBiz Insider Editor-in-Chief
America may like an underdog. But, it's still unclear whether the
public will take to nuclear energy. While the technology has been
in the shadows of national energy policy for nearly three
decades, it has subsequently emerged from obscurity and is
continuing to get an ever-increasing amount of attention.
Future electricity demand and stricter emission limits have
combined to give nuclear energy a shot of energy. Unlike the
fossil fuels, there is a near endless supply of uranium to keep
such plants perking along while almost no greenhouse emissions
are thrust out the smokestack.
Some key issues stand in the way. The first, which at this point
appears intractable, is that of where to store the radioactive
nuclear fuel after it is burned. Exelon Corporation, which is
the nation's biggest nuclear operator, says it won't build until
the matter is resolved. And, the second, which could be overcome
after a few new plants are built, is how to persuade Wall Street
to finance such ventures when in the past they have been hugely
expensive.
"While nuclear generation can provide many benefits, the
challenges of successfully completing the next construction
cycle will be significant and are bound to test the industry's
resolve in addressing increasing demand and the evolving and the
increasingly stringent emissions regulations," writes Dimitri
Nikas, credit analyst for Standard &Poor's in a recent report on
the subject.
To put the matter in perspective, consider that the U.S. Energy
Information Administration is predicting a 45 percent increase
in energy demand by 2030, necessitating an additional 350,000
megawatts of new generation. The primary alternatives, natural
gas and coal, each come with problems -- namely supply shortages
and dirty emissions, respectively. Nuclear energy plants,
meanwhile, have shown themselves to be safer and more productive
than ever before.
In 2001, the Bush administration's National Energy Policy
recommended the expansion of nuclear energy. More recently, the
president has called for a national strategy to deal with carbon
emissions and as such has backed the expansion of nuclear
projects. The 2005 Energy Policy Act grants $1 billion in tax
credits as well as $500 million in insurance to protect against
delays in construction that are directly tied to regulatory
logjams. And, finally, the first six reactors to get built in
the 21st Century are promised millions in loan guarantees.
At present, 103 operating nuclear reactors exist in the United
States. But, none have been ordered here since the 1970s. The
partial meltdown at Three Mile is to blame along with cost
overruns and construction delays. Now, however, things have
changed. Given the market dynamics and the government
incentives, about 30 such plants are under consideration. Before
the energy act was signed, only a few were on the drawing board.
Alternative Strategies
Consider TXU: it is planning to file applications with the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build new nuclear plants in the
range of two to six gigawatts. It says it will have the
applications completed in 2008 while the actual facilities could
be up and running between 2015 and 2020.
"While new nuclear generation cannot come on line in time to
meet the growing power needs of Texas for the next 10 years, TXU
continues to aspire to be a leader in the commercialization of
the next generation of low-cost, clean technology," says John
Wilder, CEO of TXU. "Nuclear generation offers the potential to
deliver our customers lower, stable prices and continue to
reduce Texas' over-reliance on natural gas."
The matter of huge capital costs and government subsidies is
important to both the industry and to nuclear opponents. The
price tag to build a nuclear facility in the days before Three
Mile Island totaled about $1 billion. After, the sunk costs
amounted to about $6 billion. And in the days before that event,
it would take about five years from the time it took to
initially site a plant to the time pre-construction might begin.
After that, the time frame doubled to 10 years.
There's also a lot of discussion over where to store the spent
nuclear fuel. While Congress has authorized the building of
Yucca Mountain 90 miles from Las Vegas, its future is uncertain
because of continuous legal and political battles.
Understandably, Nevada's citizens are dubious of a permanent
nuclear waste site located in their back yard. And, they might
have the political muscle to stop it as Senator Harry Reid, a
Democrat from the state, is now the majority leader.
"Nuclear power will divert resources from other technologies,"
says Stephen Smith, director of the Southern Alliance for Clean
Energy. "We need to direct our resources to things that are not
as dangerous and to where we know we can move forward."
Advances in nuclear technology could alter the landscape. The
difference between the so-called Very High Temperature Reactors
and the current design is that the future ones will operate
three times the temperature of today's light water reactors.
That results in a more efficient use of fuel and the ability to
create hydrogen in the process. All of that makes the
proposition a lot more economically attractive.
Meantime, the reactors are cooled by helium gas and not water.
That means that the reactors rely on gravity and not on
mechanical instruments to flush water through the system in the
event of emergency. Therefore, the odds of any leaks and
subsequent meltdowns are close to zero, say advocates of the
design.
"We have to prove to Wall Street that nuclear works and that it
operates as planned and that the financials look good," says Dan
Keuter, vice president of nuclear business development for
Entergy Nuclear. "If we are able to build the first few, there
will definitely be a renaissance."
No one disputes that new energy forms are a must. All forms are
potentially viable and especially renewable technologies.
Surely, the overall demand for power will be so expansive that
any newfound resurgence in nuclear energy cannot be ignored.
Copyright 1996-2007 by CyberTech, Inc. All rights
reserved.
*****************************************************************
31 AFP: Japan, China eye nuclear cooperation: report
Mon Jan 22, 9:12 PM ET
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan and China are putting together a coooperation
plan on civilian nuclear energy, including measures to prevent
technology being passed on to third parties, a report said
Tuesday.
Under the plan, Japan is to send engineers to China to develop
its nuclear industry as well as help set safety and security
guidelines, the Kyodo News agency said, quoting government
sources.
The deal would update a 1986 bilateral pact and pave the way for
more Japanese companies to do business in China, where
construction of nuclear plants is expected to grow to meet
mounting energy needs.
China in December decided on a multibillion-dollar deal to buy
four nuclear power reactors from US-based Westinghouse, a
recently acquired unit of Japanese giant Toshiba.
But nuclear cooperation has raised concerns in Japan, which is
the only nation to have been attacked with nuclear weapons.
The deal would seek to prevent Japanese technology from being
diverted to third countries, particularly China's ally North
Korea" /> which tested its first atom bomb in October, the
report said.
The plan was part of discussions between Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe and Chinese President Hu Jintao" /> during an October summit
that eased frosty relations, it added.
The two countries' vice foreign ministers will discuss the issue
during talks in Beijing on Thursday and Friday, with the deal
set to be sealed by the end of the year, Kyodo News said.
Immediate confirmation of the report was not available.
The report came as Japan looks at whether to expand nuclear
cooperation with another growing economy, India.
India refuses to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty but has
negotiated a controversial deal with the United States to allow
civilian nuclear cooperation.
Copyright 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
32 AFP: General Electric interested in Lithuania nuke plant project - official -
Tue Jan 23, 12:49 PM ET
VILNIUS (AFP) - US conglomerate General Electric is interested in
a project to build a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania,
officials said.
"Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas today had a meeting with
representatives of General Electric, who said the company wants
to take part in the construction of the new nuclear plant," the
prime minister's spokeswoman said.
"The prime minister said that an open tender is to be announced
for the construction of the new reactor and invited General
Electric to take part in it," she told AFP.
German energy giant E.ON has already expressed interest in the
project to build a new nuclear facility in Lithuania to replace
the ageing Ignalina plant, while France's Areva group, Canada's
AECL, and Mitsubishi of Japan have said they are ready to supply
nuclear technologies to build the new facility.
The electricity companies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
recently set up a working group with their Polish counterpart to
discuss bringing Poland into a project to build a new nuclear
power station to replace Ignalina, which uses reactors similar
to the one that exploded at Chernobyl in 1986, provoking the
world's worst nuclear disaster.
Lithuania promised the European Union" /> European Union, which
the Baltic state joined in 2004, to shut down Ignalina by 2009.
A feasibility study conducted last year by the Baltic energy
companies predicted the new facility would not come onstream
before 2015.
The feasibility study also showed that a new single-reactor
plant with a capacity of 800 Megawatts, or a two-reactor,
1,600-Mw facility would require an investment of 2.5 billion to
four billion euros.
If Poland is brought on board, the capacity of the plant could
be increased to 3,200 Megawatts, with a corresponding hike of
the final price tag, to five billion euros (6.5 billion
dollars).
Copyright 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
33 Telegraph: An eye-opener for the atomic world
Digital Life |
[telegraph.co.uk]
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 23/01/2007
Standing next to a confection of cool grey pipework studded with
bling-bling gold bolts, Prof Sarnjeet Dhesi tells me how no less
a visitor than the Prime Minister became entranced by his
magnificent gleaming plumbing, a special microscope worth
millions of pounds called a "Peem" (Photoemission Electron
Microscope).
We are standing in a climate-controlled cabin in Diamond, a
silver ring-shaped building the size of five football pitches in
south Oxfordshire that, as well as looking like it should be
home to a James Bond villain, is about to provide the most
intense source of light on Earth. After months of tuning,
Diamond will shine 10 billion times brighter than the Sun at the
end of this month to provide answers to myriad questions about
materials.
Diamond is the biggest science facility to be built in the UK
for three decades. Funded by the Government (86 per cent) and
the Wellcome Trust (14 per cent), 250 million has been spent on
its first phase and another 120 million is planned for the
second, when more shiny instruments will be installed to put its
precious light to good use.
Synchrotron technology was pioneered in Britain at the Daresbury
Laboratory near Warrington. Since 1980, synchrotron light has
helped to design a class of Aids drugs called HIV-protease
inhibitors, been involved in the development of the flu drug
Relenza, improved chocolate manufacture and helped to work out
if Beethoven was poisoned by lead. Diamond will allow scientists
to look at atomic structure in even more detail, and more
efficiently. "What could take us weeks in Daresbury takes days
here," said Prof Dhesi.advertisement
A synchrotron is a glorified race track. In a doughnut-shaped
vacuum chamber, electrons are accelerated around in a circle
some 560 metres across at near light speed. When wiggled by a
succession of magnets they slow down to send out an intense
shower of X-rays across a spectrum of frequencies. Around its
periphery this precious light is harvested by "spokes" called
beamlines and passed in a vacuum to "hutches" containing X-ray
optics, such as the one built by Prof Dhesi.
The whole thing sits on 1,500 piles drilled into bedrock 15
metres beneath so as not to blur its atomic vision. Prof Dhesi's
instrument, the Peem, will exploit X-rays around 100 billion
times brighter than used in hospitals. Rays of a precise energy,
selected using clever optics, are highly focused on a sample in
the Peem, smashing electrons out of the surface to reveal its
secrets. Prof Dhesi can take X-ray movies of magnetic materials
down to 10 billionths of a metre to help unravel the mysteries
of MRAM, a new generation of magnetic memory that will allow the
domestic PC to turn on in an instant as well as store ever
greater amounts of data.
Engineers plan to use the tangents of light surging into
Diamond's beam lines to test how clever composites used in
aircraft engines react under stress. For scientists
investigating the birth of the Solar System, Diamond's bright
light can illuminate the formation of the Earth. The searing
beam can reveal the structure of a killer virus, such as bird
flu. And it can help scientists peer at the fine structure of
cells, when they are diseased or treated with drugs.
Not much further away from Diamond than "a Tiger Woods drive",
as Prof Bill David puts it, another kind of dazzling facility is
currently under construction, hidden from the nearby A34 by a
vast mound of millions of tons of chalk. Housed in another
immense building, one as large as a cathedral, builders are
constructing an extension of a 20-year-old facility called ISIS,
where Prof David is among a cast of thousands of scientists who
study materials from our everyday world with neutrons, atomic
particles.
The neutrons are chipped out of a heavy blue-grey metal
(tantalum) target by a beam of protons travelling at 85 per cent
of the speed of light. Protected by millions of pounds worth of
steel shielding, scientists play the resulting beams of neutrons
on to instruments in a high-tech shanty town of cabins huddled
around ISIS. The way neutrons are scattered can answer the
question of where atoms "are" and what atoms "do".
While the use of X-rays dates back more than a century, the use
of neutrons to study matter only developed at the nuclear
reactors that became available to researchers shortly after the
Second World War, including where I did my own doctorate, the
reactor at the Institut Laue-Langevin at Grenoble, France (which
celebrated its 40th birthday last week). Then came ISIS, which
in the last two decades has come of age after a shaky start in
the days of Thatcherite science there was so little money to run
ISIS that, as the then boss confessed to me, it was like
building Concorde and rowing it across the Atlantic.
The facility has become a world leader, helping to study the
resistance-defying properties of superconductors, revealing how
catalysts become "poisoned" so they stop making chemicals,
providing clues on how to tackle pollution, unveiling some of
the metalworking secrets of the ancients, unravelling the
stretchy properties of polymers and shedding light on how
viruses defend themselves against dehydration. There are even
machines, called CRISP and SURF, that extend the work I did in
my doctorate by playing ducks and drakes with neutrons to study
films down to a single molecule thick of the kind found in
situations as diverse as cell membranes, soaps and the magnetic
materials in a computer hard drive.
Neutrons complement Diamond's brilliant X-rays because they
highlight where hydrogen is (actually, its nucleus) and what it
does, giving crucial insights into one of the commonest elements
in biology and the one that literally holds us all together.
Detecting hydrogen in this way is also crucial in revealing
where V-shaped water molecules reside. Although we know the
atomic structure of messenger chemicals in the body, for
example, their overall structure depends on how they are coddled
in water molecules. Neutrons show how the water coating can
affect the all-important shape of the molecules and thus the way
they act. And the neutron has another trick up its sleeve it
behaves like a tiny magnet which can reveal the amazing world of
magnetism, from the stuff of massive body scanner magnets to the
microworld of an iPod memory.
Because of its importance, a second neutron "target station" is
now under construction in a 140 million project that will
extend the work at ISIS to focus more on biology, plastics and
polymers and advanced new materials, said Prof David.
The first neutrons will be bashed out of the tantalum target
this year and experiments will begin in earnest in October of
next year, as plentiful low-energy neutrons, which move so
slowly they actually fall under the tug of gravity, drop into
seven instruments.
Among the first objectives, said Prof David, is to help devise
materials that can soak up enough hydrogen to provide a safe
"tank" for hydrogen-powered cars.
You are here: telegraph.co.uk > Connected >
Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2007.
*****************************************************************
34 FPON: On 'Glow-In-The-Dark' Energy
Free Press of Namibia
Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - Web posted at 8:12:22 GMT
REFERRING to the letter from a presumed UK nuclear enthusiast,
congratulating Namibia on 'opting' for nuclear power, I wonder
why you publish such tosh.
I don't see it's any of his business, and anyway the country has
not 'opted' for nuclear power (a sloppy headline) - on a closer
read, it's just one of all possible options for future energy
needs.
Fine.
Nuclear power is great, but it does have some limitations, like
the inability to power things like cars, trains and planes.
Then there is the waste problem.
The letter writer's suggestion to bury the highly radioactive
waste where the ore was first mined, is rather bizarre.
Anyone ready for a Swakop which glows in the dark, even without
the Christmas lights switched on? Beyond this, there is a
worrying tendency of some politicians and writers, who did not
quite make it past Std 8 science, to assume that because a
country has widespread deposits of (rather low grade) uranium
ore, the country can produce heaps and heaps of nuclear energy
for itself.
This is not necessarily so.
(On another level, consider the example of Ghana, which for a
hundred years has been about the largest producer of cocoa beans
but which has yet to manufacture its own chocolate bar).
Namibia actually might be better off selling uranium ore and
buying electricity.
Because nuclear energy is difficult, much more so than chocolate.
First you have to enrich your ore.
This is technically and politically complicated.
Politically, because any small third-world country which tries
to start enriching gets the US very twitchy, and tends to get
you membership of the Axis of Evil club.
Then you can't just suck energy out of the material: you have to
build reactors, which are not cheap (write down the largest
number which you know a name for, and add three noughts).
You have to ask the French, British or Russians to build one for
you - more neo-colonial dependency.
These reactors have a distressing tendency to go on the blink
(ask our South African friends).
Plus the occasional meltdown.
They may not produce greenhouse gases, but they consume huge
amounts of water, which Namibia does not have.
Usually then, they have to be situated by the sea.
The effluent then would kill most of the fish which the country
also depends on.
Nuclear energy? Promising idea, but needs more work.
Bill Torbitt Windhoek
Material on this site copyright The Free Press Of Namibia (Pty)
Ltd PO Box 20783 - Windhoek - 42 John Meinert Street Tel: +264
(61) 279600 - Fax: +264 (61) 279602
*****************************************************************
35 AFP: Russia to pitch for Indian nuclear market during Putin trip -
by Penny MacRae Tue Jan 23, 4:21 PM ET
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Russia's president will offer India nuclear
power plants in a major pitch for a slice of the nation's
lucrative atomic energy market when he begins a visit to New
Delhi, officials said.
President Vladimir Putin" /> Vladimir Putin, seeking to counter
growing US ties with India, Moscow's former Cold War ally, is
bringing a large contingent of ministers, business people and
officials on his two-day trip.
The visit's aim is to boost the "strategic relationship" and
bring new momentum to a long friendship, said Putin, who will be
guest of honour at India's annual Republic Day parade on Friday
marking the country's founding as a republic.
"We intend to help India directly in construction of atomic
energy facilities for peaceful use," Putin said in an interview
with the Press Trust of India (PTI).
The passage last year of a landmark US-Indian deal allowing New
Delhi access to civilian nuclear technology after decades of
isolation has unleashed an international race to supply
energy-hungry India's atomic energy market.
Moscow, which still supplies over 70 percent of India's military
hardware, also hopes to sign a slew of defence deals, including
on joint production of a fifth-generation supersonic fighter jet
and a multi-role transport aircraft.
"Many very serious and very substantial" agreements will be
signed during Putin's trip, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister
Sergei Ivanov, kicking off his own five-day visit to India in
the southern high-tech city of Bangalore.
Russia says it has sold arms worth 10 billion dollars to India
in the past five years and that deals worth a similar amount are
in the pipeline with the country which is modernising its
outdated defence equipment.
India's military, the world's fourth-largest with around 1.3
million people in uniform, is in the market for new fighters and
trainer jets, submarines, radar equipment and weaponry.
Ivanov added Russia plans to would "actively" participate in an
Indian Air Force tender for 126 multi-purpose fighters, a
contract valued at close to 10 billion dollars, which pits
Lockheeds F-16 warplane and Boeings F/A-18E/F Super Hornet up
against fighters from Russia, France and Sweden.
"India is pursuing a hedging strategy in its relations with
Russia. They are trying not to over-rely on the US either
politically, militarily or otherwise as the Russians have always
proven to be fairly reliable in the past," Bharat Karnad,
analyst at New Delhi's Centre for Policy Research, told AFP.
Putin's visit "will strengthen and take bilateral relations
between the two time-tested friends to new heights," said
India's Minister of State for Planning, M.V. Rajasekharan.
Russia will sign a preliminary deal with India to build four
nuclear power plants as well as propose to supply four nuclear
reactors, reports said.
"An agreement... is being prepared for signing on the
construction at the Kudankulam nuclear power station (in Tamil
Nadu) of additional reactors and also construction of atomic
stations at new sites in India," Ivanov also said in Moscow,
according to the Interfax news agency.
The reactors would be for the flagship nuclear plant Russia is
building in southern Tamil Nadu state due to start operation
this year and which already has two Russian 1,000-megawatt
reactors.
Nuclear power now just supplies a scant percentage of the energy
needs of India which has been eagerly seeking new fuel supplies
to feed its fast-growing economy.
India and energy-rich Russia are also expected to discuss
boosting cooperation in oil exploration and production.
Copyright 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
36 PRN: Key Facts About Nuclear Energy's Clean-Air Benefits
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following
is being issued by the Nuclear Energy Institute:
* Approximately 30 percent of America's electricity comes
from sources that produce no air emissions or greenhouse gases:
nuclear energy, hydroelectric power, wind and solar power.
Nuclear energy represents 73 percent of this non-emitting
electricity supply. (Hydroelectric power represents 24 percent of
this non-emitting supply, while wind and solar combined provide
less than two percent of this non-emitting supply.)
* In 2005, U.S. nuclear power plants prevented the discharge
of 682 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
This is nearly as much carbon dioxide as is released from all
U.S. passenger cars.
* In 2005, U.S. nuclear power plants reduced emissions of
nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide -- pollutants controlled under
the Clean Air Act -- by 1.1 million short tons and 3.3 million
short tons respectively. The amount of nitrogen oxide emissions
that nuclear plants prevent annually is the equivalent of taking
nearly 55 million passenger cars off the road.
* Nuclear energy is the single-largest piece of U.S.
industry's voluntary greenhouse gas emissions reduction program.
According to the newly released annual report to the U.S.
Department of Energy from Power Partners -- a voluntary
partnership between DOE and the electric power industry --
nuclear energy accounted for 54 percent of voluntary greenhouse
gas reductions reported by project type by preventing the
emission of 142 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. (This
figure results from incremental gains in electricity production
at nuclear power plants, rather than from total electricity
production at these plants.)
* Nuclear energy has the smallest environmental impact of any
clean-air electricity source. For example, a 1,000-megawatt wind
farm would occupy 78 square miles. A 1,000-megawatt nuclear plant
would occupy less than five percent of that area. A
1,000-megawatt power plant can meet the needs of a city the size
of Boston or Seattle. SOURCE Nuclear Energy Institute
Related links:
+ http://www.nei.org
Copyright 1996- PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights
Reserved.
*****************************************************************
37 MarketWatch: What Bush has said on energy before -
What Bush has said on energy before
The evolution of his positions in the State of the Union
By MarketWatch Last Update: 6:08 PM ET
Jan 23, 2007
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Energy is slated to be a major theme
in President Bush's State of the Union speech on Tuesday night.
He is prepared to call for a goal of reducing gasoline
consumption by 20% over the next 10 years using renewable fuels
such as ethanol.
Here's what he said in previous speeches about energy:
2006
The president says "America is addicted to oil" and sets a goal
to "replace more than 75% of U.S. oil imports from the Middle
East by 2025." He also proposes more research into cellulosic
ethanol. "Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical
and competitive within six years," Bush says.
2005:
Kicking off his second term, the president highlights the need
for "reliable supplies of affordable, environmentally responsible
energy" to keep the economy going and makes a plug for more
"clean nuclear energy" produced at home. He again urges Congress
to pass legislation to make "America more secure and less
dependent on foreign energy."
2004:
With the 2003 Northeast blackouts serving as a backdrop, the
president draws attention to the need for "reliable supplies of
energy to make our economy run" with a call for legislation to
modernize our electricity system, promotes conservation, and
calls for measures to "make America less dependent on foreign
sources of energy."
2003:
The president outlines his vision for a hydrogen economy and the
development of hydrogen-powered vehicles. He also backs a general
plan "to promote energy independence for our country, while
dramatically improving the environment." He calls on Congress to
pass an energy bill to "produce more energy at home."
2002:
The president says job creation depends on "reliable and
affordable energy" but places responsibility on Congress to "act
to encourage conservation, promote technology, build
infrastructure, and it must act to increase energy production at
home so America is less dependent on foreign oil."
[End of Story]
/>Copyright 2007 MarketWatch,
Inc. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
38 Guardian Unlimited: China Denies Intent to Militarize Space
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday January 22, 2007 8:16 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) - Chinese Foreign ministry officials have told a
visiting U.S. diplomat that China's successful test of an
anti-satellite weapon should not be seen as a threat and does
not signal the beginning of a race to militarize space, the
State Department said Monday.
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill raised the issue
with Chinese officials over the weekend in Beijing. China has
not made a public announcement of the Jan. 11 test, in which it
shot down one of its own old weather satellites, but officials
acknowledged it during their meeting with Hill, State Department
spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Hill, who heads the State Department's East Asia bureau, told
the Chinese they should be more forthcoming about their military
activities and their defense budget. These issues have been a
long-running concern of the United States, and McCormack said
the Chinese have taken only ``baby steps'' thus far toward more
openness.
McCormack said the United States seeks ``greater understanding
of exactly what their intent was'' in testing the anti-satellite
weapon. He said Hill also asked for details of the test and what
plans China may have for future tests.
``All of this is designed, really, to avoid any sort of
misunderstandings, not only with the United States, but other
countries around the world,'' McCormack said.
Hill was in Beijing as part of a three-nation visit to exchange
views on talks with North Korea over its nuclear weapons
program. He also visited South Korea and Japan.
In criticizing the test on Friday, the State Department said
``modern life as we know it'' depends on the security of
space-based technology, whose uses include data transmission,
communications and weather forecasting.
Guardian Unlimited Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
39 Police match image of Litvinenko's real assassin
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 08:11:01 -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
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2556377,00.html
Police match image of Litvinenko's real assassin with his death-bed
description Daniel McGrory and Tony Halpin
The polonium trail
Police have identified the man they believe poisoned Alexander
Litvinenko. The suspected killer was captured on cameras at Heathrow
as he flew into Britain to carry out the murder.
Friends of the ex-spy say that the man was a hired killer, sent by the
Kremlin, who vanished hours after administering a deadly dose of
radioactive polonium-210 to Litvinenko.
He arrived in London on a forged EU passport and reportedly slipped
the poison into a cup of tea he made for Litvinenko in a London hotel
room. Litvinenko was reportedly able to give vital details of his
suspected killer in a bedside interview with detectives just days
before he died on November 23 at University College Hospital.
Police have decided not to publish pictures of this man, who was seen
on CCTV cameras as he flew in from Hamburg on November 1, the day that
Litvinenko fell ill.
He is described as being tall and powerfully built, in his early
thirties with short, cropped black hair and distinctive Central Asian
features.
He reportedly travelled on the same flight as Dimitri Kovtun, a
Russian businessman who is being investigated for trafficking the
radioactive material used in the poison plot.
Oleg Gordievsky, a former KGB agent and friend of Litvinenko, who has
worked closely with police on the investigation, said: "This man is
believed to have used a Lithuanian or Slovak passport. He did not
check into any hotel in London using the name or that passport, and he
left the country using another EU passport."
German police are investigating how polonium-210 was found in various
locations Mr Kovtun visited in Hamburg.
According to police sources, until now it has not been revealed that
Litvinenko visited a fourth-floor room at the Millennium Hotel to
discuss a business deal.
He had gone to the room with Mr Kovtun and another former Russian
agent, Andrei Lugovoy.
The three men were joined in the room later by the mystery figure who
was introduced as "Vladislav".
Mr Gordievsky told The Times yesterday how "Vladislav was described as
someone who could help Mr Litvinenko win a lucrative contract with a
Moscow-based private security company.
"Sasha (his name for Litvinenko) remembered the man making him a cup
of tea.
"His belief is that the water from the kettle was only lukewarm and
that the polonium-210 was added, which heated the drink through
radiation so he had a hot cup of tea. The poison would have showed up
in a cold drink," he added.
The hotel room where Litvinenko thought he was poisoned remains sealed
off. This room reportedly showed the heaviest concentration of
polonium-210 found at a dozen locations across London.
Both Mr Lugovoy and Mr Kovtun were questioned by Scotland Yard
detectives in Moscow last month. They strenuously deny playing any
role in the posion plot.
Scotland Yard have asked to return to Russia so that they can continue
their hunt for the suspected murderer, but have been told that they
will not be allowed back until after a team of Russian investigators
have completed their own inquiry in London.
The fear is that the Russian investigators will use their trip to
pursue enemies of President Vladimir Putin living in London. The
Kremlin has offered an amnesty for some on its wanted list in return
for information against Mr Putin's main foes given asylum in Britain.
They are thought to include former executives of the fallen oil giant
Yukos, whose assets have been seized by the Kremlin.
Alexei Golubovich, former director of corporate finance and strategic
planning at Yukos, came back from Italy this month after striking a
deal with Russian prosecutors, who had issued an international warrant
for his arrest.
Mr Golubovich was held in Italy last year but fought off extradition
attempts. He is now said to be co-operating actively with Russian
prosecutors.
The Kremlin agreed apparently to drop fraud charges if he returned to
Moscow and provided testimony against Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the
founder of Yukos, and his deputy, Leonid Nevzlin.
Khodorkovsky was jailed for fraud and tax evasion in 2003 in what was
widely seen as a government vendetta against the oligarch, who had
been highly critical of President Putin. Mr Nevzlin fled to Israel.
Yuri Chaika, the Prosecutor-General in Moscow, has accused Mr Nevzlin
of involvement in Litvinenko's death, a charge dismissed by the former
Yukos number two. Mr Nevzlin told The Times how Litvinenko flew to
Israel shortly before he was poisoned to warn him about a plan by the
Kremlin to claw back millions of pounds from exiled Yukos executives
through a covert campaign of intimidation and murder.
At least a dozen former Yukos personnel have been given asylum in
Britain. Three attempts by the authorities in Moscow to have them sent
back to Russia were blocked by the English courts.
All these executives are understood to be on the list of people the
Russian investigators want to question in their murder inquiry.
Mr Chaika added to the intrigue this week by announcing that Moscow
had "evidence of attempts to poison several witnesses in the Yukos
case with mercury".
He also asked Scotland Yard to investigate the sudden deaths of two
Russians working in London, although police here insist the men died
of natural causes.
-------------------------------------------------
Progchat_action is a non-partisan and progressive political news weblog,
chat, and action discussion alternative in cyberspace:
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*****************************************************************
40 iafrica.com: sa news Radiation-exposed workers to march
JOHANNESBURG
Tiisetso Motsoeneng Tue, 23 Jan 2007
Radiation-exposed workers will march to the Nuclear Energy
Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) near Atteridgeville on
Wednesday to demand that the corporation speed up their
compensation, lobby group Earthlife Africa said on Tuesday.
Workers, who are suffering from cancer, myetoma, asthma and
other occupational related illnesses, are expected to assemble
at the corner of Church Street and Masupa in Atteridgeville at
10am and arrive at Gate 3 of Pelindaba (Necsa) at 11am.
Madibeng Municipality has granted permission for the march and
therefore all affected workers, their families and community
must support the cause, said Alfred Sepepe, the convener of the
march.
Earthlife Africa said most were very ill, out of work and
penniless.
"A 16th person among the 208 who were reviewed in terms of a
health study commissioned by Earthlife Africa Johannesburg died
during the first week in January," the lobby group said.
Earthlife Africa said it began its investigation two years ago
into unsafe practices of the nuclear giant after several workers
were diagnosed with "unquestionable occupational-related
diseases" which has since been referred to the Compensation
Commissioner, but that Necsa still has not submitted the
documentation required by law to the Commissioner.
The lobby group said at least 52 more people were diagnosed
with 72 probable diseases, which means several people have more
than one occupational disease, but require additional expensive
tests for a clarification.
"Further information has repeatedly been requested from
Necsa/Pelindaba for a significant number of other workers
involved in this study who could not be definitively diagnosed
because their Necsa medical files are gaping with inadequate
information or have not surfaced," it said.
I-Net Bridge
Copyright 2002-2005 iafrica.com, a division of Metropolis* - a
Primedia company
*****************************************************************
41 Las Vegas SUN: Judge moves 'Divine Strake' court hearing up to Jan. 31
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A federal judge has pushed forward by one day a
scheduled hearing on a proposed non-nuclear explosion that
over the Nevada desert.
U.S. District Court Judge Lloyd George in Las Vegas cited a
scheduling conflict in moving the date of the telephone
conference call hearing from Feb. 1 to Jan. 31.
A Justice Department lawyer in Washington, D.C., representing
the federal Defense Threat Reduction Agency is due to provide an
update on the proposal to detonate a 700-ton ammonium nitrate
and fuel oil bomb at the Nevada Test Site, about 85 miles
northwest of Las Vegas. No date has been set for the blast.
Government officials have called the test explosion in Nevada
important for gathering data about penetrating hardened and
deeply buried targets.
Critics have called the test a surrogate for a low-yield nuclear
"bunker-buster" bomb, and expressed fears that it would scatter
dust contaminated by 928 atmospheric and below-ground nuclear
weapons tests at the test site from 1951 to 1992.
The explosion was postponed last year after Western Shoshone
tribe members and "downwinders" in Utah and Nevada filed suit,
and Utah congressional representatives joined in questioning its
safety.
--
All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
42 San Bernardino County Sun: Plutonium crash a wake-up call
Our view: Accident illustrates vulnerability of
other roads that lead to proposed nuclear dump.
Article Launched: 01/21/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
The tractor-trailer that overturned Tuesday night on eastbound
Interstate 40 may have had just a small amount of radioactive
plutonium on board, and the 55-gallon drum it was in didn't
burst, but we may not always be able to count ourselves so
lucky.
If anything, the close call last week highlights the extreme
danger San Bernardino County residents face, if the Yucca
Mountain Repository is allowed to open in Nevada, and many such
trucks are hauling similarly dangerous nuclear-laden cargo
across our highways. Though it's admittedly safer to store the
spent nuclear fuel in one well-protected place than to have it
stored at hundreds of less secure nuclear power plants across
the country, transportation to the proposed dump, 90 miles
northwest of Las Vegas, is an issue. Especially for those who
live along the routes that run smack through the middle of San
Bernardino, Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
And while the Department of Energy maintains that nuclear waste
has been shipped safely to disposal sites for more than 30
years, it still begs the question of the risk hundreds of
thousands of Southern Californians would be exposed to by trucks
and trains traveling through the Inland Empire and High Desert to
get to the Nevada nuclear dump. Even by rail, the radioactive
cargo would still travel through the Cajon Pass and across the
desert.
Tuesday's load concealed a hidden weapon - less than 4 grams of
plutonium-238 nestled in with various and sundry products. But
why isn't it ferried by a dedicated truck or train, rather than
commercial carriers? And why isn't this stuff clearly marked, so
people know the hazard? If it wasn't for an observant battalion
chief, firefighters might not have even known there was
radiation to contend with.
The Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste dump, first proposed in 1982
and targeted to open in 1998, now has a projected opening date
of 2017. It has been fraught with problems, from lawsuits to
funding shortfalls to scientific controversy.
Not least of which is ensuring that the safety of hundreds of
thousands of people in San Bernardino County is not put in
jeopardy.
Los Angeles Newspaper Group
*****************************************************************
43 Salt Lake Tribune: Speak out on bomb
Editorials
Public Forum Letter
Article Last Updated: 01/22/2007 07:16:37 PM MST
I am delighted that Gov. Jon Huntsman wants Utah to have a say
in Divine Strake, the planned test of the 700-ton chemical bomb
over the old atomic weapons test site in Nevada.
As with those atomic tests in the '50s, which produced a
generation of downwinders, the federal government has assured
the public that this test will pose no health risks. Yet, common
sense suggests that when you explode a bomb that produces a
10,000-foot mushroom cloud, a certain amount of that old
radioactive dust will be picked up and travel wherever the wind
blows - often toward Utah.
Furthermore, the concerns are not just for the immediate and
long-term health effects of the blast, but also the fact that
this test is merely preliminary to developing a whole new
generation of low-yield nuclear weapons called "bunker busters."
So, as we scold and threaten nations like North Korea and Iran
on their nuclear weapons programs, isn't our own plan to develop
new nuclear weapons incredibly hypocritical?
Fortunately, Gov. Huntsman, along with many of us, has
serious concerns about the safety of this test and has scheduled
public hearings in Salt Lake on Jan. 24 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30
p.m. in Room 135, West Capitol Building. Let's take advantage of
this opportunity to speak out.
Keller Higbee
Salt Lake City
© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
44 Spectrum: Commission opposes Divine Strake
The Spectrum, St. George, UT www.thespectrum.com -
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
By KEN PETERSON kpeterson@thespectrum.com
ST. GEORGE - Washington County Commissioners issued a statement
Monday saying they are opposed to Divine Strake and any other
similarly designed weapons experiment.
"I think it's what we said all along," Commissioner Denny Drake
said. "Without further information, we are not willing to support
Divine Strake. We certainly don't want to endanger life and
property in our area based on the two environmental assessments,
which contain conflicting information, and with which people,
including our own congressional delegation, are not comfortable."
The statement was a surprise as late last week two Commissioners
- Jim Eardley and Alan Gardner - hinted that they might support
the proposed test to detonate 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and
fuel oil at the Nevada Test Site. The Commission's position now
equals that of the governor's office and the cities of Springdale
and St. George, which have also decried the test.
According to its press release, the Commission will remain
opposed until the federal government completes a full and
complete Environmental Impact Study that demonstrates the
continued safety of the community.
And the study process must be "transparent and open" for the
public to study, review and give comment.
"There is no conflict within the County Commission," Drake said.
"All three Commissioners are opposed to Divine Strake."
According to the press release, Commissioners said the study
process must be "transparent and open" for the public to study,
review and give comment.
"I want to see the results of the Environmental Impact Study and
see if the discrepancies in the Environmental Assessments are
resolved before taking any further position,"Gardner said.
The proposed test has raised concerns among those living in
Nevada, Utah and Idaho.
When the Defense Threat Reduction Agency set up open house
exhibits of the test, which were criticized by residents because
they did not allow for public input, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.
instigated his own set of hearings - one in St. George and the
other in Salt Lake City - overseen by the state's Department of
Environmental Quality.
Originally published January 23, 2007
*****************************************************************
45 Daily Herald: Judge moves 'Divine Strake' court hearing up to Jan. 31
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Daily Herald
The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS -- A federal judge has pushed forward by one day a
scheduled hearing on a proposed non-nuclear explosion that
authorities say would send a mushroom-shaped dust cloud high
over the Nevada desert.
U.S. District Court Judge Lloyd George in Las Vegas cited a
scheduling conflict in moving the date of the telephone
conference call hearing from Feb. 1 to Jan. 31.
A Justice Department lawyer in Washington, D.C., representing
the federal Defense Threat Reduction Agency is due to provide an
update on the proposal to detonate a 700-ton ammonium nitrate
and fuel oil bomb at the Nevada Test Site, about 85 miles
northwest of Las Vegas. No date has been set for the blast.
Government officials have called the test explosion in Nevada
important for gathering data about penetrating hardened and
deeply buried targets.
Critics have called the test a surrogate for a low-yield nuclear
"bunker-buster" bomb, and expressed fears that it would scatter
dust contaminated by 928 atmospheric and below-ground nuclear
weapons tests at the test site from 1951 to 1992.
The explosion was postponed last year after Western Shoshone
tribe members and "downwinders" in Utah and Nevada filed suit,
and Utah congressional representatives joined in questioning its
safety. This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D2.
Copyright 2007 Daily Herald and Lee Enterprises
*****************************************************************
46 Scotsman.com: A nuclear legacy of shame - and voices that won't fall silent
24 Jan 2007
STRUAN STEVENSON
KIZAT Kuzembayev stands proudly to attention as we enter his
tiny cancer ward in the hospital in Semipalatinsk. Medals are
pinned to his dressing gown indicating his status as an
important war hero. He is 79 years old and suffering from
terminal stomach cancer. In 1953, he was one of 42 healthy young
men selected by the Soviet military regime as human guinea pigs.
The small group was taken to the village of Karaul in the remote
steppe of East Kazakhstan. Local villagers had been evacuated
and Mr Kuzembayev and his colleagues were ordered to leave the
shelter of the village houses to watch an atomic explosion from
a nearby hill, only 30 miles from the test site.
Mr Kuzembayev recalls the nuclear blast in vivid detail. He saw
the sky turn red as if a huge fire had engulfed the landscape
from horizon to horizon. As the ground trembled beneath his feet
and the hellish roar of the atomic weapon swamped Karaul, he
watched the fiery sky turn black, then grey, with piercing white
and red spirals of flame shooting skywards, while the writhing
stalk of the monstrous mushroom cloud unfolded. Mr Kuzembayev
feels fortunate to have lived to see his 80th year. He is the
only surviving member of this group of nuclear guinea pigs. The
other 41 each died of cancer.
From 1949 until 1990, the Soviet Union used the Semipalatinsk
region of East Kazakhstan as a nuclear testing site. Hidden from
the world, this top-secret site the size of France was subjected
to 607 nuclear explosions, including 26 aboveground tests, 124
atmospheric tests and 457 underground. Cynically, the military
scientists would wait until the wind was blowing in the
direction of the remote Kazakh villages before detonating their
nuclear devices. KGB doctors would then closely study the
effects of nuclear radiation on their own population.
The 1.5 million population of the "Polygon" in East
Kazakhstanwere subjected to the equivalent of 20,000 Hiroshima
bombs. Seepage from the underground tests has polluted
watercourses and streams. Farmland has been heavily irradiated.
Radioactive contamination has entered the food chain.
Now cancers run at five times the national average. Cancers of
the throat, lungs and breasts are particularly common.
Twelve-year-old girls have developed mammary cancer. Birth
defects are three times the national average. Babies and farm
animals are born with terrible deformities. Children are
mentally retarded and Downs Syndrome is common. Virtually all
children suffer from anaemia. Many of the young men are
impotent. Many of the young women are afraid to become pregnant
in case they give birth to defective babies. Psychological
disorders are rife. Suicides are widespread, especially among
young men and even, alarmingly among children. Fourteen children
and teenagers committed suicide in Karaul village alone last
year, including an eleven year old boy and a twelve year old
girl. Average life expectancy is 52, compared to 59 outside the
Polygon.
In the village of Znamenka, the local doctor introduces us to a
group of patients. Znamenka was one of the villages worst
affected by the nuclear tests and many of the inhabitants are
ill. Cancers are rife. A man of 25 is led towards us. His mother
grips his hand tightly. His head is almost entirely covered by a
cancerous tumour, covering his eyes so that he can no longer
see. Disconcertingly he says "Ciao" and then we learn that 5
years ago he was sent to Italy to have the tumour surgically
removed, paid for by Japanese donors. Sadly, it began to grown
again last year and his mother fears it will slowly kill him.
She is only 57 years old, but looks like a woman of 80, the
struggle to survive etched on her deeply tanned face.
Nearby, a mother holds her young daughter who was born with a
cleft palate and harelip. The child clutches a cuddly Loch Ness
Monster - given to her by Cold Feet star Kimberley Joseph - and
tries to smile through her awful deformity. The doctor says that
the cost of flying the child and her mother to the West for
surgery is well beyond their means. After speeches from the
village elders I give the local head teacher $250 and a large
crate of sweatshirts and caps from sportswear company Nike. I
explain that this is for the local children and yet, in the face
of such appalling conditions, it seems wholly inadequate.
The village of Sarzhal was only 10 miles from ground zero when
the first nuclear tests were carried out.
A man of 80 comes to the lectern. He is a decorated war veteran
who served his country at the Battle of Stalingrad. In a
dignified and quiet voice he explains that only two years ago he
was a happily married grandfather with ten children and
grandchildren. Now, 24 months later, his wife is dead from
cancer, 8 of his children and grand- children have died from
cancer and of his 2 remaining grandchildren, his eldest
grand-daughter passed her business studies diploma in
Semipalatinsk only last year, then committed suicide,
overwhelmed by the tragedy engulfing her family. A middle-aged
woman begins to sob quietly at the back of the hall. An elderly
man wipes tears from his cheeks. I turn to look at Kimberley who
is biting her lips, tears coursing down her face. On cue, the
sky suddenly darkens and the library trembles as thunder roars
across the steppe, almost as if the nuclear tests have begun
again. A torrential downpour rattles on the corrugated roof,
echoing the tears flowing inside.
In the village of Kainar, among the foothills of a low mountain
range, villagers in national Kazakh costume have gathered
outside a yurta, or nomadic tent, to welcome our group. A sheep
has been killed in our honour and I am asked to slice meat from
the roasted head which sits forlornly on a wide dish, horns
attached. Traditionally, the ears must be cut off first, as the
greatest delicacy and offered to the most honoured guest.
Kimberley gracefully declines. Endless toasts are offered washed
down with soured mare's milk or vodka. The wise choose vodka!
Our final village visit in the Polygon is to Karaul. In the
medical centre we are ushered into the room of a beautiful
14-year old girl called Aigul. She stands as we enter. She is
wearing a trendy tee shirt with 'love 7' emblazoned on the front
and a pair of flared jeans. She has incredibly sad eyes. The
chief doctor explains that, like all other children in the area,
Aigul has chronic anaemia. However, they have been unable to get
her blood back to normal and she now has chronic hepatitis,
kidney failure and the onset of scoliosis - the condition where
the spine can no longer bear the weight of the head and begins
to bend painfully. Aigul listens to our expressions of sympathy,
her sad eyes telling us that she only yearns to be like any
other teenage girl, away from this place of pain and suffering.
Karaul is in the Abay district of East Kazakhstan, named after
the great Kazakh poet and humanitarian Abay Kunanbaev. It was
Abay who translated the works of Robert Burns and Robert Louis
Stevenson into Kazakh.
It seems to be the ultimate irony that Stalin should choose the
home of this national icon, who wrote about love and humanity,
as the site of his nuclear tests.
It was Robert Louis Stevenson who said - "The cruellest lies are
often told in silence." But the people of Semipalatinsk refused
to suffer in silence any longer. It was their bravery and their
resistance in confronting the might of the USSR that brought
this sickening episode to an end. Now it is the task of everyone
to help rebuild this shattered landscape and to provide real
help to these victims of the Cold War.
Copyright © 2004 Struan Stevenson
*****************************************************************
47 Deseret News: County joins foes of Divine Strake
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News
ST. GEORGE The Washington County Commission on Monday issued a
formal statement opposing the federal government's plan to
conduct a non-nuclear weapons test at the Nevada Test Site.
"Legitimate concerns about Divine Strake have been
raised," the statement reads. "To assure the safety and
well-being of our citizenry, these concerns must be carefully
studied and evaluated before a decision is made to proceed with
the proposed detonation."
Washington County's three elected commissioners join
Springdale and St. George in opposing the proposed underground
explosion. Earlier this month, St. George Mayor Dan McArthur
read a statement, supported by the City Council, that "strongly
opposes" Divine Strake and any related testing at the Nevada
Test Site.
"The city of St. George has a unique history due to its
proximity to the Nevada nuclear-test site during the atomic
age," according to the city's statement issued last Thursday.
"Thousands of early deaths of those living in southern Utah and
the surrounding areas have been attributed to nuclear testing
during the 1950s and 1960s at the site. Many St. George
residents and others have suffered incalculable loss as a result
of radioactive-fallout exposure from the detonations at the
site."
While the county commissioners expressed opposition to
Divine Strake in their statement, their position also includes
guarded support of the test if it proves to be necessary to
safeguard American liberty and well-being, said Dean Cox, the
county's public-affairs officer.
"This statement recognizes we have legitimate national
safety concerns to consider and that it's conceivable that tests
like these may need to be done in the future," said Cox. "The
statement is not a blanket rejection or a blanket endorsement of
such testing."
Cox said the commissioners would remain opposed to Divine
Strake "until the federal government finishes a full and
complete environmental-impact statement which clearly
demonstrates the continued safety of our citizens."
The second of two public hearings scheduled by Gov. Jon
Huntsman Jr. to discuss Divine Strake will take place Wednesday
from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Utah State Capital, West
Building, Room 135. Nearly 300 people attended a public hearing
in St. George last week.
Huntsman already has expressed opposition to Divine
Strake and is planning on attending Wednesday's hearing,
according to the governor's staff. A transcript of the hearing
will be included in Huntsman's comment letter to the National
Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office opposing the
experiment.
E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com
2007 Deseret News Publishing Company [ /]
*****************************************************************
48 reviewjournal.com: YUCCA MOUNTAIN: 'It may be time to stop digging'
Jan. 23, 2007
Years of flaws have killed repository, NRC member says
By STEVE TETREAULTSTEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- Ed McGaffigan, a veteran member of the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, said Monday that the Yucca Mountain
program is deeply flawed and that the Nevada nuclear waste site
should be scrapped.
"It may be time to stop digging, and it may be time to rethink,"
McGaffigan said in a critique of the Energy Department program as
he prepares to retire from the five-member commission that
regulates nuclear safety.
Speaking to a group of reporters, the official said the Nevada
site probably could be licensed "if it had been handled properly
through the years."
But he said it has been doomed by failures in Congress to
correct flaws in nuclear waste laws and by Energy Department
missteps, including appointment of some directors "who really
weren't cut out for the job."
"I think Yucca Mountain has been beset by bad law, bad
regulatory policy, bad science policy, bad personnel policy, bad
budget policy throughout its history," McGaffigan said. "Every
time somebody has done something to try to speed things up, it
has backfired.
"Each year that passes, we are not going to get any closer to
Yucca under the current circumstances," McGaffigan said. The
Energy Department has projected a 2017 repository opening, but
he said 2025-2027 would be more realistic.
McGaffigan, 58, has been an NRC commissioner since 1996, making
him the longest-serving member in the agency's 32-year history.
He is undergoing treatment for metastatic melanoma, an
aggressive cancer that he has said he does not expect to defeat.
McGaffigan, who is a physicist, has questioned the Yucca program
in the past. But his comments Monday were among the strongest
and most direct of any federal official watching over the
project.
In another instance, physicist Paul Craig resigned from the
Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, a DOE advisory group, in
2004 to speak out against what he saw as safety and design flaws
in the proposed repository.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has monitored DOE's work at
the Nevada site, and its leaders would pass judgment on the
repository's safety and operational plan when the department
submits an application for a license.
McGaffigan's views were embraced by critics of the Yucca
program, although some wondered why he waited to make them
public. McGaffigan said he felt free to speak as a private
citizen as his NRC tenure comes to an end.
Energy Department spokesman Craig Stevens said the criticism
from McGaffigan was "highly predictable."
"It is good that we are going to get somebody new with open eyes
to look at this at the NRC," Stevens said, referring to
McGaffigan's successor who has not yet been named.
McGaffigan "is tainted in our view," Stevens said.
"We believe there is no better place to store spent nuclear fuel
than in the middle of the desert in the belly of a mountain,"
Stevens said.
Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said she plans to broadcast
McGaffigan's views to other lawmakers as Congress resumes debate
on nuclear waste disposal.
"This is akin to the generals who are leaving Iraq and speaking
their minds once they are in a position to do so," Berkley said.
McGaffigan "is serving in a very important position where he has
had an opportunity over a period of time to get input from both
sides, and he has come out squarely against Yucca Mountain."
Michele Boyd, energy legislative director at the Public Citizen,
a watchdog group that opposes the repository, called
McGaffigan's comments "stunning."
But, Boyd said, "I find it disturbing that he waited until he
was leaving office to start saying these things. The bottom line
is that these facts about the dubiousness of the project should
have been brought up before."
McGaffigan said the Energy Department was able to open the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico because the state thought
development of the nuclear mixed-waste site was a fair process.
That was not the case in Nevada, which was singled out for
high-level nuclear waste by Congress in a 1987 law known as the
"Screw Nevada" bill, he said.
Now given opposition from Nevada leaders, McGaffigan said the
department has "no chance" to get Congress to pass legislation
it needs to fix the Yucca program.
He said DOE officials knew as far back as the Clinton
administration they were going to run into problems with land
withdrawals, water rights and exemptions for toxic waste
handling at Yucca Mountain.
The department did not pursue solutions aggressively because,
McGaffigan said he was told, the department's thinking was that
Nevada was going to back down eventually.
McGaffigan endorsed formation of a government-chartered
corporation with a bipartisan board of directors to run the
repository project and bring in long-term managers rather than
political appointees.
"You have to have people who are going to be there for a while,
who can approach the issue analytically and not emotionally,"
McGaffigan said. "Having these rotating sets of leaders doesn't
serve anybody's interest."
In the meantime, he said, "I think realistically we should be
starting to look at other sites."
"We have to look, and maybe we can create incentives and find a
state, if it is a fair process, but it would have to be a fair
process."
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007
*****************************************************************
49 AU ABC: States urged to drop uranium shipment bans
More About ABC Northern Territory
Tuesday, 23 January 2007. 20:39 (AEDT)Tuesday, 23 January 2007.
Mining heavyweights say inconsistencies on uranium transport are
obstacles to growth. (File photo) ABC TV
The Federal Resources Minister, Ian Macfarlane, has called on
state governments to remove restrictions on the shipment of
uranium from their ports.
Mining heavyweights met government officials in Canberra today
to discuss the transport and regulatory problems facing the
industry.
They have named inconsistent regulation by the states and
territories and uranium transport bans as obstacles to growth.
Darwin is currently the only Australian port shipping uranium
and Mr Macfarlane says that needs to change before more uranium
mines open.
"There are already other ports in Australia handling radioactive
material, so uranium shouldn't be singled out on a political
basis," he said.
"We'd be urging both the industry and the state governments to
follow the lead of the Northern Territory Government and ensure
that export access to ports is available."
The Federal Government has also called on governments to clarify
the royalty obligations for the operators of future uranium
mines, especially for sites where uranium is not the only
mineral extracted.
Mr Macfarlane says a clearer system is needed.
"The Commonwealth and the Territory Government are currently in
discussions about the issue of royalties," he said.
"We understand that the industry needs certainty in this area
and that a case-by-case basis is not always the best way to move
forward."
*****************************************************************
50 ENS: Geothermal Heat Mining Promises Abundant, Cheap Energy
Environment News Service (ENS)
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, January 22, 2007 (ENS) - Mining the
heat that resides as stored energy in the Earth's hard rock
crust beneath the United States could supply a substantial
portion of the electricity the country will need in the future,
probably at competitive prices and with minimal environmental
impact, new research shows.
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the study is the
first in 30 years to take a new look at geothermal energy, a
source that has been largely ignored.
"We've determined that heat mining can be economical in the
short term, based on a global analysis of existing geothermal
systems, an assessment of the total U.S. resource, and
continuing improvements in deep-drilling and reservoir
stimulation technology," said Jefferson Tester.
[Tester] MIT Professor Jefferson Tester points to a geothermal
map of the United States. (Photo by Donna Coveney courtesy ) The
professor of chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, MIT, headed the 18 member international panel
that prepared the study.
Although geothermal energy is produced commercially today and
the United States is the world's biggest producer, existing U.S.
plants have focused on the high-grade geothermal systems located
in isolated regions of the west.
The new study, "The Future of Geothermal Energy," takes a fresh
look at this resource and evaluates its potential for wider
deployment.
The study shows that drilling several wells to reach hot rock
and connecting them to a fractured rock region that has been
stimulated to let water flow through it creates a heat-exchanger
that can produce large amounts of hot water or steam to run
electric generators at the surface.
Unlike conventional fossil-fuel power plants that burn coal,
natural gas or oil, no fuel would be required for this enhanced
geothermal system, EGS, technology.
And unlike wind and solar systems, a geothermal plant works
night and day, offering a non-interruptible source of electric
power.
[geysers] The largest geothermal field in the world is The
Geysers, near San Francisco, California. (Photo courtesy ) To
develop geothermal as a major electricity supplier for the
nation, the panel recommends more detailed and site-specific
assessments of the U.S. geothermal resource and a three to five
year federal commitment to demonstrate the EGS concept in the
field at commercial scale.
Panel member David Blackwell, professor of geophysics at
Southern Methodist University in Texas, points out that
geothermal resources are available nationwide, although the
highest-grade sites are in western states, where hot rocks are
closer to the surface, requiring less drilling and producing the
energy at lower cost.
The environmental impacts of geothermal development are
"markedly lower than conventional fossil-fuel and nuclear power
plants," the panel concluded
"This environmental advantage is due to low emissions and the
small overall footprint of the entire geothermal system, which
results because energy capture and extraction is contained
entirely underground, and the surface equipment needed for
conversion to electricity is relatively compact," Tester said.
But meeting water requirements for geothermal plants may be an
issue, particularly in arid regions, the panel notes, adding
that the potential for seismic risk needs to be carefully
monitored and managed.
Even in the most promising areas, drilling must reach depths of
5,000 feet or more in the west, and much deeper in the eastern
United States for the EGS technology to perform.
Still, "the possibility of drilling into these rocks, fracturing
them and pumping water in to produce steam has already been
shown to be feasible," said panel member M. Nafi Toksoz,
professor of geophysics at MIT.
Toksoz says the electricity produced annually by geothermal
energy systems now in use in the United States at sites in
California, Hawaii, Utah and Nevada is comparable to that
produced by solar and wind power combined.
Some 58 new geothermal energy projects are already under
development in the United States, according to a November 2006
survey by the Geothermal Energy Association, GEA, an industry
trade group, which says federal and state incentives to promote
geothermal energy are paying off.
This represents the U.S. geothermal industrys most dramatic
wave of expansion since the 1980s, said Karl Gawell, GEAs
executive director. "We are seeing a geothermal power
renaissance in the U.S."
These projects, when developed, would provide up to 2,250
megawatts of electric power capacity, enough to serve the needs
of 1.8 million households.
[geothermal] The Heber Geothermal Power Station operated by
Imperial Power Services is located in Imperial County,
California. The facility began commercial operation in July
1985. (Photo Wayne Gretz courtesy ) This would almost double
installed U.S. geothermal power capacity to over 5,000
megawatts, according to GEA, producing electric power roughly
equivalent to all U.S. wind facilities operating in 2005.
Government funded research into geothermal energy was active in
the 1970s and early 1980s, but as oil prices declined in the
mid-1980s, enthusiasm for alternative energy sources waned, and
funding for research on geothermal power was reduced.
"Now that energy concerns have resurfaced, an opportunity exists
for the U.S. to pursue the EGS option aggressively to meet
long-term national needs," Tester observed.
On December 20, President George W. Bush signed legislation to
extend federal tax credits through 2008 for for renewable energy
and energy efficiency projects including geothermal power. The
measure provides a similar one-year tax credit extension for new
properties that produce geothermal power.
In its report, the panel recommends that the shallow, extra-hot,
high-grade deposits in the west should be explored and tested
first. Other geothermal resources such as co-produced hot water
associated with oil and gas production and geopressured
resources could be pursued as short-term options.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2006. All Rights
Reserved.
*****************************************************************
51 Platts: NRC's McGaffigan says US should start over on waste disposal
Washington (Platts)--22Jan2007
The US government should start over in its effort to develop a
long-term solution to nuclear waste disposal by turning over
management of the project to a government-owned corporation,
Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Edward McGaffigan said
Monday.
Speaking at the Platts Energy Podium, McGaffigan said there
are so many problems plaguing the US Department of Energy's
proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain,
Nevada, that the agency should begin looking at alternative
sites.
He said his comments were his personal views and did not
represent the NRC's position.
As a he first step to reforming the nuclear waste program,
McGaffigan suggested that a group of experts be appointed to
develop recommendations, similar to the recent Iraq Study Group.
He said a government-chartered corporation with a bipartisan
board--like the Tennessee Valley Authority model--would be the
best way to run the program because it would eliminate the
frequent turnover of political appointees that currently head
DOE's civilian nuclear waste office.
"Things nuclear have to be stable across presidencies and
across Congresses because they take so long" to implement, he
said.
--Jenny Weil, jenny_weil@platts.com
Copyright 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill
Companies]
*****************************************************************
52 Patriot Ledger: Nuke board wont force Pilgrim plant to address fuel storage
400 Crown Colony Drive P.O. Box 699159 Quincy, MA 02269-9159
(617) 786-7000
SouthofBoston.com
By JULIE JETTE The Patriot Ledger
The board that controls the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has
rejected a bid by former Attorney General Thomas Reilly to force
the Pilgrim nuclear power plant to address the risks of storing
an additional 20 years worth of used fuel at the plant.
Reillys attempt to force Pilgrim to address its spent-fuel
storage had been rejected earlier by the Atomic Safety Licensing
Board, a panel of judges that reviewed objections to Pilgrims
license extension. Reilly appealed to the NRCs governing board.
Pilgrims parent company, New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., is
seeking to extend the power plants operation from 2012 to 2032.
In 1996, when the NRC established rules to allow plants to
extend their licenses, regulators declared that issues of
spent-fuel storage were common to all plants and that the
possibility of accidents involving storage were so remote that
individual plants did not have to address storage issues in
license-extension requests.
Reilly argued that new information shows that a fire in a
spent-fuel pool, such as the one Pilgrim uses to store used fuel
rods, would be catastrophic. Lawyers for the Attorney Generals
Office argued Pilgrim should address the risk of such accidents
in its application to extend its license.
At the same time that Reilly tried to get regulators to force
Pilgrim to address its fuel storage, he also filed a proposal to
change the rules that regulators use in considering extending
licenses.
In its order rejecting Reillys argument, the NRCs governing
commission said his attempt to change the rules - which apply to
all plants, not just Pilgrim - is a more appropriate way to
address the spent-fuel issues.
Changes to NRC rules can take years, however, and the commission
also rejected a recommendation by Reilly that Pilgrims
relicensing be delayed until a decision is made whether to
change the rule.
Since filing his objections, Reilly has been replaced by Martha
Coakley. A spokeswoman for Coakleys office said lawyers are
reviewing the decision.
Copyright 2007 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Tuesday, January 23, 2007
The Patriot Ledger, 400 Crown Colony Drive
P.O. Box 699159, Quincy, MA 02269-9159
Telephone: (617) 786-7000
*****************************************************************
53 Rutland Herald: NRC dismisses spent fuel concerns
Rutland Vermont News & Information
January 23, 2007
By DANIEL BARLOW Herald Staff
BRATTLEBORO The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday
rejected an environmental contention from the Massachusetts
Attorney General's Office that raised concerns over the storage
of spent fuel at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant beyond 2012.
The decision by the five-member panel that oversees the NRC
upheld two previous decisions by the Atomic Safety &Licensing
Board, the quasi-judicial panel that is considering the proposal
to extend Vermont Yankee's operation by 20 years.
The 10-page decision by the NRC commission states that alleged
vulnerabilities surrounding the spent fuel pool at power plants,
including fires or terrorist attacks, are beyond the scope of
the environmental review.
But the NRC did state it was open to possibly changing its own
rules based on testimony from the attorney general. Soon after
it filed its contention regarding spent fuel, the office also
filed a petition to change the NRC's rules governing the issue,
which is now being considered.
The rule-making petition raises the same issue as the
contention: that based on new information the NRC should
reconsider the role of potential risks with spent fuel pools.
The NRC wrote that this is a "more appropriate avenue" for that
question.
The NRC did also strike down the request from the attorney
general that the proceedings for license extension for Vermont
Yankee and Pilgrim Nuclear Power station in Plymouth, Mass., be
suspended as the NRC considers the change in rules.
The commission added that, depending on the timing and the final
result of the decision on the rule change, the new information
offered by the state of Massachusetts could be factored into the
process unfolding on the Vermont Yankee license extension.
"The commission, in short, has in place various procedures for
considering new and significant environmental information," the
decision read in part. "Thus, whatever the ultimate fate of the
Mass. AG's new information claim, admitting the Mass. AG's
contention for a adjudicatory hearing."
The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office could not be reached
for comment Monday.
The NRC's ruling comes just days after the U.S. Supreme Court
chose not to hear an appeal from the owners of the Diablo Canyon
Power Plant in California in a battle over storage of spent fuel
at that site.
That ruling, which came down on Jan. 19, is expected to force
the NRC to begin considering possible terrorist attacks as part
of the environmental review of the storage of spent fuel at
nuclear plants. It was not known Monday the affect of that
ruling on Yankee's application.
The NRC has set a deadline of March 19 to receive written
comments regarding the rewriting of its rules regarding spent
fuel storage.
*****************************************************************
54 Herald: Dounreay Given Goahead To Construct 100m Plant To Deal With Waste
January 23 2007
The UK Atomic Energy Authority yesterday won permission to
construct a 100m plant to deal with the most hazardous
radioactive waste at Dounreay, but financial shortfalls could
delay the work.
The Caithness area committee of Highland Council gave outline
permission for the construction of three buildings, covering an
area the size of a football pitch, that are key to
decommissioning the Dounreay site.
The largest is the intermediate level waste cementation plant
and store, designed to immobilise and encapsulate more than 30
years' worth of intermediate level liquid waste from fast
reactor reprocessing and provide for its secure storage until a
national repository is available.continued...
There are 200 cubic metres of waste and the walls of the
proposed plant will have to be 3ft thick, said Colin Punler,
UKAEA's communications manager at Dounreay yesterday. He said:
"About 80% of the radioactive waste hazard at Dounreay is
contained in these liquids which are stored underground at the
moment. They arose from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.
"One of the priorities of the decommissioning programme is to
get that waste into a solid form that can be stored safely for
future generations. The waste is put into cement and then into
drums.
"It is one of the most significant elements in the site
restoration programme. This waste is the largest single hazard
on the site."
Construction is due to begin in 2008 and 120 jobs should be
created. It is expected to take four years to build and
commission, allowing the waste to be treated by 2017. It is also
planned to take parts of reactor components and subject them to
cementation.
However, the development comes at a time of uncertainty for
Dounreay as the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency (NDA), the body
which finances the decommissioning programme, tries to make up a
deficit of 200m.
Half the NDA's income comes from its commercial activities, but
just before Christmas it announced projected shortfalls largely
because of the giant Thorp international reprocessing plant at
Sellafield in Cumbria. It was supposed to contribute 560m
towards the NDA's annual budget of 2.2bn, but it has been shut
since May 2005 following a major leak of uranium and plutonium
fuel.
There has also been a drop in projected income from Magnox
nuclear power stations while faults have led to major repairs at
British Nuclear Group sites at Hunterston and Hinkley Point.
The NDA has written to operators of the 20 sites being
decommissioned urging them to identify savings in the coming
financial year.
It is believed that Dounreay's grant for 2007/08 could be cut
back by 57m, around a quarter of this year's budget of 277m,
and may mean the shedding of up to 500 jobs.
All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without
is prohibited.
Copyright Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights
Reserved
*****************************************************************
55 Energy Daily: U.S. Should Rethink Yucca--Retiring NRC Commissioner -
By Jeff Beattie
January 23, 2007
The United States may need "to go back to the beginning" in its
efforts to build a national spent reactor fuel repository, and
abandon the beleaguered Yucca Mountain project in Nevada in
favor of a new repository plan at a different location, retiring
Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Edward McGaffigan said
Monday.
"It may be time to stop digging" at Yucca, said McGaffigan,
explaining that he thought the project has been undermined by
"bad law, bad regulatory policy, bad personnel policy...bad
budget policy" and other problems "throughout its history."
"Realistically, we should probably be starting to look at new
sites," said McGaffigan, the longest-serving NRC commissioner
with more than 10 years of service. McGaffigan recently
announced that he will leave NRC for health reasons as soon as
President Bush finds a replacement.
Speaking at a press conference sponsored by Platts, McGaffigan
spoke expansively about the challenges NRC faces--particularly
given current federal budget constraints--as U.S. utilities
consider building up to 29 new reactors in the coming years. The
buzz of activity comes after a long period of relative dormancy
for the U.S. nuclear industry, which has not ordered a new
nuclear reactor since the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island.
In assessing the surge of interest, McGaffigan described a
handful of merchant generator proposals to build new reactors as
"among the most serious" of the proposed projects that he sees
on the horizon.
But McGaffigan's most extensive comments were on how the nation
should move ahead in finding a long-term solution for
defense-related high-level waste and radioactive spent fuel rods
currently building up at dozens of commercial reactor sites
nationwide.
Broadly speaking, he noted that experts worldwide for years have
generally agreed that geologic burial is the best way to manage
spent fuel and said that developing those repositories is not
impossible.
As examples, he cited Finland's progress in siting a national
repository, and U.S. success years in ago in building the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), an underground disposal facility
for transuranic waste in New Mexico.
McGaffigan also had warm praise for Edward "Ward" Sproat,
director of the Energy Department's Office of Civilian
Radioactive Waste Management, which is responsible for
developing Yucca. In Sproat and his colleagues, "DOE has the
best people they have ever had running this program," McGaffigan
said Monday.
But McGaffigan said DOE's efforts to develop Yucca have been
badly hampered over the years by frequent changeover in Yucca
leadership, inconsistent funding and ineffective legislative
attempts to fix problems with the program, among other
challenges.
Taken together, those types of problems are likely to continue
delaying Yucca, McGaffigan said, noting that when he arrived at
NRC in 1996 Yucca was scheduled to open in 2010.
"I arrived at the commission 14 years from the alleged opening
date of Yucca, and I leave the commission 20 years from the
alleged opening date," said McGaffigan, citing recent DOE
projections Yucca could open between 2025 and 2027.
To take control of the spent fuel problem, McGaffigan said it
might make sense to form a government corporation, whose leaders
would be picked by a board of directors and would not need
congressional approval. That would provide for more leadership
stability over time, and insulate the leaders somewhat from
political forces, he said.
McGaffigan described the plan as a "government-owned
back-of-the-fuel-cycle corporation `a la TVA," referring to the
Tennessee Valley Authority.
Former TVA Chairman Craven Crowell has also called for formation
of a government corporation to manage U.S. spent fuel,
McGaffigan noted.
McGaffigan said such a corporation could also assume
responsibility for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP),
the Bush administration's marquee nuclear recycling initiative.
Among other goals, GNEP is aimed at restarting spent fuel
processing in the United States, a process that extracts
elements of spent fuel and re-manufactures it into new fuel.
Ideally, that also reduces the volume and toxicity of high-level
waste that would need to be buried.
McGaffigan said reprocessing could help the nation manage its
spent fuel once the underlying technologies are fully developed,
but that "GNEP is not going to come in and save the day" in the
near term.
*****************************************************************
56 Scotsman.com: 100m Dounreay waste store plan wins approval
Tue 23 Jan 2007
JOHN ROSS
A £100 MILLION plant to treat radioactive waste at Dounreay has
been given the green light.
It is hoped that work can start next year on the building - a
key part of the £2.9 billion programme to decommission Dounreay
by 2033. The construction phase is estimated to create about 120
jobs.
However, doubt remains on whether the Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority (NDA) will release the funds to allow the work to
start on time.
The new plant at the Caithness site will allow waste liquids - a
legacy of reprocessing work presently stored in 5,500
underground tanks - to be solidified in cement and put in steel
drums, using robots.
The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) will then store the
material for up to 100 years, pending a national strategy for
long-term storage or disposal of intermediate-level waste.
Highland Council planning officials had recommended approval of
the facility, subject to conditions, and the council's
Caithness-area planning committee yesterday approved outline
planning permission.
However, there is a doubt over the money being made available
next year due to cuts being implemented by the NDA to tackle an
estimated £160 million shortfall in its £2.2 billion annual
budget. That has been largely caused by a loss of anticipated
income from the reprocessing plant at Sellafield, which has been
shut since May 2005 after a major leak of nuclear fuel.
The NDA, which oversees 20 reactor plants being shut down, has
asked site contractors to suggest projects that could be axed
this year. It is feared that up to 500 posts could go at
Dounreay if projects are delayed.
Colin Punler, spokesman for the UKAEA at Dounreay, said: "Eighty
per cent of the radioactive waste hazard at Dounreay is
contained within liquid waste stored underground. One of our
priorities is to get that waste into a solid form that can be
stored safely."
It is planned to start processing the liquid by 2012 and the
project would be completed by 2017.
Meanwhile, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Highland Council,
the NDA, the Scottish Executive and the local MP, John Thurso,
have agreed a partnership structure to implement a plan to
regenerate the local economy following the closure of Dounreay.
*****************************************************************
57 [NukeNet] New nuke plans are up in the air
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 16:38:51 -0800
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NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-nuke23jan23,1,4353266.story?coll=la-news-a_section
New nuke plans are up in the air
A joint effort by two nuclear labs to design the new warhead has yet to
advance.
By Ralph Vartabedian, Times Staff Writer
January 23, 2007
An effort to design the nation's first new nuclear bomb in two decades has
run into delays, as top experts question whether a bureaucratic compromise
could hamper the new weapon's effectiveness.
The Bush administration was expected to select a winning design from two
proposals in late November, but officials put off a decision and began
considering whether competing teams at two national laboratories could
collaborate in a joint effort.
Since then, senior officials of the labs in New Mexico and California have
met but not reached an agreement, according to lab officials and a senior
official at the U.S. Strategic Command, the defense agency that operates
the nation's strategic forces.
Over the last year, Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos national labs have
developed designs for the new bomb, known as the reliable replacement
warhead. As its name implies, the weapon is supposed to be so reliable that
it will not require any underground testing.
A winner was to have been chosen by defense and energy officials in the
Nuclear Weapons Council, but by November the selection process had grown
complicated and conflicted. The Strategic Command official said defense
officials had judged both designs as meeting military requirements.
But as Energy Department officials examined the two proposals, they grew
increasingly concerned about the political effect of a decision.
Both labs, Los Alamos in New Mexico and Livermore in Northern California,
have always had strong backing by their states' delegations in Congress.
What's more, the power shift in Congress put Bay Area Democrats in the
leadership on nuclear weapons issues in January.
Livermore had submitted a conservative design that the council judged
highly attractive. It was based on an 1980s-era warhead that was tested but
then removed from further development. But the new warhead is intended for
Navy missiles, and Livermore has not worked with the Navy.
The Los Alamos design also had proponents. But if the award went to New
Mexico, Livermore would be left with little on its plate. The Energy
Department might have difficulty justifying the expense of two major
nuclear laboratories.
To solve those political and organizational problems, the Energy
Department, through its National Nuclear Security Administration, sought to
explore whether the labs could produce a joint design, Strategic Command
officials said.
A letter to the directors of Los Alamos and Livermore asked them to explore
a collaborative approach.
No formal decision has been made, however.
"It is still in the works," said Sidney Drell, a Stanford University
scientist who has long advised the Energy Department on weapons issues.
"People haven't converged on anything."
Meanwhile, other outside advisors, including a scientific board known as
the JASON group that consists of top academics from across the nation, are
worried about a joint design. The group met earlier this month in La Jolla,
but decided it did not have enough technical information to endorse a
collaborative approach, according to a member of the group.
Scientists are concerned that a design that mixes and matches pieces of
different weapons will undermine the confidence of national leaders in the
reliability of the weapon.
"I have heard concerns in the technical community that this is risky, but
others say it will work," the Strategic Command official said. "It is a
mixed opinion."
Will Parrish
Youth Empowerment Director
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
PMB 121, 1187 Coast Village Road, Suite 1
Santa Barbara, CA 93108
wparrish@napf.org
Phone: (805) 965-3443; Fax: (805) 568-0466
www.wagingpeace.org/youth;
www.ucnuclearfree.org; www.thinkoutsidethebomb.org
_______________________________________________________________________
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58 DOE: DOE Announces $17 Million to Promote Greater Automobile Efficiency
January 23, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant
Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Alexander
Karsner today announced that DOE intends issue $17 million in
solicitations to improve automobile efficiency and reduce the
United Statess dependence on foreign sources of oil. The
funding will be offered as two separate solicitations, one for
$14 million to support plug-in hybrid electric vehicle
technology and another for $3 million for research to improve
E-85 engine efficiency.
President Bush is committed to developing alternative fuels and
energy-saving innovations in vehicle technology, not just for
concept cars, but for cars that can be publicly available,
Assistant Secretary Karsner said. By improving battery
technology and engine efficiency, we can take bold steps towards
reducing our reliance on foreign sources of oil.
DOEs FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program will lead the
efforts to bring new, more efficient technologies to market with
research on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and E85-blended
fuel. The $14 million cost-shared solicitation for plug-in
hybrid electric vehicle battery development aims to improve
battery performance so that plug-in hybrid vehicles can deliver
the 40 miles of electric range required for most roundtrip daily
commutes. DOE has also created a plug-in hybrid electric
vehicle test bed at DOEs Argonne National Laboratory; allowing
scientists to measure the performance of a vehicle.
The $3 million cost-shared solicitation will support engineering
advances to improve the fuel economy of E85 engines and reduce
vehicle emissions. The solicitation also serves to undertake
research and development projects that will result in flex-fuel
vehicles, which take advantage of the favorable properties of
ethanol gasoline blends. E85 can be used in flex-fuel vehicles
and is a gasoline-ethanol blend of motor fuel containing 85%
ethanol. E85 has the highest oxygen content of any fuel
available today, allowing it to burn more completely and
cleaner - than conventional gasoline.
The solicitations are subject to Congressional appropriations.
Assistant Secretary Karsner made the announcements at the
Washington Auto Show, where he was joined today by senior
executives from General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler.
Media contact(s): Craig Stevens, (202) 586-4940 [ ]
U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW |
Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403
*****************************************************************
59 DOE: Statement from Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman on the
Expansion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to 1.5 Billion
January 23, 2007
"Later today President Bush will announce his plan to double our
nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to 1.5 billion barrels. I
believe that expanding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a wise
and prudent policy decision that will provide an additional
layer of protection for our nation's energy security.
Originally established in 1975 in the aftermath of the Arab oil
embargo, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a national asset
that can be used in the case of severe supply disruption.
During my tenure alone, we've used it a number of times, most
notably in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita - a time
when the nation's commercial oil drilling infrastructure was
decimated - to ensure adequate supplies of fuel to citizens
around the country.
The current Strategic Petroleum Reserves holds about 691
million barrels of crude oil, which is the approximate
equivalent of 55 days of net imports. By expanding our Reserve
to 1.5 billion barrels, we will have an approximately 97 day
supply of net import protection.
Adding to the current Reserve will happen in stages over the
next two decades to coincide with the construction and expansion
of our facilities. Our goal is to have the expansion completed
by 2027.
While filling the Reserve is critically important to our
nation's energy security, I want to assure the American public
that we will acquire crude oil in a manner that does not
adversely affect the market or raise gasoline prices. We will
fill the Reserve in a deliberate, predictable, and transparent
manner, consistent with our updated guidelines that were
announced in November 2006.
To that end, and assuming similar market conditions, I would
expect the Department to begin purchasing crude oil in the
Spring at a rate of about 100,000 barrels per day. After a few
months, we will reassess the market before continuing the fill
using royalty in kind payments through the end of the year. In
2008 and beyond, as we work our way to 1.5 billion barrels, the
Department will determine future fill rates based on information
and market conditions available at that time.
Media contact(s): Craig Stevens, (202) 586-4940 [ ]
U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW |
Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403
*****************************************************************
60 Hanford News: Truck carrying plutonium crashes
This story was published Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
NEEDLES, Calif., - A truck carrying a small amount of plutonium
238 from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland
crashed recently in Needles, Calif.
The 55-gallon container holding the plutonium was not damaged
and no radioactive material was released during the accident
last week, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The shipping container held less than 4 grams of encapsulated
plutonium 238, said Mike Talbot, DOE spokesman in Richland. The
container was lined with lead and met U.S. Department of
Transportation shipping requirements, he said.
"This stuff is shipped all the time," he said.
It was being carried with two trailers of miscellaneous cargo.
The truck drifted to the right and hit a metal guardrail on
Interstate 40 within the Needles city limits in Southern
California, according to police reports.
The tractor's fuel tank ruptured and the rear trailer
overturned, according to police reports. However, the container
with the plutonium was in the front trailer, which remained
upright.
It was not weapons-grade plutonium, but a plutonium isotope of
the type that was once used in heart pacemakers. Plutonium 238
also is used in the nation's space program, to power deep-space
flights.
DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration has been
consolidating excess plutonium 238, and the shipment was being
sent to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
The plutonium 238, which had been in the 325 Building at the
Hanford nuclear reservation just north of Richland, had been
used in a past, unspecified research project.
2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
61 The Enquirer: Fernald cleanup leads to lawsuit
Last Updated: 11:55 am | Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Subcontractor trying to recover $3 million from Fluor Fernald
Inc.
BY DAN HORN | DHORN@ENQUIRER.COM
The Fernald cleanup project is over, but a legal fight between
two of the project's contractors is just beginning.
The dispute erupted in federal court last week when a
subcontractor sued Fluor Fernald Inc., which oversaw the
just-completed project, to recover at least $3 million in cost
overruns.
The subcontractor, Foster Wheeler Environmental Corp., says its
contract with Fluor Fernald dramatically underestimated how much
it would cost Foster Wheeler to demolish and decontaminate a
boiler plant complex at the former uranium processing
operation.
The New Jersey-based Foster Wheeler had planned to remove about
10,000 cubic feet of asbestos and about 2,000 tons of steel as
part of its contract.
But according to the lawsuit, workers removed about 25,000 cubic
feet of asbestos and about 3,700 tons of steel.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, also
states that the entire boiler plant site was treated as a
"radiological contamination area."
That designation, which was not part of the original contract,
required the use of protective gear for all employees and
increased the amount of time and expense needed to do the work,
the lawsuit states.
The suit accuses Fluor Fernald of breaching its contract and
misrepresenting the cost of the job. Foster Wheeler's attorney
could not be reached Monday.
Fluor Fernald spokesman Jeff Wagner said the company tried
mediation with Foster Wheeler but was unable to work out a
settlement. "We've never seen anything compelling that shows
they are owed more money," he said.
Fluor Fernald said in October that it had completed the 10-year,
$4.4 billion effort to remove uranium, radon and other toxic
materials from the Crosby Township site. The center refined
uranium ore for use in nuclear weapons and power plants from
1951 to 1989.
The company celebrated the end of work last week with a ceremony
on the site, which is being turned into a 900-acre nature park.
*****************************************************************
62 DOE: ACTION: Notice of Proposed Subsequent Arrangement.
FR Doc E7-914
[Federal Register: January 23, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 14)]
[Notices] [Page 2876] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr23ja07-44]
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of International Regimes and Agreements
Proposed Subsequent Arrangement
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
SUMMARY: This notice is being issued under the authority of
Section 131 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42
U.S.C. 2160). The Department is providing notice of a proposed
``subsequent arrangement'' under the Agreement for Cooperation in
the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy between the United States and
the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM).
This subsequent arrangement concerns a request for a one-year
extension (April 2007 to April 2008) of the current one-year
programmatic approval for retransfer of U.S.-obligated irradiated
fuel rods between Studsvik Nuclear AB, Sweden and the Institutt
for Energiteknikk, Norway. The rods are being transferred for
irradiation service, tests and examination, and returned to
Sweden for further tests and disposal. The amounts are the same
as under the current approval--a maximum of 30,000 grams uranium,
400 grams U-235 and 400 grams plutonium in all shipments
combined, with a maximum of 100 grams of plutonium per shipment.
The original programmatic consent, published in the Federal
Register June 13, 2006, is set to expire in March 2007.
Additional transactions are scheduled to occur between April 2007
and April 2008 and will be subject to U.S.-Euratom Agreement for
Cooperation on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy.
In accordance with Section 131 of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, we have determined that this subsequent
arrangement will not be inimical to the common defense and
security.
This subsequent arrangement will take effect no sooner than
15 days after the date of publication of this notice.
Dated: January 12, 2007.
For the Department of Energy. Richard Goorevich, Director,
Office of International Regimes and Agreements. [FR Doc. E7-914
Filed 1-22-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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