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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 Xinhua: Bush requests $9.4 bln for U.S. nuclear programs
2 BBC: Iran envoy 'abducted in Baghdad'
3 AFP: No plans for military action on Iran, says Blair
4 AFP: Merkel says talks with Iran still possible
5 AFP: Iran nuclear ambitions can be stopped without violence - Israel
6 AFP: Iran to prepare 'shadow budget' for emergencies
7 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Russian Envoy Speaks on 6-Way Talks' Pros
8 Korea Times: New US Budget Allocates $2 Million in Aid to North Kore
9 Korea Times: Seoul to Resume NK Aid Only After S-N Talks
10 AFP: Japan baulks as US talks aid for NKorea
11 US: UPI: Analysis: Budget focuses on clean coal
12 Scotsman.com News: Pair team up to blast Blair's nuclear policy
13 Guardian Unlimited: Tony Blair today insisted that the option of mil
NUCLEAR REACTORS
14 Countless ChernobylsThat Climate Change Will Bring To The World
15 US: [NukeNet] Fwd: Mothers for Peace legal action TODAY
16 HindustanTimes.com: Lot's been done, lot more to do - US
17 US: ENS: Bush Budget Slashes Environment, Funds Nuclear Development
18 Interfax: Putin signs law optimizing nuclear energy complex
19 US: World Nuclear News: 2008 budgets requested, 2007 budgets not yet
20 YONHAP NEWS: S. Korea to check nuclear power plants due to concern o
21 US: NRC: ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD TO HOLD PRE-HEARING CONFE
22 US: JOURNAL NEWS: Nuke plant makes it easier to report safety concer
23 US: NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collecti
24 US: NRC: Firstenergy Nuclear Operating Company And Firstenergy Nucle
25 IAEA: Workshop on IAEA Integrated Regulatory Review Service in Franc
26 US: Newsday.com: Nuclear plant Indian Point's power level stable, sp
27 US: Public Citizen: Bush Administration Budget Proposes to Squander
28 Scotsman.com News: Nuclear plant managers let radioactive particles
29 The Australian: Labor are climate fanatics - Howard
NUCLEAR SECURITY
NUCLEAR SAFETY
30 US: The Enquirer: NIOSH to hear from nuke workers
31 US: Yuba Net: Boxer Blasts EPA Rollbacks In Hearing
32 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Why can't we learn?
33 US: Spectrum: Today is last day for Divine Strake comments
34 US: Tracy Press: Cleanup money cut
35 US: Ventura County Star: Meetings on compensation program set
36 US: ABC4.com: Governor Huntsman takes Divine Strake opposition to Wa
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
37 RSC: Nuclear storage: ready, willing, able, and undecided
38 reviewjournal.com: DOE requests reduced Yucca Mountain budget
39 AU ABC: Govt attacked over earmarked NT nuclear waste sites
40 Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Why not just burn it?
41 BBC: UKAEA admits to illegal dumping
42 US: POAC: DEP lawsuit on waste faces new challenge
43 US: Courier Post: NRC defends Newfield plan
44 The Herald: Dounreay nuclear waste was dumped in the sea
45 New Scientist: Much of UK suitable for nuclear waste burial
46 Nevada Appeal: Head of Nevada agency says Yucca Mountain plan almost
47 Reid: STATEMENT BY SENATOR HARRY REID ON RELEASE OF PRESIDENT
48 PRN: BNFL Announces Sale of Nuclear Decommissioning Specialist Proje
PEACE
49 US physicists against nuclear attack on Iran (
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
50 ContraCostaTimes.com: Budget trims Livermore Lab funding
51 Earth Times: Scientists create nanomaterial for ammo
52 Tri-City Herald: $1.94 billion 2008 Hanford budget proposed
53 Tri-City Herald: Reach access worries residents
54 Hanford News: Labor contacting ill Hanford workers
55 Hanford News: $1.94 billion 2008 Hanford budget proposed
56 DOE: Office of Science; Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee
57 Ventura County Star: Workers describe Field Lab exposures
58 Albuquerque Tribune: NNSA considers drug testing at Sandia labs
59 Albuquerque Tribune: Proposed lab cuts concern Bingaman
60 Environmental Leader: Bush's Budget Earmarks $24 Billion for DOE
61 Amarillo Globe: Feds could fine Pantex
62 KnoxNews: Oak Ridge officials happy with '08 prospects
63 KnoxNews: DOE finally decides on IT contract
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 Xinhua: Bush requests $9.4 bln for U.S. nuclear programs
www.chinaview.cn 2007-02-06 11:16:22
WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush
requested 24.3 billion U.S. dollars for the Energy Department in
his proposed budget for fiscal 2008, which includes 9.4 billion
dollars for the country's nuclear programs.
The budget request is "to promote national security
through a combination that includes maintaining our nuclear
weapons stockpile, advancing science, and promoting nuclear
nonproliferation and threat reduction," the department said in a
statement.
In the 9.4-billion dollar budget request for the National
Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), 6.5 billion dollars is
to keep the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile "safe, secure and
reliable through continued surveillance, assessment, and life
extension programs," the statement said.
The budget request for the 2008 financial year beginning
Oct. 1this year "maintains current commitments to the nuclear
deterrence policies of the administration's Nuclear Posture
Review through NNSA's 'Complex 2030,' the long-term strategy for
effective transformation and modernization of the Cold War era
weapons complex into one that is more efficient, smaller, and
secure," it said.
The budget request also asks for 1.7 billion dollars to
support international nuclear materials protection and
cooperation programs designed to deny terrorists nuclear
materials, technology and expertise needed to develop or access
nuclear weapons.
The NNSA's budget request of 9.4 billion dollars is slightly
higher than last year's request of 9.3 billion dollars.
*****************************************************************
2 BBC: Iran envoy 'abducted in Baghdad'
Last Updated: Tuesday, 6 February 2007
[Police checks in Baghdad]
Security checks are carried out in Baghdad after the abduction
An Iranian diplomat has been kidnapped by gunmen in the Iraqi
capital, Baghdad, Tehran has confirmed.
Jalal Sharafi, the embassy's second secretary, was abducted from
his car on Sunday in central Karrada district by men wearing
Iraqi army uniforms.
Iran condemned the kidnapping and said it held the US responsible
for his life. A US military spokesman said no US or Iraqi troops
had been involved.
The news comes amid US-Iranian tension over Iranian activities in
Iraq.
Last month in a dramatic pre-dawn helicopter raid, the Americans
detained five Iranians in northern Iraq, prompting Iran to issue
a formal protest to the US.
The US has denied any involvement in the latest incident, but
recently has been expressing increasing concern about alleged
Iranian support for militant activity in Iraq.
Correspondents say the stand-off over Iran's nuclear programme is
adding to the tension.
On Tuesday, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair accused Iran of "a
strategy to create maximum trouble" in the Middle East.
Identification puzzle
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told the
Isna news agency that Mr Sharafi had been kidnapped by a group
linked to Iraq's defence ministry "which works under the
supervision of American forces".
We've checked with our units and it was not a [multinational
forces - Iraq] unit that participated in that event [ border=] Lt
Col Christopher Garver, US military spokesman
"The Islamic Republic of Iran holds the American forces in Iraq
responsible for the life and safety of the Iranian diplomat," he
said.
Iraqi officials earlier said the gunmen were wearing uniforms of
the Iraqi 36th Commando Battalion - a special Iraqi unit under US
direction.
US military spokesman in Baghdad, Lt Col Christopher Garver,
could not confirm the diplomat's abduction.
However, he said: "We've checked with our units and it was not a
[multinational forces - Iraq] unit that participated in that
event."
Mr Sharafi was reportedly kidnapped outside the Baghdad branch of
the Iranian state-owned Bank Melli.
But the details of the abduction are still confused.
Kidnapping 'common'
An Iraqi government official told Associated Press news agency
there had been a gun battle and a chase after the kidnapping but
the car carrying the diplomat escaped.
RISING US-IRAN TENSION
Dec 2006: US forces detain several Iranians in Iraq suspected of
planning attacks. Iran says two are diplomats, who are later
freed 10 Jan: US President Bush says in a major speech he will
take a tough stance on Iran, whom he accuses of destabilising
Iraq 11 Jan: US troops in Irbil raid a building Iran says was
consulate, arresting five men 18 Jan: Iran demands the release of
the five "diplomats". The US says they are Revolutionary Guard
arming Shia fighters [ border=] Blair: No Iran attack planned
Some men were captured but the New York Times quoted Iraqi
officials as saying they had legitimate defence ministry
identification.
An official told the paper the men may have kept the
identification after being dismissed. It is not thought they are
still being held.
The BBC's Mike Wooldridge, in Baghdad, says the fact that the
kidnappers were wearing uniforms can mean anything in Baghdad.
Kidnapping is common - often criminal rather than political - and
frequently carried out by people in some kind of official
uniform, he says.
But against the background of the ongoing disagreements between
the US and Iran, this is quickly becoming another source of
diplomatic tension, our correspondent adds.
Speaking to a committee of MPs in London, Prime Minister Tony
Blair accused Iran of "a strategy to create maximum trouble" in
the Middle East.
Mr Blair said Tehran was trying to prevent reconciliation in
Iraq.
"People are alarmed at the strategy they are pursuing," he said.
*****************************************************************
3 AFP: No plans for military action on Iran, says Blair
Tue Feb 6, 7:41 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair" /> has said
there were no plans for military action against Iran" /> , but
there is growing alarm at Tehran's defiance of the international
community.
Blair reiterated that, if the Islamic republic were to cooperate
with the West in terms of curbing its nuclear plans and other
actions, "a whole series of doors would open up to them."
"Nobody is talking or planning military intervention," Blair
told a parliamentary committee Tuesday.
"It's not what the international community wants, it's not what
we want," he said, while citing US President George W. Bush" />
's phrase that "you can't take any option off the table."
"But it is important that Iran understands that at the moment it
is doing two groups of things that are really unsettling the
international community," Blair said, citing firstly the
development of "nuclear weapons capability."
Secondly, the Iranian "are, around the region, deliberately
fomenting sectarianism and conflict when they should be
responsibly backing, again, the will of the international
community."
He added that it was "important to distinguish between the
Iranian people, who I suspect are equally dismayed at the
strategy of the Iranian government, and that government
themselves.
"If they change that strategy... I think they would find that a
whole series of doors would open up to them."
And he added: "The fact is that it is trying to prevent
reconciliation across the region and I think that is very
shortsighted and very foolish."
"For example if they were to play a constructive role on Iraq"
/> it would be of immense help to the international community,
it would also actually be of immense help to Iran in the end
since they don't want chaos on their borders."
Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
4 AFP: Merkel says talks with Iran still possible
Tue Feb 6, 2:57 PM ET
KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the
door remains open for negotiations between Iran" /> and the
international community over its contested nuclear programme.
"Even if the United Nations" /> has decided on sanctions, the
door for negotiations remains open," Merkel said at a joint
press conference with Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser
Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
"I hope that reason will prevail and that we will be able to
hold talks again," added Merkel, whose country currently holds
the rotating European Union" /> presidency.
The premier of Kuwait, which lies just across the Gulf from
Iran, also stressed the importance of going back to negotiations
over Tehran's nuclear drive.
"It is important now to have unconditional negotiations. We have
to sit down at the negotiating table and talk openly and without
conditions," he said. "It is absolutely necessary to have peace
in the region."
EU foreign ministers agreed late January to implement the full
raft of UN sanctions against Iran to punish Tehran for failing
to meet international demands over its nuclear programme.
The UN Security Council in December adopted a resolution
imposing sanctions on Iran for its repeated refusal to fully
cooperate with the UN atomic energy watchdog or suspend uranium
enrichment.
Merkel was in Kuwait after a stop in the United Arab Emirates
where she met Emirati President Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan on
Monday as part of talks with Gulf leaders on international
efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.
Her regional tour has also taken her to Riyadh and Cairo.
Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
5 AFP: Iran nuclear ambitions can be stopped without violence - Israel
Tue Feb 6, 3:14 PM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he
believed Iranian nuclear ambitions could be halted without
violence and praised international efforts in dealing with arch
enemy Tehran.
"I think there's a way to stop the Iranians from moving forward
on their nuclear programme without violent actions," he said in
a speech to Jewish American leaders in Jerusalem.
"I believe the measures taken by the international community
lately are more effective than some think they are," he added,
before denying that Israel" /> had ever been a motivating force
behind "extreme action".
"If all the international community would join forces and apply
the necessary pressure on Iran" /> , it would have such an
impact that at the end of the day it would force them to
reconsider their position," Olmert said.
"Israel was never pushing anyone to any extreme action."
The Jewish state has come to regard Iran as its chief enemy,
alarmed by Tehran's nuclear programme and repeated calls from
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated calls for Israel's
destruction.
Israel and the West accuse Iran of seeking to acquire an atomic
bomb through its nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is
solely for peaceful purposes.
Israel was a major advocate of UN sanctions against Iran, which
the Security Council adopted in December over Tehran's repeated
refusal to fully cooperate with the UN atomic energy watchdog or
suspend uranium enrichment.
Olmert was speaking after recent reports revealed Iran has begun
the installation of 3,000 centrifuges in a huge underground
bunker at its main nuclear facility in the central town of
Natanz.
Israel is itself considered to be the sole nuclear weapons power
in the Middle East. It does not officially acknowledge that it
has an arsenal although Olmert appeared to do so in an apparent
lapse last year.
Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
6 AFP: Iran to prepare 'shadow budget' for emergencies
by Aresu Eqbali Tue Feb 6, 9:09 AM ET
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran" /> has said it was drafting a parallel
budget for next year, which would come into force in the event of
an "extraordinary incident" affecting its heavily oil-dependent
economy.
The so-called "shadow budget" assumes an oil price of less than
30 dollars a barrel, compared with 33.7 dollars in the actual
budget proposed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in January for
the new year starting March 21.
"We are preparing a shadow budget based on the oil price of
under 30 dollars per barrel in case an extraordinary incident
happens on the international arena," the deputy head of
state-run Management and Planning Organisation, Ali Askari, told
reporters Tuesday.
He did not specify what such an incident might involve.
Falling global crude prices are a major concern for Iran at time
when the UN Security Council has imposed sanctions on Tehran for
its refusal to suspend sensitive nuclear activities.
The sanctions are targeted not to affect the wider economy but
the United States has threatened to tighten up the penalties if
Iran does not comply. It is also pressuring European banks to
limit their dealings with Tehran.
Although Washington emphasises the standoff should preferably be
solved through diplomacy, it has also never ruled out military
action to thwart Iran's nuclear programme.
Askari said that the budget was based on economic growth
reaching about 7 percent in the coming year compared with the
current year's predicted rate of 5.7 percent.
Unemployment is predicted to be 10.6 percent next year, compared
with 11.3 percent this year while the (official) inflation rate
is predicted to fall from 12 percent to about 11 percent, the
official added.
Ahmadinejad has promised to use only oil export income from a
33.7 dollars per barrel oil price for the annual budget, with
any surplus revenue saved in a stabilisation fund to back the
economy in case of oil price fluctuations.
Even with that low base price, MPs and analysts believe such
accounting only works on paper and fear that the government will
inevitably use more oil revenues for current expenditure by
dipping into the stabilisation fund.
Askari put the withdrawal from the Oil Stabilisation Fund (OSF)
in the current Iranian year so far at 21.2 billion dollars,
covering three supplementary bills beyond the original budget.
He added that there was a fourth bill still awaiting
parliamentary approval.
"In the last month (December 2006), the fund held 1.3 billion
dollars. In the next year, the budget has only foreseen
(withdrawals of) 10.6 billion dollars from the OSF (for current
expenditure)," Askari added.
Ahmadinejad's second annual budget has come under heavy
criticism for being unrealistic.
But Askari defended the government's economic policies.
"The budget bill is only a prediction and not definitive. We do
not predict any additional budget for now and the government is
expecting not to make any new decision ... but if necessary, we
will have to do something."
Experts argue that revenues from taxes, bonds and privatisation
are less than half than budget predictions in the current year,
explaining why the government has had to look for money beyond
the original budget.
Iran's economy is heavily dependent on oil revenues, which
account for 80 percent of total export earnings and cover more
than 50 percent of the state budget.
Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
7 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Russian Envoy Speaks on 6-Way Talks' Prospects
Updated Feb.6,2007 10:45 KST
yield results this time around. Russian Ambassador to Seoul Gleb
Ivashentsov told a news conference here that the parties believe
an agreement will come.
"We believe that some kind of settlement will come,ˇ±
Ivashentsov said. ˇ°Of course, it is not an easy task. It's a
very complicated issue. It involves a lot of side issues as
well. But six parties have achieved an accord on the main
principles."
The ambassador urged all of the parties to leave emotion behind
and begin focusing on concrete implementation of the 2005 joint
statement for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. He also said
economic cooperation with Pyongyang is important for both Seoul
and Moscow especially in three projects proposed by Russia.
Those projects are the linking of trans-national railways
between South Korea and Russia, construction of a gas pipeline
between the two countries and the supply of electricity to South
Korea from Russia's Far East.
Ivashentsov said, "It will benefit not only us, and your country
economically, but it will benefit the process of inter-Korean
understanding as well, because the best way to overcome all
political differences is to have long-term economic
cooperation."
Russia shares a border with North Korea, so the ambassador says
all three parties can benefit by making the projects three-way.
Moscow has a long history with its former Cold War ally
Pyongyang, but only formed ties with Seoul 15 years ago.
Relations between South Korea and Russia have dramatically
improved since 1992, which could make Moscow a key mediator
between the two Koreas.
Arirang News
*****************************************************************
8 Korea Times: New US Budget Allocates $2 Million in Aid to North Korea
Hankooki.com >
The U.S. fiscal year 2008 budget request released Monday
allocates $2 million in economic support for North Korea in
recognition of the country's special conditions.
However, the budget request made by the U.S. State Department
calls for additional funding to the Treasury Department to
financially pressure regimes like Pyongyang.
The economic aid fund recognizes that under special economic,
political or security conditions, it is in the U.S. national
interest to provide economic assistance. While focused primarily
on rebuilding and development, the fund is also spent on health
services, in countries in transition to democracy, and to
finance economic stabilization programs.
Previous budgets in the fiscal year 2006 and 2007 did not
include North Korea-specific support funds.
The budget request continues to set aside money to promote
international broadcasting into countries like North Korea to
reach the oppressed population and promote democracy.
Called ``winning the war of ideas,ˇŻˇŻ the department requested
$668 million to support radio, television and Internet
broadcasting through the Middle East and in North Korea, Iran
and Cuba.
The allocations also include $30 million for the U.S. Institute
of Peace, an independent, nonpartisan institution funded by
Congress to help resolve conflicts worldwide, including those
related to North Korea.
Overall budget for migration and refugee assistance was
proposed at $20 million for East Asia, which would cover in part
humanitarian aid and protection of North Korean refugees.
The request from the Treasury is to add $385,000 to its Office
of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes to "disrupt and
dismantle rogue regimes."
"This initiative would fund additional policy advisors to cover
North Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Central Asia on
pressing financial issues," the Treasury said.
Acting on executive orders and Section 311 of the Patriot Act,
the Treasury froze funds in U.S. jurisdiction of entities and
individuals linked to North Korea's proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction.
The punitive measures were taken in parallel to six-nation
negotiations to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear
weapons and programs.
The budget for the Defense Department includes $6.8 billion to
develop new systems and improve ballistic missile defense (BMD)
systems to protect the U.S.
The BMD program is considered as a shield mainly against
threats from North Korea and Iran, suspected of developing
intercontinental missiles. Pyongyang in July last year
flight-tested seven missiles, including its long-range
Taepodong, which theoretically can strike the U.S. west coast.
02-06-2007 11:12
*****************************************************************
9 Korea Times: Seoul to Resume NK Aid Only After S-N Talks
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation
South Korea will resume aid to North Korea only after the two
Koreas reopen their dialogue, even if there is some progress in
the upcoming six-nation talks, Yonhap News reported today
quoting a top South Korean official.
"We can consider resuming aid to North Korea in a phased manner,
but it should be followed by inter-Korean talks," the anonymous
official was quoted as saying.
South Korea suspended its food and fertilizer aid to North Korea
shortly after the communist country conducted missile tests last
July. North Korea test-fired a nuclear bomb last October.
The six-way talks aimed at ending North KoreaˇŻs nuclear weapons
program are to begin in Beijing on Thursday. In addition to the
two Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia
participate in the denuclearization talks.
Asked whether the U.S. will agree to aid resumption, the
official said he believed that the U.S. will not oppose the
idea, noting that the U.S. is quite optimistic about the
resumption of step-by-step aid to the North.
02-06-2007 19:38
*****************************************************************
10 AFP: Japan baulks as US talks aid for NKorea
by Shigemi Sato Tue Feb 6, 2:19 PM ET
TOKYO (AFP) - A US envoy said this week's talks on North Korea"
/> North Korea's nuclear weapons could discuss economic
incentives for Pyongyang, but Japan ruled out funding a deal
without progress in a dispute over kidnapped Japanese.
US negotiator Christopher Hill, in Tokyo ahead of six-nation
talks that resume Thursday in Beijing, renewed his demand that
North Korea take concrete steps to implement a September 2005
agreement to give up atomic weapons.
North Korea made the pledge in exchange for economic aid and
security guarantees, but tested its first atom bomb a little more
than a year later.
"I think clearly we will have to move as soon as possible to
implementation" of the agreement, Hill told reporters, calling
for North Korea to take "a very strong, clear step" within weeks
of the Beijing talks.
Hill has declined to confirm a Japanese press report that North
Korea had demanded oil shipments in return for freezing its
reactor. But he noted that the 2005 deal involved energy and
economic assistance.
"I have not discussed any details of this at all in my bilateral
consultations with the DPRK, although I think it is quite
possible that it will come up in the six-party context this
weekend," Hill said, referring to the country's official name,
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The Asahi Shimbun reported Sunday that North Korea had told US
officials it wanted 500,000 tons of oil a year in exchange for
shutting down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor.
But Japan, the region's largest economy, made clear it would not
automatically foot the bill of a deal with North Korea.
Foreign Minister Taro Aso told Hill that "there is a limit to
the measures that our country can take under the current
circumstances as North Korea is not acting sincerely to solve
pending issues between Japan and North Koerea including the
abduction issue," a foreign ministry statement said.
North Korea admitted in 2002 that it had abducted 13 Japanese in
the 1970s and 1980s to train spies. It returned five of them to
Japan along with their families and said the other eight had
died.
But Japan believes they are still alive and suspects even more
Japanese nationals were kidnapped and are being kept under wraps
because they know too many secrets about the North's Stalinist
regime.
The issue rouses deep anger in Japan, which has sometimes irked
other nations by insisting on raising the matter during the
six-nation talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programme.
Asked about Tokyo's reluctance to fund a deal with North Korea,
Hill said he hoped "the US and Japan can work together."
"The six-party talks present a very broad platform on which we
are trying to address a number of issues, not only issues
related to bilateral concerns but also issued related to
denuclearisation," he said.
Kenichiro Sasae, Japan's envoy to the talks, said Tokyo was
committed to raising the abduction issue again.
"It is important to move ahead on the abduction issue as part of
efforts to move the whole six-party process ahead. The United
States fully understands this point," Sasae said after talks
with Hill.
The discussions came as North Korea attacked the South and the
United States for a fresh deployment of fighter bombers in the
region and accused them of spying, state media reported.
The Korean Central News Agency said such actions "may aggravate
the situation in the region, triggering off a new arms race and
adversely affect the peaceful solution to the nuclear issue on
the Korean Peninsula."
The agency was quoting a spokesman for the Korean National Peace
Committee.
Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
11 UPI: Analysis: Budget focuses on clean coal
United Press International - Energy -
2/6/2007 7:07:00 PM -0500
By KRISTYN ECOCHARD UPI Energy Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- The development of clean coal
technology could be a focus of the Department of Energy if the
budget presented to Congress Monday is enacted later this year.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman highlighted progress of the
Advanced Energy Initiative and the American Competitiveness
Initiative as two major goals of the fiscal year 2008 budget.
However, of the $24.3 billion requested by the Department of
Energy for fiscal year 2008, the Office of Fossil Energy would
get $863 million, a higher percentage increase from the 2007
request than the AEI and the Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy.
Under the proposed budget requests, coal would be appropriated
around $330 million, more than any other appropriations given to
the Office of Fossil Energy. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.,
chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources, pointed out natural gas and petroleum were left off
the appropriations list.
"Even though the price of oil and gas are near record highs, we
won't be able tap new domestic oil and gas resources without
additional research and development," Bingaman said. "If the
government abandons the field of oil and gas research, where is
the new technology going to come from? This is a wrongheaded
decision that I hope the Congress reverses."
Under the requests, the Clean Coal Power Initiative and
FutureGen, both part of the President's Coal Research
Initiative, would receive $73 million and $108 million
respectively. FutureGen, upon completion, is expected to produce
electricity and hydrogen with nearly zero emissions using carbon
sequestration. It is also expected to be cost competitive at no
more than 10 percent above plants without clean technologies.
The Clean Coal Power Initiative goal of demonstrating advanced
coal-fired power generation technology is supported by the
budget requests. However, contradictory to other efforts to
develop zero-emissions coal production, the Clean Coal
Technology program, which is a separate appropriation, was cut
back in the request.
The Fuels and Power Systems program would receive the most
funding. Under that specific program, technologies such as
integrated gasification combined cycle and carbon sequestration
would be accelerated as well as the Innovations for Existing
Plants program, but there was no specific allotment for coal to
liquid technology.
There's also about $9 billion in loan guarantees that Bodman
said would be used for the development of commercial new clean
energy technologies. The request also includes a $4 billion
allocation for large power generation plants, including nuclear
and coal-fired power facilities.
According to Energy Information Administration figures, coal
provides enough electricity to meet about 50 percent of the U.S.
electricity demand. The United States also has the largest coal
reserve in the world.
"We've been increasing dependence on volatile countries to
fulfill our needs so it makes sense to use our own resources but
also find new ways to reduce emissions," said Luke Popovich,
National Mining Association spokesman.
The recent report on climate change from the U.N.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and several
cap-and-trade legislation proposals in Congress have industry
officials considering future obstacles for coal production and
the need for sustainable, clean technology.
"The overall budget indicates positive energy research and
focusing on coal is a realistic assessment of the work that has
to be done to continue to make coal cleaner because we know we
have to continue to use it," Popovich said.
Coal is also starting to play a larger role in the fuel sector,
Popovich said. Through the loan guarantee-, coal-to-liquids
projects could be funded with the $4 billion designated to
develop clean transportation fuel, said Susan Carver, vice
president of Congressional Affairs for the NMA. The Department
of Defense has also taken interest in coal liquefaction, she
said, the U.S. Air Force, in particular, is looking to develop a
domestic source of combat fuel. The DOD budget, however, did not
include a request for allocations for additional research.
"Funding for expanding technology has to be a big part of the
solution because there's no practical way over the next 20 years
to get away from coal use. Given the size of the problem, this
might not even be enough funding," Popovich said.
© Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
*****************************************************************
12 Scotsman.com News: Pair team up to blast Blair's nuclear policy
"Edinburgh Evening News" /
Tue 6 Feb 2007
FORMER Leith MP Ron Brown and Scottish Socialist Party leader
Colin Fox will join forces to blast Labour's policy on nuclear
weapons and nuclear power.
The two will share a platform at a public meeting in the
Communications Workers Union premises at 15 Brunswick Street,
Leith, on Thursday at 7.30pm.
Mr Brown, Labour MP for Leith from 1979 until 1992, said: "The
nuclear option being promoted by Tony Blair and his big business
cronies is unacceptable.
"I find it incredible that on the 25th anniversary of the
Chernobyl nuclear disaster, where perhaps as many as 100,000
people may have perished, Tony Blair proposes to build 20 new
nuclear reactors."
And Mr Fox, a Lothians list MSP, said: "This Prime Minister
warns the rest of the world not to develop nuclear weapons and
signs up to the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty, then he
threatens the rest of the world with 'mutually assured
destruction'."
2007 Scotsman.com
*****************************************************************
13 Guardian Unlimited: Tony Blair today insisted that the option of military action
against Iran should not be taken 'off the table' - but he told
senior MPs that 'nobody is talking about or planning military
intervention'. | Special Reports |
Matthew Tempest, political correspondent
Tuesday February 6, 2007
[Tony Blair at the liaison committee, February 6 2007.
Photograph: PA Wire.]
Tony Blair at the liaison committee today. Photograph: PA Wire.
Tony Blair today insisted that the option of military action
against Iran should not be taken "off the table" - as he issued
a stern reprimand to the Tehran regime for its nuclear strategy
and for fomenting unrest in the region.
The prime minister warned that Iran was "in danger of making a
miscalculation" through its defiance of the international
community.
But Mr Blair told senior MPs that "nobody is talking about or
planning military intervention", a position reiterated by the
foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, last week.
Asked specifically whether the military option was off the table,
Mr Blair replied that no option was "off the table".
The prime minister, defending his "hard power" foreign policy in
his penultimate session before a panel of 30 select committee
chairs in parliament, made a lengthy warning to Tehran to change
course, saying "doors would open" if the Tehran regime changed
policy.
But failure to do so would see a "very large coalition against
them" he warned.
Mr Blair, who is to step down before the autumn, accused Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, of pursuing a strategy to
"create the maximum trouble" in the Middle East.
"Nobody is talking about military intervention in respect of
Iran, but people are increasingly alarmed and concerned at the
strategy they appear to be pursuing," he said.
With the US administration making increasingly bellicose noises
about Iran, Mr Blair told MPs: "[Iran's] strategy is to create
the maximum trouble for us and for the region and I think that
is a miscalculation because in the end they are going to find
that they assemble a very large coalition against them.
"Nobody's talking about military intervention in respect of Iran
but people are increasingly alarmed and concerned at the
strategy that they appear to be pursing."
The prime minister drew a distinction between the Iranian people
and the regime in Tehran, and sympathised with the Iranian
population suffering a "squeeze" on their living standards.
Along with France and Germany, the UK participated in the
so-called EU3 negotiations to get Iran to abandon its alleged
nuclear weapons programme.
The prime minister made a lengthy defence of his "highly
interventionist" foreign policy to the MPs' liaison committee,
in his last but one session of questioning by the senior MPs.
He said that Britain was facing a "huge question" over the
future direction of foreign policy, requiring strong alliances
with both the EU and US.
"I think that is a huge question for the future. Do we want to
continue on that path or do we want, for example, to choose a
more European way over an American way?
"That is the debate that is going on there," he said.
"I would say for us now the critical thing is to say, given what
foreign policy that we have had over the last decade - highly
interventionist, based on hard and soft power, with those
alliances, Europe and America - is this the right way forward
for our country or should we take a step back, maybe, and not be
engaged in these international issues as we have been?"
In what may have been a challenge to any likely successor to
him, whether Gordon Brown or a future Tory prime minister, Mr
Blair cautioned against abandoning the "special relationship"
with America.
He said: "Before we distance ourselves from America, either as
Britain or as Europe, we need to really work out whether that is
a sensible thing to do or not.
"I am the person above all who can give evidence as to the
difficulty and sometimes the political penalty you pay for a
close relationship with the US, but we shouldn't give that up in
any set of circumstances.
"If we do want to give it up, then my plea to people is for
God's sake do it consciously. Don't kind of drift into it just
because there is a strain of public opinion that moves in that
direction.
"It is a big, big thing for us to decide as a country."
The prime minister promised to attend a final
two-and-a-half-hour session of the liaison committee before
stepping down, to defend his ten-year tenure at Downing Street.
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
14 Countless ChernobylsThat Climate Change Will Bring To The World
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2007 22:55:36 -0500
>Officials said a low tide and debris on
screens used to filter the water caused the
problem.
As most experts on the subject of climate
change/global warming know and much of the world's
public does, vast tracts of land with huge human
populations [ 50% of the USA's human population
live within 50 miles of a coast] will be
underwater relatively soon. About two weeks ago on
the staid, largely corporate funded "Charlie Rose"
show we were told that Manhattan would be
underwater in 50 years.
The more the world's leading climate
scientists learn the more they are continously
very surprised at the rapidity with which climate
change/global warming is kicking in. So instead
of the 50 years that was recently doled out to us
on "Charlie Rose" [ http://www.pbs.org ] it's
likely that within 40,
30 or 20 years Manhattan will be underwater.
What will this do to nuclear power facilities
including the massive amounts of nuclear waste
sitting at facilities like Indian Point and so
many other facilities around the country and the
world? If this was the lowest of 4 levels of
emergencies declared just yesterday due to a tide
and debris what will happen when, almost
inevitably, climate change and the innundation of
countless nuclear power facilities ensues?
Is this being addressed anywhere? What does the
NRC and it's counterparts around the world have to
say about this virtual inevitability? For those
interested in an excellant source for keeping
updated on climate change see:
http://www.heatisonline.org Climate change will
bring even more catastrophic consequences than it
would otherwise because all these nuclear power
facilities are sitting there like animals waiting
to be slaughtered. The radiation released will be
unimaginable
[countless Chernobyls] and render much of the
world too radioactive to live in. It will
devastate the world's economy along with the
climate change that will
ruin much of the world and society as we know it
even without nuclear power. This needs to be
brought to the attention of the media now:
http://www.fair.org/media-contact-list.html Call
into radio and TV shows and write your local
media.
Is anyone addressing this inevitable nuclear
tsunami?
- Bill Smirnow
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/06/nyregion/06mbrfs-nuclear.html
Buchanan: An Emergency at Indian Point
a.. E-Mail
b.. Print
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d.. Save
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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 6, 2007
The Indian Point nuclear station declared an
"unusual event," the lowest of four emergency
declarations, after the water levels dropped
yesterday at its intakes on the Hudson River,
officials said. The incident, declared at 7:07
a.m., was over by 10:15 a.m., said the plant's
owner, Entergy Nuclear Northeast. Both reactors at
the plant remained at full power, officials said.
The plant uses river water to help cool equipment
at its reactors. Officials said a low tide and
debris on screens used to filter the water caused
the problem.
*****************************************************************
15 [NukeNet] Fwd: Mothers for Peace legal action TODAY
Date: Tue, 06 Feb 2007 15:39:08 -0800
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
Press Advisory: Mothers for Peace files Response to Pacific Gas and
Electric Company's "Motion for Prompt Commission Action"
For immediate release, February 5, 2007
Contacts: Jane Swanson, San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace (MFP)
spokesperson
(805) 595-2605 home
(805) 440-1359
janeslo@kcbx.net
Diane Curran, MFP counsel
(202) 328-3500 x24
dcurran@harmoncurran.com
Today, February 5, 2007, the San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace (MFP) filed
a Response to Pacific Gas and Electric Company's (PG&E's) Motion to the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for "Prompt Commission Action."
In this Motion, PG&E asks the NRC to move quickly in response to the June
2006 ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals so that PG&E can begin
loading the radioactive fuel into the dry cask storage facility in 2008.
PG&E is feeling the pressure of time, for the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant
is running out of storage space for its radioactive waste. There is a
possibility of having to shut down the plant for a period of time if the
work is not complete by late 2008. But "had the NRC conducted a thorough
and rigorous NEPA review of the environmental impacts of an intentional
attack on the Diablo Canyon ISFSI when PG&E submitted its application in
2001, or granted a hearing when SLOMFP requested it in 2002, PG&E's Motion
would not be necessary now." (Response at 4) In its Response to PG&E's
Motion, MFP urges the NRC to do the Court-required work thoroughly and
properly. "In no eventŠ should the Commission sacrifice the thoroughness
of its environmental analysis to PG&E's schedule." (Response at 7) To do
otherwise "would merely invite more litigation." (Response at 4)
Also in its Response, MFP advises the NRC to evaluate the range of
potential attacks on the facility and not limit the scenarios to airborne
attack. The Diablo Canyon ISFSI is located on an exposed hillside
overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and the particular vulnerabilities of this
site must be considered. "There are significant site-specific issues that
cannot be resolved generically." (Response at 7)
"Mothers for Peace finds it alarming that PG&E is more concerned with the
schedule for Diablo Canyon than with the need to protect its added
radioactive waste storage from the consequences of a terrorist attack"
according to Jane Swanson, spokesperson for MFP. "If safety was the
priority, PG&E would have stopped construction of the dry cask storage
facility when the Ninth Circuit Court ordered the NRC to study the
environmental effects of terrorism on June 2, 2006. Instead, PG&E continued
to build the project without regard for the possible design changes that
might be ordered, such as scattering the casks or putting them behind
earthen berms to make them less vulnerable."
BACKGROUND
PG&E is running out of storage space for the "spent" or used fuel generated
by the two nuclear reactors on the site of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power
plant. Thus, in late 2001, PG&E applied to the NRC for a license for a new
facility to store spent fuel on the Diablo Canyon site in dry storage
casks. As allowed by NRC regulations, respondents San Luis Obispo Mothers
for Peace, Sierra Club, and Peg Pinard (collectively, "SLOMFP") requested a
hearing on the adequacy of PG&E's license applications in the summer of 2002.
Among other things, SLOMFP contended that the application was inadequate to
satisfy the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because it did not
address the environmental impacts of terrorist attacks on the proposed
spent fuel storage facility. Citing the NRC's increased preparedness
requirements in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, and other
assaults on U.S. facilities during the past ten years, SLOMFP argued that
the NRC's own conduct shows that it considers such attacks to be reasonably
foreseeable.
The NRC denied SLOMFP's hearing request, relying on a previous decision in
which it had held as a matter of law that it was not required to consider
the environmental impact of intentional attacks on nuclear
facilities. According to the NRC, no Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
was required.
In December 2003, SLOMFP sought review of the NRC's decision in the Ninth
Circuit. PG&E was not named as a respondent but intervened to support the
NRC's actions. On June 2, 2006, the court granted SLOMFP's petition for
review with respect to its NEPA claim and ordered the NRC "to fulfill its
responsibilities under NEPA." Under the Court's order, the obligation to
comply with NEPA is placed upon the NRC - not upon PG&E. The NRC did not
request a stay of the order by the en banc Ninth Circuit or by the Supreme
Court, but on September 29, 2006, PG&E filed a petition to the U.S. Supreme
Court for a writ of certiorari seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of the
decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's San Luis
Obispo Mothers for Peace v. NRC. The U.S. Supreme Court denied review on
January 16, 2007.
NEPA: National Environmental Policy Act
Congress established a national policy to encourage careful review of the
impacts of human development on the environment. Before taking actions
that may have a significant impact on the environment, NEPA requires
federal agencies to prepare environmental impact statements (EISs) that
carefully consider the environmental impacts of proposed decisions and
alternatives for reducing or avoiding those impacts. They must consider
environmental impacts that are "reasonably foreseeable" and have
"catastrophic consequences, even if their probability of occurrence is low."
MFP Response attached.
Recipients of this press advisory who would also like copies of Exhibit 1
(Testimony of Gordon Thompson to California Energy Commission) or Exhibit 2
(DOE Interim Guidance) please request those documents from Jane Swanson,
janeslo@kcbx.net.
--
Jane Swansonjaneslo@slonet.org
janeslo@kcbx.net
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"It is vital that our state understand that once PG&E and SCE are no longer
generating electricity from Diablo Canyon and San Onofre, high-level
radioactive waste will be left on our coast vulnerable to attack. No longer
will it be a matter of 'We need the power so the risk is worth it.' The
utility - the jobs, property taxes and donations to the community will be
gone. Only the risk will remain for our children and grandchildren." -
Rochelle Becker, Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
"The parachute used by George Herbert Walker Bush when his bomber was shot
down over the Pacific in 1944 was 100% legal American "Marihuana." (hemp)
George W. Bush was not born until 1946. Therefore, legal "Marihuana" has
saved the lives of two US Presidents."
http://www.progressiveu.org/140827-marijuana-saved-george-bushs-life
Molly Johnson
6290 Hawk Ridge Place
San Miguel, CA 93451
Don't be flakey.
Get Yahoo!
Mail for Mobile and
always stay
connected to friends.
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*****************************************************************
16 HindustanTimes.com: Lot's been done, lot more to do - US
February 6, 2007|12:30 IST
Lot of hard work ahead on nuclear deal: US
Arun Kumar (Indo-Asian News Service)
The United States says its civil nuclear deal with India has
removed an obstacle in the growth of their relations, but
there's a lot of hard work left to do to implement the agreement.
"Well, the future is wide open, obviously. We have removed one
of those obstacles to more full, broader and deeper relations
between the United States and India," State Department spokesman
Sean McCormack told reporters on Monday.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is seeking to build on this
relationship, talking about how the two countries might
cooperate further in political, economic as well as diplomatic
endeavours, he said.
"There are a number of different interests that we have in
common. And in the coming months and in the remaining two years
(of Bush administration), I'm sure you will see the secretary
work with her Indian counterparts to build on the good start
that we have," McCormack said.
However, at this point he had nothing to announce by way of any
high-level visits. In large part, these relationships are going
to be governed by nongovernmental interactions, business
interactions, people-to-people exchanges, US students studying
in India, Indian students studying in the United States, he said.
In reply to a question about cross-border terrorism between
Pakistan and Afghanistan, McCormack said, "Sure. It's still a
problem. And the Afghan government knows it, the Pakistani
government knows it, and we have been involved and continue to
be involved with both governments."
Pakistan has an interest in a stable, prosperous, democratic
Afghanistan. The rest of the region including India has an
interest in that as well, he said.
"And clearly the rest of the world does as well. NATO has a lot
of troops on the ground there. So everybody wants to see that
situation more stable over the long term. Part of that equation
is getting at the infiltration going both ways of Taliban
terrorists along that border area," McCormack said.
"We have a trilateral commission that is set up to improve the
communications between the two governments as well as to improve
the effectiveness of their efforts to stop cross-border
infiltrations going both ways."
"Both Pakistan and Afghanistan have responsibilities in this
regard. They have improved their coordination. They have
improved somewhat the effectiveness of that coordination, but
there is clearly a lot more that needs to be done," McCormack
said.
In response to a question about Bangladesh, McCormack said US is
in close contact with the caretaker government. Under Secretary
of State for Political Affairs Nick Burns had talked on the
phone to the head of this government a month ago urging them to
be as inclusive as possible in the election process.
"I know that there were some concerns about by at least one
significant party in the election process," he said.
But "Bangladeshis are going to have to work through all of these
issues themselves. What we encourage is an electoral process
that is free, fair and transparent, is as inclusive as possible
for all responsible parties, so that when you do have a result
it is a result that can be accepted by the Bangladeshi
population as a whole" McCormack said.
© HT Media Ltd. 2007.
*****************************************************************
17 ENS: Bush Budget Slashes Environment, Funds Nuclear Development
Environment News Service (ENS)
WASHINGTON, DC, February 5, 2007 (ENS) - President George W.
Bush today sent Congress a $2.9 trillion budget package for the
fiscal year starting in October that includes big increases for
defense spending, cuts in conservation programs and assumptions
that tax revenues will increase and that the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge will be leased for oil and gas development.
Yet the administration said reducing U.S. dependence on
petroleum imports and expanding incentives for clean energy
technologies are central to the President's energy budget
proposal.
[Cabinet] President George W. Bush meets with his Cabinet at the
White House Monday to introduce his FY 2008 Budget. (Photo by
David Bohrer courtesy The White House) As part of $24.3 billion
funding request for the Energy Department, the president is
asking Congress to provide $2.7 billion to accelerate research
into power generation technologies based on coal, nuclear energy
and renewable sources, as well as the development of efficient
vehicles and biofuels.
"This budget builds on our commitment to strengthen our nation’s
energy security by diversifying our energy resources and
reducing our reliance on foreign sources of energy," said Energy
Secretary Samuel Bodman.
But while the newly elected Congress now controlled by Democrats
generally supports reducing dependence on foreign oil and
increases in renewable energy sources, some parts of the
president's budget are in for a rough ride.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada today took aim at
the budget's half-billion dollar proposal to develop the
nation's only high-level nuclear waste repository already
approved by the President for Yucca Mountain, Nevada 90 miles
northwest of Las Vegas.
[Reid] Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Photo courtesy Office
of the Senator) "Rather than sending Congress a budget that
strengthens homeland security, energy independence, education,
affordable health care and fiscal discipline, the president
proposes nearly a half-billion dollars for the nuclear waste
dump at Yucca Mountain," said Reid. "The proposed dump is a
project whose time has passed. As majority leader of the Senate,
I promise the highest Congressional scrutiny for this waste of
taxpayer dollars."
The president is requesting $114 million to support the planned
expansion of the U.S. nuclear power industry and $405 million
for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, GNEP. Under this
program, the United States would build a nuclear fuel
reprocessing facility and sell fuel for nuclear reactors to
nations that do not have the technology to manufacture their own
nuclear fuel.
In 2006, the administration asked for $250 million for the GNEP
but lawmakers expressed doubts about the feasibility, the
timeline and other aspects of the program.
Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico
Democrat, said he is puzzled that the increase sought for spent
fuel reprocessing as part of the GNEP funding is larger than the
entire proposed research and development budget for solar
energy.
Bingaman welcomed the increases proposed by the administration
for biomass and biofuels research and development programs but
criticized the elimination of all research related to oil and
natural gas and a lack of funding for geothermal research.
The budget would fund expansion of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum
Reserve over 20 years to more than double its current capacity
of 727 million barrels.
[Bush] President George W. Bush attempts to woo Democrats
Saturday at the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference in
Williamsburg, Virginia. (Photo by Shealah Craighead courtesy The
White House) The president’s proposal calls for $385 million to
fund coal-based clean power generation projects such as the
near-zero emission coal power project FutureGen and large-scale
carbon sequestration field tests.
Advanced coal technologies will help the United States tap its
huge coal reserves at reasonable cost without adding to
greenhouse gas emissions, the administration said.
Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who chairs the
Environment and Public Works Committee today expressed
disappointment in the president's budget for failing to set the
right priorities for the American people and obscuring the true
costs of the war in Iraq.
"The American people voted for change last November, but instead
of listening to them, the president is giving us more of the
same - a blank check for this endless war and penny-pinching for
critical domestic priorities like education, health care, energy
independence, support for local law enforcement, and combating
the threat of global warming," said Boxer.
The Energy Department is seeking loan guarantee authority to
provide $9 billion in financial backing for projects related to
commercialization of more efficient biofuel production, advanced
nuclear energy, and more efficient electricity transmission.
In addition, $4.4 billion would go toward basic research in the
physical sciences and bioenergy and nanotechnology research
programs that carry a longer-term promise of improvements in
energy use.
But at the same time, the president's 2008 budget proposes a 40
percent cut, a $98 million reduction, to the Weatherization
Assistance Program, which conserves energy by helping low-wage
workers and retirees on fixed incomes to insulate their homes.
[weatherizing] In 2005, President Bush stated his commitment to
increase funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program by
$1.4 billion over the next 10 years in order to cut the utility
bills of 1.2 million low-income families while conserving
energy. (Photo courtesy The White House) National Community
Action Foundation Executive Director David Bradley said the
administration's plan unwisely elects energy experimentation
over conservation.
"The administration is proposing that all new energy resources
go into research and development of new technologies for the
future. We certainly need new breakthroughs, yet it is not wise
to invest only in risky, long-range experiments and neglect more
immediate and proven home energy-saving upgrades," Bradley said.
Reducing energy use is the cheapest way for society to ease the
demand for fuels."
New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed disappointment
that the budget cuts $44 million from clean water funding. She
said the cuts slash funding by 36 percent to the revolving loan
fund that cities and towns across New York rely on for funding
to make improvements to sever and wastewater treatment
facilities.
There is a $9 million cut in research funding to the National
Cancer Institute, and a $4 million cut to the National
Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences.
The most important environmental priority for the 110th Congress
is the enactment of strong global climate change legislation -
specifically, legislation that caps emissions of carbon dioxide
and the other heat-trapping gases that are released through
combustion of fossil fuels said a coalition of 21 national and
regional environmental groups, introducing their Green Budget
last week.
[train] Amtrak train pulls into a Wisconsin station. (Photo
courtesy Wisconsin DOT) "Investing in the modernization of our
country’s transportation infrastructure is critical to combating
global climate change, whether by developing efficient and
effective public transportation or passenger rail (one of the
most fuel efficient forms of transportation using less energy
per passenger-mile than most airplane and automobile travel), or
by increasing the efficiency of car engines," the environmental
groups said.
But the president's budget proposal makes deep cuts to Amtrak
funding to $900 million in 2008 from $1.3 billion estimated for
2007. This 83 percent cut jeopardizes Amtrak’s ability to serve
many of its passenger lines and removes an alternative to
automotive transportation fueled by gasoline and diesel.
Natural Resources Funding Cuts
In total, the president's budget cuts appropriated funding for
natural resources and the environment by nearly $1.5 billion, a
4.8 percent cut.
[Portman] Director Rob Portman of the Office of Management and
Budget presents the budget of the U.S. government for the 2008
fiscal year to the press. (Photo by Paul Morse courtesy The
White House) Briefing the media today, Rob Portman, director of
the White House Office of Management and Budget attempted to
introduce as "new" a plan to get the private sector to invest in
the National Park System that was in fact introduced last
August.
"We are proposing today an exciting new plan, called the
National Parks Centennial Initiative," said Portman. "This new
program will provide up to $3 billion over the next 10 years in
new federal and private spending to help achieve new levels of
excellence in our national parks."
But on August 25, 2006, the 90th anniversary of the National
Park Service, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne launched the
"National Parks Centennial Challenge," a 10 year initiative to
improve the Park System in time for its 100th anniversary in
2016 by selling private companies the right to name trails or
other park facilities.
Conservationists raised an outcry today over cuts to programs
that protect land, water and wildlife.
The budget figures for the Land and Water Conservation Fund,
LWCF, alone show a cut of nearly $85 million below FY 2006
levels, about a 60 percent cut. The fund was established in 1964
to provide money to federal and state governments to purchase
land, water and wetlands for the benefit of all Americans.
Funded with receipts from oil and gas drilling off the outer
continental shelf, the LWCF is authorized to receive $900
million a year.
Already faced with a $2.5 billion budget backlog, the National
Wildlife Refuge System received a small increase in the
administration's request, but that still leaves the system more
than $55 million behind the inflation adjusted 2004 funding
level.
"Daily we are seeing reports of the impacts of severe budget
shortfalls in the refuge system," said Jamie Rappaport Clark,
executive vice president of Defenders of Wildlife, who served as
director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service during the
Clinton administration.
[Clark] Jamie Rappaport Clark is executive vice president of
Defenders of Wildlife. (Photo courtesy Defenders of Wildlife)
"Overall, the system is losing a fifth of its staff. Across the
country refuges are eliminating active outreach, visitor
programs, habitat maintenance, wildlife restoration and
education programs. Without more funding the refuge system will
not be able to fulfill its vital mission to conserve our
nation's fish, wildlife and their habitats for generations to
come," said Rappaport Clark.
President Bush's budget also reduces the endangered species
recovery program by 7.5 percent for a $5.5 million cut below FY
2006.
In addition, funding for programs that help private landowners
conserve at-risk wildlife were zeroed out. This cut to the
Landowner Incentive and Private Stewardship Grants programs
totals $29 million.
"Programs that protect our nation's lands and wildlife are in
structural collapse," said Clark. "We urge the new Congress to
begin to reinvest in all critical lands and wildlife
conservation programs, including those in the farm bill, so that
we can leave a true conservation legacy for our children and
grandchildren."
Despite the president’s new goal of reducing U.S. gasoline usage
by 20 percent in the next 10 years, the president’s budget
reverts to old, dirty energy and assumes that the Arctic
Refuge’s Coastal Plain will be leased to oil companies for $7
billion, warned the "Green Budget" environmental groups.
The budget proposes a $5.8 million boost in funding for the
Bureau of Land Management oil and gas program – from $115,308
million appropriated in FY 2007 to $121,191 million requested
for FY 2008 – but does not mention the BLM’s National Landscape
Conservation System.
[forest] Moose cow and calf on Colorado's Grand Mesa National
Forest on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. (Photo
courtesy U.S. Forest Service) In addition, BLM’s wildlife
program shows a slight decline, making it unclear how the
administration proposes to fund its new $15 million Healthy
Lands Initiative.
"The Healthy Lands initiative is a tacit acknowledgement of the
havoc wreaked by the administration’s oil and gas policies, but
what we really need is a halt to new oil and gas leasing on
sensitive lands, and adherence to protective wildlife
stipulations on the leases that have already been issued," said
The Wilderness Society's Senior Policy Advisor Dave Alberswerth.
On a positive note, the environmental groups approved a budget
increase for the National Park System of $258 million, 14.3
percent, over requested fiscal year 2006 levels.
"The increased National Park Service funding is a step in the
right direction," said The Wilderness Society’s Kristen Brengel.
"The funding would add nearly 500 permanent employees and
several thousand seasonal employees. More rangers mean that
parks visitors will experience these places in the way they were
meant to, through ranger-led tours and active natural and
cultural resource protection."
For the second consecutive year, the President’s Forest Service
budget includes a proposal to sell off up to $800 million of
National Forest lands. Although the full details of the land
sale proposal are not yet available, there is every indication
that it is nearly identical to the proposal made last February
that would have sold up to 300,000 acres of National Forest
lands across 35 states.
The budget also once again proposes to sell up to 950 million
acres of BLM lands to raise $334 million over 10 years.
Similar Forest Service and BLM proposals announced last year met
with strong and widespread opposition from hunters, anglers,
locally-elected officials, businesses, governors, and both
Democratic and Republican Members of Congress.
The U.S. Forest Service's timber sale program helps fund schools
in rural counties. Bob Douglas, president, of the National
Forest Counties and Schools Coalition, a group of 1,100
organizations, representing 37 states. Douglas also serves as
county superintendent of schools, Tehama County, California. He
said the president's budget proposal is inadequate to keep rural
schools operating.
[Douglas] Bob Douglas is president of the National Forest
Counties and Schools Coalition and County Superintendent of
Schools, Tehama County, California. (Photo courtesy Forest
Counties Payments Committee) Douglas says, "Although we
appreciate that the administration has included a funding
mechanism in the budget proposal that would partially fund the
Secure Rural Schools and Communities Act for four years, our
real and immediate priority is to obtain passage of a one-year
extension of the Act so we can rationally discuss a long-term,
bipartisan solution with the administration and Congress."
"Frankly," Douglas said, "if we cannot get that commitment now,
local governments will start sending out pink slips to between
12,000 and 16,000 teachers and county employees as early as
March 15th. In our most rural counties, these layoffs will have
a devastating effect on the quality of our schools and the level
of county services. Some local school districts will be forced
to declare bankruptcy."
"We are truly facing an emergency of catastrophic proportions in
our 800 forest counties and 4,400 forest county school
districts. Without urgent action, over nine million forest
county children will feel the effects of federal inaction."
news@ens-news.com
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2006. All Rights
Reserved.
The ENS website is maintained by HKCR LLC
*****************************************************************
18 Interfax: Putin signs law optimizing nuclear energy complex
Feb 6 2007 11:43AM
MOSCOW. Feb 6 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin has signed
into law a bill on the management and disposal of the property
and shares of organizations operating in the nuclear energy
sector, and on amending individual regulatory acts of the
Russian Federation, the presidential press service announced on
Monday.
The bill was approved by the State Duma on January 19 and
endorsed by the Federation Council on January 24 2007.
The law aims to optimize the legal and organizational environment
for the Russian nuclear energy complex, to form a legal
foundation for its restructuring and to regulate the management
and disposal of the property and shares of organizations
operating in the nuclear energy sector.
© 1991-2007 Interfax
All rights reserved
News and other data on this web site are provided for
information purposes only, and are not intended for
republication or redistribution. Republication or redistribution
of Interfax content, including by framing or similar means, is
expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of
Interfax.
*****************************************************************
19 World Nuclear News: 2008 budgets requested, 2007 budgets not yet approved
06 February 2007
American budget request for FY2008 have seen the
Department of Energy (DoE) ask for $24.3 billion, and the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), over $900 million.
Energy Secretary Sam Bodman presents his department's spending
needs(Image: DoE)
DoE's request reflects new aims recently outlined by President
George Bush to reduce the use of gasoline and increase energy
independence as well as a change in priorities in favour of the
Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) project.
However, federal officials still await confirmation of their 2007
spending requests, only two of 11 of which have been passed by
Congress, and exist under a 'continuing resolution' based on 2006
allocations. Although Congressmen expect this situation to
continue until September 2007, it has now come time for federal
departments to submit budget requests for 2008.
The bulk of DoE's FY2008 request, some $9.4 billion of the $24.3
billion total will go to the National Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA) to "promote national security through a
combination that includes maintaining our nuclear weapons
stockpile, advancing science, and promoting nuclear
nonproliferation and threat reduction."
With respect to civilian nuclear power, a key component of NNSA's
budget would be $334 million for the mixed-oxide (MOX) nuclear
fuel plant at Savannah River, which would dispose of 34 tonnes of
surplus plutonium from weapons programmes by combining it with
uranium as fuel for nuclear power plants.
$10 million from NNSA's request would go to the Global Nuclear
Energy Partnership, which furthers NNSA's nonproliferation goals.
In total, GNEP would receive $405 million, with some of that
funding coming from the Advanced Energy Initiative's request of
$2.7 billion to develop cleaner electricity generation
technologies.
The request for the Office of Nuclear Energy is $875 million,
which includes $395 million for the Advanced Fuel Cycle
Initiative another program with links to GNEP. The Nuclear
Power 2010 programme, which has been effective in building
confidence in several utilities to invest in constructing new
nuclear plants, would receive $114 million.
Further ahead, just $36 million has been requested to fund
development of Generation-IV reactor designs and "long-term
research and development to support the Next Generation Nuclear
Plant (NGNP) technology." NGNP originally intended an advanced
reactor to be built at Idaho National Laboratory which would be
connected to a neighbouring hydrogen production facility. Bids
were submitted to supply the high-temperature reactor for NGNP in
2005 but some observers now suggest the programme has effectively
been eclipsed by GNEP.
The budget of the DoE's Office of Science would contribute $428
million for basic research into nuclear fusion.
A DoE statement said its budget request "supports continued
scientific discovery and the development of alternative energy
sources that are vital to America's energy and economic
security."
Some $179 million would be assigned to the Biofuels Initiative to
help achieve the goal of making cellulosic ethanol commercially
competitive by 2012. This should help achieve another goal to
reduce US gasoline consumption by 20% in 10 years, as announced
by Bush in this year's State of The Union speech. $75 million of
that amount would be destined for three Bioenergy Research
Centers.
Another recent initiative to have funding proposed is the
doubling of the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to 1.5
billion barrels by 2027. $168 million would go towards starting
that project.
Under the proposals, the DoE's Office of Fossil Energy spending
would include $79 million for sequestration work including four
large-scale field tests, which the DoE says "have the potential
to store more than 600 billion tons of carbon dioxide, the
equivalent of mre than 200 years of emissions from energy sources
in the USA."
Regulatory delay warning
The budget request by the NRC amounts to $916.6 million, which it
says would "support the review of twelve of the new reactor
applications anticipated to arrive in 2008, two standard reactor
design certification applications, three early reactor site
permit applications, and the development of the reactor
construction inspection program." The NRC is required by law to
recoup $765.1 million of that allocation in fees from its
licensees.
However, the current continuing resolution funding would mean NRC
receives $95 million less than was requesed for FY2007.
Edward McGaffigan of the NRC has said that he thinks the
continuing delay over approving FY2007 spending could impact the
NRC's ability to process new reactor licence applications in
2007: "We are basically going to have to put them on the shelf,
because we're not going to have the folks to work on the
applications until well into calendar 2008."
Department of Energy
*****************************************************************
20 YONHAP NEWS: S. Korea to check nuclear power plants due to concern over
January quake
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Wednesday it will
carry out special safety inspections of its four nuclear power
plants in the wake of a minor earthquake that shook the country
late last month.
A magnitude-4.8 quake whose epicenter was about 200 kilometers
east of Seoul jolted the country on January 20. The temblor was
felt across the country, but no serious damage or casualties
were reported.
"The inspections are aimed at checking the readiness of
personnel and equipment to react to emergencies and to determine
how well protected nuclear power plants are from tremors," the
Ministry of Science and Technology said.
The four power plants will be examined after the Lunar New Year
holiday that falls on Feb. 18 this year. The power stations have
20 nuclear reactors that provide 40 percent of the country's
electricity needs.
The checks will be the first since 2004 when an earthquake off
the coast of Uljin, about 330 kilometers southeast of Seoul,
prompted authorities to inspect all of the country's power
plants, the ministry said.
South Korea is deemed relatively safe from earthquakes though
the number of minor temblors reported has been on the rise.
(END)
*****************************************************************
21 NRC: ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD TO HOLD PRE-HEARING CONFERENCE
ON VOGTLE EARLY SITE PERMIT APPLICATION
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs
Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail:
opa@nrc.gov www.nrc.gov
No. 07-021 February 6, 2007
The Nuclear Regulatory Commissions Atomic Safety and Licensing
Board (ASLB) will hold a pre-hearing conference Feb. 13 in
Waynesboro, Ga., to hear arguments on several contentions filed
concerning an early site permit application for the Vogtle
nuclear power plant site.
The conference will focus on arguments for and against the
admissibility of several contentions filed by various groups
regarding the application by Southern Nuclear Operating Co. for
an early site permit for up to two additional reactors at the
Vogtle site, 26 miles southeast of Augusta, Ga. The Vogtle plant
currently has two operating reactors. Southern Nuclear submitted
the application Aug. 15.
The contentions were filed jointly by the Center for a
Sustainable Coast, Savannah Riverkeeper, the Southern Alliance
for Clean Energy, the Atlanta Womens Action for New Directions,
and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. The contentions
raise issues under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
concerning the potential impacts of two new reactors on the
aquatic resources of the Savannah River, low-income and minority
communities nearby, potential terrorist attacks, and energy
alternatives. The three-judge ASLB will hear arguments from the
petitioners, the NRC staff, and Southern Nuclear.
Several weeks after the pre-hearing conference, the board will
issue its ruling on whether the petitioners have demonstrated
legal standing and raised viable issues that should be admitted
as contentions in an adjudicatory hearing regarding the ESP
application.
The pre-hearing conference will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb.
13, in the auditorium of the Augusta Technical Colleges
Waynesboro/Burke Campus, 216 Highway 24 South, Waynesboro, Ga.
Members of the public who are not parties to the proceeding may
submit comments in writing, known as written limited appearance
statements, concerning the contentions to be discussed during
the conference. These statements become part of the hearing
docket and provide members of the public an opportunity to make
the board and/or the parties aware of their concerns in
connection with the issues. The board does not intend to conduct
oral limited appearance sessions at this point, although it may
do so in the future at locations near the proposed facility; any
such sessions will be announced separately.
Written limited appearance statements can be submitted at any
time and should be sent to: Office of the Secretary, Rulemakings
and Adjudications Staff, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, D.C., 20555-0001; or by fax to (301) 415-1101; or by
e-mail to hearingdocket@nrc.gov.
Copies should also be sent to the chairman of the licensing
board as follows: Administrative Judge G. Paul Bollwerk, III,
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (Mail Stop T-3F23), U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C., 20555 - 0001;
or by fax to (301) 415-5599; or by e-mail to gpb@nrc.gov.
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, February 06, 2007
*****************************************************************
22 JOURNAL NEWS: Nuke plant makes it easier to report safety concerns
By GREG CLARY
(Original publication: February 6, 2007)
BUCHANAN - Indian Point officials have put together a 19-page
plan to reassure nuclear workers concerned about retaliation
that they can point out safety concerns at the plant and not
have to fear for their jobs.
The plans include workers meeting in small groups with top plant
executives to discuss safety issues, a faster company response
to specific problems, and a program to reinforce anonymity for
those pointing out safety concerns.
"Entergy recognizes that challenges remain and has recently
conducted additional diagnostic activities to better define the
issue and to assist in the development of corrective actions,"
Indian Point's top executive, Fred Dacimo, wrote in a letter to
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission obtained today by the Journal
News.
The NRC gave indian Point 30 days in mid-December to come up
with a plan to resolve what the regulating agency called a
"chilling effect" among workers who might not bring safety
issues to light because they feared retribution by their bosses.
NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the agency had received and
reviewed the document, but wouldn't respond substantively
without more study of the plan's details.
Copyright 2006 The Journal News, a Gannett Co.Inc. newspaper
*****************************************************************
23 NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
FR Doc E7-1868
[Federal Register: February 6, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 24)]
[Notices] [Page 5455-5456] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr06fe07-61]
Comment Request AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
ACTION: Notice of pending NRC action to submit an information
collection request to OMB and solicitation of public comment.
SUMMARY: The NRC is preparing a submittal to OMB for review of
continued approval of information collections under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35).
[[Page 5456]] Information Pertaining to the Requirement To Be
Submitted 1. The title of the information collection: ``NRC Forms
366, 366A, 366B, Licensee Event Report.'' 2. Current OMB approval
number: 3150-0104. 3. How often the collection is required: On
occasion, as defined reactor events are reportable as they occur.
4. Who is required or asked to report: Holders of operating
licenses for commercial nuclear power plants.
5. The number of annual respondents: 104. 6. The number of hours
needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 32,000
(25,600 reporting + 6,400 recordkeeping).
This is estimated to be 80 hours for each of 400 reports annually
or approximately 31 hours per recordkeeper.
7. Abstract: With NRC Forms 366, 366A, and 366B, the NRC collects
reports of the types of reactor events and problems that are
believed to be significant and useful to the NRC in its efforts
to identify and resolve possible threats to the public safety.
These forms are designed to provide the information necessary for
engineering studies of operational anomalies and trends and
patterns analysis of abnormal occurrences. The same information
is used for other analytic procedures that aid in identifying
accident precursors.
Submit, by April 9, 2007, comments that address the following
questions: 1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary
for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the
information have practical utility? 2. Is the burden estimate
accurate? 3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be collected? 4. How can the burden
of the information collection be minimized, including the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology? A copy of the draft supporting statement may be
viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F23, 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, T5-F52,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, by telephone at 301-415-7245, or by
Internet electronic mail at INFOCOLLECTS@NRC.GOV. Dated at
Rockville, Maryland, this 31st day of January 2007.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Margaret A. Janney, NRC
Clearance Officer, Office of Information Services.
[FR Doc. E7-1868 Filed 2-5-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
24 NRC: Firstenergy Nuclear Operating Company And Firstenergy Nuclear
FR Doc E7-1869
[Federal Register: February 6, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 24)]
[Notices] [Page 5456] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr06fe07-62]
Generation Corp.; Notice of Withdrawal of Application for
Amendment to Facility Operating License The U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) has granted the
request of FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company and FirstEnergy
Nuclear Generation Corp. (the licensee) to withdraw its January
11, 2005, application for proposed amendment to Facility
Operating License No. NPF-3 for the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power
Station, Unit 1, located in Ottawa County.
The proposed amendment would have revised the updated safety
analysis report (USAR) by modifying the design requirements for
protection from tornado missiles. Specifically, the proposed
amendment would have allowed certain structures, systems, and
components that are currently provided with physical protection
from tornado-induced missiles to be evaluated for acceptability
based on the Electric Power Research Institute ``Tornado Missile
Risk Evaluation Methodology'' (TORMIS).
The Commission had previously issued a Notice of Consideration of
Issuance of Amendment published in the Federal Register on
February 15, 2005 (70 FR 7766). However, by letter dated January
26, 2007, the licensee withdrew the proposed change.
For further details with respect to this action, see the
application for amendment dated January 11, 2005, and the
licensee's letter dated January 26, 2007, which withdrew the
application for license amendment. Documents may be examined,
and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR),
located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly
available records will be accessible electronically from the
Agencywide Documents Access and Management Systems (ADAMS) Public
Electronic Reading Room on the internet at the NRC Web site,
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html. Persons who do not have
access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the
documents located in ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR Reference
staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737 or by
e-mail to
pdr@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of
January 2007.
For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas J. Wengert, Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch III-2,
Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E7-1869 Filed 2-5-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
25 IAEA: Workshop on IAEA Integrated Regulatory Review Service in France
[IAEA.ORG :: Atoms for Peace]
Staff Report
5 February 2007 [Nuclear Power Plant]
France, where nuclear power generates about 75% of all
electricity, is hosting the IAEA safety workshop. (Credit:
Cattenom, France)
The French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) is teaming with the
IAEA to host a workshop on a new peer review service designed to
strengthen the nuclear regulatory infrastructure for regulated
facilities and activities. The workshop is set for 22-23 March
in Paris and is open to governmental and regulatory authorities
in IAEA Member States.
The workshop specifically focuses on lessons learned from the
IAEA´s Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission of 24
experts to France in November 2006. It´s being conducted by the
French Nuclear Safety Authority in cooperation with the IAEA
Department of Nuclear Safety and Security. IRRS is a new IAEA
peer review service that brings together international experts
in nuclear and radiation safety regulatory areas. It combines
previously separate missions to provide a more integrated,
flexible and modular assessment of regulatory activities.
"We´re pleased to be working with national authorities in France
and other countries that are principally responsible for nuclear
safety," said Mr. Tomihiro Taniguchi, IAEA Deputy Director
General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and
Security. "Our mutual aim is to achieve and maintain high
standards at the global level, and our safety review services,
like IRRS, are good examples of what can be done. Such expert
review teams have been providing guidance and advice on best
practices and IAEA safety standards for many years."
The Paris workshop in March seeks to inform participating
governmental and regulatory authorities about the IRRS, and to
review lessons learned to date and identify ways in which the
service can be improved, including the establishment of a
network of experts from nuclear regulatory authorities.
For more information about the workshop and the IRRS, see Story
Resources. Copyright ©, International Atomic Energy Agency, P.O.
Box 100, Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria
Telephone (+431) 2600-0; Facsimilie (+431) 2600-7; E-mail:
*****************************************************************
26 Newsday.com: Nuclear plant Indian Point's power level stable, spokesman says
AP New York
February 6, 2007, 9:33 AM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Indian Point nuclear power station in
Westchester County was operating normally Tuesday morning, a day
after low cooling water levels led to a declaration of an
"unusual event" _ the lowest category of emergency.
Officials at the Buchanan, N.Y. facility blamed the low water
level on a combination of cold weather, low tides on the Hudson
River and debris clogging screens used to filter the water the
plant draws in from the river.
Entergy Nuclear Northeast spokesman Jim Steets said Tuesday
morning that the screens had been "backwashed" and water levels
were no longer at a worrisome level, though he said he did not
know precisely what the water level was.
"The situation is normal as can be. Water levels are being
maintained," said Steets, adding that the plant has seen two more
low tides, once Monday evening and another early Tuesday morning,
without repeating the four-and-a-half foot water drop experienced
early Monday morning.
"We never really got even close to those lower levels," said
Steets. Divers were expected to inspect the screens later in the
day, he said.
. Copyright Newsday Inc.
*****************************************************************
27 Public Citizen: Bush Administration Budget Proposes to Squander
More Than a Billion Dollars on Unsafe and Polluting Nuclear Power
and Nuclear Waste Programs in FY 2008
Feb. 5, 2007
Statement of Michele Boyd, Legislative Director, Public
Citizen's Energy Program
Just how much taxpayer money does the federal government have to
squander before it realizes that it is chasing a nuclear power
mirage? Apparently, more than a billion dollars in Fiscal Year
2008 alone. The Bush administration's budget request for the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to waste another $1.3
billion for nuclear power programs in pursuit of dangerous
policies to revive the nuclear industry, restart nuclear waste
reprocessing in the United States, and resuscitate the failing
Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project.
Among the many subsidies for the 50-year-old nuclear industry in
the Bush administrations budget:
+ $4 billion in proposed loan guarantees for nuclear and coal
plants in FY 2008, compared to a $5 billion cap for biofuels,
electricity transmission and the vast array of renewable
energies. The DOE set these amounts, but according to the budget
request, has yet to evaluate the financial risks for
U.S. taxpayers. A 2003 estimate by the Congressional Budget
Office concluded the risk of loan default for a new nuclear
plant would be well above 50 percent.
+ $802 million for nuclear power research and development, a
38 percent increase from the FY 2007 request (the pending FY
2007 Continuing Resolution does not provide full funding). More
than $1.4 billion has been spent on nuclear power research and
development since FY 2001. Yet it is unlikely that we will see
any new reactors before 2017 if ever. Meanwhile, significant
efficiency measures and renewable energies could be implemented
in the next few years if federal policies supported them.
+ $114 million for the Nuclear Power 2010 program, which pays
the wealthy nuclear industry for half the cost of applying for
new reactors and licensing new designs. More than $251 million
has been appropriated for this program since FY 2001. The DOE
has granted $260 million to a consortium of utilities and
manufacturing companies, called NuStart, for only one
construction and operation license application.
+ $36.1 million for developing designs for the next
generation of nuclear reactors. More than $200 million has been
spent on the program since FY 2001. According to the DOE, these
designs will cost between $610 million and $1 billion. None of
these designs is part of any of the new reactor proposals.
New reactors would also mean more radioactive waste, but the
Bush administration budget has no solutions:
+ $405 million in FY 2008 for the Global Nuclear Energy
Partnership (GNEP), a program to promote reprocessing that the
Bush administration first announced last year. This represents a
$285 million increase from the pending FY 2007 Continuing
Resolution for the ill-defined program. Reprocessing is
expensive and the most polluting part of the nuclear cycle. It
also would threaten U.S. national security by producing highly
radioactive plutonium that is vulnerable to theft. More than
$586 million has been appropriated for reprocessing research
since FY 2001. But according to the National Academy of
Sciences, a full-scale reprocessing and plutonium fuel program
for the waste that we have today would cost at least $100
billion (1997 dollars). There is significant skepticism in
Congress about the partnership. The report of the House FY 2007
Energy and Water Appropriations bill found that the Department
of Energy has failed to provide sufficient detailed information
to enable Congress to understand fully all aspects of this
initiative, including cost, schedule, technology development
plan, and waste streams from GNEP.
+ $494.5 million for the proposed high-level waste repository
at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, a $49 million increase for the
program. Despite claims by the DOE that its priority is to
submit a high quality license application to the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission in June 2008, the DOE is in the conceptual
stage of redesigning the site facilities and operations once
again. The Government Accountability Office released a report
last week concluding that more than $25 million will be spent to
find falsified data and replace key modeling programs for the
site. Approximately $9 billion has been wasted on this program
already. Retiring Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Edward
McGaffigan recently stated that the project has been beset by
bad law, bad regulatory policy, bad science policy, bad
personnel policy, bad budget policy throughout its history.
In comparison to lavish funding for the mature nuclear industry,
the administration proposes to keep solar funding flat, to cut
wind and weatherization budgets and to eliminate geothermal
funding. As with past Bush administration budgets, the real
solutions for combating climate change and meeting energy needs
renewables and efficiency get the very, very short end of
the budget stick.
###
Public Citizen
*****************************************************************
28 Scotsman.com News: Nuclear plant managers let radioactive particles flow into sea
[Scotsman.com News]
Wednesday, 7th February 2007
LOUISE HOSIE
NUCLEAR plant operators yesterday admitted illegally dumping
radioactive waste and releasing nuclear fuel particles into the
sea more than 40 years ago.
The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) pleaded guilty to four
charges under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960.
The breaches happened at the Dounreay site in Caithness.
Managers admitted a single charge of disposing of radioactive
waste at a landfill site at the Scottish plant between 1963 and
1975.
They also pleaded guilty to three charges of allowing nuclear
fuel particles to be released through drains into the Pentland
Firth. This took place between 1963 and 1984.
The charges were brought against UKAEA after it was reported to
the procurator-fiscal following an investigation by the Scottish
Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).
Wick Sheriff Court heard yesterday that fuel fragments which were
supposed to be put in a storage shaft had been placed in 46,000
cubic metres of landfill.
The error came to light in July 1999 during work at the site.
Fiscal Alasdair MacDonald said six radioactive particles were
removed from the landfill and two from the coast.
He added that such solid radioactive waste could only have
legally been disposed of in a low-level pit.
Between December 1963 and December 1984, nuclear particles
entered the sea from a drain at the site.
The court heard that this drain was only supposed to contain
liquid waste, but storage tanks were not properly filtered,
allowing contaminated material to escape.
Mr MacDonald told the court that, between 1976 and the end of
2006, 1,401 nuclear particles had been recovered by UKAEA from
the foreshore and nearby Sandside Beach.
He added that during its investigation, SEPA had found between
1,000 and 4,000 particles in 15ft of an overflow pipe at
Dounreay.
UKAEA also admitted allowing fragments to escape from two other
pipes at the site.
Mr MacDonald said four nuclear fragments recovered from
Dounreay's foreshore and two from the seabed were considered
"very dangerous" and could be fatal if ingested.
UKAEA's solicitor David Stewart said it was accepted that a
small amount of radioactive material had been found in the
landfill site and on other occasions material had been released
into the sea.
But he added that a study had shown only an extremely small
possibility of a member of the public coming into contact with a
particle on local beaches.
Sheriff Andrew Berry said he needed to give "due weight" to all
the factors involved in the case and deferred sentence until 15
February.
2007 Scotsman.com| contact| terms & conditions
*****************************************************************
29 The Australian: Labor are climate fanatics - Howard
This story is from our news.com.aunetwork
Source: AAP
+ By Denis Peters
+ February 06, 2007
PRIME Minister John Howard tried to claw back ground in the
climate change debate today, branding Labor as "fanatics" and
standing by his support for nuclear power.
But he also had to admit an embarrassing blunder.
The rearguard action in Parliament followed accusations that Mr
Howard and his new Environment Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, have
failed to grasp the impact of climate change.
It also forced Mr Howard to correct an answer he gave in
question time relating to the connection between climate change
and carbon emissions.
The issue dominated the first day of parliament, ahead of
tomorrow's discussion paper from the PM's taskforce looking into
a carbon emissions trading system.
The clash also exposed the political heights that the climate
change issue has already reached this election year.
Labor Leader Kevin Rudd twice pressed Mr Howard on a claim that
cabinet had received a submission recommending the Government
adopt an emissions trading system back in 2003.
Mr Howard said he would have to check that claim.
*****************************************************************
30 The Enquirer: NIOSH to hear from nuke workers
Last Updated: 6:44 pm | Tuesday, February 6, 2007
BY PEGGY O’FARRELL | POFARRELL@ENQUIRER.COM
Sandra Baldridge still doesn’t know what, exactly, her father
did in all the years he worked at the Fernald uranium foundry.
But whatever it was, the Monroe woman is sure it killed him.
This week, Baldridge, former Fernald workers and their survivors
will make their case for compensation for cancers they believe
were job-related to a federal advisory board in
Mason.
“I know he had something to do with nuclear reactors, but I
didn’t know what it was all about,” she said. “I was 5 when he
started working there.”
The National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health’s
(NIOSH) Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health opens a
three-day public meeting today wed at the Cincinnati Marriott
Northeast, 9664 Mason Montgomery Road. The meeting ends Friday.
Workers at the Cold War-era foundry refined raw uranium ore and
processed it into ingots, derbies and other products used for
nuclear weapons and atomic power plants.
On Thursday, the advisory board will review a 492-page petition
asking that workers employed at Fernald from 1951 to 1989 – its
entire production period – be designated a “special exposure
cohort.”
Baldridge filed the petition in 2005.
Thousands of men and women worked at the foundry during its
production years. With the special designation, former workers
who developed any of 22 cancers could qualify for federal
compensation without having to reconstruct how much radiation
they were exposed to on the job.
The designation would mean former workers and families whose
claims were denied under other sections of the Energy Employees
Occupational Illness Compensation Program could be reconsidered.
The advisory board will recommend whether workers should be
granted the special designation.
The hearing “is huge for us,” said Ray Beatty, a former Fernald
worker and coordinator of a new program to provide medical
monitoring for the men and women who worked at the foundry. “I
can’t emphasize how important this is for us.”
The Department of Labor manages the compensation programs, but
NIOSH determines whether workers’ cancers were caused by
radiation exposure and calculates exposure levels.
At Fernald, workers handled uranium, beryllium, thorium and other
toxins. Baldridge filed a claim for compensation in 2001 on her
mother’s behalf for the cancers that killed her father, Julius.
The claim was denied after a dose reconstruction showed radiation
didn’t cause the cancers.
But Baldridge and others argue the dose reconstruction process
itself is flawed. Workers and their survivors can’t always get
complete medical records, and there are “big gaps” in information
about the types of materials used in the Fernald foundry.
And in many cases, including Baldridge’s, survivors don’t know
how much radiation their loved ones were exposed to because work
at the foundry was top-secret. Baldridge’s father worked in the
inspections department.
“I know he did some chemical testing, and he was responsible for
seeing the ingots were the size they were supposed to be,” she
said.
Her father was 72 when he died 35 years ago of rectal and lung
cancers, but Baldridge can’t get copies of medical records
showing he had lung cancer, one of the cancers recognized by the
federal compensation program.
During this week’s advisory board meeting, representatives from
the Department of Labor will be on hand to talk to former Fernald
workers and their families about federal compensation programs.
A federal advisory board meeting this week at the Cincinnati
Marriott Northeast, 9664 Mason Montgomery Road, Mason, will
review a petition asking that former Fernald workers be
designated a special exposure cohort to receive federal
compensation for radiation-caused illnesses. The meeting opens at
1 p.m. today, with a public comment session starting at 4:30 p.m.
The board is scheduled to hear the Fernald petition at 8:45 a.m.
Thursday. The meeting is open to the public. Infomration:
513-459-9800.
Cincinnati.Com
*****************************************************************
31 Yuba Net: Boxer Blasts EPA Rollbacks In Hearing
YubaNet.com
By: Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
Published: Feb 6, 2007 at 08:45
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, Chairman of the Senate Committee on
Environment and Public Works, told Environmental Protection
Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson that a series of policy
changes he implemented late last year have weakened public
health protections and made it more difficult for the public to
access information about toxic chemicals in the environment.
"These EPA rollbacks have common themes," said Senator Boxer.
"They benefit polluters' bottom line, and they hurt our
communities by allowing more pollution and reducing the
information about pollution available to the public."
"EPA has gone too long without oversight. I want to send a clear
signal to EPA and to this Administration. We are watching. The
American public is watching. And no longer will EPA rollbacks
quietly escape scrutiny."
"The pattern of these year-end actions is striking - the public
interest is sacrificed, and environmental protection
compromised. Who gains from these rollbacks? Just look at who
asked for them, like Big Oil and the battery industry. EPA's
proposed actions make it clear who EPA is protecting. The
purpose of this oversight hearing is to remind EPA who they are
truly accountable to-the American people."
Today's hearing, the first in a series to address oversight of
the EPA, focused on six year-end actions.
1. EPA's December 2006 decision to reverse itself by refusing to
extend monitoring requirements for the toxin perchlorate, found
in 20 million to more than 40 million Americans' drinking water.
2. EPA's December 2006 announcement that it is changing the
process for setting National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS), so as to reduce the role of EPA staff scientists and
independent scientists, and to politicize the process.
3. EPA's December 2006 announcement that it is considering
eliminating the NAAQS for lead.
4. EPA's December 2006 decision to reverse its policy on air
toxics controls (the "once in always in" policy), so as to allow
more pollution.
5. EPA's December 2006 rule weakening the community
right-to-know provisions of the Toxic Release Inventory, by
substantially reducing information available to the public about
many polluters' emissions and toxics handling.
6. EPA's recent policy of shutting down and severely restricting
access to its libraries.
Statement Of Senator Barbara Boxer
Late in 2006, EPA rolled back several health protections and
reduced public information about pollution. This was a series of
unwelcome holiday gifts to the American people.
These EPA rollbacks have common themes: they benefit polluters'
bottom line, and they hurt our communities by allowing more
pollution and reducing the information about pollution available
to the public.
Today is the first in a series of hearings. EPA has gone too
long without meaningful oversight. I want to send a clear signal
to EPA and to this Administration. We are watching. The American
public is watching. And no longer will EPA rollbacks quietly
escape scrutiny.
Weakening the Community's Right to Know (Toxic Release Inventory)
I am extremely concerned about the Agency's decision in December
to weaken the Community Right to Know rules for toxic chemicals
used and released in communities across the country. EPA's
weakening of these rules will quadruple the amount of toxic
pollutants that companies can release before they have to tell
the public, and will reduce the amount of public information on
long-lasting toxins that can build up in the body, like lead.
EPA went forward with these changes despite objections from 23
state agencies and attorneys general, and despite concerns
raised by the Agency's own science advisory board. Oklahoma's
Department of Environmental Quality is just one of the agencies
that objected.
Closing EPA Libraries
Last year EPA closed down or cut access to libraries across the
nation, including in my state of California. EPA closed or
reduced library operations in at least 7 EPA regions covering 31
states.
Since 1970, EPA has gathered a vast treasure trove of public
health and environmental information. Closure of the libraries
hurts Americans' right to know about important information
regarding the health and environmental hazards of pollution in
their communities. The American Library Association and EPA
scientists and staff oppose these actions. Despite letters from
18 members of the Senate and a public outcry, the fate of EPA's
libraries remains uncertain.
Eliminating Perchlorate Testing
In December, EPA issued a rule which will result in no further
testing of tap water for the toxin perchlorate. This toxin has
been found in millions of Americans' drinking water. GAO says it
pollutes 35 states. Perchlorate interferes with the thyroid and
is especially risky to pregnant women and newborns. Yet EPA has
still not issued a health standard for perchlorate in tap water.
EPA's original 1999 rule ordered testing for perchlorate, and in
2005 EPA proposed to extend that requirement. But industry
objected, and the new rule eliminated the perchlorate testing
requirement.
I am deeply distressed that not only has EPA failed to set a
standard for perchlorate, but Americans will lack up-to-date
information on whether their tap water is contaminated with this
toxin.
Cutting Scientists Out of the Process of Setting Air Quality
Standards
In December EPA also backtracked on its decades-long policy of
having key scientists work closely with EPA experts to help
develop a range of recommended safe levels for clean air
standards. Now, consistent with the recommendations of the
American Petroleum Institute, EPA has taken a dangerous turn.
Instead of basing health standards on the best science, they
will now inject politics into the entire decision. Under EPA's
plan, key scientists will no longer work directly with top
government officials to help set health standards. EPA's new
approach is bad for American families, because it will likely
lead to more politics rather than science-based standards,
making weaker air standards and more early deaths and illnesses
more likely.
The Lead Air Quality Standard
In December, EPA also announced that it is considering whether
to revoke the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for
lead. The lead acid battery industry had urged this step.
If the standard is revoked, there is no assurance that lead will
be monitored in air across the country. Polluters could emit
dangerous levels of lead without being detected. Yet, if EPA
were to use the new data showing lead is more toxic than
previously known, the current lead standard would likely be
substantially more stringent. That could force some poorly
regulated lead polluters to use better controls.
Lead is a potent brain and nerve toxin that hurts children and
the elderly the most. What does it say about our values if we
endanger the most vulnerable Americans?
Increasing Toxic Air Pollution
In December, EPA proposed to weaken its rules for controls on
toxic air pollution. These rules apply to thousands of sources,
including refineries, chemical plants and steel mills.
EPA admits in its proposed rule that the rule could lead to an
increase in toxic air emissions. The agency's own regional
offices sent a memo to headquarters saying the rule change could
be "detrimental to the environment and undermine the intent" of
the Clean Air Act.
Toxic air pollutants include some of the most dangerous
cancer-causing and neurotoxic chemicals that pose a serious
health threat to American families, especially pregnant women,
infants and children. Increased levels of toxic air pollutants
will only increase these risks.
Conclusion
The pattern of these year-end actions is striking-the public
interest is sacrificed and environmental protection compromised.
Who gains from these rollbacks? Just look at who asked for them,
like Big Oil and the battery industry. EPA's actions and
proposed actions make it clear who EPA is protecting. The
purpose of these oversight hearings is to remind EPA who they
are truly accountable to-the American people.
Copyright © 2007 YubaNet.com, all rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
32 Salt Lake Tribune: Why can't we learn?
Public Forum Letter
Article Last Updated: 02/05/2007 07:22:37 PM MST
In the 1950s, the U.S. government detonated nuclear explosions
at the Nevada Test Site that were "safe" for residents of Utah
and Nevada. It turns out that these "safe" explosions caused
cancer and even death to many downwind of the blasts.
Now a new 700-ton explosion called Divine Strake will be
tested in the same area. This explosion is also said to be safe,
but this is questionable to many experts. It is funny how
history repeats itself.
This new round of testing could pose a major health risk to
the many thousands of residents in the general area of the
blast. The soil at the Nevada Test Site, where Divine Strake is
set to take place, is laden with millions of curies of
strontium, cesium, and plutonium radiation left over from the
detonation of more than 900 nuclear bombs in the 1950s. I don't
want these radioactive elements blown 10,000 feet into the
atmosphere above my house, do you?
Is this test really worth the risk? And are we creating a new
generation of downwinders with serious health problems? Why
haven't we learned from our mistakes?
Glen Forster Salt Lake City
© Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
33 Spectrum: Today is last day for Divine Strake comments
www.thespectrum.com - The Spectrum, St. George, UT
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Today is the last day to provide public comment on the draft of
the revised environmental assessment of the Divine Strake test.
Divine Strake is the name of a proposed test to detonate 700 tons
of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil at the Nevada Test Site.
The test is being put together by the National Nuclear Security
Administration – Nevada Site Office.
You can e-mail comments to: divinestrake@nv.doe.us
Originally published February 6, 2007
Copyright ©2007 The Spectrum.
*****************************************************************
34 Tracy Press: Cleanup money cut
John Upton/Tracy Press
Tuesday, 06 February 2007
A proposed 2008 federal budget cuts money earmarked to clean up
toxic contamination at Site 300. By John Upton
Money to clean up toxic chemicals from soil and water at a bomb
test site near Tracy is slated to be cut from $16.2 million in
the 2006 fiscal year to $8.7 million in 2008.
Department of Energy spokesman John Belluardo said funding would
decrease at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Site 300
once groundwater treatment plants and other facilities have been
built.
“By 2008, (the Site 300 cleanup) would be moving toward
operations and maintenance mode,” Belluardo said Monday.
“Essentially, the construction phase would be finished.”
A public meeting in Tracy on Wednesday evening will outline
Lawrence Livermore’s planned environmental cleanup activities at
Site 300, which in 1990 was added to the Environmental
Protection Agency’s list of the nation’s most polluted sites.
The site’s contaminants include uranium, tritium, volatile
organic compounds, percholates and nitrates.
Much of the contamination was caused when waste was dumped in
four unlined landfills in the northwest corner of the 7,000-acre
site between 1958 and 1988.
Belluardo said it would take decades to clean the site because
much of the contamination is locked in clay that is buried in
the rocks and soil.
“We’re continually searching for new technologies that can speed
up the cleanup,” Belluardo said.
Tracy City Council voted 4-0 last year to ask Lawrence Livermore
to spend $74 million to excavate and remove the waste from the
contaminated landfills.
Activist Bob Sarvey, who suggested the council send the letter,
on Monday criticized cleanup activities at Site 300.
“They’re not willing to spend the $74 million to take out the
depleted uranium and the tritium,” Sarvey said. “They should be
increasing the funding — not lowering it.”
Public works director Pat Weimiller told the council in an April
2006 report that contaminants at Site 300, which in the hills
southwest of Tracy has been used for explosives testing since
1955, are not expected to affect Tracy’s groundwater or soil.
Lawrence Livermore’s annual budget will decrease from $1.25
billion in 2006 to $1.15 billion in fiscal year 2008, according
to a congressional budget request published Monday. The 109th
Congress never approved the Department of Energy’s 2007 budget
request.
Weapons research funding will decrease from $1.07 billion in
2006 to $1 billion in 2008.
The science budget will decrease from $53 million to $43 million
over the same period, while spending on energy efficiency and
renewable energy will decrease from $4.8 million to $3.8 million.
No money will be spent on environmental cleanup at the lab’s
site in Livermore in 2008, down from $13.1 million in 2006.
Site 300 public meetings this week:
WHAT: Tracy City Council will consider its position on a
proposed biological laboratory at Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory’s Site 300, and on a planned increase in outdoor
explosives tests
WHEN: 7 tonight
WHERE: Tracy Community Center, 300 E. 10th St.
-----------
WHAT: Appeal hearing against a San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution
Control District decision to allow Site 300 to increase the size
and amount of outdoor test explosions
WHEN: 10 a.m. Wednesday
WHERE: District northern region office, 4800 Enterprise Way, in
Modesto
-----------
WHAT: Public workshop to provide information and answer
questions on environmental cleanup activities planned at Site 300
WHEN: 6 p.m. Wednesday
WHERE: Tracy Community Center, 300 E. 10th St.
To contact reporter John Upton, call 830-4274 or e-mail This
email address is being protected from spam bots, you need
Javascript enabled to view it Comments (0)[add]
*****************************************************************
35 Ventura County Star: Meetings on compensation program set
Simi Valley
By Star staff February 6, 2007
U.S. Labor Department officials will host two town hall meetings
Thursday in Simi Valley to discuss a compensation program for
current and former employees of the Department of Energy, its
contractors and subcontractors.
The Department of Energy operated at the Santa Susana Field
Laboratory in the hills south of Simi Valley.
The Labor Department provides compensation and medical benefits
to workers who were sickened with radiogenic cancer, chronic
silicosis, beryllium sensitivity or chronic beryllium disease as
a result of employment at a Department of Energy facility,
atomic weapons facility or beryllium vendor facilities.
Locally, the facilities covered by the program include Area IV
of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory; Atomics International,
also located at the Field Laboratory; the Canoga Park Facility;
and the DeSoto Avenue Facility.
The meetings will begin at 2 and 7 p.m. at the Best Western
Posada Royale Hotel and Suites, 1775 Madera Road, Simi Valley.
2006 © The E.W. Scripps Co. Ventura County Star
*****************************************************************
36 ABC4.com: Governor Huntsman takes Divine Strake opposition to Washington D.C. -
February 6, 2007 - 10:58 PM
[Video] Watch This Video
Story by: Chris Vanocur chris@abc4.com
Governor Jon Huntsman will soon be headed to Washington D.C. to
personally voice his opposition to the Divine Strake bomb test.
The Governor is joining forces with ABC 4 in opposing this mega
bomb explosion in Nevada and Utahns are joining in by the
thousands.
From all over Utah not to mention from Nevada and Colorado people
are voicing their opposition to this bomb test planned for
southern Nevada.
And in three weeks, Governor Huntsman will be in the nation's
capitol and he'll be taking his fight against Divine Strake with
him.
He wants to meet with officials from both the Department of
Energy and the Department of Defense.
But of more imminent concern is the Department of Energy's
public comment period.
It ends Wednesday and the Governor is encouraging Utahns to
email their opposition to this test and you can do that directly
from the ABC 4.com website by clicking here.
© 2007 Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc.
*****************************************************************
37 RSC: Nuclear storage: ready, willing, able, and undecided
Royal Society of Chemists
[RSC - Advancing the Chemical Sciences]
06 February 2007
An expert report into the UK's long term nuclear waste storage
plans has concluded there are no insurmountable technical
barriers to storing nuclear waste deep underground. But the
report urges government policy makers to keep the public
informed about their plans.
The advice came after an international workshop held in November
2006, UKlong term nuclear waste management: next steps,
identified some key questions the government has yet to answer
in its plans to store radioactive waste.
The UK government announced in October 2006 that high activity
radioactive waste was to be stored deep underground, but
detailed long-term plans meeting the substantial agreement of
learned societies, academia, industry, international experts and
the public were still needed, concluded the report. 'We can't
let government take a big sigh of relief and think they've
ticked that box,' said Charles Curtis, of the Geological Society.
By the summer of 2007, the government hopes to unveil a report
explaining how suitable storage sites can be selected. From the
granite or crystalline rocks found in Scotland to the clays
found through the Midlands and East of England, between a third
and two-thirds of the UK is geologically suitable for storing
waste some 300-1000 metres deep, Alan Hooper of Nirex UK told
reporters at a press conference.
It remains undecided where repositories should be sited, or how
many may be needed. That will depend, for example, on whether
different categories of waste can be stored together, and
whether spent fuel and separated plutonium and uranium are
reprocessed or stored.
Another question facing the government is whether any repository
should stay open for a time - allowing waste to be monitored and
perhaps retrieved - or whether it should be instantly sealed.
The scientific consensus was that sealing immediately was
probably safer, said David Read of the University of Aberdeen.
Wherever nuclear waste ends up being buried, getting public
consent will be just as important, experts warned. Even if the
process went without a hitch from now on, it would take at least
twenty years to complete, said Read.
Richard Van Noorden
Also of interest
Going underground
Many countries consider that the best way to dispose of nuclear
waste in the long term is to bury it deep underground. Simon
Morgan looks at how this could be done
Related Links
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© Royal Society of Chemistry 2007
*****************************************************************
38 reviewjournal.com: DOE requests reduced Yucca Mountain budget
Feb. 06, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy scaled back its planned
Yucca Mountain spending in a 2008 budget it announced Monday,
delaying railroad designs and deferring advanced research while
focusing on forming a license application for the nuclear waste
site.
Department leaders sent Congress a budget requesting $494.5
million for the proposed waste repository in the year that begins
Oct. 1.
It was the smallest Yucca Mountain request since fiscal 2002,
and $50 million below what the Bush administration budgeted last
year for 2007.
That request has not been finalized on Capitol Hill, although
lawmakers appeared to be settling on $445 million.
"The goal is to try to create a license application in the next
18 months, that is really what the focus is," Energy Secretary
Samuel Bodman said of Yucca at a budget briefing. "There are
various other aspects we are not pursuing."
Bodman said the project is not being scaled back.
"It is a matter of looking in realistic ways as to where our
opportunities are," he said. "It is not a matter of retrenching,
it is a matter of try to recognize our priorities."
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a repository critic, said, "I promise
the highest congressional scrutiny for this waste of taxpayer
dollars."
Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., another critic, said the budget for the
much-delayed repository was "reckless."
"To ask for an additional dime for this doomed project is not
only fiscally irresponsible but an insult to the residents of
Nevada," Porter said.
The DOE budget contains $2.5 million for the state of Nevada to
fund its own Yucca oversight programs, and $1.5 million for Nye
County, where the site is located.
Nye County, Clark County and other Nevada counties that border
Nye, plus Inyo County in California, would split another $4
million.
Within the $494.5 million request, DOE officials said they plan
to allocate $131 million on completing a voluminous license
application by a self-declared June 30, 2008, deadline.
Another $195.2 million is budgeted to continue designing an
above-ground complex where highly radioactive waste would be
managed before being placed in the mountainside.
On the other hand, designs for a railroad line DOE wants to
build to the Yucca site were cut back by $22 million, while
spending was deferred on development of rail cars and early
purchase of waste casks, a cut of $30.8 million.
Research into specialty metals and other advanced technologies
that might be integrated into the repository effort also was
deferred.
But the budget does contain $2 million for a study ordered by
Congress on whether a second repository should be built, and
where.
Project director Ward Sproat said Yucca Mountain was pressed by
Bush administration demands to keep spending under control and
to lower the federal deficit.
Spending for railroad designs became expendable for now, he
said, because DOE has not yet decided on competing railroad
corridors to the repository site.
A draft environmental impact study is expected this summer
comparing an east-west corridor from Caliente to Yucca Mountain
with a north-south corridor through Western Nevada.
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007
*****************************************************************
39 AU ABC: Govt attacked over earmarked NT nuclear waste sites
ABC Northern Territory | Local News | Story
February 2007. 19:39 (ACDT)Tuesday, 6 February 2007. 17:39 (AWDT)
The Northern Territory Chief Minister has rejected the federal
Science Minister's comments about the proximity of proposed
nuclear waste dumps to people living nearby.
Julie Bishop has said the three sites under consideration for a
nuclear waste dump in the Territory are some distance from
civilisation.
The sites being assessed are Fishers Ridge, about 40 kilometres
south-east of Katherine, and Harts Range and Mount Everard in
central Australia.
Clare Martin says the Minister should talk to the people living
in those areas.
"The Federal Government simply chose three sites in the Northern
Territory, because they could, because we don't have the
constitutional powers of other places and chose three defence
sites," she said.
"They weren't based on anything more than they were owned by the
Commonwealth.
"Julie Bishop should go and have a look at Fishers Ridge outside
Katherine, it's got sinkholes in it the size of basketball
courts - it's just ridiculous."
*****************************************************************
40 Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Why not just burn it?
Today: February 06, 2007 at 7:37:37 PST
The money budgeted for Yucca Mountain - hundreds of millions -
is just a waste
If President Bush were serious about cutting wasteful government
programs, he would not have included nearly $495 million for
Yucca Mountain in his new budget.
There is only one encouraging fact about his budget request for
this unsafe plan to bury high-level nuclear waste under the
mountain 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas - it is a lower amount
than he asked for last year.
For his fiscal year 2007 budget, he asked for $544 million.
Congress cut that amount to $446 million, an amount, in our
view, that was $446 million too much. For the years 2006, 2005
and 2004, Congress approved a total of $1.6 billion. And before
that, counting construction and research costs, more than $4
billion was spent.
Twenty years ago Nevada, through its own research, proved that
Yucca Mountain was geologically unsafe. And in succeeding years,
the state used statistics to demonstrate that hauling the deadly
waste to Yucca Mountain from all over the country for 25 years
would almost certainly result in horrendous rail and trucking
accidents.
An inability to prove the project's safety has prevented the
Energy Department from even applying for a license to open Yucca
Mountain. In the 1980s the goal was to have the project licensed
and operational by 1998. Last week, in an article in
Congressional Quarterly, Deputy Energy Secretary Clay Sell
estimated 2020 as the opening date.
This is folly. A few years ago the date was estimated at 2010.
Then it became 2012. Then 2017. Now it's 2020. The pattern is
obvious: This project cannot be proven safe, and no amount of
millions in any president's budget is going to change that.
We have supported legislation such as the Spent Nuclear Fuel
On-Site Storage Act, introduced in 2005 by the combined
congressional delegations of Nevada and Utah, which would
require commercial nuclear utilities to transfer their waste
from water-filled pools to on-site dry storage casks.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved designs for the
casks and says they are capable of storing the waste safely for
100 years. This would provide time to research nuclear waste
disposal and find a much safer solution than Yucca Mountain.
The money being wasted every year on Yucca Mountain could
finance some of that research.
All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
41 BBC: UKAEA admits to illegal dumping
Last Updated: Tuesday, 6 February 2007
[Aerial view of Dounreay]
Dounreay is in the process of being decommissioned
The operator of a nuclear complex in Caithness has admitted
illegally dumping waste and allowing radioactive particles to be
flushed into the sea.
The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) pleaded guilty to four
charges under the Radioactive Substances Act at Wick Sheriff
Court.
They relate to activities at Dounreay between 1963 and 1984.
Sheriff Andrew Berry has deferred sentence after hearing from the
fiscal and UKAEA's solicitor.
Fiscal Alistair MacDonald told the court that the cost of dealing
with the particles would be borne by taxpayers.
UKAEA deeply regrets that some particles were released from the
site Dr John Crofts
For UKAEA, solicitor David Stewart said it was accepted that the
events should not have occurred.
He also said that the industry had moved on, learning from its
mistakes of the past.
UKAEA's court appearance followed a report to the procurator
fiscal by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).
The company admitted illegally dumping solid nuclear waste in a
landfill site at Dounreay and three charges of allowing fragments
of irradiated nuclear fuel to enter the plant's liquid effluent
discharge pipe into the Pentland Firth.
Fast reactor
Outside the court, UKAEA director of safety Dr John Crofts
conceded "some mistakes were made" during the pioneering days of
fast reactor nuclear technology.
Dounreay was Britain's centre for fast reactor research.
Dr Crofts said: "UKAEA deeply regrets that some particles were
released from the site.
"Our priority today is to rectify those errors and minimise their
impact on the environment.
"The practices which gave rise to these particles ceased long ago
and we are now focussed on our mission to remediate the site and
deal with the particles issue."
*****************************************************************
42 POAC: DEP lawsuit on waste faces new challenge
A motion to dismiss the state Department of Environmental
Protection's suit against the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commis-sion was filed Monday in the Third Circuit of Appeals in
Philadelphia. In the motion, the NRC claims that the DEP jumped
the gun when it filed the lawsuit in December. " />
[The Press of Atlantic City On The Web]
DEP lawsuit on waste faces new challenge By TOM NAMAKO Staff
Writer, (856) 794-5115 Published: Tuesday, February 6, 2007
PHILADELPHIA — The federal government has asked a court to
dismiss a state of New Jersey lawsuit that would stop the review
of Shieldalloy's plan to bury slightly radioactive waste in
Newfield, Gloucester County.
A motion to dismiss the state Department of Environmental
Protection's suit against the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commis-sion was filed Monday in the Third Circuit of Appeals in
Philadelphia. In the motion, the NRC claims that the DEP jumped
the gun when it filed the lawsuit in December.
“This petition for review is premature,” the NRC said in the
introduction of its motion.
There's still time, the motion said, to challenge the NRC's
review in a semi-judicial hearing that the DEP and six other
groups and residents have already requested.
“The NRC argues that the suit should be dismissed because,
among other things, the state has not yet exhausted its
administrative remedies,” NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said.
“That is, the state has filed a request with the NRC for a
hearing on the decommissioning proposal. Until that process has
played out, the lawsuit is not yet ripe.”
The NRC recently began reviewing Shieldalloy Metallur-gical
Corp.'s proposal to bury, seal, fence off and monitor for 1,000
years piles of uranium and thorium slag and baghouse dust waste
in its storage yard. The NRC expects to make a decision in
October 2008.
In the meantime, several public hearings and challenges to the
review have been ongoing. So far, residents, politicians, state
officials and environmental groups have strongly opposed
Shieldalloy's plan, with the DEP taking the most aggressive
moves to halt the plan.
If the NRC allows Shieldalloy to bury the material, Newfield
will be the home of the first authorized nuclear dump in the
state.
At the center of the state's dispute with the NRC was a
regulation that could allow Shieldalloy to implement its plan to
monitor the waste for 1,000 years.
*****************************************************************
43 Courier Post: NRC defends Newfield plan
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
By MEG HUELSMAN Courier-Post Staff NEWFIELD
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has asked a federal
court to dismiss New Jersey's challenge to a plan to seal a
30-foot high pile of low-level radioactive waste at the
Shield-alloy Metallurgical Corp. plant here for the next 1,000
years.
The NRC filed the motion to dismiss the state's suit on Jan.
30, saying it was too early in the evaluation process to reject
Shield-alloy's plan. In addition, the NRC claims that the rules
questioned by the state are not agency regulations, but
guidelines, and cannot be contested in court.
The state plans to oppose the NRC's request for a dismissal but
has not yet filed the court papers, Lee Moore, a spokesman for
the state attorney general's office, said Monday.
The attorney general sued the NRC -- the agency reviewing
Shield-alloy's plan -- on Dec. 22 in the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia. The state contends the plan
is unsafe.
The state also challenged the regulations that would permit
Shield-alloy to cap the pile, which sits behind its West Avenue
site.
Two radioactive elements have been documented in the pile --
thorium and uranium. The state contends that thorium's
half-life, or the amount of time it takes for an element to lose
its radioactivity, is about 14 billion years. Similarly,
uranium's half-life is 4 billion years, making the 1,000-year
projection inappropriate.
"It's silly, the whole plan," said Terry Ragone of Newfield,
who requested a public hearing on the plan. "People's security,
and their feeling that their town is safe, is an issue. This
plan is not proven to be safe."
A three-judge panel must decide if a public hearing is
warranted.
Until then, the state does not have the legal grounds to sue,
NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said Monday.
Reach Meg Huelsman at (856) 251-3345 or
mhuelsman@courierpostonline.com
Copyright 2007 CourierPostOnline.com. All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
44 The Herald: Dounreay nuclear waste was dumped in the sea
Web Issue 2751 February 7 2007
CALUM MacDONALD February 07 2007
The operator of Dounreay nuclear power plant in Caithness
yesterday admitted illegally dumping radioactive waste and
releasing nuclear fuel particles into the sea more than 40 years
ago.
The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) pleaded guilty to four
charges under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960: one of
disposing of radioactive waste at a landfill site at the plant
between 1963 and 1975 and three of allowing nuclear fuel
particles to be released into the Pentland Firth between 1963
and 1984.
The charges were brought after UKAEA was reported to the
procurator-fiscal following a lengthy investigation by the
Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa). advertisement
Wick Sheriff Court heard yesterday that fuel fragments which
were supposed to be disposed of in a storage shaft had been put
in 46,000 cubic metres of landfill. The error came to light in
July 1999.
Alasdair MacDonald, procurator-fiscal for Caithness, Sutherland,
and Easter Ross, said six radioactive particles were removed
from the landfill and two from the coast.
He added that such solid radioactive waste could only have
legally been disposed of in a low-level pit. Between December
1963 and December 1984, nuclear particles entered the sea from a
drain.
The court heard was told that this drain was supposed to contain
only liquid waste, but storage tanks were not properly filtered,
allowing contaminated material to escape.
Mr MacDonald told the court that, between 1976 and the end of
2006, 1401 radioactive particles were recovered by UKAEA from
the foreshore and nearby Sandside Beach.
He said Sepa had found between 1000 and 4000 particles within
15ft of an overflow pipe at Dounreay.
UKAEA also admitted allowing fragments to escape from two other
pipes at the site.
Mr MacDonald said: "This appears to be a clear unauthorised
disposal of solid radioactive waste as a matter of incompetence.
It has not only lasting consequences for the future, but
provides a clear signpost back to the mistakes of the past.
Particles were literally flushed out to sea over a 20-year
period."
Mr MacDonald said four nuclear fragments recovered from
Dounreay's foreshore and two from the sea bed were considered
"very dangerous" and could be fatal if ingested.
David Stewart, for UKAEA, said it was accepted that a small
amount of radioactive material had been found in the landfill
site and had been released into the sea. But a study had shown
only an extremely small possibility of a member of the public
coming into contact with a particle on local beaches.
Sheriff Andrew Berry deferred sentence until February 15.
Dr John Crofts, director of safety with UKAEA, said outside the
court: "UKAEA deeply regrets that some particles were released
from the site. The practices which gave rise to these particles
ceased long ago."
A spokesman for Friends of the Earth Scotland said these
incidents illustrate "the idiocy of considering an expansion of
nuclear power in Scotland".
Dounreay, a former fast reactor research and development centre,
was shut in 1994 and is earmarked for a Ł2.9bn decommissioning
by 2033.
Last year UKAEA was fined Ł2m after 266 litres of hazardous,
dissolved spent fuel spilled on to a laboratory floor at the
plant.
© All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without
permissionis prohibited.
Copyright © 2007 Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited.
*****************************************************************
45 New Scientist: Much of UK suitable for nuclear waste burial
07 February 2007 -
Burying nuclear waste deep underground is UK's best way of
dealing with the materials, and up to two-thirds of the country's
landmass could be suitable for burial sites, says a
multi-disciplinary group of scientists.
"We have a real opportunity to move forward with nuclear waste
management," said Charles Curtis of Manchester University, ahead
of the release of a new report in London on Wednesday.
The scientists back the 2006 conclusions of the Committee on
Radioactive Waste Management(CoRWM), and say that there are "no
insurmountable scientific or technological barriers" to building
deep geological repositories for nuclear waste in the UK.
The CoRWM report concluded that burying nuclear waste 500 to
1000 metres below ground was the "best available approach" – a
recommendation which the UK government has accepted. Some
scientists had greeted the CoRWM report with scepticism, saying
the committee had taken three years to deliver obvious
conclusions.
CoRWM was appointed by the government, but the scientists behind
the new report insist they are completely independent. And they
say they go one step further than CoRWM by laying out a roadmap
for what needs to be done next.
Granite and clay
First on the list, they say, is to draw up a description of what
defines a safe geological repository for nuclear waste. Curtis
says the UK government has yet to adopt a protocol for
identifying suitable sites for geological repositories.
Alan Hooper, of the government-owned nuclear waste company
Nirex, said there were three types of rock and soil in which
nuclear waste could be stored in the UK: granitic rocks, which
only allow water to move through small fractures in the rock;
clay, which also permits little water movement; and evaporites
such as rock salt, which have the advantage of being very
stable.
All three were "pretty ubiquitous in the UK", he said, adding
that he expected that at least one-third – and perhaps up to
two-thirds – of the UK landmass could safely house nuclear waste
repositories. Nuclear renaissance
Once the government has identified a number of safe sites, the
report scientists said local communities would have to be
consulted to determine whether they would accept a repository.
The group identified a number of other questions that must be
addressed before repositories are built. One is whether or not
to leave the repositories open. Closing them would ensure a
better containment of the nuclear waste, but keeping them open
would make it easier to monitor the repository.
Another issue is the "greying" of their profession. "We are an
ageing population of professionals," said Curtis. He said a
"nuclear skills renaissance" was "absolutely vital".
About NewScientist.com
*****************************************************************
46 Nevada Appeal: Head of Nevada agency says Yucca Mountain plan almost dead
Feb 5, 8:35 PM EST
By JOE MULLIN Associated Press Writer
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- The head of Nevada's nuclear projects
agency says the federal Department of Energy's plan for a
radioactive waste dump at Yucca Mountain is almost dead -
although the department will still push forward with the project
in 2008.
Bob Loux, director of the state's Agency for Nuclear Projects,
planned to report to the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday
that recent scientific and political changes have dimmed the
Yucca Mountain project's chances of success.
"I think the program is in big trouble, if it's not already
deceased," Loux said in an interview Monday. "There seems to be
eroding support both on Capitol Hill and in the industry."
In recent weeks, leaders in the nuclear industry have backed
away from trying to make legislative progress, said Loux. Senate
Majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said he'll prevent any
further legislation to support the Yucca Mountain plan.
Also, one member of the five-person Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Edward McGaffigan, retired in January after more
than 10 years of service, and Reid will have a say over who
succeeds McGaffigan. The NRC will decide on the dump's licensing
application.
Loux added that new, still unpublished EPA standards for nuclear
waste storage will dictate that stored waste will have to be
safe for hundreds of thousands of years - a standard the current
DOE proposal falls far short of.
Department of Energy spokesman Allen Benson said he couldn't
comment on Loux's description of the project's status because he
hadn't seen the details of the presentation to the Senate
Finance Committee.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman told a news conference in
Washington on Monday that the agency will prepare an application
to ask the NRC for a license for the dump, located 90 miles
northwest of Las Vegas, by June 2008. President Bush has asked
Congress for $494.5 million in 2008 to allow energy officials to
complete the application.
Loux said that his agency will challenge the anticipated
application. The state's Agency for Nuclear Projects, part of
the governor's office, was created in 1985 to oppose the Yucca
Mountain dump. The agency has asked for $10.3 million in the
upcoming two-year budget, about $600,000 more than the previous
one.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
All contents © Copyright nevadaappeal.com
Nevada Appeal - 580 Mallory Way - Carson City, NV 89701
*****************************************************************
47 Reid: STATEMENT BY SENATOR HARRY REID ON RELEASE OF PRESIDENT
BUSH'S FY 2008 BUDGET:
02/05/2007
Yucca Request “Waste of taxpayer dollars”
Harry Reid of Nevada today released the following statement
regarding President Bush's Budget. A fact sheet detailing the
effects this budget would have of Nevada is attached.
“The president’s budget is a reflection of his priorities.
But with cuts to children’s health care, Medicare, and
homeland security funding, his priorities don’t match those of
Nevada.
“Rather than sending Congress a budget that strengthens
homeland security, energy independence, education, affordable
health care and fiscal discipline, the president proposes nearly
a half-billion dollars for the nuclear waste dump at Yucca
Mountain. The proposed dump is a project whose time has passed.
As Majority Leader of the Senate, I promise the highest
Congressional scrutiny for this waste of taxpayer dollars.
“Under the president’s plan, more than 200,000 Nevada
veterans could be hurt by funding shortfalls to the Department
of Veterans Affairs. Under the president’s Social Security
privatization proposal, 239,000 Nevadans could see a cut in
their retirement benefits. Most concerning – the president’s
budget slashes millions in funding for Nevada terrorism
prevention and disaster response.
“My Democratic colleagues and I remain interested in working
cooperatively with the president and congressional Republicans
to address fiscal issues. We want to produce a budget that while
making the investments in priorities that meet real needs of the
middle class and our nation. Although the president’s budget
is disappointing, we have not given up hope that we will be able
to work with our GOP colleagues to address the priorities of the
American people in a fiscally responsible manner. I am calling
on the president to develop better budget priorities.”
###
Reno Bruce R. Thompson Courthouse & Federal Bldg 400 S. Virginia
St, Site 902 Reno, NV 89501 Phone: 775-686-5750 Fax: 775-686-5757
[ /] Las Vegas Lloyd D. George Building
333 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 8016 Las Vegas, NV 89101
Phone: 702-388-5020 Fax: 702-388-5030 [
/] Carson City 600 East William St, #302
Carson City, NV 89701 Phone: 775-882-REID (7343) Fax:
775-883-1980 [ /]
Washington, DC 528 Hart Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-3542 Fax: 202-224-7327 Toll Free for Nevadans:
1-866-SEN-REID (736-7343)
*****************************************************************
48 PRN: BNFL Announces Sale of Nuclear Decommissioning Specialist Project Services
Tuesday 6 February 2007, 15:15 GMT
British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL)
LONDON, February 6 /PRNewswire/ -- BNFL today announced it has
commenced the sale of its specialist nuclear decommissioning
business, British Nuclear Group Project Services Limited, which
operates in the UK, Continental Europe, FSU and Japan.
Mike Parker, BNFL's Group Chief Executive said: "BNFL will ensure
that the sale of Project Services will follow a fair and
transparent process and our key objective is to ensure the
delivery of value to our shareholder, together with a good home
for our people.
"During this sale process, Project Services' focus continues to
be on the safe and expeditious delivery of contracts for its
customers."
Project Services employs over 730 highly skilled experts with
extensive technical waste and decommissioning expertise in the
nuclear and hazardous waste industries. It holds contracts on
civil nuclear sites, including Sellafield and Magnox reactor
sites, and is also involved in work on behalf of the Ministry of
Defence, Department for Trade and Industry and the Home Office.
A large growth area for the business is the emerging nuclear
clean-up market in Central and Eastern Europe, where it already
has an important strategic foothold supporting the Russian
regulator, Rosatom to develop its framework for cleaning-up the
former Russian navy's nuclear fleet in the northwest of the
country.
In addition, Project Services, in partnership with the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is leading the
in-country Project Management Unit at Kozloduy Nuclear Power
Plant in Bulgaria, responsible for the design, programme
management and implementation of decommissioning strategies for
these nuclear facilities.
The sale is being handled for BNFL by its financial advisers, NM
Rothschild & Sons Limited and any interested parties should
contact Richard Guest at projectservices@rothschild.co.uk
Distributed by PR Newswire on behalf of British Nuclear Fuels plc
(BNFL)
PR Newswire Europe Ltd. 209 - 215 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1
8NL
Copyright © PR Newswire Europe Limited. All rights
*****************************************************************
49 US physicists against nuclear attack on Iran (
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2007 18:49:17 -0600 (CST)
After robbing the "cradle of civilization," let's not nuke the land of Rumi,
too...
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2007 14:42:18 -0700
From: Manucher Ghaffarifar
Subject: US physicists against nuclear attack on Iran
02/03/2007 01:52 PM ID: 59967
22 US Physicists Ask Congress to Limit Bush's Authority to Authorize
Nuclear Strikes
22 US physicists, including twelve Nobel laureates, are petitioning
Congress "to restrict the authority of President Bush to order nuclear
strikes against non-nuclear-weapon states," saying that Bush has
drastically changed US nuclear weapons policy.
The move comes in response to rising tensions with Iran and the refusal
of the president to take the option of a nuclear strike off the table.
The group wants Congress to be involved in the decisions about how the
US uses nuclear weapons.
"The use of such a weapon against deeply buried targets would create
massive clouds of radioactive fallout that could spread far from the
site of the attack, including to other nations," said K. Gottfried,
chair of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
http://www.shortnews.com/shownews.cfm?id=59967&CFID=24234763&CFTOKEN=840
86904
"Fool's gold exists because there is real gold." -Rumi
[demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type IMAGE/GIF which had a NAME of image001.gif]
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50 ContraCostaTimes.com: Budget trims Livermore Lab funding
02/06/2007 |
By Betsy Mason CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Lawrence Livermore Laboratory would see a small cut in funding
under President Bush's budget request for the Department of
Energy for 2008, but most major programs would remain largely
intact.
The DOE has requested $1.15 billion for the lab in fiscal year
2008, which is 0.8 percent less than the $1.25 billion request
for 2007 -- yet to be approved by Congress.
If approved, the total DOE budget would expand by $700 million,
or 3 percent, to $24.3 billion in 2008.
"We have had to take stock of where we are and where we want to
be," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said at a Washington news
conference Monday. "And in so doing, I believe that we have been
able to fund those activities which show the greatest promise
and support this department's mission while maintaining
essentially flat funding when considering the rate of
inflation."
The DOE plans to spend $2.7 billion, 26 percent more in 2008 on
alternative energy, including nuclear, biomass, solar, hydrogen
and clean coal, a move the DOE says will strengthen U.S. energy
security by reducing the need for foreign oil. The budget
includes $405 million for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.
"We're looking at a doubling, roughly, of the demand for
electricity in our country," Bodman said. "I do not see how
we're going to be able to satisfy that demand without nuclear
power. We need to get that up and running."
The project to replace the aging nuclear stockpile with updated
weapons that would not require testing, known as reliable
replacement warheads, would gain $61.1 million, or 220 percent,
to $88.8 million. The DOE is expected to announce the winner of
a design contest for the new weapons between Lawrence Livermore
and Los Alamos National labs as soon as the Department of
Defense buys into the DOE's choice.
The biggest loser in the new budget request is environmental
cleanup of DOE sites, which Bodman attributed mostly to the
finish of cleanup at seven sites.
At Livermore Lab, some money will be shifted toward energy
research, particularly nuclear energy, which stands to receive a
boost from $400,000 to $8 million. Meanwhile, funds for nuclear
nonproliferation would drop $10 million to $69.5 million.
The lab's total spending on weapons is slated to drop $86
million to just over $1 billion. The biggest cut, $51 million,
would come from the budget for the DOE's campaign to achieve
nuclear fusion ignition to help maintain the nuclear weapons
stockpile without testing the weapons.
Direct spending on the lab's National Ignition Facility would
take an expected drop from $255 million to $147 million, as the
project will have acquired most of the necessary parts and will
be focused on assembly. The 192-beam superlaser project is
currently scheduled to be completed in 2009.
Another $23 million would be cut from other weapons stockpile
work. The advanced computing program, which performs simulations
of nuclear weapons explosions, would also lose $23 million.
On the winning side would be general weapons science, safeguards
and security as well as nuclear weapons incident response.
Research on the plutonium pits that trigger nuclear warhead
explosions would also go up $11.4 million for a total of $28.8
million in 2008.
"This is a substantial increase in plutonium activity at the
lab," said Marylia Kelley of the watchdog group Tri-Valley
CARES. "Instead, Livermore Lab should be focusing on safely
packaging the plutonium for removal," a move the DOE has said
will be done by 2014.
Also on the losing end: nuclear waste disposal, down $3.3
million to $14.1 million, and environmental cleanup for
Livermore's Site 300, down $2.9 million to $8.6 million.
The DOE's request for Lawrence Berkeley Lab for 2008 is up 4.5
percent to $435 million. The biggest increases go to energy
research and advanced scientific computing.
Reach Betsy Mason at 925-847-2158 or bmason@cctimes.com.
The Contra Costa Times
*****************************************************************
51 Earth Times: Scientists create nanomaterial for ammo
Science Technology News | Home
Posted on : Tue, 06 Feb 2007 13:02:01 GMT | Author : Science
AMES, Iowa, Feb. 6 U.S. government scientists say they are close
to developing nanostructured material to eliminate the use of
depleted uranium in ammunition.Department of Energy officials say
the use of depleted uranium in projectiles has caused concern
among soldiers storing and using the material. So scientists at
the government's Ames Laboratory at Ames, Iowa, created a
nanocomposite of tungsten and metallic glass -- both of which are
environmentally safe materials that work even better than
depleted uranium.
Senior scientist Dan Sordelet leads a research team synthesizing
nanolayers of tungsten and metallic glass. As the projectile
goes further into protective armor, pieces of the projectile are
sheared away, helping to form a sharpened chisel point at the
head of the penetrator, he said. The metallic glass and tungsten
are environmentally benign and eliminate health worries related
to toxicity and perceived radiation concerns regarding depleted
uranium.Sordelet says researchers from Johns Hopkins University
and the Army Research Laboratory are working on making the
entire penetrator from a metallic glass matrix composite
reinforced with nanocrystalline tungsten since, when the
tungsten grain size is reduced to the nanometer scale, its
propensity to shear is significantly increased.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
(c) 2007 Earthtimes.org, All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
52 Tri-City Herald: $1.94 billion 2008 Hanford budget proposed
Published Tuesday, February 6th, 2007
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
The budget proposed by the Bush administration for Hanford in
fiscal 2008 includes more money than either of the previous two
annual budgets for the nuclear reservation.
It's enough money to keep employment fairly steady at the
Hanford nuclear reservation, plus pay for a planned gradual ramp
up of work at the vitrification plant from fall 2007 through
about summer 2008.
"This proposal keeps the focus on progress -- at the vit plant,
K Basins, river corridor and across the site," Rep. Doc
Hastings, R-Wash., said in a statement.
However, he and others shared concerns about whether it's enough
money for the Department of Energy to meet legally binding
deadlines under the Tri-Party Agreement, particularly at the
underground tank farms where 53 million gallons of radioactive
waste are stored.
The budget proposed for Hanford in fiscal 2008 includes $1.94
billion, excluding DOE administration costs.
That compares with the $1.88 billion expected to be available at
Hanford in the current budget year, depending on approval by the
U.S. Senate after Congress failed to pass a Hanford budget by
the start of the current budget year. It also is more than the
$1.75 billion approved for Hanford in fiscal year 2006.
The proposed budget includes full funding for Hanford's
vitrification plant, and it increases money for ground water
cleanup, moving weapons-grade plutonium off Hanford and
continuing work to clean up and remove the K Basins.
The vitrification plant would receive $690 million. That's up
from the $526 million in fiscal 2006 in a budget that
contributed to the layoffs of about 1,700 workers. The plant
also is expected to receive $690 million in the current budget
year when it's approved. Long-term planning for the plant has
been based on a steady budget of $690 million a year.
"We're pleased that the current budget proposal puts the waste
treatment plant back on schedule and on the road to
construction," said Joye Redfield-Wilder, spokeswoman for the
Washington State Department of Ecology, which is one of
Hanford's regulators.
One of the overall goals of DOE's nationwide environmental
management programs is to focus on stabilizing tank waste,
including the waste at Hanford, which would be treated at the
vitrification plant under construction, said Roy Schepens,
manager of DOE's Hanford Office of River Protection. DOE has
shown its commitment by dedicating about 50 percent of the
environmental management budget to tank cleanup nationwide, he
said.
At Hanford, work has been temporarily stopped at the
vitrification plant's two largest facilities because of
technical concerns and a reduced 2006 budget. Work would ramp
back up gradually from late 2007 to mid-2008, likely at a steady
rate that would not send more ripples through the Tri-City
economy.
DOE also would spend $15 million on a test-scale facility to
research performance of the vitrification plant and make sure
technical issues are resolved. The facility could be built at
the Applied Process Engineering Laboratory in north Richland.
The tank farm budget would hold steady with the current year's
budget at about $273 million. That's down from almost $328
million in fiscal year 2006. Much of the decrease is accounted
for by the delay in building the bulk vitrification pilot plant
until technical issues are resolved.
DOE has fallen behind the legally binding schedule for emptying
the oldest, leak-prone tanks of radioactive waste. However, it
did pick up some speed on the project over the past year.
The focus will be on using new technologies that are able to
remove waste more efficiently, Schepens said. Six of 149
single-shell tanks are empty now, and the budget allows for four
more to be emptied by the end of fiscal 2008.
Hastings and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., questioned whether
$273 million is enough for the tank farms.
"The highest priority of the Hanford communities is to see waste
removed from the tanks and treated," Pam Larsen, executive
director of Hanford Communities, said in a message to the
group's leaders. "I don't believe that the funding level
proposed is adequate to achieve this goal."
The remainder of the Hanford budget falls under the DOE Hanford
Richland Operations Office, which would see an increase to $975
million in fiscal 2008, up from $917 million in the current year
and $900 million in fiscal 2006.
"It's good news for the cleanup and the community and the
workers," said Keith Klein, manager of the Richland Operations
Office.
However, it will not be enough to keep all projects on schedule
to meet legal deadlines in 2008 and beyond.
Planning for the money will need to be done with "thoughtful
prioritization and smart choices," Klein said.
There will be some changes in the skills needed for projects
along the river corridor and in central Hanford, which will
require some turnover in employees. However, the number of
employees should remain fairly steady. Some of the increased
funding likely would be spent on subcontracted work.
Ground water protection and cleanup is a success story in the
proposed budget, Klein said, after regulators, tribes and others
agreed that it is a priority. The proposed budget for ground
water projects increases from $76 million in 2007 to $106
million in 2008.
The budget for the Plutonium Finishing Plant would increase from
$82 million in the present budget to $98 million in 2008 to help
pay for a full year of shipments of plutonium from Hanford to a
national consolidation site that's expected to be in South
Carolina.
That's a major step toward allowing demolition of the Plutonium
Finishing Plant and shifting the high costs of security at the
plant into cleanup.
Money for the K Basins would increase from $81 million in 2007
to $100 million in 2008. The money is planned for treatment of
radioactive sludge and to begin the removal of the K East Basin
to reach the soil beneath it that's contaminated by leaks.
Money for cleanup of the river corridor, which includes reactor
areas along the Columbia River and the 300 Area just north of
Richland, would drop from $221 million this year to $215 million
in 2008. Part of the change is due to an expected decision to
retain some buildings in the 300 Area for continued use by
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory rather than tearing them
down.
DOE also plans to delay some cleanup work at reactor sites that
pose a low risk to the environment to allow more work on
projects that pose a greater risk, Klein said.
Work on transuranic waste projects in central Hanford would
continue at about the same level with a proposed $237 million.
However, some legal deadlines on the project would be missed if
DOE cannot convince regulators to renegotiate them.
There also would be a modest increase in spending on central
Hanford projects to continue cleanup planning and analysis of
contamination near plutonium processing canyons.
© 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
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53 Tri-City Herald: Reach access worries residents
Published Tuesday, February 6th, 2007
By Andrew Sirocchi, Herald staff writer
The U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service has produced hundreds of pages
detailing six management plans for the Hanford Reach National
Monument, but the concerns some have about the plans are much
more succinct.
Whether it's the potential closure of the White Bluffs boat
ramp, the restriction of horseback riding to certain trails, or
changing access to prime hunting and fishing spots, many
outdoorsmen are worried the plans will take away recreation
options that have been available for decades.
"(McNary Islands) have been open to public hunting for 50
years," said Mike Estes, a Kennewick member of the Richland Rod
and Gun Club. "There are 19 islands between the ridge and
Richland -- 13 are already closed. We're saying it seems
reasonable to keep those open."
The McNary Islands, a string of six islands south of Ringold and
just north of the Richland city limits, already are closed for
most uses but bird hunters have had some access. Fish &Wildlife
officials say the islands will remain open to hunters below the
high water mark and that shouldn't present a big change.
But the islands are only one portion of the plan, which covers
the nearly 200,000 acres surrounding a 51-mile stretch of the
Columbia River.
Rich Steele, who spent months as a recreation representative
when local groups discussed a management compromise for the
land, said he worries the plans would call for restricting
hikers and horse riders to a system of trails north of the
river.
"This isn't Central Park," he said. "It was my understanding we
weren't going to lose anything. If they close it off, the fact
remains we're going to be losing ground."
But Fish &Wildlife is concerned that uncontrolled horse access
would lead to seeds of invasive plant species being spread on
the Reach.
The department is legally required to produce a plan for
management of the national monument, which was established in
2000.
"The top priority is the protection of whatever we have now,"
said Dan Haas, a natural resource planner with Fish &Wildlife.
"This is a new national monument. That's why we're going through
such extreme public involvement."
Haas said each of the management options proposed opens more
land for recreation than what exists now, but the plans also
restrict it to more specific locations.
For Estes and other Rod and Gun Club members, possible closure
of the White Bluffs boat ramp is near the top of their concerns.
Estes said the river would be left without access for about 30
miles if the ramp is closed, and that would make the area less
safe.
Estes said the club also would like Fish &Wildlife to open the
area south of Highway 240 to elk hunters when the need to
control the herd arises. That option is not included in any of
the plans.
While the department has heard most from outdoorsmen concerned
about the recreation opportunities, some people want more
restrictive protection plans.
Richard Gies, a research ecologist who worked on small mammal
research on the Hanford Reach in the 1970s, said he felt
limiting human encroachment in the area is good for the
environment and for people.
"Human development will reduce wildlife," he said. "We do have
good hunting and we do have good fishing. We have a place for
waterskiing and kayaking. That's the reason why we want to keep
development as limited as possible."
Fish &Wildlife scheduled four open houses to receive comments on
the draft plan. The Richland event, which attracted about 50
people, was the best-attended so far.
The final open house will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the
Red Lion Hotel, 2525 N. 20th Ave. in Pasco.
"I think the final plan will include various elements from
different alternatives, based on the public input we get," said
Paula Call, an outdoor recreation planner for the U.S. Fish
&Wildlife Service.
Fish &Wildlife plans to issue a final environmental impact
statement by early 2008 at the latest. After that,
administration officials will be in charge of accepting or
denying any recommendations by the regional Fish and Wildlife
staff.
The draft management plan is posted at www.fws.gov/hanfordreach
and can be viewed at local libraries.
n Reporter Andrew Sirocchi can be reached at 582-1521 or via
e-mail at asirocchi@tricity herald.com.
© 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
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54 Hanford News: Labor contacting ill Hanford workers
This story was published Tuesday, February 6th, 2007
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
The U.S. Department of Labor will be contacting ill Hanford
workers who appear to have inadvertently dropped out of the
process to receive compensation for lost wages and impairment.
The problem is occurring in Part E, the portion of the program
that pays up to $250,000 for lost wages and impairment to workers
made ill by toxic substances, including radiation or hazardous
chemicals.
The benefit structure is complicated and most applicants are
having trouble understanding what they need to do to receive
benefits, according to the Department of Labor. They're stopping
short of filling out all the paperwork needed to get
compensation.
Once they receive a ruling that their illnesses were caused by
exposure to toxic substances at the Hanford nuclear reservation
or Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, they are eligible for
coverage of medical costs.
But they will not receive compensation for lost wages or
impairment unless they take the initiative to notify the
Department of Labor in writing that they want an impairment
rating.
Workers whose illnesses already have been confirmed caused by
Hanford or national laboratory exposures will receive a letter
and a follow up call from the Department of Labor. Department of
Labor workers will be explaining what additional benefits they
might be entitled to, options for filing and help in applying.
"We are totally committed to getting compensation and benefits
to eligible, injured workers and their families," Shelby
Hallmark, director of the Department of Labor's Office of
Workers' Compensation Programs said, in a statement.
Under Part E, Hanford workers or their survivors have received
$30 million in compensation. Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory employees have received $4.5 million.
The second portion of the program, Part B, got off to an earlier
start and has paid far more claims to workers with certain lung
diseases or with cancer because of radiation exposure. It pays
up to $150,000 in compensation to workers or their survivors. It
has paid almost $82 million to Hanford workers and almost $15
million to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory workers.
Many workers are eligible for compensation under Part B and Part
E. For more information, call the Hanford Resource Center at
946-3333 or at 1-888-654-0014.
© 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.
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55 Hanford News: $1.94 billion 2008 Hanford budget proposed
This story was published Tuesday, February 6th, 2007
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
The budget proposed by the Bush administration for Hanford in
fiscal 2008 includes more money than either of the previous two
annual budgets for the nuclear reservation.
It's enough money to keep employment fairly steady at the Hanford
nuclear reservation, plus pay for a planned gradual ramp up of
work at the vitrification plant from fall 2007 through about
summer 2008.
"This proposal keeps the focus on progress - at the vit plant, K
Basins, river corridor and across the site," Rep. Doc Hastings,
R-Wash., said in a statement.
However, he and others shared concerns about whether it's enough
money for the Department of Energy to meet legally binding
deadlines under the Tri-Party Agreement, particularly at the
underground tank farms where 53 million gallons of radioactive
waste are stored.
The budget proposed for Hanford in fiscal 2008 includes $1.94
billion, excluding DOE administration costs.
That compares with the $1.88 billion expected to be available at
Hanford in the current budget year, depending on approval by the
U.S. Senate after Congress failed to pass a Hanford budget by
the start of the current budget year. It also is more than the
$1.75 billion approved for Hanford in fiscal year 2006.
The proposed budget includes full funding for Hanford's
vitrification plant, and it increases money for ground water
cleanup, moving weapons-grade plutonium off Hanford and
continuing work to clean up and remove the K Basins.
The vitrification plant would receive $690 million. That's up
from the $526 million in fiscal 2006 in a budget that
contributed to the layoffs of about 1,700 workers. The plant
also is expected to receive $690 million in the current budget
year when it's approved. Long-term planning for the plant has
been based on a steady budget of $690 million a year.
"We're pleased that the current budget proposal puts the waste
treatment plant back on schedule and on the road to
construction," said Joye Redfield-Wilder, spokeswoman for the
Washington State Department of Ecology, which is one of
Hanford's regulators.
One of the overall goals of DOE's nationwide environmental
management programs is to focus on stabilizing tank waste,
including the waste at Hanford, which would be treated at the
vitrification plant under construction, said Roy Schepens,
manager of DOE's Hanford Office of River Protection. DOE has
shown its commitment by dedicating about 50 percent of the
environmental management budget to tank cleanup nationwide, he
said.
At Hanford, work has been temporarily stopped at the
vitrification plant's two largest facilities because of
technical concerns and a reduced 2006 budget. Work would ramp
back up gradually from late 2007 to mid-2008, likely at a steady
rate that would not send more ripples through the Tri-City
economy.
DOE also would spend $15 million on a test-scale facility to
research performance of the vitrification plant and make sure
technical issues are resolved. The facility could be built at
the Applied Process Engineering Laboratory in north Richland.
The tank farm budget would hold steady with the current year's
budget at about $273 million. That's down from almost $328
million in fiscal year 2006. Much of the decrease is accounted
for by the delay in building the bulk vitrification pilot plant
until technical issues are resolved.
DOE has fallen behind the legally binding schedule for emptying
the oldest, leak-prone tanks of radioactive waste. However, it
did pick up some speed on the project over the past year.
The focus will be on using new technologies that are able to
remove waste more efficiently, Schepens said. Six of 149
single-shell tanks are empty now, and the budget allows for four
more to be emptied by the end of fiscal 2008.
Hastings and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., questioned whether
$273 million is enough for the tank farms.
"The highest priority of the Hanford communities is to see waste
removed from the tanks and treated," Pam Larsen, executive
director of Hanford Communities, said in a message to the
group's leaders. "I don't believe that the funding level
proposed is adequate to achieve this goal."
The remainder of the Hanford budget falls under the DOE Hanford
Richland Operations Office, which would see an increase to $975
million in fiscal 2008, up from $917 million in the current year
and $900 million in fiscal 2006.
"It's good news for the cleanup and the community and the
workers," said Keith Klein, manager of the Richland Operations
Office.
However, it will not be enough to keep all projects on schedule
to meet legal deadlines in 2008 and beyond.
Planning for the money will need to be done with "thoughtful
prioritization and smart choices," Klein said.
There will be some changes in the skills needed for projects
along the river corridor and in central Hanford, which will
require some turnover in employees. However, the number of
employees should remain fairly steady. Some of the increased
funding likely would be spent on subcontracted work.
Ground water protection and cleanup is a success story in the
proposed budget, Klein said, after regulators, tribes and others
agreed that it is a priority. The proposed budget for ground
water projects increases from $76 million in 2007 to $106
million in 2008.
The budget for the Plutonium Finishing Plant would increase from
$82 million in the present budget to $98 million in 2008 to help
pay for a full year of shipments of plutonium from Hanford to a
national consolidation site that's expected to be in South
Carolina.
That's a major step toward allowing demolition of the Plutonium
Finishing Plant and shifting the high costs of security at the
plant into cleanup.
Money for the K Basins would increase from $81 million in 2007
to $100 million in 2008. The money is planned for treatment of
radioactive sludge and to begin the removal of the K East Basin
to reach the soil beneath it that's contaminated by leaks.
Money for cleanup of the river corridor, which includes reactor
areas along the Columbia River and the 300 Area just north of
Richland, would drop from $221 million this year to $215 million
in 2008. Part of the change is due to an expected decision to
retain some buildings in the 300 Area for continued use by
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory rather than tearing them
down.
DOE also plans to delay some cleanup work at reactor sites that
pose a low risk to the environment to allow more work on
projects that pose a greater risk, Klein said.
Work on transuranic waste projects in central Hanford would
continue at about the same level with a proposed $237 million.
However, some legal deadlines on the project would be missed if
DOE cannot convince regulators to renegotiate them.
There also would be a modest increase in spending on central
Hanford projects to continue cleanup planning and analysis of
contamination near plutonium processing canyons.
© 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
56 DOE: Office of Science; Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee
FR Doc E7-1855
[Federal Register: February 6, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 24)]
[Notices] [Page 5433-5434] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr06fe07-38]
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of Open Meeting.
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Fusion Energy
Sciences Advisory Committee. The Federal Advisory Committee Act
(Public Law 92- 463, 86Stat.770) requires that public notice of
these meetings be announced in the Federal Register.
DATES: Thursday, March 1, 2007, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday,
March 2, 2007, 8:30 a.m. to noon.
ADDRESSES: The Marriott Gaithersburg Washingtonian Center, 9751
Washingtonian Boulevard, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20878, USA.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Albert L. Opdenaker, Office of
Fusion
[[Page 5434]] Energy Sciences; U.S. Department of Energy; 1000
Independence Avenue, SW.; Washington, DC 20585-1290; Telephone:
301-903-4927.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Meeting: The major
purposes of the meeting are for the Fusion Energy Sciences
Advisory Committee (FESAC) to (1) hear from DOE about the FY 2008
Budget, (2) complete the charge on the evaluation of the
program's progress toward meeting the PART performance measures,
and (3) a presentation and discussion of a new charge and how
FESAC plans to approach this new charge. The charge will be
related to the evolution of the program during the years of ITER
construction and operation including what issues need to be dealt
with and what general class(es) of facility(ies) may be needed in
addition to ITER.
Tentative Agenda Thursday, March 1, 2007 Complete the charge on
assessing the program's progress toward achieving long-range PART
measures.
Discussion of the new charge.
Public Comments.
Friday, March 2, 2007 U.S. Burning Plasma Office: Status Report.
High Energy Density Physics: What is happening at DOE.
Fusion Simulation Project Status and Plans.
Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public. If you
would like to file a written statement with the Committee, you
may do so either before or after the meeting. If you would like
to make oral statements regarding any of the items on the agenda,
you should contact Albert L. Opdenaker at 301-903-8584 (fax) or
albert.opdenaker@science.doe.gov (e-mail). You must make your
request for an oral statement at least 5 business days before the
meeting. Reasonable provision will be made to include the
scheduled oral statements on the agenda. The Chairperson of the
Committee will conduct the meeting to facilitate the orderly
conduct of business.
Public comment will follow the 10-minute rule.
Minutes: We will make the minutes of this meeting available for
public review and copying within 30 days at the Freedom of
Information Public Reading Room; IE-190; Forrestal Building; 1000
Independence Avenue, SW.; Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 4
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Issued at Washington, DC, on February 1, 2007.
Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. E7-1855 Filed 2-5-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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57 Ventura County Star: Workers describe Field Lab exposures
Simi Valley
U.S. officials gather facts for illness claims
By Teresa Rochester, trochester@VenturaCountyStar.com
February 6, 2007
James Lang and William Jennings both worked at the Santa Susana
Field Laboratory, a former rocket engine test site in hills south
of Simi Valley.
Lang spent 20 of his 37 years at the lab working in nuclear
operations. He was a technician on the hot cell, where work on
highly radioactive materials took place, "hands-on touching," and
he worked on the sodium reactor experiments.
Jennings was a janitor, on a scrub team that cleaned "cold"
areas of the hot lab. The Reseda man also worked on the spill
team.
Lang and Jennings were among nearly 20 former and current
employees at the Field Laboratory south of Simi Valley and at
nearby locations who attended a meeting Monday afternoon
designed to let them tell what chemicals they were exposed to at
the sites operated by the Energy Technology Engineering Center
and Atomics International.
The meeting was led by the Energy Employees Occupational Illness
Compensation Program officials. The program is overseen by the
U.S. Labor Department and provides compensation and medical
benefits to eligible employees of the Department of Energy, its
contractors and subcontractors with certain occupationally
related illnesses.
The Labor Department has contracted with an Ohio-based company
named Paragon to "try and gather as much information as we can
about the chemicals and other substances used at the site,"
Jerry Bennett, program director for the Energy Employees
Occupational Illness Compensation Program, said at the meeting.
The workers were asked what chemicals they were exposed to, what
knowledge of hazards they had, and about protective measures,
environmental and personal testing and unusual events at the
sites.
The information will be used to create a profile of the site,
which is owned by Boeing, that can be used by those who take
employees' claims.
Lang has not filed a claim.
"I'm relatively healthy, other than having gray hair and not
enough of it," he said Monday.
All the nuclear work was done in accordance with established
procedures and in safety suits, he said. Exposure tests were
done regularly and the annual physicals were so thorough his own
physician was "absolutely in awe of the things they tested for."
Jennings, however, learned in December that a claim he filed had
been denied.
"I have lung disease," Jennings said Monday. "All I know is I
worked there and now I have lung disease."
His crew didn't start using respirators until after the union
representing them complained. Jennings isn't confident the
meeting on Monday and fact-finding the contractor will do today
at the Field Lab will help him or other workers.
"I don't think they are trying to help the employees," he said.
How this will affect employees whose claims have been denied and
those who have exhausted the appeal process is unclear. Labor
Department representatives at the meeting could not comment.
Lang went to the meeting after one of his co-workers, who has an
occupation-related illness, told him about it.
"At the time we did things that were socially, environmentally
and legally acceptable," Lang said. "We learned things we didn't
know."
Program representatives were interested in potential exposure in
the area of the Field Laboratory specified in the legislation
that created the program. That area, called Area IV, was where
nuclear work and work with liquid metals took place.
Don diRubio of Simi Valley said where people were exposed wasn't
as cut and dried.
"It's a no-brainer," he said. "Anyone who ever worked there will
never escape breathing it."
2006 © The E.W. Scripps Co. Ventura County Star
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58 Albuquerque Tribune: NNSA considers drug testing at Sandia labs
James W. Brosnan/Tribune Reporter
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
WASHINGTON — The head of the National Nuclear Security
Administration said today he is strongly considering expanding a
program of random drug testing for employees at security-plagued
Los Alamos National Laboratory to all employees at all NNSA
facilities, including Sandia National Laboratories.
"This makes sense to me," acting NNSA Administrator Tom
D'Agostino told the Tribune after an NNSA budget briefing.
But he said he first wants to evaluate the drug testing program
at Los Alamos, which was only initiated last year after a
secretary was arrested during a drug bust and found to be in
possession of classified and unclassified documents on a flash
drive.
The director at Los Alamos, Michael Anastasio, also began drug
testing all new hires at the lab, not just those who work in
secure areas.
Sandia has always had drug testing for new employees, but
follow-up drug screening is limited to drivers and certain other
employees in sensitive areas, said Sandia spokeswoman Stephanie
Holinka.
At hearings in the House last week on security problems at Los
Alamos, some members of Congress were surprised to learn that
drug testing is not already required at the eight NNSA labs and
plants.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman told the House Armed Services
Committee last week that he expects to look at expanding drug
testing throughout the weapons lab complex. The budget President
Bush sent to Congress on Monday calls for a 17.4 percent
increase in spending at NNSA on physical and cyber security.
D'Agostino told the Tribune he would make the decision on drug
testing at NNSA facilities in consultation with Bodman.
D'Agostino also reporters today that they are well underway with
efforts to seal all open computer ports at NNSA facilities
either through changes in software or physically sealing USB and
Firewire ports. [TribTalk]
This site does not necessarily agree with posted comments, they
are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. Readers
will be banned for posting defamatory, obscene, abusive,
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agreement.
© 2007 The Albuquerque Tribune
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59 Albuquerque Tribune: Proposed lab cuts concern Bingaman
James W. Brosnan/Tribune Reporter
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
WASHINGTON — President Bush is proposing to cut funding at New
Mexico's two national laboratories, Sandia and Los Alamos,
despite recommending overall increases in weapons and scientific
research in his $2.9 trillion budget for fiscal year 2008.
The budget, released Monday, would shave Department of Energy
spending in New Mexico from the $4.3 billion appropriated for
2006 to about $4.1 billion, according to Sen. Jeff Bingaman,
Silver City Democrat. Overall energy spending, however, would
increase from $23.5 billion to $24.3 billion.
Particularly hard hit would be defense weapons research at the
laboratories - down 4 percent at Sandia and 11 percent at Los
Alamos. It is the largest cut proposed for any of the eight
laboratories and plants under the National Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA), an arm of the Department of Energy.
Despite the cuts, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said the
department's budget "fully supports our greatest asset, the
operations of our scientific facilities."
Not necessarily in New Mexico, countered Bingaman. The Office of
Science would see a 7.2 percent increase, but science funding at
Los Alamos would be flat and at Sandia it would decline 6.2
percent, he said.
Bingaman said he fears the cuts "threaten the long-term
viability of the New Mexico DOE laboratories."
Sen. Pete Domenici, an Albuquerque Republican, also expressed
concern about the labs' budgets and predicted "some lively
discussion" during budget hearings over the next few weeks.
Bodman is scheduled to testify about the budget Wednesday before
the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which is
chaired by Bingaman and has Domenici as the ranking Republican.
The budget cuts come as a NNSA planning document is suggesting
that the number of employees working on nuclear weapons research
at the eight NNSA plants and laboratories could be trimmed from
more than 27,000 to fewer than 20,000 by 2030.
Bodman told reporters that he is not aware of any "near-term
plan" to reduce employment at the labs and plants and that over
the long term he hopes increased funding on science and energy
can make up for cuts in defense spending.
Bodman is proposing a 17.7 percent increase on security upgrades
at NNSA sites after the agency was roasted last week at two
House hearings over security lapses at Los Alamos.
"We have had significant matters related to security at Los
Alamos. We are trying to apply those lessons all across the
complex," Bodman said.
Overall, the Energy Department budget includes a 1.6 percent
increase in nuclear weapons programs and research, a 5.1 percent
increase in research on efficiency and renewable energy, a 38
percent increase in nuclear energy programs and a 33 percent
increase on oil, gas and coal programs.
The budget for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would more than
double, from $155 million to $332 million, to expand the reserve
from 1 billion barrels of oil to 1.5 billion barrels.
Bingaman questioned the increase because "the administration has
never given us a clear idea of what, short of a total calamity
like Hurricane Katrina, it would take to put it to use."
Bingaman also criticized the budget proposal to eliminate $50
million for research on oil and gas production, which he says
helps New Mexico's independent producers, and a cut in the
weatherization program that would decrease New Mexico's share
from $2.1 million to $1.2 million.
"It makes little sense to be cutting this program now, and
especially for New Mexico, which is experiencing a harsh winter
this year," Bingaman said.
He and Domenici did find things to like in the Energy Department
budget.
Bingaman said he appreciated the overall emphasis on renewable
energy. Domenici liked "the strong commitment to nuclear energy,
a move that holds tremendous promise for climate change
concerns."
Elsewhere in the budget, however, Bingaman and Rep. Tom Udall,
Santa Fe Democrat, objected to Bush's plan to cut $101 billion
from government health care programs, principally Medicare and
Medicaid.
"Nearly 50 million Americans lack health insurance, and that
number continues to rise," Bingaman said. "Not only has the
White House failed to propose a serious solution to this
problem, it is urging deep cuts to the nation' most important
health care initiatives. This is very disappointing, and it's my
hope that Congress will turn back this terrible proposal."
Said Udall: "I am disappointed that he (Bush) has proposed a
plan to once again sell off public lands, to cut the Interior
budget by nearly $700 million, and to slash dollars for health
care programs - particularly in rural areas."
Cuts in Amtrak would imperil service to Albuquerque on the
Southwest Chief, said Bingaman. However, Congress has
consistently refused to go along with Amtrak cuts before.
[TribTalk]
This site does not necessarily agree with posted comments, they
are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. Readers
will be banned for posting defamatory, obscene, abusive,
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© 2007 The Albuquerque Tribune
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60 Environmental Leader: Bush's Budget Earmarks $24 Billion for DOE
http://www.environmentalleader.com
President Bushs $24.3-billion budget for the Department of Energy
remains a tiny part of the overall $2.9-trillion budget plan for
2008. the Detroit Free Press reports.
The proposed budget for the Department of Energy includes $42
million for developing batteries for plug-in hybrid vehicles, a
modest increase from last year's $31-million request.
The administration's request for vehicle efficiency research was
$176 million, down $8 million from last year's request. That
research, part of the department's Office of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy, includes areas such as lightweight
materials, better internal combustion engines and heavy vehicle
efficiency.
Research for biofuels is slated to nearly double, to $179
million. The president also pledged $309 million for
hydrogen-powered fuel cell research, the last payment of a
five-year, $1.2-billion effort.
The budget includes no funding for geothermal technology or for
hydropower research and development, the Reno Gazette-Journal
reports.
Bushs proposal also trims funding for wind energy to $40
million, nearly a 10 percent drop from last years request. The
2008 request keeps funding levels stagnant for solar energy
development: $148.3 million.
The coal industry would get a $100 million boost to $385 million
next year to develop technology to capture hydrogen from
coal-fired power plants and store carbon dioxide emissions.
The Office of Nuclear Energy would receive $875 million
which includes $395 million for the Advanced Fuel Cycle
Initiative and other activities to support the Global Nuclear
Energy Partnership, Department of Energy reports. In addition,
$10 million is provided to GNEP from the National Nuclear
Security Administration to promote GNEP’s non-proliferation
goals, for a total of $405 million for GNEP; and also supports
Generation IV, Nuclear Power 2010, and the standby support, or
risk insurance, called for in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, to
protect against unexpected delays of nuclear power plant
construction and spur investments in emissions-free nuclear
energy.
The budget would give a lift to investors such as Goldman
Sachs, which has poured about $1 billion in the past year into
ventures such as Horizon Wind Energy, Iogen Corp., and Sun
Edison LLC, Bloomberg reports.
Archer Daniels Midland, the worlds biggest producer of ethanol
from corn, VeraSun Energy, the second-biggest ethanol producer,
and Pacific Ethanol, also would benefit.
The plan to turn more corn into fuel hurts Tyson Foods Inc., the
worlds largest meatpacker, and Pilgrims Pride Corp., the
worlds largest poultry processor, according to Bloomberg.
The Department of Energys offficial press release breaking
down its budget requests:
U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman today announced
President Bush’s $24.3 billion budget request for the
Department of Energy (DOE) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008. This
request supports continued scientific discovery and the
development of alternative energy sources that are vital to
America’s energy and economic security. Funding priorities
include investments to address growing demand for affordable,
clean and reliable energy; further scientific discovery;
continue the legacy waste environmental cleanup; and strengthen
and maintain the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile while
promoting global non-proliferation.
“Under President Bush’s leadership, this budget builds on
our commitment to strengthen our nation’s energy security by
diversifying our energy resources and reducing our reliance on
foreign sources of energy. In addition, this budget will help
us expand our nation’s scientific know-how, protect
generations from the dangers of our Cold War legacy, and safely
and reliably maintain our nation’s nuclear weapons
stockpile,” Secretary Bodman said. “Thanks to the
investments in this year’s budget, we will be able to meet the
Department’s mission for today, as well as have a profound and
lasting positive impact on our nation’s future.”
Among the President’s goals funded in the FY 2008 budget
request include $179 million for the Presidents Biofuels
Initiative, an increase of $29 million (19 percent) compared to
the 2007 budget request, to help achieve the President’s goal
of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive by 2012. This
will help reach President Bush’s goal to reduce U.S.
consumption of gasoline by 20 percent in ten years. In
addition, to increase our energy security, the FY 2008 budget
includes $168 million to begin the doubling of our nation’s
Strategic Petroleum Reserve to 1.5 billion barrels by 2027.
The budget also continues to significantly invest in the
President’s Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI) and the American
Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), both of which were unveiled in
President Bush’s 2006 State of the Union Address.
Accelerating the Advanced Energy Initiative
The FY 2008 budget request includes $2.7 billion, a 26 percent
increase above the FY 2007 request of $2.1 billion, and 53
percent above FY 2006, to advance President Bush’s Advanced
Energy Initiative. This initiative seeks to reduce U.S.
dependence on foreign sources of energy and transform the
national energy economy by promoting the development of cleaner
sources of electricity production. The FY 2008 request
supports AEI goals to accelerate the deployment of renewable
energy technologies, such as biomass, hydrogen, and solar
energy; clean coal technologies through FutureGen; and nuclear
energy technologies, through the Global Nuclear Energy
Partnership. These funds support a diverse portfolio of energy
research, development, and commercialization programs designed
to meet the energy challenges of the 21st century.
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy ($1.24
billion) budget includes significant funding increases for
hydrogen technology, vehicle technology, biomass, and building
technology programs. The Office of Fossil Energy ($863
million) supports research and development of low cost carbon
sequestration technology for new and existing coal plants, the
Clean Coal Power Initiative, and the FutureGen project, which
will establish the capability and feasibility of co-producing
electricity and hydrogen from coal with near-zero emissions for
start-up in 2012.
The Office of Nuclear Energy ($875 million) includes $395
million for the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative and other
activities to support the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership
(GNEP). (In addition, $10 million is provided to GNEP from the
National Nuclear Security Administration to promote GNEP’s
non-proliferation goals, for a total of $405 million for GNEP.);
and also supports Generation IV, Nuclear Power 2010, and the
standby support, or risk insurance, called for in the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct), to protect against unexpected delays
of nuclear power plant construction and spur investments in
emissions-free nuclear energy.
In addition, the Department’s FY 2008 requests $8.4 million to
operate an Office of Loan Guarantees and the ability to expand
DOE’s loan volume limitation to $9 billion. This funding
will help spur the commercial development of new and novel clean
energy technologies.
Advancing the American Competitiveness Initiative
The Department’s role in the American Competitiveness
Initiative is funded through the DOE’s Office of Science and
provides research investments to spur innovation and strengthen
America’s competitive edge. The FY 2008 budget requests $4.4
billion, an increase of        $300 million over FY
2007 requested levels and more than $800 million over FY 2006,
to further basic research in the physical sciences and to carry
out the large scale scientific demonstrations essential for
leading global breakthroughs. This ambitious strategy
represents President Bush’s commitment to double federal
spending on science this decade and ensure that America will
continue to lead the world in opportunity and innovation for
generations to come.
Office of Science ($4.4 billion)
DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest federal
supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the
nation and its $4.4 billion request will help ensure U.S.
leadership across a broad range of scientific disciplines.Â
DOE’s Office of Science budget also incorporates $428 million
in funding for basic research in nuclear fusion, including the
international fusion energy experimental reactor agreement,
known as ITER; $340 million for the Advanced Scientific
Computing Research to sustain DOE’s position as world leader
in civilian computing power; $158 million for operations of the
Tevatron at Fermilab for collider and neutrino physics programs;
and $146.5 million for operations of the Relativistic Heavy Ion
Collider to provide an idea of conditions of the very early
universe. DOE’s FY 2008 request includes $75 million for
three innovative Bioenergy Research Centers to accelerate basic
research in the development of cellulosic ethanol and other
biofuels and make biofuel production cost-effective on a
national scale to meet the President’s goals.
National Nuclear Security Administration ($9.4 billion)
The FY 2008 National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
budget requests $9.4 billion, 39 percent of the Departments
budget, to promote national security through a combination that
includes maintaining our nuclear weapons stockpile, advancing
science, and promoting nuclear nonproliferation and threat
reduction. The NNSA budget requests $6.5 billion for weapons
activities to keep the nuclear weapons stockpile safe, secure
and reliable through continued surveillance, assessment, and
life extension programs. This includes the Reliable
Replacement Warhead (RRW) program as a long-term strategy to
maintain a safe, secure and credible nuclear deterrent.
The FY 2008 budget request maintains current commitments to the
nuclear deterrence policies of the Administration’s Nuclear
Posture Review through NNSA’s “Complex 2030”, the
long-term strategy for effective transformation and
modernization of the Cold War era weapons complex into one that
is more efficient, smaller, and secure. To further nuclear
nonproliferation activities, the FY 2008 request of $1.7 billion
supports the international nuclear materials protection and
cooperation programs that are denying terrorists the nuclear
materials, technology and expertise needed to develop or
otherwise acquire nuclear weapons. The budget includes a
request of  $334 million for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication
Plant project at DOE’s Savannah River Site that will dispose
of 34 metric tons of U.S. surplus plutonium and facilitate
complex-wide consolidation of nuclear material. The FY 2008
budget request also includes $162 million for NNSA to maintain
its robust nuclear and radiation emergency response teams and
capabilities.
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy ($1.24 billion)
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy budget requests
$1.24 billion, $60 million (5 percent) more than the FY 2007
request. Much of this funding is an integral part of the
Advanced Energy Initiative and will help us achieve the
President’s goal to reduce U.S. gasoline consumption by 20
percent in ten years. It also expands key programs that focus
on developing new energy choices, including: vehicle efficiency
technology ($176 million); biomass ($179 million), including
research into cellulosic ethanol, made from switch grass, wood
chips, and corn stalks; the Solar America Initiative ($148
million); hydrogen technology including fuel cell development
($213 million); and wind projects ($40 million).
Office of Nuclear Energy ($875 million)
The Office of Nuclear Energy FY 2008 budget requests $875
million, a $242 million (38 percent) increase over the FY 2007
request. In addition to the $395 million for the Advanced Fuel
Cycle Initiative in support of GNEP, the budget request includes
Nuclear Power 2010Â ($114 million), which will reduce barriers
for light water reactor designs and deployment; and Generation
IV ($36 million), which will focus funding on long-term research
and development to support the Next Generation Nuclear Plant
technology. The FY 2008 budget request supports implementation
of the standby support, or risk insurance, program called for in
EPAct, to protect against unexpected delays of nuclear power
plant construction and spur investments in emissions-free
nuclear energy.
Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management ($495 million)
The Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management requests
$495 million to further plan for operation of the safe,
permanent, geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and
high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, $50 million below the
FY 2007 request. The FY 2008 budget request sets DOE on a path
to file a license application no later than June 30, 2008,
continue the facility planning and safety design, make critical
infrastructure upgrades at Yucca Mountain to ensure worker safety
and operational efficiency, and build on national transportation
planning activities.
Office of Fossil Energy ($863 million)
The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) FY 2008 budget requests $863
million, an increase of $214 million, or 33 percent above the FY
2007 request. The FY 2008 budget supports President Bush’s
priorities to develop advanced clean coal technologies ($427
million) which includes FutureGen ($108 million), the
public-private international partnership to build the worlds
first coal-fired power plant that produces electricity and
hydrogen with nearly zero-emissions; the Clean Coal Power
Initiative ($73 million) to initiate, by or before 2010,
demonstration of advanced coal-based power generation
technologies; and coal research and development activities ($246
million). As part of the Administration’s effort to deploy
clean energy technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the
budget request includes $79 million in     FY 2008 for
sequestration work including four large scale field tests, which
have the potential to store more than 600 billion metric tons of
carbon dioxide, the equivalent of more than 200 years of
emissions from energy sources in the United States.
Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability ($115
million)
The FY 2008 Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability
(OE) budget requests $115 million, a decrease of $10 million (8
percent) from the FY 2007 request. This request supports a
variety of programs designed to modernize the electricity
transmission and distribution system; and increase energy
reliability, energy and system efficiency, and security. Within
the request, the Department will focus $86 million on research
and development (R&D) activities to strengthen grid stability,
reduce frequency and duration of operational disruptions, and
increase efficiencies.  The budget request also supports
implementation of EPAct requirements in transmission and energy
corridor designation and coordination of Federal agency
transmission line permitting. Additionally, this budget request
supports OE energy emergency response capabilities to ensure
energy assurance through federal, state, and local coordination.
Office of Health, Safety and Security ($428 million)
The Office of Health, Safety and Security (HSS) was created by
Secretary Bodman last year to strengthen DOE’s health, safety,
and security organization, which previously operated in separate
offices within DOE. The new office requests $428 million for FY
2008, an increase of $20 million, or approximately 5 percent
above the FY 2007 request for the combined activities of the
former offices, to support its mission of ensuring the safety and
health of the DOE workforce and members of the public and the
protection of the environment in all DOE activities. HSS is
responsible for policy development and technical assistance;
safety analysis; corporate safety and security programs;
education and training; complex-wide independent oversight; and
enforcement.
Office of Environmental Management ($5.7 billion)
The FY 2008 Environmental Management budget requests $5.7
billion, $173 million below the FY 2007 request, primarily due to
the completed clean-up of seven sites over the past two years,
including the 1,050 acre Fernald site in January 2007. This
budget request supports the Department’s efforts to complete
clean-up of three additional sites in FY 2008 and continue
clean-up progress across the complex with a focus on activities
with the greatest risk reduction. The FY 2008 budget requests
$690 million to continue safe construction of the Waste Treatment
Plant at Hanford, which will stabilize high-level waste currently
stored in tanks into a glass form for disposal.
Office of Legacy Management ($194 million)
The Office of Legacy Management FY 2008 budget requests $194
million, $7 million below the FY 2007 request, to support the
long-term stewardship responsibilities where active remediation
has been completed and payment of pensions and benefits for
former contractor workers after site closure is needed. This
budget request reflects the transfer of clean-up sites completed
by the Office of Environmental Management. 
Environmental Leader| Privacy © 2006-2007
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61 Amarillo Globe: Feds could fine Pantex
amarillo.com
02/06/07
The Department of Homeland Security is mulling possible fines
against BWXT Pantex over missing employment records that
contained personal information on more than 400 employees,
according to Energy Department investigators.-->
Employee personal data missing
By Jim McBride jim.mcbride@amarillo.com
The Department of Homeland Security is mulling possible fines
against BWXT Pantex over missing employment records that
contained personal information on more than 400 employees,
according to Energy Department investigators.
The Energy Department's Office of Inspector General said Monday
the investigation was sparked, in part, by a complaint to the
agency, but said it does not have any indication Pantex
employees' personal information was compromised.
The unidentified complainant alleged that BWXT sent more than
400 employees home to retrieve birth certificates, driver's
licenses or Social Security cards after the company learned some
Pantex employment records could not be located.
The complainant also expressed concerns the missing records
could result in identity theft or permit the creation of false
documents to gain unauthorized entry to Pantex, where the
nation's nuclear weapons are assembled and dismantled, the
inspector general's office said.
Under federal immigration law, employers are required to obtain
and retain information documenting an employee's eligibility to
work in the United States.
Federal law requires that the missing forms, identified as I-9
records, be maintained for three years after an employee is
hired or one year after the employee terminates employment,
whichever is later.
Failure to comply with federal I-9 record-keeping requirements
may result "in civil penalties against the employer," the
inspector general's office said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a branch of the
Department of Homeland Security, is now determining whether the
missing information merits a fine against BWXT Pantex, the
inspector general's office report said.
Possible fines against the contractor could run between $110
and $1,100 per violation, according to information from ICE.
BWXT Pantex began its own investigation into the missing
documents before Energy Department investigators began their
probe. The contractor has developed a remedial action plan to
ensure it meets federal record-keeping requirements.
"This investigation concluded that 'a high probability exists
that the company prematurely destroyed I-9 documents and failed
to collect the information in some instances," the inspector
general's office said.
BWXT Pantex notified ICE in May that it was unable to locate
442 of the forms and asked employees to provide necessary
documentation so the I-9 forms could be completed and filed.
The company notified the National Nuclear Security
Administration and began investigating, BWXT Pantex President
and General Manager Dan Swaim said.
By June 22, BWXT Pantex had verified that all employees
involved were eligible to work in the United States and assured
that its I-9 records were correctly filed.
"The company did determine that enhanced controls were
necessary to properly collect and maintain I-9 records, and
those controls have since been put into place," Swaim said.
"Among these controls are more accurate records retention
guidelines, better storage and access control for these files,
and strengthened policies for obtaining citizenship information.
"The company has not received any further inquiries about this
matter from ICE, but the company is committed to fully
cooperating with any additional requests or inquiries from ICE."
Energy Department inspectors said faulty record-keeping
procedures and failure to strictly follow federal records laws
contributed to the problem, but the DOE's investigation could
not preclude the possibility that the records were lost or
stolen.
The inspector general's office recommended that the NNSA's
Pantex Site Office ensure that: BWXT appropriately obtain
employee citizenship information and document it on I-9 forms;
ensure the company follows safeguarding procedures for such
information and notify employees that there is a possibility
that their forms were lost or stolen.
The NNSA said no employees have informed the agency that their
identities were stolen and that BWXT has taken a series of steps
to correct the record-keeping problem.
"NNSA is serious about protecting the personal information of
its employees and management will continue working with our
sites to improve accounting procedures," Michael Kane, NNSA's
associate administrator for management and administration, said
in a written response to the inspector general's report.
Last year, in a separate incident, the NNSA notified more than
180 Pantex employees that their Social Security numbers and
other personal information were stolen when a computer hacker
broke into a National Nuclear Security Administration computer
system in 2004.
The federal government later notified affected workers and
provided information about implementing fraud alerts and other
steps to protect employees from possible identity theft.
Former NNSA Administrator Linton Brooks later sent an
apologetic e-mail to affected employees that said the theft
included data on more than 1,500 individuals at Pantex and other
sites. The stolen information contained names, Social Security
numbers, level of security clearance, when the person's
clearance was last updated and a code identifying the company
where the person worked.
Brooks later was dismissed as NNSA administrator in the wake of
the stolen data incident and repeated security breaches at Los
Alamos National Laboratory.
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62 KnoxNews: Oak Ridge officials happy with '08 prospects
By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com
February 6, 2007
OAK RIDGE - President Bush's proposed budget for 2008 includes
big bucks for Oak Ridge, but the future plans released Monday are
clouded by the continuing uncertainty over the current year's
funding.
"This is a very good budget for science," Oak Ridge National
Laboratory Director Jeff Wadsworth said after reviewing some of
the numbers in the 2008 proposal. "We are a major science lab
within the Department of Energy, and therefore it's a very good
budget for ORNL."
The overall lab budget request for 2008 is $966.8 million, which
includes significant increases for some programs - particularly
fusion energy - and funds to operate the Spallation Neutron
Source.
However, Wadsworth acknowledged it's difficult to get a complete
perspective on the state of ORNL's research programs because the
2007 spending levels are still unclear. Congress did not pass a
federal budget for this year and is still working on a
continuing resolution that will determine how much money is
available for ORNL and other federal institutions.
The lab director said he remains "quite optimistic" that
Congress will pass a spending bill that averts any major
disruptions in 2007. Still, it's possible to "over-interpret"
the 2008 budget proposal without knowing what the spending
levels will be for the rest of fiscal 2007, he said.
"There are very positive signs. I think we'll do fine,"
Wadsworth said.
The funding for Oak Ridge's work on the International
Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, a huge fusion project being
built in Europe, would jump from about $20 million in 2006 to
about $160 million in 2008, he said. There also appears to be
positive signs for the high-performance computing initiatives,
he said.
Meanwhile, the Bush proposal includes more than $900 million for
the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, with projected increases in the
plant's directed stockpile work and a funding boost for
security.
Steven Wyatt, a federal spokesman at Y-12, said Oak Ridge
officials did not have any immediate comment on the budget
proposal.
It's not clear how the environmental cleanup programs in Oak
Ridge will fare.
John Shewairy, the public affairs director in DOE's Oak Ridge
office, said local officials were not available Monday to
discuss the 2008 budget proposal.
According to budget documents, about $233 million is being
proposed for the East Tennessee Technology Park, a former
uranium-enrichment plant that is one of the primary cleanup
sites in Oak Ridge. That is down from the amount appropriated in
2006 and also below the amount requested for 2007, so the trend
doesn't appear positive.
The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education's budget for
2008 is proposed at slightly more than $19 million.
Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329.
© 2007 - Knoxville News Sentinel
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63 KnoxNews: DOE finally decides on IT contract
Woman-owned company out of Virginia will keep support services on
line
By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com
February 6, 2007
OAK RIDGE - After two years of delays on the federal procurement,
the U.S. Department of Energy has finally awarded a contract for
information-technology support services in Oak Ridge.
DOE announced Monday that SCI Consulting Services Inc. won the
contract, which has a potential value of $135 million. The small
woman-owned business is based in Vienna, Va.
Lynnette Spano, SCI's president and chief executive officer,
called the announcement a "moving and wonderful" moment and
validates her company's past performance.
The Oak Ridge contract has a base period of three years, with two
one-year options.
Science Applications International Corp., which has headed the
Oak Ridge IT work for several years, will serve as SCI's
subcontractor, according to a DOE statement released to the news
media.
The contract was set aside as a special competition for small
businesses. However, the process was much criticized because of
the long delays - including more than 20 amendments to the
procurement plan.
"It certainly took a long time. I don't know what to say beyond
that," DOE spokesman John Shewairy said Monday.
There was no immediate information available on whether any
protests had been filed on the contract award.
Spano said the contract transition would take place over the next
month, and she would be in Oak Ridge Wednesday to meet with
employees.
About 200 people will work under the contract, with more than
half of them becoming SCI employees.
The information technology work supports activities at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex and the
East Tennessee Technology Park.
About 200 people will be employed by the project, DOE said.
According to DOE, the work includes end-user support, server
management, applications and database management, systems
software, helpdesk operations, data center operations and hard
and software support at the Oak Ridge programs.
Senior Writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329.
Copyright 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel
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