***************************************************************** 02/16/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.39 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 BBC NEWS: US Democrats warn Bush on Iran 2 Reuters: U.S., developing nations accept Iran aid cut plan 3 Reuters: Treasury names Iran firms weapons proliferators 4 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Puts Squeeze on 3 Iranian Firms 5 AFP: OIC supports Iran's quest to go nuclear - 6 DNA: Attack on Iran would result in India feeling nuked - Moret - 7 AFP: US applauds Japan, EU steps in sanctions on Iran 8 UPI: U.S. targets Iranian firms for WMD work 9 US: Guardian Unlimited: Pelosi: Bush Lacks Power to Invade Iran 10 Guardian Unlimited: Japan Approves U.N. Sanctions on Iran 11 How to Live With a Nuclear North Korea: International Herald Tribune 12 Guardian Unlimited: 2 Koreas to Resume High-Level Talks 13 Korea Herald: [EDITORIAL] Aid for a summit? 14 Guardian Unlimited: China Intent on Making Nuke Deal Happen 15 Digital Chosunilbo: Bush 'Mastermind Behind Six-Party Agreement' 16 Digital Chosunilbo: Suspicious Haste in Resuming Inter-Korean Talks 17 Reuters: EXCLUSIVE-South Korea needs new plan on aid to North: Lee 18 Reuters: North Korea likely forced into nuclear deal - envoy 19 UPI: Rice cut agencies out of Korea deal 20 Korea Times: Roh Describes NK Aid as Mini-Marshall Plan 21 Korea Times: 65% Oppose Hasty Talks With North 22 AFP: NKorea on "war footing" for US attacks 23 AFP: SKorea's Roh likens NKorea aid to Marshall Plan 24 US: Guardian Unlimited: Dems Challenge Bush's Power to Wage War 25 SF Chron: A Bush reversal that could pay off 26 Guardian Unlimited: Polish Premier Supportive of U.S. Base 27 RIA Novosti: No final decision to quit INF treaty - FM Lavrov 28 UPI: Russia may quit nuclear treaty NUCLEAR REACTORS 29 IPS-UAE: Russia respects GCC's efforts to acquire nuclear energy 30 Guardian Unlimited: Judge deals blow to Blair's nuclear plans 31 Guardian Unlimited: 'Grave errors' at nuclear plant 32 World Nuclear News: 30% nuclear for South Africa 33 Times of India: 'N-deal in danger if talks don't gather pace' 34 US: Houston Chronicle: Experts say nuclear energy ought to have role 35 US: Platts: PNM chief says US must get past nuclear worries to addre 36 US: Platts: Senate approves FY-07 NRC funding at $821.6 million 37 Platts: Belgium's Electrabel keeps mum on French nuclear build repor 38 Platts: Japan's Tepco ordered to accept enforced checks at nuclear p 39 US: FR: NRC: Proposed License Renewal Interim Staff Guidance LR-ISG- 40 IAN: First IAEA safeguards agreement, then we decide - EU 41 US: Reuters: U.S. power industry sees nuclear renaissance near 42 Guardian Unlimited: Swedish Nuclear Officials Seek IAEA Help 43 UPI: China announces plan for inland nuke plant 44 US: MHNN: Indian Point runs first test of new siren system 45 AFP: Swedish nuclear reactor shut down NUCLEAR SECURITY 46 US: SF New Mexican: Police say workers knew of lab copper theft 47 US: UPI: Experts warn of dirty bomb materials NUCLEAR SAFETY 48 US: reviewjournal.com: Reid keeps promise to test site workers 49 US: SLTrib: Readers blast me for criticizing KTVX story on Divine St 50 US: US DOL: Energy Employees Compensation Program 51 US: MHNN: Putnam to distribute new KI pills 52 US: ABC4.com: Utahn who witnessed A-bomb blasts in 50's and 60's opp NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 53 US: Stop Dangerous, Polluting Nuclear Waste Reprocessing 54 reviewjournal.com: YUCCA MOUNTAIN PROJECT: Berkley urges DOE to 55 reviewjournal.com: Ex-director: Yucca project in jeopardy 56 US: The State: Nuclear waste site might not be closed 57 US: Aiken Today: GNEP program debated 58 London Times: Operator fined Ł140,000 for dumping toxic waste 59 US: San Bernardino County Sun: Perchlorate breakthrough may be on th 60 US: Deseret News: Group asks guv to veto nuclear waste bill 61 US: KOTV.com: Uranium Leak Stops Shipments 62 Scotsman.com News: Dounreay, part of 3.3bn industry, fined just 63 Korea Times: Nuke Talks to Address Uranium Program 64 US: WMCTV.COM: Erwin company scraps plans for incinerator 65 News & Star: Nuclear ruling won't stop Sellafield plan 66 US: WCNC.com: Some lawmakers want low-level waste facility to stay o PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY 67 Tri-City Herald: Next step cleared for new PNNL lab facility 68 FR DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Nevad 69 FR: DOE: Environmental Management Advisory Board Meeting ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 BBC NEWS: US Democrats warn Bush on Iran Last Updated: Friday, 16 February 2007, 09:57 GMT Ms Pelosi says it is time for Congress to exert its authority Top Democrats in the US Congress have warned President George W Bush that he does not have the authority to go to war with Iran. Washington is in dispute with Iran over its nuclear programme, and senior US officials have accused it of supplying weapons to Shia insurgents in Iraq. The warning came ahead of a House of Representatives vote likely to condemn the recent surge of US troops in Iraq. Iran rhetoric There has been concern recently over the president's rhetoric on Iranian activity in Iraq. House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged Mr Bush has said he wants a diplomatic solution to the rift with Iran, saying: "I take him at his word." There is no previous authority for the president, any president, to go into Iran Nancy Pelosi But she also said that Congress should assert itself "and make it very clear that there is no previous authority for the president, any president, to go into Iran". Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is on Friday expected to vote on a non-binding resolution opposing Mr Bush's decision to send an extra 21,500 US troops to Iraq to try to restore stability. The vote comes after days of fierce debate on the issue in what has been the first full debate in the House since the Democrats took control of Congress in November. Double threat The resolution states that the House "will continue to support and protect" troops in Iraq but that it "disapproves" of the troop increase. The Senate is holding its own vote - in an unusual Saturday session - on whether to begin debate on the resolution. Mr Bush plans to send 21,500 additional US troops to Iraq Previous Senate attempts to debate the anti-troop surge resolution have been met with delaying tactics from Republican members. Mr Bush faces the possibility that both chambers of Congress will repudiate his Iraq policy says the BBC's Justin Webb in Washington. Although the upcoming Congressional votes are non-binding, the president needs the legislators to support his $93bn (Ł48bn) emergency troop funding measure. "Our men and women in uniform are counting on their elected leaders to provide them with the support they need to accomplish their mission," he said on Thursday. "Republicans and Democrats have a responsibility to give our troops the resources they need." But in the debate, Ms Pelosi said there should be "no more blank cheques". Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner criticised the Democrats' attempts to derail Mr Bush's plans for Iraq. "While American troops are fighting radical Islamic terrorists thousands of miles away," he said, "it is unthinkable that the United States Congress would move to discredit their mission, cut off their reinforcements and deny them the resources they need to succeed and return home safely". * BBC Copyright Notice ***************************************************************** 2 Reuters: U.S., developing nations accept Iran aid cut plan Fri Feb 16, 2007 10:31AM EST By Mark Heinrich VIENNA (Reuters) - Western and developing nations broadly accept a U.N. nuclear agency plan to cut almost half its aid projects in Iran, diplomats say, easing fears of a row over how strictly to apply U.N. sanctions against Tehran. The plan, to cut technical aid projects based on a review by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts, must be approved at a March 5-9 meeting of the agency's 35-nation Board of Governors. But members ranging from Iran's arch-foe the United States to its close ally Cuba raised no objections when IAEA aides, at a briefing this week, explained their criteria for shutting down some projects while continuing others, diplomats present said. "No one is totally satisfied. But the review is as balanced as can be under the circumstances. I see no one wanting to pick a fight when the board convenes," a senior diplomat from the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which includes Iran, told Reuters. This suggested the board may ratify the review by consensus rather than amend and vote on it, averting a damaging split. Iran was hit with U.N. sanctions over its failure to prove to the IAEA that its efforts to enrich uranium are geared only toward generating electricity, as it maintains. Western powers suspect Iran wants to produce fuel suitable for atom bombs. The December 23 resolution bans transfers of sensitive nuclear materials and expertise to Iran as well as IAEA technical aid -- traditionally given to bolster peaceful uses of nuclear energy -- if it has any possible use in yielding atomic fuel. Continued... © Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 3 Reuters: Treasury names Iran firms weapons proliferators Fri Feb 16, 2007 11:14AM EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stepping up the Bush administration's financial pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, the U.S. Treasury Department labeled three Iranian companies on Friday as proliferators of weapons of mass destruction, banning U.S. transactions with them. The Treasury, invoking an executive order recently used against Iranian state-owned banks, said it would also seek to freeze any U.S. assets of Kalaye Electric Co., Kavoshyar Co. and Pioneer Energy Industries Co. It said the companies are either owned by, controlled by or acting for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the government agency that manages Iran's overall nuclear program. "Treasury is taking this action to deny Iran access to the materials and services that support its nuclear ambitions," Stuart Levey, the Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement. He added that the action was consistent with the U.N. Security Council's recent resolution aimed curbing Iran's nuclear program. © Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 4 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Puts Squeeze on 3 Iranian Firms From the Associated Press Friday February 16, 2007 4:31 PM By JEANNINE AVERSA AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration moved Friday to financially clamp down on three Iranian companies suspected of connections to Tehran's nuclear program. It marked the government's latest move to put the financial squeeze on Iran, a country the United States accuses of fostering terrorism and whose nuclear ambitions have drawn international rebuke. The action also comes days after President Bush said he had no doubt that armor-piercing weapons used to kill American troops in Iraq were coming from Iran. The Treasury Department's action is against Kalaye Electric Co. and Kavoshyar Co. - both based in Tehran - as well as Pioneer Energy Industries Co., in Isfahan. The action means that any bank accounts or other financial assets belonging to these three companies found in the United States must be frozen. Americans also are forbidden from doing business with them. The department has the power to act against the three companies under an executive order issued by Bush in June 2005. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 5 AFP: OIC supports Iran's quest to go nuclear - Yahoo! Canada News Fri Feb 16, 12:47 PM KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Lawmakers from member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference backed Iran's nuclear programme, at a meeting in the Malaysian capital. "(The OIC) Requests the full respect for equal and inalienable rights for all nations to explore modern technologies including nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," the lawmakers declared at the end of their gathering. They also urged the UN Security Council to halt Israeli construction work near Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque. Lawmakers have been meeting in Kuala Lumpur since Thursday to discuss a range of issues affecting Muslims worldwide, with a focus on Middle East flashpoints. Current OIC chair Malaysia is hosting the meet. Last year, the UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution imposing sanctions that target Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Western countries backed the sanctions, fearing Iran could use uranium enrichment activities to develop nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its programme is for peaceful purposes, vowed to expand its enrichment. Some 170 lawmakers from 36 of the grouping's 57 nations attended the annual meeting to discuss a range of issues -- from political, economic and security matters to social issues and the environment -- confronting the Muslim world. Lawmakers urged the Security Council to take immediate steps to stop continuing Israeli excavations that furious Muslims worldwide say endanger the Al-Aqsa mosque site, Islam's third holiest site. "We call on the UN Security Council to take immediate measures to halt the excavation operations by Israeli occupation authorities," the 27-page declaration said. Israel denies the work poses any risk to the holy site, also venerated as the location of the ancient Jewish temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Other issues in the declaration were security situations and continuing crises in Iraq, Darfur, Sudan and Somalia. Lawmakers condemned all terrorist acts against the Iraqi people and backed the government's attempt to develop its own security and armed forces in anticipation of the "evacuation" of multinational forces from Iraqi soil. Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Canada Co. All Rights Reserved. Privacy ***************************************************************** 6 DNA: Attack on Iran would result in India feeling nuked - Moret - Daily News & Analysis Dhananjay Khadilkar Thursday, February 15, 2007 20:54 IST MUMBAI: Attack on Iran would be nothing short of a low level nuclear war against India. That’s the opinion of Leuren Moret, a former scientist at the Livermore nuclear laboratory, who was here for a conference. Talking to DNA, Moret said that if the US attacks Iran, then India would bear its disastrous consequences in the form of uranium oxide particles which would remain suspended over the northern part of the country. According to Moret, it won’t take more than two days for the uranium particles to reach India. Egypt, the Middle East, Central Asia and Pakistan too would get affected, she added. Moret stated that the population staying in this region would become vulnerable to diseases like cancer and diabetes. Terming the suspended Uranium particles as DNA time bomb, she said that because of the affinity of a phosphate in human DNA towards uranium, these particles destroy the DNA. Thus the disastrous effects of depleted Uranium won’t be limited to one generation only. According to Moret, depleted uranium is the Trojan horse of nuclear war. “It is the ultimate weapon of mass destruction,” she added. The pyrophoric nature of depleted uranium causes it to burn at very low temperatures. This makes it an ideal radioactive gas weapon. “Once it gets vapourised, microscopic particles of Uranium oxide remain suspended and form the radioactive component of dust,” Moret said. Moret added that depleted uranium was introduced for the first time in the Gulf War in 1991. Extensive carpet bombing in Iraq, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan has already resulted in radioactive pollution over areas in Asia and Europe. Moret further said that the amount of low-level radioactive pollution from depleted uranium since 1991 is equivalent to at least 4,00,000 Nagasaki bombs. She said that the mysterious illnesses and post-war birth defects reported among Gulf War veterans and civilians in Iraq, and radiation related illnesses in UN Peacekeepers serving in Yugoslavia is a testimony to the dangers posed by depleted uranium. © 2005-2007 Diligent Media Corporation Ltd. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 7 AFP: US applauds Japan, EU steps in sanctions on Iran Fri Feb 16, 5:46 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States applauded Japan and the EU for taking steps to conform with UN sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program and indicated it could seek a second UN resolution. "We want to take this opportunity to applaud the action taken today by the government of Japan, the steps they are taking to implement Security Council resolution 1737, which is designed to help prevent Iran from being able to enhance its continuous development of nuclear weapons," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters. The Japanese government decided Friday to freeze assets of 10 groups and 12 persons related to Iran's nuclear and missile programs and decided to ban transfer of funds in connection with Iran's sensitive nuclear and ballistic missile program. The measures will become effective Saturday. "This action came several days after the European Union adopted a common position that calls for the implementation of the resolution and also allows for member states to be able to take additional measures, beyond those formally required by the resolution," Casey said. "I just think that it is important to note that the international community is responding to the requirements of the Resolution 1737 and I think this reflects the real and serious concern of the countries involved," he said. The UN Security Council adopted the sanctions resolution in December after Iran failed to meet international demands to freeze uranium enrichment activities that the West fears would be used to build a nuclear bomb. Tehran denies it is building a bomb and insists its program is solely to meet its energy needs. Casey said United States could possibly submit another resolution to the UN Security Council. "Certainly we're considering the possibility, but we're doing so obviously in the context of Resolution 1737," he said. His boss, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, raised the possibility at a press round table on Thursday. "It's likely we would pursue one, but we haven't made the decision," she said. "We have to look at whether we think a further resolution is going to have further effect in helping or making the Iranians question the road that they're on or not." A State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity said a new resolution would fit into the Security Council schedule. "It's kind of part of the natural process. I would not read into that that there is a pre-cooked agreement either among (Germany and the five permanent Security Council members: Britain, China, France, Russia and United States) or the Security Council as a whole on specific actions to take in a second resolution," the source said. The December 23 resolution gave Iran 60 days to conform to international demands or face a possible new resolution. The deadline is February 21. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 8 UPI: U.S. targets Iranian firms for WMD work United Press International - Security & Terrorism - 2/16/2007 12:17:00 PM -0500 WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury Department Friday targeted three Iranian companies for their WMD activities. The Treasury Department said the three companies -- Kalaye Electric Company, Kavoshyar Company, and the Pioneer Energy Industries Company -- were "supporting Iran's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, "This action was taken pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which is aimed at exposing and financially isolating proliferators of WMD and their supporters," it said in a statement. "Treasury is taking this action to deny Iran access to the materials and services that support its nuclear ambitions," said Stuart Levey, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. "This designation is consistent with our international obligations under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1737." "Designations under E.O. 13382 prohibit all transactions between the designees and any U.S. person and freeze any assets the designees may have under U.S. jurisdiction," the Treasury Department said. "The entities designated ... are either owned or controlled by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) or acting for or on its behalf. President George W. Bush designated the AEOI in the Annex to Executive Order 13382, effective June 29, 2005," the Treasury Department said. It said AEOI "manages Iran's overall nuclear program and reports directly to the Iranian president. The AEOI is the main Iranian institute for research and development activities in the field of nuclear technology, including Iran's centrifuge enrichment program and experimental laser enrichment of uranium program." "Kalaye Electric Company has been linked to Iran's centrifuge research and development efforts. Kalaye is also listed in the Annex to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1737 because of its involvement in Iran's nuclear program," the Treasury statement said. "Kavoshyar Company's sole shareholder is AEOI. Pioneer Energy Industries Company provides services to AEOI, including technological support," it said. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights ***************************************************************** 9 Guardian Unlimited: Pelosi: Bush Lacks Power to Invade Iran From the Associated Press Friday February 16, 2007 10:01 AM AP Photo BAG117, BAG114 By DAVID ESPO AP Special Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that President Bush lacks the authority to invade Iran without specific approval from Congress, a fresh challenge to the commander in chief on the eve of a symbolic vote critical of his troop buildup in Iraq. Pelosi, D-Calif., noted that Bush consistently said he supports a diplomatic resolution to differences with Iran ``and I take him at his word.'' At the same time, she said, ``I do believe that Congress should assert itself, though, and make it very clear that there is no previous authority for the president, any president, to go into Iran.'' Pelosi spoke in an interview in the Capitol as lawmakers plowed through a third day of marathon debate in the House on a nonbinding measure opposing the administration's plan to increase troop strength in Iraq - and as Democrats readied a more provocative challenge to the president. That included drafting legislation to require the Pentagon to meet certain standards for training and equipping the troops, as well fixing the time that military units must be given at home between deployments. ``That stops the surge (in troops) for all intents and purposes, because ......they cannot sustain the deployment,'' said Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, who said he would attach the conditions to legislation providing nearly $100 billion for the military. Republicans quickly fired back. Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the GOP leader, issued a statement saying the plan would ``pull the rug out from under American troops in the combat zone by cutting off their reinforcements and forcing them to face the enemy without our full support.'' Across the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid unexpectedly announced plans to hold a test vote on Saturday on the same nonbinding measure critical of the troop increase that was making its way through the House. Partisan bickering has prevented a Senate vote so far, with Republicans insisting on equal treatment for an alternative that rules out the ``elimination or reduction of funds for troops in the field.'' Pelosi and other Democrats have said approval on the nonbinding measure would mark the first step in an effort by the new Democratic-controlled Congress to force Bush to change course in a war that has killed more than 3,100 U.S. troops. Bush administration officials and their allies are resigned to House passage of the resolution and have worked in recent days to hold down defections by GOP lawmakers. But Bush, who has challenged lawmakers not to cut off funds for the troops, took a swipe at his critics during the day. ``This may become the first time in the history of the United States Congress that it has voted to send a new commander into battle and then voted to oppose his plan that is necessary to succeed in that battle,'' the president said. The Senate unanimously confirmed Lt. Gen David Petraeus last week to take over as the top U.S. commander in Iraq. Bush said at a news conference Wednesday there is no doubt the Iranian government is providing armor-piercing weapons to kill American troops in Iraq. But he backed away from claims the top echelon of Iran's government was responsible. Administration critics have accused the president of looking for a pretense to attack the Islamic republic, which is also at loggerheads with the United Nations about what Tehran says is a nuclear program aimed at developing energy for peaceful purposes. Defending U.S. intelligence that has pinpointed Iran as a hostile arms supplier in Iraq, Bush said, ``Does this mean you're trying to have a pretext for war? No. It means I'm trying to protect our troops.'' Bush has asked Congress to approve $100 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congressional Democrats are hoping to insert provisions that would make it harder for the administration to follow through on its plan to deploy an additional 21,500 combat troops to Iraq. Murtha, in a video aired on movecongress.org, a coalition of groups opposed to the war, said his proposals were designed with the safety and protection of the troops in mind. The Pennsylvania Democrat also said the measure may be changed to prohibit any military action against Iran without specific congressional approval. Asked about Murtha's remarks, Pelosi said, ``I fully support that.'' She added that she would propose it as stand-alone legislation if it is not included in the bill that provides more money for the Iraq war. Bush has said he intends to go ahead with the troop buildup regardless of nonbinding expressions of disapproval in Congress. But, Pelosi said, ``I don't think that the president can completely ignore it.'' She spoke down the hall from the House chamber, where Republicans and Democrats alternated turns at the microphone in a debate on the war. ``The enemy wants our men and women in uniform to think their Congress doesn't care about them,'' said Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, who was a prisoner of war during Vietnam. ``We must learn from our mistakes. We cannot leave a job undone like we left in Korea, like we left in Vietnam, like we left in Somalia,'' Johnson said. Added Rep. Geoff Davis, R-Ky., a West Point graduate who was a flight commander with the Army's 82nd Airborne: ``This nonbinding resolution serves no purpose other than pacifying the Democrats' political base and lowering morale in our military.'' When his turn came to speak, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas., said, ``There is a better way of protecting our troops than sending more of them to be killed.'' Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, a member of the Democratic leadership, said the victory to be won in Iraq ``is not a military conquest.'' ``The victory we seek is earned through the restoration of America's role as peacemaker, not warmonger,'' he said. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 10 Guardian Unlimited: Japan Approves U.N. Sanctions on Iran From the Associated Press Friday February 16, 2007 11:01 AM TOKYO (AP) - Japan's Cabinet on Friday approved sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program under U.N. Security Council guidelines, increasing international pressure on the Islamic country for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment. The measures, approved by the council last month, include a ban on supplying Iran with materials and technology that could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs, according to a government statement issued Friday. It also bans the transfer of funds without government permission to 10 Iranian companies and 12 individuals related to those programs. ``It is necessary to take a firm response in consideration of the maintenance of the nonproliferation regime,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told reporters. The council started debating the draft after Tehran refused to comply with an Aug. 31 council deadline to stop enrichment, which can lead to production of nuclear weapons. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 11 How to Live With a Nuclear North Korea: International Herald Tribune Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 03:40:54 EST International Herald Tribune How to live with a nuclear North Korea Bennett Ramberg Thursday, February 16, 2007 LOS ANGELES Despite the agreement reached in Beijing this week, Pyongyang is not going to give up the bomb. What it will give up for promised fuel-oil stocks are its decrepit nuclear reactor and reprocessing facility, which have reached the end of their useful lives. The failure of the Beijing talks to include a plan to eliminate the North's nuclear weapons and material and leave the matter to later discussions is a step back from the September 2005 agreement. This reflects a fact of life: For Kim Jong Il, the bomb marks insurance for survival. Nothing can compensate for that. Still there remain grounds for solace. Washington already has in place two legs of a required three- prong strategy to prevent the North's initiation of a nuclear strike and the dissemination of nuclear material to other rogue nations or terrorists. Under an agreement known as the Proliferation Security Initiative, the Bush administration has enlisted dozens of countries to look for and intercept North Korean nuclear contraband. Should Pyongyang shut down its visible nuclear production program, as the Beijing agreement provides, it will eliminate a source of new weapons material. And, to prevent a premeditated North Korean nuclear attack, both South Korean and American forces maintain an effective deterrent and retaliatory capacity. However, there remains one glaring loophole, the possibility that Pyongyang could launch an atomic strike prompted by fears of a pre-emptive attack or failed intelligence. This challenge will grow should the North miniaturize its nuclear arsenal for placement on ballistic missiles. Given this risk, we should prepare a "Plan B" in the likely event the Beijing agreement fails. Confidence- building measures — reflecting North Koorea's nuclear weapons reality — provide a practical path. Confidence building is not foreign to the Korean peninsula. From 2000 to 2003, the two Koreas kept a hot line open. South Korea's sunshine policy of economic and political engagement, which generated aid and investment, promoted the reunification of families and encouraged dialogue between senior officials. A return to Washington's passive-aggressive course would not serve anyone's security. Plan B would not reward Pyongyang for perfidy, but reflect nuclear reality. Resurrecting and expanding a hot line linking Pyongyang with Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, Moscow and Washington would be an obvious step. Normalizing relations between Washington and Pyongyang, without preconditions, would enhance communications. It also would give Washington a window into this most secret of countries. Military confidence building would attempt to apply other elements of the Soviet-American experience: prenotification of large troop movements, military data exchanges, limits on forces near the North- South border, just to name a few. The United States also could provide the North with low-resolution satellite intelligence of the borderland. South Korea would renew its economic and political engagement policy. Investment and aid for civil development would offer a practical formula to abate Pyongyang's incentive to sell nuclear materials and other contraband to generate hard currency for legitimate international commerce. It also would provide the best means to expose the North's population to the possibilities of economic prosperity, which, in time, could generate political reform. North Korea is just beginning its learning curve as a nuclear-armed state. Under Plan B, confidence building and transparency steps provide the means to insure that Pyongyang's insecurities do not become our problem. Bennett Ramberg served in the State Department during the administration of George H.W. Bush. Copyright © 2007 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com ***************************************************************** 12 Guardian Unlimited: 2 Koreas to Resume High-Level Talks From the Associated Press Friday February 16, 2007 11:46 AM AP Photo SEL806 By BO-MI LIM Associated Press Writer SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The two Koreas will hold talks late this month aimed at improving relations, a South Korean official said Thursday, the first sign of easing tensions between the countries after the North signed a nuclear disarmament agreement. North Korea's top envoy to six-nation talks nuclear talks also said Pyongyang is ready to implement the accord reached earlier this week, Japan's Kyodo News agency reported. ``The talks went well,'' the agency quoted North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan as saying after returning from Beijing. ``We are ready to implement the results of the meeting.'' The Cabinet-level talks between the two Koreas will be held in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, from Feb. 27 to March 2, according to a statement adopted at a lower-level meeting Thursday in the North Korean border city of Kaesong. South and North Korea have held 19 high-level meetings since 2000, but they have been suspended amid chilled relations following North Korea's missile launches in July and its nuclear test in October. The meetings have served as a forum for discussing Seoul's aid to the impoverished North, and could lead to a resumption of the regular delivery of rice and fertilizer to the communist nation. South Korea suspended aid after the missile tests in July. South Korean delegate Lee Kwan-se said the planned talks will help ``advance reconciliation and cooperation between the South and the North, and promote peace on the Korean peninsula.'' ``The North side, just as we did, wanted to restore South-North relations and resume dialogue to discuss pending issues,'' Lee said, according to South Korean media reports. The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire. The disarmament pact reached Tuesday among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States is worth about $250 million in aid to the North. It requires North Korea to seal its main nuclear reactor, allow international inspections and begin accounting for other nuclear programs within 60 days. In return, North Korea will receive 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil, a down payment on a promised 1 million tons in oil or aid of a similar value if it ultimately disarms. In a telephone conversation Thursday with President Bush, Chinese President Hu Jintao reiterated his country's commitment to help implement the agreement, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Hu said China was ``willing to maintain close communication and cooperation with the United States and other parties concerned ... to play a constructive role'' in the process, Xinhua cited Hu as saying. In Washington, the Bush administration sought to ease concern among conservatives that the deal goes too easy on North Korea. White House press secretary Tony Snow said Thursday that one of President Bush's deputy national security advisers, Elliott Abrams, had questioned whether North Korea could be removed from a list of terror-sponsoring states under the agreement. Snow said he had assured Abrams that would not happen unless the North changes its behavior. ``The North Koreans don't get it for free,'' Snow said. ``They've got to earn it, like everything else.'' John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has also called the agreement ``fundamentally flawed,'' saying it rewards the North for behaving badly. Bush dismissed Bolton's assessment, saying North Korea would receive no aid unless it lives up to its end of the deal. North Korea, meanwhile, showed no sign of easing its harsh anti-U.S. rhetoric, with its No. 2 leader ordering soldiers and citizens to maintain a war posture to counter the threat of a military assault by Washington. ``We will mercilessly repel the aggressors and achieve reunification by mobilizing'' in case of a U.S. attack, Kim Yong Nam warned Thursday in a speech to thousands of officials that was carried on North Korean state television and monitored in South Korea. Such tough talk is not unusual and appears directed at North Koreans as they prepare to celebrate Kim Jong Il's 65th birthday Friday. North Korea regularly accuses the U.S. of planning an attack. U.S. officials say they have no such intention. --- AP writer Ben Feller contributed to this report from Washington. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 13 Korea Herald: [EDITORIAL] Aid for a summit? South Korea appears impatient to resume aid to North Korea, which it suspended in October as a sanction against the communist state's nuclear test earlier in the month. But it will not be too late if the South starts rice and fertilizer shipments again only after the North proves it deserves them. In an official contact on Thursday, South and North Korea agreed to hold the 20th round of ministerial-level talks from Feb. 27 to March 2. Placed at the top of the agenda will be the resumption of rice and fertilizer aid. Common sense leads one to assume that the impoverished communist state would come knocking at the South Korean door with cap in hand. After all, the North needs the South more than the South needs the North. But what actually happened was the other way around, with the South displaying its eagerness to hold the next round of ministerial talks as soon as possible. Seoul proposed a working-level contact with Pyongyang to prepare for the inter-Korea talks on Monday, when the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia were still in the process of negotiating a deal with North Korea on its nuclear weapons program in Beijing. There was no assurance that the six-party talks would produce a breakthrough the next day. Nonetheless, South Korea took the risk and proposed to set a date and agenda for the ministerial talks. Under the Beijing accord, South Korea will have to pay its fair share of energy aid worth 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil in return for disabling the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon. One estimate puts it at 62 billion won, certainly not a small sum. But South Korea is not even considering paying the energy bill out of its existing budget for economic assistance to the North. The 870 billion won earmarked for this year includes the provision of 500,000 tons of rice and 350,000 tons of fertilizer. The vice minister of unification said Seoul's contribution to the energy aid will be separately funded. But the problem is, by making public his opposition to a proposal that it be included as part of the annual aid program, he was precluding the possibility of using it as a bargaining chip at the forthcoming ministerial talks. South Korea's commitment to such largesse may encourage a foolhardy North to ask for more. What if the North should demand an additional 500,000 tons of rice and 100,000 tons of fertilizer, both amounts equal to the shipments that were canceled last year because of the nuclear test? The South Korean government has no good reason to rush to the North's aid, unless it has an ulterior motive. If its memory is short, it needs to be reminded that the halt in aid was a sanction against North Korea's nuclear test and that nothing much has since changed. Instead, North Korea has yet to follow through on its promise to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear facilities in exchange for the first shipment of energy assistance equivalent to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil within the next 60 days. It also needs to disable all existing nuclear facilities if it is to receive economic, energy and humanitarian assistance equivalent to 1 million tons of heavy oil, including the initial shipment. It won't be too late to resume aid after the initial "action-for-action" phase is completed, if not actually waiting until after all existing nuclear facilities are dismantled in the North. An early resumption of aid will only reinforce suspicions that is motivated by President Roh Moo-hyun's desire to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The opposition Grand National Party has long accused Roh of seeking to hold an inter-Korea summit to change the domestic political climate to his advantage in this election year. 2007.02.17 ***************************************************************** 14 Guardian Unlimited: China Intent on Making Nuke Deal Happen From the Associated Press Friday February 16, 2007 11:46 AM BEIJING (AP) - Chinese President Hu Jintao reiterated his country's commitment to helping implement an agreement signed this week during international nuclear talks aimed at persuading North Korea to disarm. Hu said in a telephone conversation late Thursday with President Bush that China was ``willing to maintain close communication and cooperation with the United States and other parties concerned ... to play a constructive role'' in the process, the official Xinhua News Agency said. ``A full implementation of the document is not only of great significance for safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia, but also serves the common interests of all parties concerned,'' Xinhua cited Hu as saying. The disarmament pact reached Tuesday among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States is worth about $250 million in aid to the North. It requires Pyongyang to seal its main nuclear reactor, allow international inspections and begin accounting for other nuclear programs within 60 days. In return, North Korea will receive 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil, a down payment on a promised 1 million tons in oil or aid of a similar value if it ultimately disarms. The agreement marks a turnabout for North Korea, which alarmed the world in October when it tested a nuclear device. If the North follows through with its promises, they would be the first moves the communist state has made to scale back its atomic development since it kicked out international inspectors and restarted its sole operating nuclear reactor in 2003. Earlier this week, Bush, who once labeled North Korea part of an ``axis of evil,'' said in a cautious statement that the accord was a promising first step toward getting rid of the North's nuclear weapons. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 15 Digital Chosunilbo: Bush 'Mastermind Behind Six-Party Agreement' Updated Feb.16,2007 13:17 KST President George W. Bush apparently directly instructed U.S. delegates in negotiating over North KoreaˇŻs nuclear program in six-nation talks in Beijing. Abandoning pressure and hostility for dialogue and negotiations, Bush was briefed about the development and results of the nuclear negotiations in detail and approved every move. This was confirmed by a press conference he gave at the White House on Wednesday, where he showed a firm grasp of the jargon -- ˇ°shut downˇ±, ˇ°sealˇ± and ˇ°disableˇ± -- of the complicated agreement defining the two phases of actions. He explained in detail how North Korea will receive 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil first and the remaining 950,000 tons in rewards depending on how far it goes toward disabling its nuclear facilities. Based on the explanations, the U.S. president called the Beijing agreement ˇ°a continuation of one first proposed in September 2005,ˇ± to be implemented on ˇ°a step-by-step basis,ˇ± which he said was a ˇ°unique deal.ˇ± He said his former ambassador to the UN John BoltonˇŻs was ˇ°flat wrongˇ± in criticizing the agreement. Bush explained, ˇ°At the second phase is to disable and abandon their facilities. If they do the second phase ... there will be about the equivalent of a million tons, minus the 50,000 tons [from South Korea] available [in] food, economic assistance and fuel. Now, that's not going to happen until there's some verifiable measures that have been taken.ˇ± President Bush pauses during a news conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington on Wednesday./AP It was U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and top nuclear envoy Christopher Hill who sought direct instruction from Bush. The New York Times reports that a ˇ°turning point came Jan. 17,ˇ± when Hill met with his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan in Berlin. According to the newspaper, Bush approved last-ditch negotiations after getting a phone call from Rice, who stopped in Berlin on her way home from talks with Arab leaders in Kuwait. At the time, she made phone calls to President Bush and White House National Security Advisor Steven Hadley after receiving a one-page document on North KoreaˇŻs demand from Assistant Secretary of State Hill. In the phone call, she asked President Bush, ˇ°Do you think we should proceed on this basis?ˇ± and Bush answered, ˇ°Yes.ˇ± In the Berlin meetings, the U.S. promised North Korea to settle the issue of PyongyangˇŻs frozen accounts with the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia. The Washington Post says informal talks with Victor Cha, the Korean-American director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, ˇ°including a chance encounter in the Beijing airport in December, helped lead to the unusual negotiations Hill and Cha held with North Korean counterparts in Berlin last month.ˇ± Cha in those informal talks hinted at the possibility of unfreezing some BDA accounts which North Korea calls legitimate, leading to the Berlin meeting and thus to the latest round of the six-way nuclear talks in Beijing. Bush seems to have been directly briefed about nuclear negotiations and given direct orders since then. Former U.S. negotiator Jack Pritchard said the Berlin meetings were held with BushˇŻs direct approval. Facing the threat of becoming a lame duck and bogged down in Iraq and IranˇŻs nuclear development, the U.S. president appears to have undergone a profound change from the man who once called North Korean leader Kim Jong-il a ˇ°tyrant.ˇ± (englishnews@chosun.comm ) ***************************************************************** 16 Digital Chosunilbo: Suspicious Haste in Resuming Inter-Korean Talks Updated Feb.16,2007 09:04 KST Two Koreas to Resume Ministerial Talks This Month Would an Inter-Korean Summit Pay Off for the Left? Rumors Abound of Another Inter-Korean Summit by Kim Dae-joong On Monday, one day before the six party talks produced an agreement, the Unification Ministry reportedly proposed a working-level meeting with North Korea to discuss reviving inter-Korean ministerial talks. WhatˇŻs more, South KoreaˇŻs vice unification minister made a reference to the need for inter-Korean ministerial talks to resume, even if the six-party nuclear talks fail. This is strong circumstantial evidence suggesting Seoul and Pyongyang had struck a deal even before the six-party talks began. The point of the inter-Korean ministerial talks is to give 500,000 tons of rice and 300,000 tons of fertilizer, valued at W300 billion (US$1=W934). These shipments had been halted after North Korea fired missiles and conducted a nuclear test. North Korea, which had demanded rice and fertilizer aid after its nuclear test, accepted SeoulˇŻs offer the very next day. The two sides agreed to hold ministerial talks in Pyongyang from Feb. 27 until March 2. This rapid progression of events seems scripted. The core achievement of the latest round of six-party talks was an agreement to disable North KoreaˇŻs nuclear facilities. If North Korea follows through, it stands to receive another 950,000 tons of heavy oil. But North KoreaˇŻs state-run media have made no mention of the word ˇ°disablement,ˇ± and have only spoken about a ˇ°temporary suspension.ˇ± If North Korea addresses its immediate needs by receiving rice and fertilizer from South Korea, the disablement of the NorthˇŻs nuclear facilities may never happen. It wonˇŻt take long to find out whether North Korea will keep its promise. The rice and fertilizer can be shipped later. The South Korean government should know all this, but for some unknown reason, it is in a dire rush to ship off the aid. The vice unification minister said the Roh Moo-hyun administration has only a year left, and there is a need to establish an irreversible relationship with North Korea. He added that a lot of agreements and implementations must be made in order to carry this momentum on to the next administration and the one after that. It appears that in the remaining year of the presidency, the government is making sure that nobody will be able to mop up the mess they create. It makes no sense that they are trying to create a situation that the next administration cannot undo. Even before the six-party talks ended, South Korea offered to provide North Korea with rice and fertilizer and as soon as the talks ended, there are calls within the ruling party for a summit. They are saying that those events must take place, in order to win a presidential election. North Korea may view its nuclear weapons as a magic wand that produces instant supplies of rice, fertilizer and oil. But itˇŻs ridiculous that the South Korean administration, blinded by the presidential election, is seeking to win votes at the cost of the nationˇŻs security. The government must reveal what sort of deals they made with North Korea before the six-party talks. ***************************************************************** 17 Reuters: EXCLUSIVE-South Korea needs new plan on aid to North: Lee Thu 15 Feb 2007 11:50 PM ET By Jon Herskovitz and Jack Kim SEOUL, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The front-runner to be South Korea's new president said on Friday the country should not go it alone with aid to the North, but instead tie it to international efforts to make the Korean peninsula free of nuclear weapons. South Korea has given North Korea billions of dollars in aid as part of a policy to engage its impoverished neighbour, feed its people and develop its industry -- with little in return. "I do not think it would be effective for the goals of North-South relations to give unilateral and unconditional assistance," Lee Myung-bak, the former mayor of Seoul and construction executive, said in an interview with Reuters. "Dialogue and conditions are necessary," said Lee, a conservative who is the clear leader at present in polls to win the December presidential election. North and South Korea agreed on Thursday to restart high-level talks, paving the way for the South's food aid and other bilateral assistance to resume after this week's breakthrough international energy-for-disarmament deal with Pyongyang. South Korea suspended its food aid to the North after Pyongyang's missile and nuclear tests last year but has said it could resume shipments of rice and fertiliser if there was progress in the separate nuclear talks. "I believe the bilateral talks must be conducted within the larger framework of the six-party talks to remove nuclear capabilities," said Lee. Lee, a member of the Grand National Party, has been a critic of Seoul's engagement policy, saying it failed to change tack even when national security was under threat. North Korea has slammed the party as "traitors to the nation". President Roh Moo-hyun's liberal government scrupulously avoids criticising North Korea, with which Seoul is still technically at war because the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with a ceasefire, not a peace treaty. "The six-party process should not only eliminate the North's nuclear arms programme, but should also let the North know that the only way for it to survive is to open up," Lee said. The nuclear agreement struck by the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia requires the secretive state to shutter its sole reactor within 60 days in exchange for 50,000 tonnes of fuel oil or equivalent aid. Lee said the South must help its brothers on the other side of one of the world's most heavily armed borders. "The North Korean people are our compatriots. The focus must be on them and not the North Korean regime," Lee said. (With additional reporting by Lee Suwan and Jonathan Thatcher) © Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 18 Reuters: North Korea likely forced into nuclear deal - envoy Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:04AM EST By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea was probably pushed to take a deal to shut down its nuclear reactor in return for aid because of its faltering economy and limited diplomatic options, a senior South Korean official said on Friday. In a breakthrough deal, impoverished North Korea agreed this week to seal its main nuclear reactor and the source of its weapons-grade plutonium in return for an initial 50,000 tonnes of fuel or economic aid of equivalent value. "I think they may have exhausted all the cards they had with the nuclear test," South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Chun Yung-woo, told a forum. "Considering how difficult the North's economy and its energy situation are, they would have to think long and hard before giving up on this scale of benefits." Following decades of military build-up and nuclear development, North Korea said last October that it had conducted its first nuclear test. But its industries are in tatters and its agricultural production falls short of feeding its people. The reclusive communist state has long relied on ally China and neighbor South Korea for aid. Multiple missile launches in July and then the October nuclear test angered China, prompting Pyongyang's biggest benefactor to join U.N. Security Council trade and financial sanctions on the North and briefly cut off crucial energy aid. South Korea, a key donor of food and fertilizer, suspended that aid last year after the missile tests. Continued... © Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 19 UPI: Rice cut agencies out of Korea deal United Press International - Published: Feb. 16, 2007 at 2:11 PM WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Senior Bush administration officials say Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sidestepped policy review procedures to gain approval of a deal with North Korea. The officials said Rice cut agencies who had objected to the plan to disarm North Korea's nuclear program out of the process by taking the plan only to Stephen Hadley, the national security adviser, and President George W. Bush. Rice bypassed a process that normally would have involved Vice President Dick Cheney's office, the Defense Department and other government agencies, the New York Times reported Friday. "There was no process here," said one official involved in the issue. "Nothing. There was no airing of whether this is the way to deal with the North Koreans." After being called by Rice after her meeting in Berlin with Christopher Hill, top U.S. negotiator with North Korea, Hadley "walked (the plan) through with concerned people" rather than hold formal meetings on the issue, a senior administration official said. The officials said the change in procedure was brought about by conservative criticism of the State Department's approach to North Korea from within and outside the administration. © Copyright 2007United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 20 Korea Times: Roh Describes NK Aid as Mini-Marshall Plan Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation By Ryu Jin Korea Times Correspondent ROME _ President Roh Moo-hyun said Thursday that South KoreaˇŻs aid to North Korea could produce effects similar to those of the Marshall Plan, which funded the rebuilding of Europe after World War II. In a meeting with South Korean residents here, Roh reaffirmed his determination to replace the armistice signed after the 1950-53 Korean War with a peace treaty. ``I think we should resolve the North Korean nuclear issue at any cost,ˇŻˇŻ he said, apparently mindful of the criticism from conservatives at home on his policy of economically engaging the Stalinist North. ``The United States helped with the reconstruction of Europe and became the biggest beneficiary of the Marshall Plan,ˇŻˇŻ he said. ``I believe joint economic projects between the South and North can be businesses that will pay off more.ˇŻˇŻ Roh said the SouthˇŻs investment in an industrial park in Kaesong, North Korea, is expected to have Marshall Plan-like effects. His remarks came amid speculation that Roh seeks to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il before next February. Later in the day, Roh met with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi to discuss ways to improve cooperation between the two countries, especially in information and technology. He is scheduled to return home Saturday after a weeklong trip that also brought him to the Vatican and Spain. In line with the Kim Dae-jung administration, known for its ``sunshine policyˇŻˇŻ toward the North, the Roh administration has pursued an engagement policy despite the nuclear standoff. ``We are technically in a state of extended war at the moment rather than in a truce,ˇŻˇŻ Roh said. ``When we enter a new phase in the North Korean denuclearization talks, however, we will focus on work to bring a lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula,ˇŻˇŻ he said. He said South Korea would join hands with other countries in the six-party talks to lay the legal groundwork for peace on the peninsula and for a new era of peaceful cooperation in Northeast Asia. Roh and President George W. Bush discussed the signing of a treaty to formally end the Korean War during a summit on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Vietnam in November. On Tuesday, North Korea agreed in talks with the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia to shut down its main nuclear reactor and eventually disable its nuclear program in exchange for energy assistance and security guarantees. Roh said Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Song Min-soon will visit Washington next month to discuss follow-up measures. jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr 02-16-2007 18:11 ***************************************************************** 21 Korea Times: 65% Oppose Hasty Talks With North Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter About two in three people want the government to exercise prudence in resuming talks with North Korea in accordance with the Stalinist regimeˇŻs commitment to abolish its nuclear capabilities, a survey said yesterday. In the poll of 1,000 people over 19 conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute on Thursday, 65 percent of respondents said the South should resume talks with the North depending on PyongyangˇŻs moves to dismantle its nuclear weapons and programs. About 31 percent of respondents supported an early resumption of inter-Korean talks, which have been suspended for seven months since the NorthˇŻs missile tests in July. The two Koreas agreed Thursday to hold Cabinet talks from Feb. 27 to March 2 in Pyongyang. The agreement came two days after the North agreed to dismantle its nuclear programs in the six-party talks in Beijing. But critics are worried that Seoul was too hasty in resuming of high-level talks between the two sides about providing rice and fertilizer aid to the North. The latest agreement in the six-party talks, involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, requires Pyongyang to mothball its plutonium-producing reactor within two months and eventually to dismantle its nuclear weapons program in return for economic aid equal to 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil. The agreement, however, mentioned nothing specific about another suspected arms-related program _ uranium enrichment. The survey showed that 45.7 percent believe the North will implement the agreement but 44 percent did not trust North Korea to deliver what the international community is demanding. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr 02-16-2007 19:17 ***************************************************************** 22 AFP: NKorea on "war footing" for US attacks Fri Feb 16, 1:56 AM ET SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea has said it will maintain its war mobilisation posture against feared US attacks, despite this week's deal aimed at dismantling its nuclear weapons programmes. A senior official also praised the country's nuclear weapons, just days after the North agreed in principle to give them up. In a joint letter to leader Kim Jong-Il on his 65th birthday, state media said the communist country's party, government, military and people vowed to follow his guidance to build a "powerful socialist state." "People's Army soldiers and the people will maintain war preparedness to the full to deal with US imperialists' manoeuvres for aggression," said the letter, according to the Korean Central News Agency. "If the enemies dare ignite the fire of war, we will mobilise all our powerful combat potential built up through the maelstrom of Songun (army-first) revolution, mercilessly crush the enemies and achieve the historic task of national unification," it said. Such rhetoric is not unusual in a country which since its founding has regarded Washington as its principal foe. North Korea, the United States and four other nations agreed in Beijing Tuesday on disabling the North's nuclear programme in exchange for aid and diplomatic benefits. The letter was adopted at a meeting of representatives of the communist party, government and army late Thursday on the eve of Kim's birthday. At the meeting, parliament speaker Choe Thae-Bok said its nuclear weapons helped maintain peace and security in Northeast Asia. "The successful nuclear test last year represents a proud victory of Songun politics, a historic event in the 5,000 years of the Korean nation and a thrilling demonstration of the greatness and might of the socialist DPRK (North Korea)," he said. "By proudly ascending to the status of a nuclear-armed state... we are now able to defend the socialist fatherland against any nuclear war threats or agression from any enemies and contribute to protecting peace and security in the Northeast Asian region." Choe said the North was closely watching with heightened alarm the US attempt to "stifle" it. "Our army and the people will never sit idle should anyone dare attempt to hurt the sovereignty and diginity of the republic," he was quoted by the official news agency as saying. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 23 AFP: SKorea's Roh likens NKorea aid to Marshall Plan Fri Feb 16, 1:12 AM ET SEOUL (AFP) - President Roh Moo-Hyun has defended South Korea's policy of providing aid to North Korea, saying its long-term effect will be as beneficial as that of the post-war US Marshall Plan. Roh, now on a visit to Rome, said the South's investment in the North including a joint industrial park in Kaesong was expected to help unify the regional economy. "Critics say we're pampering (the North) with aid but of all the US post-war policies and investment projects, the most effective one was the Marshall Plan," he told Korean residents in Rome on Thursday. His office released a transcript of the comments on Friday. "If we succeed in helping revive North Korea's economy, it will bring about as great an achievement as that of the Marshall Plan," he said in reference to the US aid programme that helped Europe recover from the ruins of World War II. Roh said South Korea planned to expand the industrial park at Kaesong, just north of the heavily fortified border, to act as a catalyst in unifying the Northeast Asian market. He also exuded optimism over Tuesday's six-nation agreement in Beijing over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme. Under the deal, North Korea would have 60 days to shut down its main Yongbyon nuclear reactor and allow United Nations nuclear inspectors back into the country. The energy-starved regime would in turn receive a first tranche of 50,000 tonnes of fuel oil -- part of an eventual one million tonnes of oil or its equivalent in aid if it permanently disables nuclear facilities. In the wake of the agreement South Korea agreed to resume bilateral high-level talks with the North that could restart major aid shipments from Seoul. Critics said the apparent decision to restart aid was premature. Seoul had halted a shipment of 100,000 tonnes of fertiliser and 500,000 tonnes of rice after the North test-fired several missiles last July. "I'm on the side of the optimists," Roh said. "We have to be optimistic (regarding the nuclear issue)... We're still left with the task of paving the legal ground for the termination of the war and peaceful cooperation." North and South Korea have remained technically at war since the 1950-53 conflict, which ended with an armistice but no peace treaty. US President George W. Bush has raised the prospect of signing a peace treaty if full agreement is reached with North Korea. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 24 Guardian Unlimited: Dems Challenge Bush's Power to Wage War From the Associated Press Friday February 16, 2007 12:46 PM AP Photo NYET755, BAG117 By ANNE FLAHERTY Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats are challenging President Bush's power to wage war, contending they've found a way to block a troop increase in Iraq and prevent any pre-emptive invasion of Iran. But first Congress will vote on a nonbinding measure stating opposition to Bush's decision to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq. The House was expected to pass the measure on Friday, with the Senate planning to hold a test vote Saturday. Democrats say the votes are the first step toward forcing Bush to change course in a war that has killed more than 3,100 U.S. troops and lost favor with voters. ``This country needs a dramatic change of course in Iraq and it is the responsibility of this Congress to consummate that change,'' said Rep. John Murtha, who chairs the House panel that oversees military spending. Murtha, D-Pa., is preparing legislation that would set strict conditions on combat deployments, including a year rest between combat tours; ultimately, the congressman says, his measure would make it impossible for Bush to maintain his planned deployment of a total of about 160,000 troops for months on end. Murtha's proposal also might block the funding of military operations inside Iran - a measure intended to send a signal to Bush that he will need Congress' blessing if he is planning another war. ``The president could veto it, but then he wouldn't have any money,'' Murtha told an anti-war group in an interview broadcast on movecongress.org. In an interview Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., noted that Bush consistently said he supports a diplomatic resolution to differences with Iran ``and I take him at his word.'' At the same time, she said, ``I do believe that Congress should assert itself, though, and make it very clear that there is no previous authority for the president, any president, to go into Iran.'' Bush said at a news conference Wednesday he has no doubt the Iranian government is providing armor-piercing weapons to kill American troops in Iraq. But he backed away from claims by senior U.S. military officials in Baghdad that the top echelon of Iran's government was responsible. Administration critics have accused the president of looking for a pretense to attack Iran, at loggerheads with the United Nations about what Tehran says is a nuclear program aimed at developing energy for peaceful purposes. In a speech Thursday, Bush said he expects Congress to live up to its promise to support the troops. ``We have a responsibility, Republicans and Democrats have a responsibility to give our troops the resources they need to do their job and the flexibility they need to prevail,'' Bush said. In the third day of a House debate on the war, GOP combat veterans spoke out against the Democratic resolution. ``The enemy wants our men and women in uniform to think their Congress doesn't care about them,'' said Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, who was a prisoner of war during Vietnam. ``We must learn from our mistakes. We cannot leave a job undone like we left in Korea, like we left in Vietnam, like we left in Somalia,'' Johnson said. Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, called the political maneuvering by Democrats ``extremely dangerous.'' ``It could stop reinforcements from arriving in time to stop major casualties in any of a number of scenarios,'' said Hunter. Democrats will have to fight critics in the Senate as well. ``I will do everything in my power to ensure the House resolution dies an inglorious death in the Senate,'' said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. --- Associated Press writers Jim Abrams and David Espo contributed to this report. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 25 SF Chron: A Bush reversal that could pay off Editorial Friday, February 16, 2007 PRESIDENT Bush has pulled one of the biggest U-turns of his presidency, and the world is better off for it. He has cut a deal with North Korea, whose leader Bush has repeatedly denounced and ridiculed. The president seemed determined to stick to his hard-line plans to isolate one of the Axis of Evil's charter members. But he has turned on a dime with this deal by offering to supply $400 million in aid in exchange for an end to North Korea's nuclear weapons work. The pact is complex, multi-staged and dotted with checkpoints that could bring it to a halt. This deal challenges North Korea to gradually dismantle its bomb building, right down to zero nukes. It involves six nations, not just Washington and Pyongyang, and it dumps the earlier fruitless White House policy of all-or-nothing concessions from the north. The agreement shows new strains in Bush administration thinking. First, active talks, not hard demands, can nudge events in a useful direction. A major course correction took place after repeated talks. Maybe these lesson could be transplanted to Iraq policy. Second, enlisting allies in the neighborhood can wear down the most recalcitrant foe. Pulling together this loose group of allies was just as important as direct dealings with North Korea. Last October's bomb test by the north stirred China to lean heavily on Pyongyang in one of the prime developments in this diplomatic saga. Washington didn't do this deal alone. The nightmare of dealing with North Korea and its ever-eccentric ruler, Kim Jong Il, isn't over. As he has in the past, he may walk away from the bargain. Though Bush negotiators hate to hear it, their plan resembles the Clinton-era Agreed Framework, reached in 1994. That deal also traded aid -- in that case, oil and a supposedly-safe nuclear power plant from the United States -- for inspections and an end to nuclear research in North Korea. It fell apart when the country acknowledge cheating on weapons work. This deal is built along similar lines. It swaps fuel oil and other aid for a verified end to North Korea's nuclear work. But this time the deal progresses in stages and involves China, Japan, South Korea and Russia as well. More people will be watching more steps. Also, the treaty goes beyond freezing nuclear work at current levels by calling for the eventual dismantling of the north's reactors and weapons stockpiles under the eyes of inspectors. There's also a chance for North Korea to win a formal peace to the Korean War fought in the early 1950s, and it may exit the U.S.'s list of terrorist-supporting nations. Bush is being ridiculed for caving in on old positions and hunting for a quick diplomatic win. But the agreement builds on plausible ingredients, enlists allies and puts North Korea on the spot. The White House may have finally gotten it right. This article appeared on page B - 10 of the San Francisco Chronicle ***************************************************************** 26 Guardian Unlimited: Polish Premier Supportive of U.S. Base From the Associated Press Friday February 16, 2007 12:31 AM By RYAN LUCAS Associated Press Writer WARSAW, Poland (AP) - The prime minister voiced support Thursday for a U.S. missile defense base on Polish soil - as long as Warsaw can negotiate a good agreement with Washington. Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski's comments were the clearest sign of support so far from the Polish government for the U.S. request to host a missile interceptor site. Russia has sharply criticized the plan, as well as a U.S. proposal to build a radar system in the Czech Republic, saying it could disturb the balance of power in the region and stoke a new arms race. Kaczynski said at a news conference that Poland is ``in favor of reaching an agreement on the missile defense issue,'' but he added that ``doesn't mean we will accept every condition.'' He did not elaborate on what a good deal for Poland would entail, although Polish officials have suggested the U.S. could take other steps to ensure Warsaw's security, such as offering Poland Patriot air defense missiles. Kaczynski said he planned to discuss the issue with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice by telephone. The United States said last month that it wanted to build a missile defense system in eastern Europe. Both Warsaw and Prague have since said they were willing to start negotiations with Washington on hosting different components. Polish critics of the system fear it could make the country a target for terrorist attacks. Some have also voiced disappointment over the perceived lack of U.S. rewards for sending Polish troops to Iraq, leading to skepticism about the benefits of the missile defense plan. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also warned that Moscow could take retaliatory measures if Washington goes ahead with the plan. Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, chief of the Russian military's General Staff, said Thursday that Moscow may unilaterally drop out of a key Soviet-era arms reduction treaty with the U.S. that banned medium-range nuclear missiles, Russian news agencies reported. Putin said Saturday that the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, negotiated between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Reagan in 1987, was outdated. The U.S. says its missile defense system would not be aimed at Russia but at threats from the Middle East such as Iran. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 27 RIA Novosti: No final decision to quit INF treaty - FM Lavrov 18:57 | 16/ 02/ 2007 MOSCOW, February 16 (RIA Novosti) - The statement by Russia's chief of the General Staff that Russia can unilaterally quit the INF treaty does not mean a final decision has been made in this regard, the Russian foreign minister said Friday. The former Soviet Union and the U.S. signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) December 8, 1987. The agreement came into force in June 1988 and does not have a specific duration. "We are not speaking about a decision that has already been made. We are just stating the situation," Lavrov said. Army General Yury Baluyevsky, the chief of the Russian General Staff, said Thursday that Moscow might unilaterally abandon the treaty. "It is possible for a party to abandon the treaty [unilaterally] if it provides convincing evidence that it is necessary to do so," said Baluyevsky. "We have such evidence at present." The INF treaty eliminated nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (300 to 3,400 miles). By the treaty's deadline of June 1, 1991, a total of 2,692 such weapons had been destroyed, 846 by the U.S. and 1,846 by the Soviet Union. "Unfortunately, by adhering to the INF treaty, Russia lost many unique missile systems," the general said, adding that many countries are currently developing and modernizing medium-range missiles. Demand for the INF treaty arose in the 1970s when the Soviet Union began to deploy what the West called SS-20 missiles. These were two-stage, medium-range missiles, many of them mobile and hard for the United States to track or destroy. Since most SS-20s targeted Europe, they allegedly threatened America's NATO partners. The U.S. administration under Ronald Reagan proposed the so-called "zero option," stipulating that if the Soviet Union scrapped all its ground-launched medium-range ballistic and cruise missiles, the United States would do the same and abandon its plans to deploy anti-missile defenses in Europe. Seeking better relations with the West, ex-Soviet leader Gorbachev agreed to remove more than three times as many warheads and destroy more than twice as many missiles as Washington by 1991. Baluyevsky's remarks could be interpreted as a strong warning to the U.S. regarding its plans to deploy elements of its anti-missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, and as a follow up to recent statements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. Putin said February 10 that deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in Central Europe could trigger a new arms race. The Russian leader told the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy that the reasons the U.S. cited in favor of deploying a missile defense system in Europe are not convincing enough, as launching North Korean ballistic missiles against the U.S. across Western Europe would be impossible, given the required trajectories. "This clearly contradicts the principles of ballistics. Or, as we say in Russia, it's like trying to reach your left ear with your right hand," he said. Moscow strongly opposes the deployment of a missile shield in its former backyard in Central Europe, describing the plans as a threat to Russian national security. Speaking at an annual televised news conference February 1, President Putin pledged to amend the country's military strategy in view of the new developments. "We must think - we are thinking - of ways to ensure our national security. All our responses will be asymmetrical but highly effective," he said. The Russian military chief said Thursday that Russia's participation in the INF treaty will depend on future U.S. moves on missile defenses. "What they [the Americans] are doing at present, building a third missile defense ring in Europe, is impossible to justify," Baluyevsky said. Washington has also recently moved its largest sea-based missile defense radar in the Pacific from Hawaii to the Aleutian Islands, not far from Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. RIA Novosti ***************************************************************** 28 UPI: Russia may quit nuclear treaty United Press International - Published: Feb. 16, 2007 at 6:58 AM MOSCOW, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Russian says it might withdraw from a nuclear arms control treaty unless the United States abandons plans for an Eastern Europe defense shield. Yury Baluyevsky, the Russian army chief of staff, said the country might quit the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty, which ended production of nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of about 300 to 3,500 miles in the United States and Russia, the Financial Times reported Friday. He said the possibility is tied to the U.S. plan to install a portion of its missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski has expressed conditional support for installing missile interceptors and radars in the country. Baluyevsky also said there is convincing evidence for leaving the agreement because "many countries are developing and perfecting medium-range rockets." A senior U.S. official at the Pentagon said the Russian move would have serious consequences for U.S. allies in Europe and said the country would "resist" a Russian attempt to pull out of the treaty. © Copyright 2007United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 29 IPS-UAE: Russia respects GCC's efforts to acquire nuclear energy Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 14:49:54 -0800 Att.Editors: The following item is from the Emirates News Agency (WAM) ABU DHABI, Feb. 15 (WAM) - Russia respects efforts by Arab Gulf countries to acquire nuclear energy capability and has confidence that they will put those programmes under supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and that they will be in line with the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today. Lavrov, who is currently on a visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), made his remarks at a meeting today with UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan at Emirates Palace in the capital city of Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Abdullah briefed Lavrov on the forthcoming visit by Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to Vienna to discuss cooperation of the regional organization with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In addition to reviewing UAE-Russia bilateral relations and ways to further boost them, Sheikh Abdullah and Lavrov discussed the latest developments in the Middle East, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Iraq as well as the Iranian nuclear issue. Lavrov briefed his UAE counterpart on Russia's recent efforts in the Middle East based on its support for a just and peaceful solution to the current issues. Lavrov stressed the UAE and Russia agree that it is necessary to reach solutions to issues in the Middle East through dialogue as well as to sparing no effort to help the two Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas to implement the recently reached Makkah Accord. Sheikh Abdullah stressed that the UAE supports the approach of the Quartet which will be holding its next meeting in Berlin. The meeting also took in preparations for the forthcoming meetings of the UAE-Russia joint committee to be held next April or May in Moscow. The Russian foreign minister expressed satisfaction at the level of Russia-UAE trade adding trade volume between the two countries is expected to soon reach 1 billion US dollars. He added that an agreement has been reached with the UAE to increase investments between Russia and UAE. (WAM) ***************************************************************** 30 Guardian Unlimited: Judge deals blow to Blair's nuclear plans Court rules consultation on power stations was 'misleading and flawed' Will Woodward, chief political correspondent Friday February 16, 2007 The Guardian Tony Blair at a visit to the Sellafield nuclear power plant. Photograph: John Giles/PA Tony Blair's plan to pave the way for a new generation of nuclear power stations by the time he leaves office was in disarray yesterday after the high court ruled the government had carried out a "misleading" and "seriously flawed" consultation on its energy review. Mr Justice Sullivan's judgment forces the government to canvass public opinion once again and is likely to force a delay of several months in the publication of the energy white paper, which had been expected in March. The judge delivered a significant symbolic victory to Greenpeace. The organisation had applied for judicial review of the 12-week consultation last year which it condemned as a sham. The prime minister insisted last night that new nuclear power stations had to be part of future energy provision. "This won't affect the policy at all," he said. The trade and industry secretary, Alistair Darling, said he was unlikely to appeal against the ruling, and promised "to put it right and consult properly, to make sure we can get the process back on track". Ministers will decide next week whether to go ahead with the white paper next month. They believe they may technically be able to proceed even if the new consultation has not been completed, but realise that could be another PR disaster. Mr Darling said climate change meant the UK was "in a race against time" to reduce dependency on oil and gas, and deliver a 60% cut in CO2 emissions by 2050. "On a matter so important as climate change it just isn't possible to stand back and say: 'We don't have any views'," he told the BBC. Last July the government gave the green light to new nuclear power stations, promising to speed up the planning and regulatory regime but insisting they had to be funded by private investors. Whitehall sources stressed yesterday that new nuclear power stations would not appear before the late 2010s at the earliest, and that timetable was unaffected by yesterday's judgment. Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat environment spokesman, said: "The judgment really shows you can't perform a 180-degree U-turn on a matter as important as nuclear power without a proper public debate." Alan Duncan, the shadow trade and industry secretary, said: "This is an astonishing ruling. The government has been shown up as fundamentally deceitful." Nuclear energy accounts for 19% of UK energy but the phasing out of existing plants means that by 2020 it will only provide 7%. But Mr Blair wants new stations to be built in order to deliver up to 40% of future supply. Sarah North, head of Greenpeace's nuclear campaign, said ministers had "now been forced back to the drawing board to conduct a proper and lengthy review". Mr Justice Sullivan said something had gone "clearly and radically wrong" with the consultation paper, issued last January. "The 2006 consultation document contained no information of any substance on any of the issues identified as being of crucial importance," he said. "It was not merely inadequate but it was also misleading." Greenpeace argues that nuclear energy is not as environmentally-friendly as the government claims. "Nuclear power is a dangerous distraction from the real solutions to climate change as it only represents 3.6% of our total energy," said Ms North. Useful link Government's report on the energy review Email your comments for publication to: politics.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 31 Guardian Unlimited: 'Grave errors' at nuclear plant Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent Friday February 16, 2007 The Guardian Activists said the nuclear industry had suffered a "very bad day" yesterday as a Scottish court fined the Dounreay waste reprocessing complex Ł140,000 for illegally dumping radioactive waste and polluting the sea and nearby beaches. The UK Atomic Energy Authority admitted last week it had illegally released radioactive waste for more than 20 years at the nuclear plant at Dounreay, and pleaded guilty at Wick sheriff court to four breaches of the Radioactive Substances Act (1960) between 1963 and 1984. After fining UKAEA yesterday, Sheriff Andrew Berry said the agency was guilty of "very grave errors" at the plant, which once ran an experimental fast breeder reactor and reprocessed fuel. It dumped radioactive waste in a landfill site from 1963 to 1975, and up to 1984 also allowed tiny but "very dangerous" radioactive particles to leach out to sea. The Dounreay plant, which overlooks the Pentland Firth in the far north of Scotland, is now being decommissioned, at a cost of Ł2.9bn. Duncan McLaren, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: "It's been a very bad day for supporters of nuclear power. It's time for ministers to abandon plans to force new nuclear power plants on the public." Useful links British Energy Department of Trade and Industry British Nuclear Fuels Ltd Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Greenpeace Come Clean WMD awareness programme UK atomic energy authority National Radiological Protection Board Friends of the Earth World Nuclear Association World Nuclear Transport Institute Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 32 World Nuclear News: 30% nuclear for South Africa 16 February 2007 The Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) foresees a huge growth in the country's nuclear capacity to about 27,000 MWe - some 30% of electricity supply - by 2030. Rob Adam, chief executive of Necsa has said his company expects government to authorise the construction of 24 indigenously-designed Pebble Bed Modular Reactors (PBMRs) of 165 MWe each, as well as 12 full-size reactors of 1000 MWe or more. His comments, made at a conference in Johannesburg, appeared in Business Report. Necsa is a public company set up in 1999 to promote research and development in nuclear energy, radiation science and technology. The comments follow the recent announcement of the utility Eskom's decision to build a new nuclear plant in South Africa. Eskom already has a two-unit nuclear plant at Koeberg near Cape Town that outputs 1842 MWe. South Africa faces electricity supply problems because the coal resources that fire 90% of its power are located in the north east of the country, far away from the population centres. Either the heavy coal must be transported, or the electricity transmitted many hundreds of kilometers. When maintenance problems affected the Koeberg nuclear plant last year, rolling blackouts had to be imposed on the Cape Town region in the face of overall shortfalls of up to 4500 MWe. Adam also called for South Africa to enter the uranium enrichment business: "This is rocket science, but South Africa has done it before," he said, referring to the atomic weapons programme the country abolished in 1995. "We have the people, but if we wait another ten years they will have all retired." A new nuclear strategy will be presented to the South African cabinet in coming weeks according to presentations cited by Business Report. ***************************************************************** 33 Times of India: 'N-deal in danger if talks don't gather pace' 17 Feb, 2007| Updated at 0257hrs IST Indrani Bagchi NEW DELHI: India seems to be dragging its feet on the Indo-US nuclear deal. While Indian officials have denied that any hard deadline exists for the "non-paper", the fact remains that neither the 123 nor the IAEA safeguards agreement is yet more than a twinkle in the eye. A senior official said, "such deadlines are not set in stone". While the contours of the 123 are known, the agreement is not yet done. Until it is done, no substantive steps can be taken on the safeguards agreement which actually flows from the 123. The 123 too doesn't come into its own until the US Congress once again gathers to bless it with an "up-down" vote. The sudden slack has not gone unnoticed by both Indian and US officials who make no bones of the fact that the negotiations must gather "critical mass" in the next couple of weeks. Or else, the "deal is in orbit", they warn. Foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon will attempt to energise the talks with a separate chat with Burns on the sidelines of the India-US high-technology cooperation group (HTCG) in Washington next week. A scheduled Pranab Mukherjee visit slated for March will depend on progress on the deal. The lethargy is difficult to understand considering that it is India which, considering the importance it attaches to the deal, should have been proactive to ensure that the procedural spadework was complete well in time. Given the present fractured politics of Washington and daily weakening of George Bush's political capital, officials here and in Washington reckon that in a few months Congress will be in no mood to look at this deal. A recent comment from top DAE officials, trashing the deal, has not helped matters. A top official from DAE's Strategic Planning Group was reported to have said, "In stark contrast to long debates and wrangling on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Russians have not curtailed India by hiding behind the fig leaf of non-proliferation or by making it contingent on India to align with Russian foreign policy." This has created a disquiet in the foreign policy establishment in the government, apart from getting the Americans miffed. Senior US officials have complained to India, and it has taken a fair amount of diplomatic damage-control to get the talks back on track. Copyright ©2007Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service ***************************************************************** 34 Houston Chronicle: Experts say nuclear energy ought to have role in debate | Chron.com Feb. 15, 2007, 10:59PM By TOM FOWLER and BRETT CLANTON Energy blog: Keep up with what's going on at the CERAWeek conference with daily blogs from the Chronicle's energy team: blogs.chron.com/newswatchenergy Environmentalists may be glad to hear talk of climate change on the lips of government and big business, but power industry observers say nuclear energy has to be part of plans to cut greenhouse gases. "The much-talked-about nuclear renaissance is very real," said Jone-Lin Wang, senior director of North American Power for Cambridge Energy Research Associates, in a panel discussion Thursday at the company's annual conference. While the rest of the world has continued to build nuclear power plants in the decades since the U.S. brought construction to a halt, Wang said, more than a dozen nuclear plants have been proposed in the U.S. David Crane, president and CEO of power plant operator NRG Energy, said he believed "the end game for Texas is nuclear," and that the state should focus less on coal-fired plants to meet its power needs. "This is the ideal place for nuclear because it doesn't use a lot of water, it doesn't threaten the nonattainment zones of the two largest cities, and it has wide open spaces so you do not have to put plants right hard up on 10 million people," he said. Crane said the state's power needs through 2010 can be handled by new wind and gas-fired generation. After that, maybe six to eight new coal plants would be needed to handle growth through 2015, and from there new nuclear capacity and coal plants using coal gasification technology could handle the rest. Perhaps most important for nuclear's future is the willingness of investors to back the projects. Doug Kimmelman, a partner with private equity firm Energy Capital Partners, said he's seeing pitches from people with nuclear projects "who are saying, 'Now is the time.' " tom.fowler@chron.com brett.clanton@chron.com ***************************************************************** 35 Platts: PNM chief says US must get past nuclear worries to address GHG Houston (Platts)--15Feb2007 New nuclear power plants must be part of the solution to combat climate change in the US and the country must move beyond its concerns over the power source, Albuquerque, New Mexico-based PNM Resources CEO Jeff Sterba said Thursday. Speaking at the CERAWeek conference in Houston, Sterba said "we have got to get over the nut on nuclear," while acknowledging that the construction of nuclear plants would only be part of the solution. Sterba said he believes a combination of a "robust portfolio" of additional renewable generation, more nuclear power plants, extra clean coal generation, a ramping up of energy efficiency awareness and activity, and the use of electric automobiles is needed to combat climate change. Climate change is "first and foremost a technology challenge," Sterba said, noting that energy efficient light bulbs, which have a lifespan of five years, pay back their initial cost within four to eight months. The power industry also has to make sure that public policymakers understand the technology and the breadth of the technology developments necessary for the US to reverse increases in carbon emissions, Sterba said. He also said there needs to be a hybrid solution for funding climate change solutions, saying industry cannot rely on the federal government for all the funding given current budgetary problems. The funding must come from both the federal government and the private sector, he added. --Keiron Greenhalgh, keiron_greenhalgh@platts.com Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 36 Platts: Senate approves FY-07 NRC funding at $821.6 million Washington (Platts)--15Feb2007 The Senate approved funding NRC at $821.6 million for fiscal 2007 under a continuing appropriations resolution. The measure was approved February 14, a day before the existing stopgap funding measure was to expire. The House approved the measure January 31. Like most other federal agencies, NRC has been operating for the first 4.5 months of fiscal 2007 at last year's spending levels. NRC officials were able to persuade key lawmakers that without a funding increase, the anticipated nuclear renaissance in the US would be significantly delayed. At a February 15 briefing by NRC's top financial managers, NRC commissioners said the agency needed to be better prepared in the future for operating under extended stopgap measures. Commissioner Peter Lyons said he believed that continuing resolutions would be "more the rule than the exception." Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 37 Platts: Belgium's Electrabel keeps mum on French nuclear build reports London (Platts)--14Feb2007 Belgium's Electrabel refused to confirm Wednesday that it plans to start building a 1,500-MW nuclear power plant in Tricastin, France in 2009, as reported by Belgian newspaper "Le Soir" Tuesday. The paper cited a note from "central management" at the company's nuclear division. Agreements have been signed with local landowners, the paper said. Electrabel, owned by Suez, has stated since 2004 that it intends to build new nuclear plant in at least one of the countries it is already involved in. "France is one of those possibilities," Electrabel spokeswoman Lut Vande Velde said Wednesday. Electrabel sells power in Belgium, France, Holland, Germany, Italy and Spain. According to "Le soir", Electrabel intends to build a third generation nuclear plant at Tricastin. It would be the first nuclear plant in France not controlled by state-owned Electricite de France. Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 38 Platts: Japan's Tepco ordered to accept enforced checks at nuclear plants Tokyo (Platts)--16Feb2007 Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Akira Amari, ordered Tokyo Electric Power Co on Friday to accept enforced safety checks by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency in addition to the company's own scheduled safety inspections in February. METI's enforced safety checks include unidentified extensions to scheduled checks at Tepco's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plants in central Japan between February 19-March 9, a company official said. The official declined to elaborate on other scheduled safety checks at nuclear plants this year. On January 31 the company detailed 199 case of data falsification and other irregularities between 1979 and 2002 at its 13 nuclear plants in a report to the safety agency. The nuclear safety agency, under METI, could impose a suspension of up to one year on the company's units if the illegal falsification of data is confirmed. In 2003 Tepco was forced to shut down all of its nuclear power plants, which comprise 17 reactors and a total generating capacity of 17.3 GW, after cracks were found in reactor core shrouds in 2002. As a result of the nuclear shutdowns, Tepco's fuel oil consumption surged by 43% on the year to 36.73 million barrels in the fiscal year ending in March 2004. The utility burned 24.09 million barrels of crude in the same fiscal year, up 27% on the year, and its LNG consumption also rose 13% on the year to 19.12 million mt. Tepco normally buys 0.2-0.3% sulfur fuel oil and Minas crude as feedstock for its thermal power plants. It also uses LNG and coal for thermal power generation. Since July 2006, however, the utility's crude and fuel oil consumption has been falling year-on-year due to high nuclear power generation rates. Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 39 FR: NRC: Proposed License Renewal Interim Staff Guidance LR-ISG-2006-02: Doc E7-2785 [Federal Register: February 16, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 32)] [Notices] [Page 7694-7695] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr16fe07-134] NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Staff Guidance on Acceptance Review for Environmental ReportsAssociated With License Renewal Applications; Solicitation of Public Comment AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). ACTION: Solicitation of public comment. SUMMARY: The NRC is soliciting public comment on its Proposed License Renewal Interim Staff Guidance LR-ISG-2006-02 (LR-ISG) on the acceptance review criteria for environmental reports (ER) provided by applicants for reactor license renewal. This LR-ISG summarizes the Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 51 (10 CFR Part 51) requirements for ERs submitted with license renewal applications (LRAs), and provides a checklist that will be used by the NRC staff to verify the completeness of these reports prior to docketing. The NRC staff issues LR-ISGs to facilitate timely implementation of the license renewal rule and to review activities associated with an LRA. Upon receiving public comments, the NRC staff will evaluate the comments and make a determination to incorporate the comments, as appropriate. Once the NRC staff completes the LR-ISG, it will issue the LR-ISG for NRC and industry use. The NRC staff will also incorporate the approved LR- ISG into the next revision of the license renewal guidance documents. DATES: Comments may be submitted by April 17, 2007. Comments received after this date will be considered, if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date. ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted to: Chief, Rulemaking, Directives, and Editing Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Comments should be delivered to: 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, Room T-6D59, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays. Persons may also provide comments via e-mail at rgs@nrc.gov. The NRC maintains an Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. These documents may be accessed through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS should contact NRC Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at pdr@nrc.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Jennifer A. Davis, Project Manager, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,DC 20555-0001; telephone 301-415-3835 or by e- mail at jxd10@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Attachment 1 to this Federal Register notice, entitled Staff Position and Rationale for the Proposed License Renewal Interim Staff Guidance LR-ISG-2006-02: Staff Guidance on Acceptance Review for Environmental Reports Associated with License Renewal Applications, contains the NRC staff's rationale for publishing the proposed LR-ISG-2006-02. Attachment 2 to this Federal Register notice, entitled Proposed License Renewal Interim Staff Guidance LR- ISG-2006-02: Staff Guidance on Acceptance Review for Environmental Reports Associated with License Renewal Applications, identifies the guidance for reviewing ERs received with LRAs. The NRC staff is issuing this notice to solicit public comments on the proposedLR-ISG-2006-02. After the NRC staff considers any public comments, it will make a determination regarding issuance of the proposed LR-ISG. Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 8th day of February, 2007. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Pao-Tsin Kuo, Acting Director, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. Attachment 1--Staff Position and Rationale for the Proposed License Renewal Interim Staff Guidance LR-ISG-2006-02: Staff Guidance on Acceptance Review for Environmental Reports Associated With License Renewal Applications Staff Position The NRC staff intends to use a checklist of acceptance criteria when evaluating environmental reports submitted with license renewal applications. This guidance summarizes the 10 CFR Part 51 requirements for environmental reports submitted with license renewal applications, and provides a checklist that documents the review process used by NRC staff to verify the completeness of these reports. Rationale The NRC developed a checklist of the requirements in 10 CFR Part 51 to document the NRC staff's acceptance review standards regarding the information that needs to be included in an environmental report. The staff finds that the utilization of the guidance provided in the checklist will facilitate consistency and efficiency in the NRC staff's acceptance reviews of environmental reports submitted with license renewal applications. Attachment 2--Proposed License Renewal Interim Staff Guidance lR-ISG- 2006-02: Staff Guidance on Acceptance Review for Environmental Reports Associated With License Renewal Applications Introduction Each applicant for renewal of a license to operate a nuclear power plant is required to submit with its application a separate environmental report (ER) in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 54.23). As stated in 10 CFR 54.23, the ER must comply with the requirements of Subpart A of 10 CFR Part 51. The requirements governing the contents of an ER submitted at the operating license renewal stage are specified in 10 CFR 51.45 and 10 CFR 51.53(c). This LR-ISG is being proposed to document the staff's practice in [[Page 7695]] performing an acceptance review of ERs submitted as part of a license renewal application. Background and Discussion The NRC staff routinely reviews ERs against the requirements of 10 CFR 51.45 and 10 CFR 51.53(c) as part of the acceptance review of reactor license renewal applications. Staff review guidance governing reactor license renewal environmental reviews and the preparation of environmental impact statements is provided in NUREG-1555, Standard Review Plans for Environmental Reviews for Nuclear Power Plants, Supplement 1: Operating License Renewal. In conducting its acceptance review, the staff also relies on the guidance provided to applicants in Regulatory Guide 4.2, Supplement 1, Preparation of Supplemental Environmental Reports for Applications to Renew Nuclear Power Plant Operating Licenses. The regulatory guide provides methods acceptable to the staff for implementing the provisions of 10 CFR 51.45 and 10 CFR 51.53(c). While conformance with the suggested format of the regulatory guide is not required, use of the guide is expected to ensure the completeness of the information provided, assist the NRC staff and others in locating information, and result in more efficient and timely NRC staff review. Proposed Action The acceptance review checklist for ERs submitted with license renewal applications, available via ADAMS at Accession No. ML063190452, will be incorporated into the next revision of NUREG-1555, Supplement 1. The acceptance checklist is intended to be a tool to ensure efficiency and consistency in the staff's acceptance reviews and ensure that all necessary components of license renewal stage ERs are submitted in accordance with governing regulations. As noted in the checklist instructions, the absence of any of the information recommended in Regulatory Guide 4.2, Supplement 1, would not require that supplemental information be provided prior to acceptance of an application; however, applicants should expect that the absence of such information may result in more intensive environmental audit activities and/or issuance of early requests for additional information to support the staff's review. The docketing and subsequent finding of a timely and sufficient application (including the ER) does not preclude NRC reviewers from requesting additional information as a review proceeds, nor does it predict the NRC's final determination regarding the approval or denial of a license renewal application. This proposed LR- ISG is not intended to substitute or re-interpret requirements outlined in 10 CFR 51.45 and 10 CFR 51.53(c). The checklist is also expected to serve as a knowledge management tool for NRC staff members by specifying review criteria in a simplified, user-friendly format. [FR Doc. E7-2785 Filed 2-15-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 40 IAN: First IAEA safeguards agreement, then we decide - EU By Indo Asian News Service New Delhi, Feb 16 (IANS) The European Union would like India to first take 'certain steps' like 'swiftly concluding' a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) before making up its mind on civil nuclear cooperation, said EU's commissioner for external relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner here Friday. 'We will explore steps towards civil nuclear cooperation with India within the broad framework of the global non-nuclear proliferation regime,' Ferrero-Waldner said in an interaction with select journalist here. 'We are committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). We will like India to take certain steps before taking a position on civil nuclear cooperation,' said Ferrero-Waldner, who began her six-day visit to India Friday, with a call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This is the first high-level visit by a top EU official after the US enacted a law permitting civil nuclear cooperation with India two months ago. The EU official discussed with Manmohan Singh a wide array of India-EU issues, including accelerating dialogue on energy and trade and investment between the two sides. She also said that the EU will enhance classical development aid for education and health care to India from 225 million euros (2002-06) to 470 million euros for the next seven years (2007-13). 'We would like India to enter the NPT, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT),' she said when asked what steps the EU had on mind in order to support India's case for global civil nuclear cooperation. India has refused to sign the NPT and CTBT on grounds that these treaties are discriminatory and divide the world into the nuclear haves and have-nots. 'We would also like India to first swiftly conclude a safeguards agreement with the IAEA,' she stressed. 'These are not preconditions. This would be a wish of ours. We see India's wish and necessity for nuclear energy. But it all depends on how far the EU will go and how far India will go,' she clarified. 'We will have a dialogue on this issue,' she said. The top EU bureaucrat added that the EU will take a position after watching how the discussions go on in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) Britain and France have already announced support for civil nuclear cooperation with India. The Scandinavian countries, known for their uncompromising views on non-proliferation, could be a problem for India as it seeks support of the 45-nation NSG for the India-US civil nuclear deal. The EU's position on civil nuclear cooperation with India could be critical as most EU countries are members of the NSG. Copyright Indo-Asian News Service Copyright © 2004-2007 DailyIndia.com ***************************************************************** 41 Reuters: U.S. power industry sees nuclear renaissance near Fri Feb 16, 2007 4:32PM EST HOUSTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Growing agreement among U.S. utility leaders that global warming worries will lead to limits on carbon dioxide emissions bode well for a nuclear power revival, executives said at a conference this week. Optimism about prospects for new reactors from executives at the annual Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference came despite concern about rising construction costs, lack of skilled workers and uncertainty over the future of nuclear waste disposal. Meeting the nation's growing appetite for electricity while protecting the environment makes nuclear power attractive again, a variety of executives, investment bankers and consultants at the conference agreed. "Nuclear has to be part of the equation," said John Rice, president of General Electric Co.'s (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) infrastructure unit which includes energy. "If is doesn't happen in the next couple of years, we're crazy. It's simple math," he told reporters. U.S. electric demand is projected to climb by 45 percent by 2030, requiring 350,000 megawatts of new capacity. One Cambridge Energy power scenario anticipates as much as 85,000 MW of new nuclear generation in that time if the nation takes steps to reduce carbon emissions. This week, DTE Energy Co. (DTE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) joined more than a dozen companies, including Exelon Corp. (EXC.N,: Quote, Profile, Research), Entergy Corp. (ETR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and NRG Energy (NRG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) that are studying nuclear projects, citing financial incentives offered in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Continued... © Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 42 Guardian Unlimited: Swedish Nuclear Officials Seek IAEA Help From the Associated Press Friday February 16, 2007 4:16 PM AP Photo STO806 By LOUISE NORDSTROM Associated Press Writer STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Sweden's top nuclear officials on Friday decided U.N. experts should be invited to inspect the country's atomic power plants after a string of malfunctions raised concerns about safety. The relatively minor incidents have not posed any threat of radioactive leaks. But the frequency of the problems have sparked calls for a review of the safety controls at the power plants, which generate about half of Sweden's electricity. Sweden plans to phase out nuclear energy in coming decades and boost alternative energy sources such as biofuels and hydropower, but so far only two of its 12 reactors have been closed. Friday's announcement came as a water leak forced the shutdown of one of four reactors at Sweden's largest nuclear power plant. Reactor 2 at the Ringhals plant was closed early Friday after officials detected a small water leak, spokesman Lars Eliasson said, adding the incident posed no danger to staff. It was the latest in a series of shutdowns due to safety concerns and technical problems that have plagued Sweden's nuclear power facilities in recent months. Officials from Sweden's nuclear watchdog and managers of the country's nuclear power plants met Friday to discuss the situation. They called on the government to invite experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect the country's 10 reactors. The move could help restore public confidence in Sweden's nuclear power industry, said Anders Jorle, spokesman for the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate. He said the troubled Forsmark plant, 60 miles north of Stockholm, would be first in line. The plant's chief executive resigned last week amid criticism that the leadership had neglected safety issues. In July, a fire broke out in an electrical switchboard and since December Forsmark has had several shutdowns. The Ringhals plant, about 300 miles southwest of Stockholm, has also experienced problems, including in November, when a transformer fire caused a temporary shutdown of one reactor. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 43 UPI: China announces plan for inland nuke plant United Press International - Published: Feb. 16, 2007 at 12:27 AM BEIJING, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- China has announced plans to build its first inland nuclear power plant. The plant is to be located in Yiyang City, Hunan Province, Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, said. The China National Nuclear Corporation, the China Three Gorges Project Corporation, China Resources Co. Ltd and Hunan Xiangtou Holdings Group Co. Ltd, signed an agreement Wednesday. The country already has two major nuclear power plants, both in coastal areas. Plans call for building two 1,000 megawatt plants every year for the next 15 years. © Copyright 2007United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 44 MHNN: Indian Point runs first test of new siren system Friday, February 16, 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mid-Hudson News Network, a division of Statewide News Network, Inc. This story may not be reproduced in any form without express written consent. New sirens are said to have wider range, better battery badk-up Buchanan – Entergy conducted the first tests of its new Indian Point warning siren system Thursday to pinpoint any deficiencies and have them corrected before the system goes live in mid-April. Spokesman James Steets said they conducted three tests and, for the most part, all went well. “This is really a first step in nailing down the various parts of this whole new system and making sure each part communicates with the other and the radio signals are refined and whatever adjustments need to be made on the sirens themselves as well as in the towers, the software adjustments that are needed,’ he said. “This was a first step in moving toward putting the new system into place in mid-April.” The sirens were first activated via cell phones. “That was a real good indicator for us on just how that technology would work,” he said. “The vast majority of the sirens did work using that system.” Entergy next tested its radio activation of the sirens – the normal method. About 70 of the sirens worked out of the 150, which they expected would be the case. “We needed to run this test so that we could make refinements to the communications radio towers.” The final test included sounding one siren in each of the four counties and that test was to validate the sound technology modeling, Steets said. The tests were “real valuable, not measured by how many sirens sounded, but by the data collected so that we could move forward with installing the system.” HEAR today's news on MidHudsonRadio.com, the Hudson Valley's only Internet radio news report. ***************************************************************** 45 AFP: Swedish nuclear reactor shut down Friday February 16, 11:26 AM STOCKHOLM (AFP) - A Swedish nuclear plant has announced it had shut down one of its four reactors to locate a "small leak" in its primary cooling system, the latest in a series of incidents to hit Sweden's nuclear power industry. The "Ringhals 2 (reactor) was shut down on Friday morning for an inspection," the power station said in a statement. The move was necessary to allow inspectors access to certain parts of the reactor "to examine a small leak in the primary system", Ringhals said. "This happens from time to time ... . The leak is well within safety limits," spokesman for the power station Torsten Bohl told Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet. The plant said it would be unable to indicate when the reactor would resume production until it had localised the leak. "It could be a question of days or months," Bohl said. Ringhals -- located on Sweden's west coast -- is the largest nuclear power station in the Nordic region. Nuclear power accounts for nearly half of Sweden's electricity production. The country has shut two of its 12 nuclear reactors since 1999 as part of a plan to phase out nuclear power over the next 30 or so years, or when the reactors' lifespan expires. The problem at Ringhals is the latest in a series to hit Swedish nuclear power plants. In the most serious incident, an electricity failure at the facility on July 25, 2006 led to the immediate shutdown of the Forsmark 1 reactor after two of four back-up generators, which supply power to the reactor's cooling system, malfunctioned for about 20 minutes. Some experts have suggested that a catastrophic reactor meltdown was narrowly avoided. The incident prompted authorities temporarily to shut down five of Sweden's 10 reactors for security checks and maintenance. Some of the reactors remained offline for several months. AFP ***************************************************************** 46 SF New Mexican: Police say workers knew of lab copper theft By ANDY LENDERMAN | The New Mexican February 15, 2007 Four suspected in disappearance of 15 tons of metal worth $90,000 Four contract workers could face criminal charges in connection with 15 tons of copper missing from a Los Alamos National Laboratory recycling yard, police said Thursday. The workers admitted to being involved in what happened, Detective Andrew Goldie of the Los Alamos Police Department said, though he wouldn't say how many are actually suspected of taking the material. Investigators conducted six interviews in Los Alamos and one in Los Lunas since the case was reported to police Jan. 24, the detective said. No criminal charges have been filed. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General, which is leading the investigation, said the probe is ongoing and declined to comment further Thursday. Goldie declined to detail how police believe the copper -- estimated to have been worth about $90,000 -- left the lab. But he said the disappearance happened over time, not all at once. A lab employee who works at the recycling yard became suspicious and reported the matter to lab security, who investigated and handed it over to the police, lab spokesman Kevin Roark said. Each year the lab aims to recycle half of its sanitary waste, Roark said, and the lab hit 52 percent in 2006. The lab recycled 320 metric tons of metal, including copper, in 2006. The lab also recycled 10 metric tons of tires and five metric tons of toner cartridges, he said. The lab has endured fraud and theft concerns before. In 1995, an estimated five tons of copper in raw and molded form was taken from an outdoor storage area at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility. A spokesman at the time said someone cut a hole in the fence at the storage area to steal the copper, which was used to make such things as wiring and components for research projects. In 2004, two former lab workers faced federal charges of theft, embezzlement and fraud. The indictment alleged that Peter Bussolini and Scott Alexander used lab purchase cards to buy personal items like remote controlled airplanes and lawnmowers. They later pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud charges. Two investigators looking into missing property and fraud were fired by the lab in 2002 in a case that made national headlines. And a former group leader in the lab's procurement division, Harry Rodas, said he was fired for speaking out about waste and fraud. Contact Andy Lenderman at 995-3827 or alenderman@sfnewmexican.com. Privacy Policy / Terms of Use | ©2007, Santa Fe New Mexican ***************************************************************** 47 UPI: Experts warn of dirty bomb materials United Press International - Published: Feb. 15, 2007 at 5:17 PM CHICAGO, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- There is enough unprotected radioactive material in the former Soviet Union to make hundreds of "dirty bombs," security experts told the Chicago Tribune. The countries that once were the Soviet Union are "the weakest and most dangerous link in the whole chain," for protecting radioactive material, said Igor Khripunov -- a U.S. expert in nuclear and radioactive materials security at the University of Georgia. Friedrich Steinhausler -- who logs radioactive materials trafficking cases into a database at the University of Salzburg -- estimates most cases go undetected. "I am far more concerned with what we don't see than with what we see," Steinhausler told the Tribune. In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security has a deadline of 2009 for placing 3,000 radiation detectors at border crossings, seaports and mail facilities. But last year, officials told Congress the project will not be complete until 2014, the Tribune said. "Four and a half years after Sept. 11, and less than 40 percent of our seaports have basic radiation equipment," said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn. "This is a massive blind spot." © Copyright 2007United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 48 reviewjournal.com: Reid keeps promise to test site workers Feb. 16, 2007 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal REVIEW-JOURNAL U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., followed through Thursday with his promise to introduce legislation to streamline compensation for former Nevada Test Site workers who suffer from illnesses linked to their Cold War service. The bill would update the Nevada Test Site Veterans' Compensation Act of 2006 by expanding the special exposure coverage to test site workers regardless of the number of hours they worked. "Currently, only employees who worked at the Nevada Test Site for more than 250 eight-hour working days between 1951 and 1962 have Special Exposure Cohort designation," Reid stated. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 Stephens Media | Privacy Statement ***************************************************************** 49 SLTrib: Readers blast me for criticizing KTVX story on Divine Strake Salt Lake Tribune - Vince Horiuchi Article Last Updated: 02/15/2007 08:10:26 PM MST I haven't received this much reader feedback about a column since I wrote that piece begging Lindsay Lohan to never be seen again without underwear. I've been inundated with angry responses about Monday's column taking KTVX Channel 4 and its co-anchor Terry Wood to task for brazenly announcing that the station and news department are taking a stand against the Divine Strake proposal to conduct a test explosion in the Nevada desert. In a broadcast last week, Wood reported a story in which he traveled to the Department of Energy's headquarters in Las Vegas to give officials a stack of comments from the public opposing the proposal. He launched into a commentary at the end of the story, stating he was putting his reputation as a journalist on the line by taking a stance against the test. Nearly all of the e-mails I got disagreed (some pretty nastily) with my opinion that journalists should keep reporting separate from editorializing. Here are a few examples with, of course, references to the tearing of my anatomical parts edited out. "I believe that almost all local news channels break faith with viewers by their lack of reporting or comment on crucial issues," wrote one woman from Kaysville. "Was Walter Cronkite wrong criticizing the war in Vietnam and publicly stating that the war was lost . . . and that we [needed] to get out ASAP?" wrote one reader. "There are many areas where TV stations should have stood up against what they believed to be contrary to the public's interests." Another reader suggested I turn to my ancestral roots and the Hiroshima bomb for understanding, even though I'm third generation in this country and have never set foot in Japan. "One would think that a person of Japanese [descent,] of all people, would be sensitive to the insane resumption of atomic testing which is what Divine Strake is all about," he wrote. "This will lead to a nuclear holocaust that will destroy the planet. We should all be in the streets protesting Divine Strake. Wood and KTVX are to be commended for their courageous stand in this ultraconservative community." The problem is that these readers and many more who sent me similar sentiments are mixing the message with the way it is being presented. After Wood's report, he went directly into his commentary denouncing the plan to detonate the 700-ton explosion (a number I got wrong in my last column). He also stated the station was not in favor of the proposal and was actively trying to stop it. KTVX has the right and feels it has a civic duty to take a stance - which I applaud - but the real issue is how that opinion has egregiously seeped into its reporting, blurring the line between fair news and editorializing. What the station should have done is have a reporter investigate the Divine Strake story and then have a station executive - not an anchor or reporter - deliver an editorial at the end of the newscast, something KSL Channel 5 has done successfully for decades. Opinion and news always have been separate entities and always should be; at The Salt Lake Tribune, our editorial board is separate from the newsroom, editorials have their own section in the paper, and columns such as this one are clearly presented as such. But what KTVX has done is confuse viewers by muddling the distinction between reporting facts and opinion on Divine Strake. Can I trust that future reports will be fair? Even if the station makes every attempt to do so from here on, the answer is no. --- * VINCE HORIUCHI's column appears Mondays and Fridays. He can be reached at vince@sltrib.com or 801-257-8607. © Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 50 US DOL: Energy Employees Compensation Program Home Page U.S. Department of Labor Employment Standards Administration Office of Workers' Compensation Programs www.dol.gov/esa Search / A to Z Index Find It!: By Topic | By Audience | By Top 20 Requested Items | By Form | By Organization | By Location February 17, 2007 DOL Home > ESA > OWCP > EEOICP Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Part E On October 28, 2004, the President signed into law an amendment that replaces Part D of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) with a new program called Part E. The amendment gives the Department of Labor (DOL) the responsibility for administering this new program. The amendment grants covered employees a federal payment based on the level of impairment and/or wage loss if they develop an occupational illness as a result of exposure to toxic substances at a Department of Energy (DOE) facility. Medical benefits will also be available to qualifying employees for treatment and care of the accepted occupational illness. Eligible survivors may receive federal compensation, if the employee’s death was caused or contributed to by the covered occupational illness. If you feel you may be eligible for benefits under Part E of the EEOICPA and wish to file a claim, or find out more about the amendment, please refer to the resource center jurisdictional map to locate the resource center nearest you. * 2004 EEOICPA Amendment Summary * The Law and Regulations * Policy and Procedures * Press Releases * Interim Procedures * Claimant Notification Letter * Frequently Asked Questions * Part E Statistics * Part E Town Hall Presentation * Part E Resources Note that the Claimant Notification Letter above is only available in PDF format. In order to view and/or print PDF documents you must have a PDF viewer. It is highly recommended that you have the most current version available on your workstation (click on Adobe Acrobat Reader to download Adobe Reader 6.x). Also, when printing these forms please remember to use the Adobe Acrobat Reader PRINT icon at or near the top of the form and not your browser's print icon. Compliance Assistance OWCP EEOICP About EEOICP EEOICP Contacts EEOICP Customer Assistance www.dol.gov/esa www.dol.gov U.S. Department of Labor Frances Perkins Building 200 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20210 1-866-4-USA-DOL TTY: 1-877-889-5627 Contact Us ***************************************************************** 51 MHNN: Putnam to distribute new KI pills Friday, February 16, 2007 Copyright © 2007 Mid-Hudson News Network, a division of Statewide News Network, Inc. Carmel – Some 4˝ years after Putnam County distributed potassium iodide tables to persons living within the 10 mile Indian Point Emergency Planning Zone, the county announced Friday that it would distribute a new supply to area residents. The KI pills, when taken in the event of a radiological event, are designed to prevent radioactive materials from entering one’s thyroid gland. With the old pills reaching the end of their shelf life in March, the Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services said it will distribute the new supply in the towns of Philipstown, Putnam Valley and Carmel. A schedule will be announced later. The doses of KI are provided by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission through the State Emergency Management Office. Doses are now available in tablet and liquid form. The announcement comes one week after county legislator Vincent Tamagna of Cold Spring criticized the county for not replacing the 2002 pills, saying their shelf life had expired and that he doubted people even knew where they had placed the pills in their homes. Adam Stiebeling of the County Emergency Services said it is nothing more than a coincidence that the county made the announcement after Tamagna’s comments. HEAR today's news on MidHudsonRadio.com, the Hudson Valley's only Internet radio news report. ***************************************************************** 52 ABC4.com: Utahn who witnessed A-bomb blasts in 50's and 60's opposes Divine Strake - February 16, 2007 - 10:36 PM Watch This Video Story by: Brent Hunsaker brent@abc4.com (Washington, Utah) Quentin Nisson has seen a lot of history for someone who has lived most of his life in Washington, Utah. With the exception of World War II, he's been here in this small but now booming town just north of St. George. He runs a variety/hardware on the corner long Telegraph road in the heart of "old" Washington. Nisson was also mayor of Washington during the same period in the 50's and early 60's when the Federal Government was setting off atomic bombs in the Nevada desert. He was even invited to witness one of the explosions and film it with his 16 mm camera. After the flash, his camera recorded the red fireball rising in the dark, early morning sky. Then a few minutes later, as the sun reached the top of the mushroom cloud, his home movie shows the fallout slowing twisting and bending to the upper level winds. The column of smoke, dust and radioactive particles was being pushed east. At the time, he recalls they had no idea of the danger posed by the radiation from those tests. Nisson said, "Even then, we never thought of exposure, we were still dumb! Dumb as to what was going on." That began to change with the test code-named "Harry" -- a 32-kiloton bomb that was shot in May of 1953. It became known as "Dirty Harry". The blast was nearly twice as big as what was recommended as "safe" by a medical officer at the Nevada Test Site. Its fallout was supposed to go southeast - between Las Vegas and St. George. Instead, the winds shifted and took it right over St. George. Nisson remembers a concussion that rattled windows and doors before dawn. Then after dawn, he saw a long, thin brown cloud. Later he also remembers getting an urgent phone call. He was asked to go across the street to the Washington School and tell the principal to keep the children indoors. The tests were no longer an amusement; they were a source of fear. Soon after "Dirty Harry" the Atomic Energy Commission produced a film that recreated the day of the test and tried to convince the people of St. George and elsewhere there was nothing to fear. Many townsfolk were asked to play small parts in the film. A few years later, several died of cancer including St. George police officer Earl Cox, businessman Tony Reynolds and Sheriff Roy Renoff. And there were others. From 1956 to 1961, the small communities of Washington County saw an unprecedented number of childhood deaths from leukemia: 14. One of them was a nephew of Quentin Nisson. Because of the heavy price they've paid in the disease and death, Quentin believes downwinders have earned the right to be heard on Divine Strake. He and others argue the non-nuclear, .6-kiloton explosion will stir up radioactive "demons" best left buried under the desert floor of the Nevada Test Site. They've heard the reassurances of government scientist who say no harm will be done. Others said the exact same thing in the 50's. "I just don't believe them," said Nisson. "That's why I don't want it to go off." ***************************************************************** 53 Stop Dangerous, Polluting Nuclear Waste Reprocessing Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 12:17:08 -0600 (CST) February 16, 2007 Stop the Bush Administration's Efforts to Restart Nuclear Waste Reprocessing Announced by the Bush Administration in February 2006, the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) is a sweeping proposal to restart nuclear waste reprocessing in the United States. Reprocessingincorrectly called "recycling" by the Energy Departmentis expensive and polluting, and poses a serious risk to U.S. national security and global efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. The Energy Department, which is responsible for implementing GNEP, is required to request comments from the public about what issues should be part of its analysis of the program. Tell the Energy Department that you oppose reprocessing radioactive waste and that it should abandon the dangerous and polluting GNEP Program. http://action.citizen.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=6750 Thank you for your fast action. Michele Boyd Legislative Director Public Citizen's Energy Program _______________________________________ Stay informed and speak out when it counts. Sign up for newsletters and alert from Public Citizen. Go to: http://action.citizen.org/signUp.jsp. This message was sent to map@PENCIL.MATH.MISSOURI.EDU, if you do not wish to receive e-mail messages from Public Citizen in the future, please go to: http://action.citizen.org/unsubscribe.jsp /*Your email ID. --*/ ***************************************************************** 54 reviewjournal.com: YUCCA MOUNTAIN PROJECT: Berkley urges DOE to cancel firm's contract Feb. 16, 2007 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Company denies conflict of interest STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., is calling for the Energy Department to withdraw a $450,000 Yucca Mountain contract given to a consulting company whose board contains several former executives of the nuclear waste project. The company's president, John Longenecker, said Thursday that no conflict exists. He said that the firm's bid was formed expressly to avoid conflict and that the company has a reputation for "candid" performance. "This couldn't be more straight up," Longenecker said. A Department of Energy spokesman indicated that the contract would stand. "These criticisms are meritless," spokesman Allen Benson said. "We have every expectation that the firm will produce an independent review of value to the program." For its relatively small sum, the contract has generated the latest controversy for Nevada officials and other Yucca critics to challenge DOE's management of the repository program. The department hired Longenecker & Associates last week to review engineering processes at Yucca Mountain, where the government proposes to build an underground and above-ground complex to manage and bury 77,000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste. Longenecker, which has performed quality assurance assessments and other work on the Yucca project, is an international engineering, environmental and energy consulting company based in Henderson. Energy Department officials stated that the review would be independent, but Yucca critics said otherwise after the former ties of several Longenecker associates were disclosed. The company's 14-member senior management team includes Ronald A. Milner, chief operating officer for the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management from 1996 to 2006. The office oversees the Yucca project. Among 10 outside board members listed on the Longenecker Web site is Donald Pearman, who was deputy general manager of the nuclear waste effort while employed by Bechtel SAIC, its managing contractor. Donald G. Horton, who managed the development of the Yucca Mountain site recommendation report, also is listed among Longenecker personnel. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement this week that retaining the company was like "hiring a student who is failing in literature to grade his own term paper." "The DOE is planning to waste half a million more taxpayer dollars on work that will ultimately be meaningless because the company hired to conduct the review has a major conflict of interest," Reid said. Unlike Berkley, Reid stopped short of demanding the contract be rescinded. "He did not make that call," spokesman Jon Summers said. "Is it incumbent on him to call on people to do what is right?" Longenecker, the company president, said the associates with Yucca Mountain backgrounds are at arm's length from the project. He said Milner and Horton are part-time consultants who perform no Yucca-related work. Pearman is on the company's board "in an advisory capacity and is not a consultant to us." "None of them were involved in the bid, and none of them will work on the project," Longenecker said. "Any allegation to that effect is just baseless." A 10-person review team will be drawn from among senior engineers at four partner companies, including Northrop Corp. and Fluor Corp., Longenecker said. "We won this because we proposed very senior people who have run multibillion dollar projects before," he said. Berkley renewed a call for the White House to establish "an independent investigation into all aspects of the work now being done at Yucca Mountain. They said no to this plan for fear it would expose additional problems" at the delayed nuclear waste site. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 Stephens Media | Privacy Statement ***************************************************************** 55 reviewjournal.com: Ex-director: Yucca project in jeopardy Feb. 16, 2007 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Flagging 'political will' threatens repository, he says, but it remains best solution STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- A former Yucca Mountain director said Thursday that flagging "political will" threatens to sink the proposed Nevada repository, but he maintained the project is worth fixing as the best solution for nuclear waste storage. "I would like to find a better way, but we should not lose what we have until we have a better way in hand," Barrett said. Barrett discussed the Yucca project in an interview that came on the heels of an opinion article he wrote that was published Thursday in Energy Daily, a widely read newsletter. Apart from science presentations, the former DOE official's remarks were his first public comments on Yucca Mountain policy since he left the department. He was principal deputy director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management from 1993 to 2002, and stepped in as acting director five times. Barrett was running the program in 2002 when President Bush and Congress formalized the selection of the Yucca site. Since then, the repository has been mired in delays amid legal, financial and management setbacks that have pushed a projected opening to 2017 and beyond. In Energy Daily, Barrett wrote that Congress singling out Nevada for nuclear waste in 1987 "was detrimental" and set the stage for years of conflict between the federal government and the state. "But the fact is that Yucca Mountain is as good an overall site as can be found in the United States for long-term nuclear materials management," he wrote. "There has been nothing scientifically discovered indicating the site should be disqualified." Barrett said he decided to speak out after Edward McGaffigan, a departing member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told reporters last month that DOE should set aside the Yucca site and "go back to the beginning" in search of a repository solution that could be sold to states willing to host a site. "I believe this nation needs to address these issues fairly, but not by abandoning the only site we have," Barrett said in response. He said he supported forming a high-level commission to examine the project, but in ways to improve the current program rather than scrapping it. "A fundamental rewrite and do-over would not be helpful," he said. In the interview, Barrett said the "political will" for Yucca Mountain among its traditional supporters has been tested by the rise of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, the project's most powerful critic. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007 Stephens Media | Privacy Statement ***************************************************************** 56 The State: Nuclear waste site might not be closed 02/16/2007 Legislation would keep landfill open to all states beyond scheduled closing in 2008 By SAMMY FRETWELL sfretwell@thestate.com LINDSAY SEMPLE/LSEMPLE@THESTATE.COM Chem-Nuclear Barnwell Complex Vice President James Latham explains the process of safe storage at the low-level nuclear waste dump in Snelling, S.C. More photos South Carolina’s ongoing dispute over nuclear waste disposal in Barnwell County resurfaced Thursday with a bill to keep the landfill open to the nation beyond next year’s scheduled closure. The measure, introduced by Rep. Billy Witherspoon, would allow utilities and other companies to continue sending low-level atomic waste to the landfill near Snelling. County officials, utilities and an out-of-state nuclear services company are pushing to keep the landfill open to the nation, rather than limit access to just South Carolina, Connecticut and New Jersey after July 1, 2008. Witherspoon, R-Horry, said the landfill could operate $3 million to $4 million in the red annually if only three states are sending waste. County representatives said they need the money the site produces. Witherspoon’s bill limits the volume of waste allowed at the landfill to current levels. The landfill brings in about $2 million a year for Barnwell County and about $10 million a year for South Carolina schools, according to the State Budget and Control Board. “If we do not sustain the facility’s economic viability, Barnwell County and Barnwell schools will be thrown into an economic crisis,’’ said Rep. Lonnie Hosey, D-Barnwell. “The facility is safe. We need it for jobs and economic growth, and it ought to be allowed to continue current operations.’’ Duke Energy and Progress Energy, North Carolina-based companies that operate nuclear reactors, said Thursday they back Witherspoon’s bill. Supporters of closing the 235-acre landfill said South Carolina must stop accepting the nation’s nuclear trash. “Basically, we’re saying that if there’s money involved, there is nothing we won’t do,’’ said Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter. “It really comes down to how much respect you have for yourself and your state.’’ Ann Timberlake, director of the Conservation Voters of South Carolina, said her organization will fight to close the landfill as agreed upon in 2000. Money for schools generated by the landfill is a pittance compared to the state’s overall school budget, she and Leventis said. Gov. Mark Sanford’s office said Thursday “nobody has presented us with a compelling reason’’ to keep the landfill open beyond 2008. Landfill backers say it has been run safely. State regulators consistently have given the Barnwell County dump permits after environmental review. The landfill, which places casks of nuclear waste in unlined trenches, once leaked radioactive tritium onto nearby property. In 2000, then-Gov. Jim Hodges persuaded the Legislature to begin scaling back the amount of waste accepted from nuclear power plants and other industrial sites around the country. The law also scheduled the landfill to close next year to all but three states. That law followed past attempts to close the landfill, which have produced heated debates over the years. Each time the state has scheduled a closure date, the Legislature has abandoned the plan after heavy lobbying by Chem-Nuclear, the Barnwell site’s operator. The landfill today is operated by Energy Solutions Inc., a Utah corporation that bought Chem-Nuclear and its parent company in 2006. State records show Energy Solutions, under the name Chem-Nuclear, has hired 10 lobbyists, including former governor’s office aides Warren Tompkins and Will McCain and former state Rep. Mark Kelley of Myrtle Beach. In the past six months, Energy Solutions also bought television ads and hired Tim Dangerfield, a former top-ranking S.C. Commerce Department official. Company executives say their efforts are part of a push to invest in the nuclear industry in South Carolina, ranging from the landfill to nuclear fuel reprocessing. Steve Creamer, Energy Solutions’ president, said the landfill won’t earn the company huge profits if it stays open. Creamer, who founded Energy Solutions in 2005, said the landfill’s revenues make up less than 5 percent of the revenues from his company’s Duratek nuclear services division. Creamer said the landfill is vital to the country’s nuclear power plants as a disposal site. Without Barnwell, low-level nuclear waste would be stored at power plants across the country, he said. “I’m doing it for my industry. If you don’t have these facilities, that’s when bad things happen in the environment.’’ Low-level waste includes lightly contaminated hospital gowns and gloves as well as nuclear power plant reactor parts and filter resins. Much of the material coming to Barnwell County is the more radioactive kind, Energy Solutions officials said. An Energy Solutions landfill east of Salt Lake City takes the most lightly contaminated low-level waste. The landfill issue was important enough that the company considered having a South Carolina legislator speak at a customer conference in Utah last month. The company later pulled the item from the agenda. On Tuesday, Energy Solutions took two members of a state nuclear advisory council on a tour of the Barnwell dump. It also has met with the full council, which advises Sanford on nuclear policy. Rep. Robert Brown, D-Charleston, and Rep. Bakari Sellers, D-Bamberg, said they heard early in the legislative session from lobbyists who want to keep the landfill open. “I know it’s all about the dollar bill,” Brown said. Sellers said he is torn by the company’s arguments. “We are in an economically depressed area, and I’m looking at the economic benefits this brings. I’m trying to balance that with the environmental implications and the overall character of our state.’’ Fretwell can be reached at (803) 771-8537. BY THE NUMBERS 36: years the Barnwell County nuclear waste landfill has been open 15: years it would remain open past the 2008 scheduled closing date under a bill introduced Thursday 28 million: number of cubic feet of radioactive garbage accepted since the landfill opened ***************************************************************** 57 Aiken Today: GNEP program debated AikenStandard.com Fri, Feb 16, 2007 By PHILIP LORD and APRIL BAILEY Staff writers NORTH AUGUSTA The disposition of America's nuclear waste was discussed Thursday by parties from both sides of President Bush's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). Under the plan, nuclear waste will be recycled and reused by reactors as fuel, instead of being stockpiled for burial in a proposed long-term repository. Currently the region has two of the 11 proposals that have received first-phase GNEP funding, which means about $1.4 million is headed to the two groups to conduct studies. One is located at the Savannah River Site and is a joint venture between Washington Savannah River Company and the Economic Development Partnership of Aiken and Edgefield counties and the other is located in Barnwell County and is being proposed by EnergySolutions. Those in favor of the GNEP proposals say that either location, if selected, will attract $16 billion in capital investment and create some 8,000 jobs. After a series of hearings and receiving site characterization information from the 11 sites, the U.S. Department of Energy will select two sites to fund for further GNEP work, which means more funding. During Thursday's hearing, over 90 people came forward to speak either for or against the proposed initiative. Those making statements included state and federal elected officials, submitting letters which were read on their behalf, most in favor of GNEP. "We appreciate the president's forward looking approach and we strongly urge you to consider South Carolina for any or all GNEP facilities," Rep. Gresham Barrett, R-SC and Rep. Joe Wilson, R-SC wrote in a letter to Samuel Bodman, secretary of energy. Also in favor of GNEP, Lark Jones, mayor of the City of North Augusta, read a letter of support from Sen. Lindsay Graham on the initiative, and also expressed support of the issue on behalf of the City of North Augusta saying, "our local and surrounding communities are willing and able to do whatever we can to support energy productiveness in this county," he said. "We feel like this is a win-win for our community and country," said Fred Cavanaugh, mayor of the City of Aiken. Cavanaugh also expressed the Aiken County City Council's support of GNEP, saying that the City of Aiken has a long history of support of the Savannah River Site. Though a vast majority of those present at the meeting were in favor of the proposal, those against the GNEP initiative were equally vocal in their opposition, many discussing the harmful effects of the proposal. "GNEP is an unbelievable pie in the sky boondoggle," said Glenn Carroll, coordinator of Nuclear Watch South. Carroll went on to say that it is unlikely that the initiative would be sustained by Congress and if approved, could leave all of the nations' waste in South Carolina. "South Carolina, be careful what you ask for," she warned. Bobbie Paul, executive director of the Women's Actions for New Directions chapter in Atlanta, also spoke against GNEP, calling it the Gargantuan Nuclear Expansion Program. Paul said that the Department of Energy should increase public awareness of the risks as well as the long term effects of the proposal. "It's sold as recycling, but it's really just reprocessing," she said. A resident of Bluffton, located near Savannah, Joe Whetstone spoke against GNEP, saying that the initiative would contaminate Buffton's drinking water, increasing the amount of tritium; a radioactive form of hydrogen, that is currently polluting his town's water supply. "We don't need anymore," he said. Earlier this month the Aiken County Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting efforts to bring the GNEP project to SRS. Current nuclear technology employed by reactors in the production of electricity around the world leaves behind tons of spent nuclear fuel that contains plutonium and other highly radioactive elements that can be weaponized. Instead of burying the waste rods ? which continue to be radioactive and heat-producing for centuries ? the Bush administration's plan calls for building special advanced burner reactors that can fully break down the plutonium and create electricity while rendering the resulting waste much safer, according to DOE. Much of this waste is currently held in storage areas at individual reactors awaiting shipment to the proposed long-term repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Yucca Mountain has not opened due to protests from area residents, which have been spearheaded by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada. Critics of the GNEP program, however, say the Bush plan could allow the countries supplied with U.S. fuel rods to misuse them and stockpile plutonium or have it stolen by terrorists despite the plan's lofty goals. "The government's plan to dispose of nuclear waste raises major questions about environmental risks and the feasibility of GNEP," said Robert Alvarez of the Institute for Policy Studies, who is former senior policy adviser to DOE. "Even assuming near perfection in recoverability, the magnitude of radioactive wastes to be managed and disposed from large-scale commercial spent fuel reprocessing is far beyond that which DOE has yet to address from 50 years of nuclear weapons production. DOE's record in addressing existing waste from reprocessing does not inspire confidence." © 2005 The AikenStandard. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 58 London Times: Operator fined Ł140,000 for dumping toxic waste -News-UK-TimesOnline February 16, 2007 David Lister, Scotland Correspondent The operators of the Dounreay nuclear plant in Scotland were yesterday fined Ł140,000 for dumping radioactive waste at a landfill and releasing nuclear fragments into the sea over a 21-year period. Sheriff Andrew Berry said that the UK Atomic Energy Authority committed “very grave errors” by illegally dumping waste from the Caithness plant. The authority pleaded guilty last week to four charges under the Radioactive Substances Act. It admitted one charge of disposing of solid radioactive waste at a landfill site at the plant between 1963 and 1975, and three of allowing nuclear fuel particles to be released through drains into Pentland Firth between 1963 and 1984. Wick Sheriff Court was told that six of the particles recovered after escaping from pipes into the sea were considered “very dangerous” and could have been fatal if ingested. Investigators found that the radio-activity of some fragments in a drain was 26 times above the annual permitted dose for a member of the public. The charges were brought after a lengthy investigation by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. It said that the fine should “serve as a stark warning to operators who disregard pollution laws”. Dounreay, a former fast reactor research and development centre, was closed in 1994 and is in the process of being decommissioned. More than 1,000 radioactive particles — fragments of spent uranium fuel rods about the size of a grain of sand — have been found on beaches and the sea bed in the surrounding area. John Crofts, the authority’s director of safety, said: “We accept that mistakes were made and regret those mistakes. We share the view that this is an unacceptable legacy of the Dounreay experiment. Our priority has been and will continue to be to minimise the risk to people and the environment.” Online, The Times and The Sunday Times. ***************************************************************** 59 San Bernardino County Sun: Perchlorate breakthrough may be on the horizon Our view: State takeover may be good, from a local standpoint. Article Launched: 02/15/2007 12:00:00 AM PST It's been 10 years since perchlorate was found to be contaminating the groundwater in Rialto and Colton, and still, little has been accomplished in getting the suspected polluters to pay for the massively expensive cleanup. Though the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board has gone after three corporations for leaking or dumping the chemical into the groundwater, it has been unsuccessful at getting the issue resolved. It is a major, costly headache that drags on year after year. Aggravated at the regional board's lack of progress - as we all are, as the perchlorate plume continues to spread - the state Water Resources Control Board has taken over with plans to hold a hearing at the earliest possible date. And it could be the best chance of seeing some results. The local board has long pressed Goodrich Corp., Emhart Industries Inc. and Pryo Spectaculars Inc. to take responsibility, but of the three, only Goodrich has paid toward the effort. With the state in command, we hope for some definitive action in getting those liable for the mess to pay their share of the up to $300 million cleanup cost. Los Angeles Newspaper Group ***************************************************************** 60 Deseret News: Group asks guv to veto nuclear waste bill Friday, February 16, 2007 By Nicole Warburton Deseret Morning News A handful of Utah residents are calling on the governor to veto a bill that they say would "roll out the welcome mat" for more nuclear waste to be stored in the state. August Miller, Deseret Morning News Vanessa Pierce, president of HEAL, speaks Thursday at a press conference protesting the storage of nuclear waste in Utah. The measure, SB155, passed through the House on Wednesday with a veto-proof majority a week after the Senate approved the measure last week with a veto-proof majority. With the legislation, the governor and state lawmakers would no longer have authority to approve any changes to how EnergySolutions stores waste on a parcel of its landfill in Tooele County. Oversight would still be required if the company wanted to expand operations or store waste that is more radioactive than what it currently stores. State enviornmental officials would still have regualtory oversight of EnergySolutions operations. Vanessa Pierce, director of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, held a press conference Thursday with about 20 other Utahns who are concerned about the bill. She said the bill would allow EnergySolutions to stack piles of waste several stories high. "With passage of this bill, lawmakers sent a clear message that we don't care how much nuclear waste that EnergySolutions piles," Pierce said. "Vetoing this bill will keep a hand on the door for Utahns who are concerned about rolling out the welcome mat for more nuclear waste." During the press conference, Pierce stood by a poster of a license plate that spoofed the state's new slogan. Instead of saying "Life Elevated," the license plate said "Waste Elevated," and included the phrase: "greatest glow on Earth." Mike Mower, spokesman for Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., said Thursday that the governor's staff has met with members of Environment Alliance. But Huntsman has not made a decision about whether he will veto or sign the measure, Mower said. The governor has nine days to decide whether to veto or sign SB155. "This is an important decision, and the governor is reviewing information he's received on this issue in detail," Mower said. E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com © 2007 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 61 KOTV.com: Uranium Leak Stops Shipments Local News - KOTV.com - The News On 6 AP - 2/16/2007 6:28 AM - Updated 2/16/2007 12:46 PM MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) _ Officials say some low-level, radioactive waste that leaked from containers shipped from a facility in Gore poses no public health hazard. Sequoyah Fuels halted shipments of depleted uranium after authorities in Nevada found some of the substance had seeped through a steel shipping container. Officials say it will take another two weeks before removal of the 95,000 tons of radioactive waste remaining at the site can resume. Sequoyah Fuels president John Ellis says the five containers still at the plant may have to be reopened, lined and resealed before being transported to a former atomic-bomb test site in Nevada, where the waste eventually will be buried. About a million pounds of depleted uranium has been stored at Sequoyah Fuels since 1993, when the company abandoned its uranium-purification operations. Ellis suspects the breach occurred because the drums have been exposed to the elements for the past 13 or 14 years. © 2007 KOTV, A Griffin Communications, LLC Subsidiary ***************************************************************** 62 Scotsman.com News: Dounreay, part of 3.3bn industry, fined just 140,000 for radioactive dumping Fri 16 Feb 2007 Radioactivity warning on Sandside beach Picture: Ian Rutherford JOHN ROSS () ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners last night condemned as "paltry" a 140,000 fine on the operator of the Dounreay nuclear plant for illegally dumping radioactive waste. Describing the incident as "one of the nastiest forms of discharge ever", campaigners said the fine sent out the wrong message to polluters. The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) last week pleaded guilty at Wick Sheriff Court to four charges under the Radioactive Substances Act. The breaches happened over more than 20 years at the Caithness site. Sheriff Andrew Berry said he was fining the operators for "very grave errors". He said: "Clearly, these four charges will attract public concern as they relate to the illegal discharge of radioactive waste over a long period of time." The offences carried unlimited penalties and the UKAEA, which had a turnover of ÂŁ315 million in the UK last year and a made a ÂŁ3.1 million profit, could have been made to pay millions of pounds in fines. According to the Nuclear Industry Association, the sector as a whole adds about ÂŁ3.3 billion to UK Gross Domestic Product. Lorraine Mann, convener of Scotland Against Nuclear Dumping, said: "This was probably one of the nastiest forms of discharge ever in the history of the nuclear industry in the UK. It really is very disappointing that it is hardly even a slap on the wrist." Dr Eleanor Scott, a Highlands and Islands Green MSP, called the fine "peanuts", and added: "I would be concerned that any other nuclear installation could take this as a sign they could get off relatively lightly with any similar incident. "But I hope the fine will be seen in context, in that these were offences that took place some time ago and any offence that took place now would be treated in a far more punitive way." She said the issue of penalties for environmental crimes was an area which needed to be examined. She added: "I would like to see a lot more stringent fines for environmental crime. This is a special case because of its historic nature, but most environmental crimes are not historic and therefore the fines should be at a level we would expect." The Scottish Environment Protection Agency, whose investigations led to the charges being brought, said the fine should serve as a stark warning to operators that disregarded pollution laws. Its chief executive, Campbell Gemmell, said: "This outcome serves as a valuable lesson to UKAEA and others that poor waste-management practices will not be tolerated." UKAEA bosses admitted a single charge of disposing of radioactive waste at a landfill site at the 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 between 1963 and 1984. The court earlier heard that fuel fragments which were supposed to be disposed of in a storage shaft had instead been placed in 46,000 cubic metres of landfill. The error came to light in July 1999 when work was done at the site. Between December 1963 and December 1984, nuclear particles had entered the sea from a drain at Dounreay. UKAEA also admitted allowing radioactive fragments to escape from two other pipes. Fiscal Alasdair MacDonald told the court six of the particles recovered were considered "very dangerous" and could be fatal if ingested. Investigators also found the radioactivity of some fragments in one of the drains was 26 times above the annual permitted dose for an individual member of the public. Sheriff Berry said he had taken into account the authority's guilty plea, which had prevented the need for a trial. He said he also considered that any fine would be borne by the taxpayer, as the UKAEA was a publicly funded organisation. He fined UKAEA ÂŁ40,000 for dumping the waste and ÂŁ100,000 for releasing the particles. Outside the court, Dr John Crofts, UKAEA's director of safety, said: "It is a fairly stiff penalty, but it fully reflects the gravity of the offence and its continuing environmental effect. "It draws a line under the event and allows us to concentrate on the future of cleaning up the site and minimising any environmental effect that these particles have." Dr Crofts claimed the fine was significant because it equated to several salaries at Dounreay. In all, about 1,200 radioactive particles - fragments of spent uranium fuel about the size of a grain of sand - have been found on the seabed and on beaches near the complex, although it is believed hundreds of thousands could have been discharged. A spokesman for the facility said that 100,000 particles would occupy the volume of an egg-cup and one million was equivalent in volume to less than a pint. He said all the particles detected to date on public beaches had been below the level that independent experts considered a significant radiological risk. Particles found on the foreshore at Dounreay and the seabed on average tended to be 100 times more radioactive and could be fatal if swallowed. * Nuclear energy http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1343 * Dounreay http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=566 This article: http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=252032007 Last updated: 16-Feb-07 02:19 GMT ©2007 Scotsman.com | contact | terms & conditions ***************************************************************** 63 Korea Times: Nuke Talks to Address Uranium Program Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter Seoul hopes that six-party talks will eventually address North Korea's nuclear weapons as well as its suspected highly enriched uranium (HEU) program, SeoulˇŻs top nuclear envoy said yesterday. Deputy Foreign Minister Chun Young-woo said in a forum that the latest nuclear disarmament deal requires North Korea to submit a report to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) a list of all its nuclear programs, including uranium-based ones. ``North Korea must report (the amount of) plutonium it has produced...so we would also have an idea how much progress the country has made on its uranium program,ˇŻˇŻ Chun told the forum organized by the Korea Press Foundation. ChunˇŻs remarks came amid criticisms about the nuclear pact signed at the end of the six-party talks, involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, in Beijing Wednesday. The agreement calls for the dismantling of the North's plutonium-producing nuclear reactor but fails to deal with several nuclear bombs the North is believed to possess and its alleged uranium enrichment program. The status of PyongyangˇŻs alleged enrichment efforts are unknown. But Washington asserts North Korea has created such a program with the help of the same nuclear black market that allowed Iran to develop its enrichment activities to the point where the nation was slapped with U.N. sanctions because of fears it would use the program to develop nuclear arms. Pyongyang, however, has long denied having a uranium-based program and appears least likely to admit it now. ``This round of talks dealt with what we will do first to achieve our main goal, which is to have North Korea give up all of its nuclear weapons and nuclear programs,ˇŻˇŻ said Chun. ``But the premise is that we are working to dismantle the North's nuclear weapons and all other related programs.ˇŻˇŻ This week's agreement was a follow-up to a September 2005 statement in which the North agreed to denuclearize in exchange for aid and security guarantees. Under the deal, North Korea is required to shut down its nuclear-related facilities at Yongbyon while allowing U.N. nuclear inspectors back to the Stalinist state to seal them up. Chun said what would drive North Korea to voluntarily cripple its nuclear facilities at an early date is what he described as an ``incentive system.ˇŻˇŻ For shutting down the Yongbyon complex, the North would receive the equivalent of 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil in emergency relief aid. An additional 950,000 tons of heavy oil or equivalent aid would be provided to the country upon its completion of disabling the nuclear-related facilities. Despite South Korea's confidence that this deal will go through, there are many loopholes that may drag the nuclear standoff back to where it started. The nuclear dispute erupted in late 2002 when Washington accused Pyongyang of running a clandestine uranium-based nuclear weapons program in addition to its acknowledged plutonium program. gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr 02-16-2007 19:16 ***************************************************************** 64 WMCTV.COM: Erwin company scraps plans for incinerator ERWIN, Tenn. A company with a plant in Erwin is withdrawing its request to operate an incinerator for low-level radioactive trash. Officials of Studsvik (STOODZ'-vik) Incorporated said public opposition to the plan caused the company to decide to expand its current methods of processing waste. The company had wanted to burn items such contaminated laboratory smocks and gloves, instead of processing them for special landfills. Studsvik President Mike Hill says he discussed potential solutions with his bosses and they gave him permission to talk with Erwin city officials, including Mayor Brushy Lewis. Hill says the opposition appeared to be more emotional than rational, but the company concluded it couldn't sway public opinion. Expansion of Studsvik's current operations will add about 15 workers to the company's current employment of 82 workers. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. All content © Copyright 2000 - 2007 WorldNow and WMCTV, a Raycom Media station. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 65 News & Star: Nuclear ruling won't stop Sellafield plan Published on 16/02/2007 All change? The nuclear site at Sellafield By Matthew legg Business editor A COURT order quashing the Government’s plan to build a fresh generation of nuclear plants will NOT stop a new Sellafield being built, Copeland’s MP said. A High Court ruling yesterday found the decision to rebuild Britain’s nuclear industry was unlawful because ministers had not fully consulted the public. Mr Justice Sullivan was upholding a challenge by environmental pressure group Greenpeace, who said ministers’ failure to consult made the process “legally flawed”. The judge agreed and ordered the Government to strike out the sections of its energy White Paper referring to new nuclear plants, pending another public consultation. The decision appeared to leave hopes for a new nuclear facility to replace Sellafield in tatters. But the area’s MP, Jamie Reed, urged the Government to stand firm over its plans. He said: “I am convinced that the Government will press ahead with plans to publish the White Paper in the coming weeks. And I anticipate it to include plans for a new nuclear build. “This is a very expensive publicity stunt by Greenpeace at best, and at worst, is an attempt to subvert the political process. “In my view the consultation was broad, comprehensive and open to anybody – it’s clear that Greenpeace just didn’t like the answer. “I will be urging the Government to appeal.” Greenpeace had claimed the Government did not present information on key issues such as disposal of radioactive waste and the financial costs of new build. Justice Sullivan agreed, saying he believed “something has gone clearly and radically wrong” with the consultation exercise. It also contained no actual proposals and, even if it had, the information given to consultees was “wholly insufficient for them to make an intelligent response”, he added. The document contained no information of any substance on the two crucially important issues – economics and waste disposal, the judge said. And the information given on waste was “not merely inadequate but also misleading”. Information of substance did not emerge until after the consultation period had elapsed, he said. The judge concluded: “There could be no proper consultation, let alone the fullest consultation, if the substance of these two issues was not consulted on before a decision was made. “There was therefore procedural unfairness and a breach of Greenpeace’s legitimate expectation that there would be the fullest consultation before a decision was taken.” Mr Reed rejected those criticisms, saying that public costs were made clear, but private companies may, on occasion, hide costs for commercial reasons. He added that detailed information on radioactive waste management was also available. Shadow Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Duncan said: “This is an astonishing ruling. What it really says is that the Government has been shown up as fundamentally deceitful.” ***************************************************************** 66 WCNC.com: Some lawmakers want low-level waste facility to stay open longer Charlotte, North Carolina | South Carolina News 08:22 AM EST on Friday, February 16, 2007 Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Some lawmakers say the state cannot afford to close its low-level nuclear waste facility in Barnwell next year. A bill introduced Thursday by Rep. Billy Witherspoon, R-Conway, would keep the Barnwell facility open to out-of-state waste beyond next year's schedule closing date to collect the millions of dollars in fees companies pay to bury their low-level atomic waste here. Barnwell County collects about $2 million a year from the landfill and South Carolina schools get about $10 million a year, according to the State Budget and Control Board. "If we do not sustain the facility's economic viability, Barnwell County and Barnwell schools will be thrown into an economic crisis," said Rep. Lonnie Hosey, D-Barnwell. "The facility is safe. We need it for jobs and economic growth, and it ought to be allowed to continue current operations." Two North Carolina-based utilities that operate nuclear reactors support Witherspoon's proposal to keep the landfill open to all states rather than restrict it to waste from South Carolina, Connecticut and New Jersey under a compact signed in 2000. Others say the 235-acre landfill, which places casks of nuclear waste in unlined trenches and once leaked radioactive tritium onto nearby property, is unsafe and should stop accepting the nation's nuclear trash. "Basically, we're saying that if there's money involved, there is nothing we won't do," said Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter. "It really comes down to how much respect you have for yourself and your state." Gov. Mark Sanford's office said the governor hasn't seen a "compelling reason" to keep the landfill open to national waste beyond 2008. The landfill is operated by Energy Solutions Inc., a Utah corporation that bought previous operator Chem-Nuclear and its parent company in 2006. Energy Solutions has lobbied hard in recent years to keep the landfill open to waste from other parts of the country. The company has hired 10 lobbyists, including aides to past governors and former lawmakers. But the company says it is part of an effort to invest in the state's nuclear industry and provide a safe central location for the nation's nuclear power plants to dispose of waste. "I'm doing it for my industry," company president Steve Creamer said. "If you don't have these facilities, that's when bad things happen in the environment." Creamer said the landfill accounts for less than 5 percent of his company's nuclear division revenues. ***************************************************************** 67 Tri-City Herald: Next step cleared for new PNNL lab facility Published Friday, February 16th, 2007 By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer An environmental study for a proposed Physical Sciences Facility for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has found no problems, clearing another hurdle for a building that could cost up to $224 million. However, no decision has been made about whether to spend some of that money on retaining and upgrading as many as four of the buildings the national lab now is using in Hanford's 300 Area just north of Richland. The Department of Energy has asked for detailed information about the extent of upgrades needed, costs and schedules, said Megan Barnett, DOE spokeswoman in Washington, D.C. A decision is expected this spring on whether to retain some of the 300 Area buildings and on the design and start of construction of the Physical Sciences Facility in Richland, she said. DOE had planned to take out all buildings in the 300 Area as part of cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation, which used to produce plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program. But it began considering retaining some of the buildings when it became apparent that the planned Physical Sciences Facility might cost more than budgeted. About 1,000 of the national laboratory's 4,200 staff do at least some of their work in the 300 Area or rely on work being done there. The lab must vacate the facilities it uses there by 2011, unless some of the buildings are retained. The Physical Sciences Facility would be one of three planned new buildings, and the only one built with taxpayer money. It would be built on the Horn Rapids Triangle just north of the current national lab campus on the north side of Horn Rapids Road. It would include space for chemical processing; materials science and technology; and radiation and ultra-trace detection work for treaty verification related to nuclear and chemical weapons. A Biological Science Facility would be built to be leased by the national lab. It will house biological and nuclear magnetic resonance laboratory space for microbial and cellular biology and specialized chemistry research. A Computational Sciences Facility also would be leased. It would include computer labs and electronic and instrumentation labs. Construction could begin on all three buildings later this year, according to Greg Koller, spokesman for the national lab. Construction of the new buildings and any upgrades approved for 300 Area buildings would be completed by 2010. The buildings that could be retained in the 300 Area include the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory, the Life Sciences Laboratory, the Radiological Calibrations Laboratory and the Plant Operations and Maintenance Facility. If they are retained, a phased approach to the Physical Sciences Facility would be planned. The initial building would be 240,000 square feet and could be expanded to 332,000 square feet. © 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press & Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 68 FR DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Nevada Doc E7-2760 [Federal Register: February 16, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 32)] [Notices] [Page 7643] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr16fe07-68] [[Page 7643]] DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Nevada Test Site. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. No. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Wednesday, March 14, 2007, 5 p.m. ADDRESSES: 7710 West Cheyenne Avenue, Conference Room 130, Las Vegas, Nevada. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Snyder, Deputy Designated Federal Officer, P.O. Box 98518, Las Vegas, Nevada 89193. Phone: (702) 295-2836; E-mail: snyderk@nv.doe.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of environmental restoration, waste management, and related activities. Tentative Agenda 1. Briefing entitled ``Radiation 101'' 2. Discussion of upcoming SSAB Chairs Meeting 3. Updates by the Board's working committees Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public. Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral presentations pertaining to agenda items should contact Kelly Snyder at the telephone number listed above. The request must be received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable provision will be made to include the presentation in the agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Individuals wishing to make public comment will be provided a maximum of five minutes to present their comments. Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public review and copying at the U.S. Department of Energy's Freedom of Information Public Reading Room, 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Minutes will also be available by writing to Kelly Snyder at the address listed above. Issued at Washington, DC on February 13, 2007. Rachel Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. E7-2760 Filed 2-15-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 69 FR: DOE: Environmental Management Advisory Board Meeting Doc E7-2763 [Federal Register: February 16, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 32)] [Notices] [Page 7643-7644] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr16fe07-69] DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Advisory Board (EMAB). The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Tuesday, March 6, 2007, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Wednesday, March 7, 2007, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. ADDRESSES: The Knoxville Marriott, 500 Hill Avenue SE., Knoxville, Tennessee 37915. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terri Lamb, Executive Director of the Environmental Management Advisory Board (EM-13), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585. Phone (202) 586-9007; fax (202) 586-0293 or e-mail: terri.lamb@em.doe.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of the Board is to provide the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management with advice and recommendations on corporate issues confronting the Environmental Management Program. The Board will contribute to the effective operation of the Environmental Management Program by providing individual citizens and representatives of interested groups an opportunity to present their views on issues facing the Office of Environmental Management and by helping to secure consensus recommendations on those issues. Tentative Agenda Tuesday, March 6, 2007 9 a.m. Welcome. 9:15 a.m. Opening Remarks. 10 a.m. Oak Ridge Office Presentation. 10:30 a.m. Break. 10:45 a.m. Small Business, Acquisition, and Project Management Update. 11:15 a.m. Roundtable Discussion. 11:45 a.m. Public Comment Period. 12 p.m. Lunch Break. 1 p.m. Employee Recruitment and Retention Presentation. 1:30 p.m. Roundtable Discussion. 1:45 p.m. EM Communications Working Group Overview. 2 p.m. Roundtable Discussion. 2:15 p.m. Technical Uncertainty and Risk Reduction Presentation. 2:45 p.m. Roundtable Discussion. 3 p.m. Break. 3:15 p.m. Discretionary Budgeting and Integrated Priority Lists and Earmarks Presentation. 3:45 p.m. Roundtable Discussion. 4 p.m. Recommendations from EMAB, NAPA, and the EM Focus Area Working Group and Implementation Strategy Overview. 4:30 p.m. Roundtable Discussion. 4:45 p.m. Public Comment Period. 5 p.m. Adjournment. Wednesday, March 7, 2007 9 a.m. Opening Remarks. 9:05 a.m. Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board Presentation. 9:35 a.m. Board Business. Approval of August Meeting Minutes. Action Items. New Business. Roundtable Discussion. Set Date for Next Meeting. 11:30 a.m. Public Comment Period. 12 p.m. Adjournment. Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public. Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral statements pertaining to agenda items should contact Terri Lamb at the address or telephone number above. Requests must be received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable provision will be made to include the presentation in the agenda. Those who call in and register in advance will be given the opportunity to speak first. Others will be accommodated as time permits. The Board Chair is empowered to conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Individuals wishing to make public comment will be provided a maximum of five minutes to present their comments. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting will be available at http://www.em.doe.gov/stakepages/emabmeetings.aspx and for viewing and copying at the U.S. Department of Energy Freedom of Information Public Reading Room, 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585 between 9 [[Page 7644]] a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday--Friday except Federal holidays. Minutes will also be available by calling Terri Lamb at (202) 586-9007. Issued at Washington, DC on February 13, 2007. Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. E7-2763 Filed 2-15-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************