***************************************************************** 02/28/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.49 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Joins Regional Talks to Secure Iraq 2 UPI: Iraq meeting not policy change for U.S. 3 Iran and the Nuclear Option 4 AFP: US lawmakers hail 'overdue' talks with Iran, Syria - 5 AFP: No bilateral talks with Iran, Syria: White House - 6 UPI: Analysis: Two Koreas in detente talks 7 US: Huffington Post: Hold the Mushrooms 8 US: Forbes.com: TXU's Vanishing Plants - 9 Guardian Unlimited: Blair promises 'star wars' debate | 10 DAILY YOMIURI: Japan, Russia agree on N-cooperation talks 11 IRNA: Israel must 'come clean about its nuclear bombs,' says UK - 12 UN Atomic Watchdog: Nuclear Detective Not Only for Weapons NUCLEAR REACTORS 13 US: Al Gore is a closet pro-nuker! (some clips and quotes to prove 14 US: APN: United Way Questioned on Nuclear Bomb Plant Support, Indust 15 Herald Sun: States powers at risk 16 Herald Sun: Garrett's nuclear challenge 17 Sydney Morning Herald: No home insurance 'against nuclear risk' - 18 Sydney Morning Herald: PM calls for sensible nuclear debate - 19 Sydney Morning Herald: Scientists urge sweeping measures to save wor 20 US: Free Press: The sham of nuke power & Patrick Moore 21 EconomicTimes.com: Power industry needs booster dose- 22 Taipei Times: Nuclear plant could face further delays, economists cl 23 US: FR: NRC: Tennessee Valley Authority; Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, 24 IHT: Austrian activists block border crossings with Czech Republic o 25 US: Rutland Herald: Lawmakers, NRC clash over Yankee waste 26 US: UPI: Malfunction shuts Indian Point nuke plant 27 Prague Daily Monitor: Czechs want nuke plants to be main energy sour 28 US: UPI: NRC to conduct Diablo Canyon waste review 29 ITAR-TASS: Russo-Japanese cooperation is not limited to energy - Fra 30 AU ABC: Labor running scared from nuclear power - Govt 31 US: Metro Times Detroit: Nukes and NIMBY 32 The Australian: Minister won't rule out nuke law takeover 33 US: Harvey Wasserman: The Sham of Nuclear Power 34 Herald Sun: One in four distrust N-plants NUCLEAR SECURITY 35 US: [NukeNet] NRC to study environmental impacts of a terrorist atta 36 US: Northern Echo: Probe After Radioactive Substance Lost NUCLEAR SAFETY 37 US: Daily Nexus: Nuclear Test Facility Avoids Penalties for Radiatio 38 Evening Times: Nuclear Emergency Staff In Mod Strike 39 York Press: Radioactive Alert At York Campus NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 40 Pahrump Valley Times: Infiltration is focus of panel studying Yucca 41 US: FR: NWTRB: ACTION: Notice of modification to two existing system 42 World Nuclear News: Japan seeks enrichment partner 43 US: KCPW: EnergySolutions Bill Becomes Law - 44 US: Carlsbad Current-Argus: GNEP meeting attracts large audience 45 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Utah firm fined after driver leaves N-materia 46 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Hot-waste bill dodges guv's veto 47 US: Times and Democrat: Legislators tour radioactive waste landfill 48 RGJ.com: Berkley working against Yucca plan 49 US: Daily Herald: Nuke waste: Huntsman abstains 50 US: ITAR-TASS: Russia proportion on Japan uranium market can be incr 51 Bradford Era: Low-level radiative waste causing stir in Elk Co. 52 US: Roswell Daily Record: (GNEP) Nuclear plant hearing draws crowd 53 US: AU ABC: Uranium exports expected to be worth $700m. 54 US: AU ABC: Australia's uranium exports to reach $US550m 55 Channel 4 KRNV.com: State Panel Warned About Effort to License Nucle 56 US: ABC4: Controversial nuclear waste bill to become law without Hun 57 US: IHT: High uranium prices spark bid for Summit - PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY 58 DOE: New Tritium Source On Line at DOE’s Savannah River Site 59 DOE: DOE Selects Six Cellulosic Ethanol Plants for Up to $385 Millio 60 KOMO-TV; More delays looming in cleanup of nuclear sludge at Hanford 61 Platts: USEC's 2006 gross profit up $107.4 million from 2005 62 Tri-City Herald: K Basins sludge cleanup delayed 63 Inside Bay Area: UC won't pay for lab's nuclear safety violations 64 SF Chron: CALIFORNIA / UC exempt from $1.1 million fine levied for L 65 KnoxNews: Chemist invents new cleaning cloth 66 UPI: U. of Calif. fined for Los Alamos safety 67 KnoxNews: Sherry touts turnaround at Y-12's uranium house 68 UPI: U.S. resumes weapons tritium production 69 KnoxNews: Cleanup of K-25 appears in doubt 70 KTRV FOX 12: Idaho National Laboratory Impacts Economy ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Joins Regional Talks to Secure Iraq From the Associated Press Wednesday February 28, 2007 6:16 AM By ROBERT BURNS AP Military Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - In a diplomatic turnabout, the Bush administration will join an Iraq-sponsored ``neighbors meeting'' with Iran and Syria, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday. It marked a change of approach by the United States, which has resisted calls by members of Congress and by a bipartisan Iraq review group to include Iran and Syria in talks designed to stabilize Iraq. The move came amid growing discontent over the war, even as President Bush rushes an additional 21,500 U.S. troops to Iraq and congressional Democrats struggle to settle on their next steps to end U.S. participation. The administration said its decision to take part in the Iraq conference did not represent a change of heart, although the White House has accused both Iran and Syria of deadly meddling in the war. ``We've always been inclined to participate in an Iraqi-led conference,'' White House counselor Dan Bartlett said. The administration in recent weeks has increased its criticism of Iran's role in Iraq, charging it with supplying advanced technologies for the most lethal form of roadside bombs. The administration has accused Syria of harboring anti-Iraqi government forces and allowing weapons to cross its border. Rice announced U.S. support for the Iraq meeting, to be held in Baghdad next month, at a Senate hearing in which Democrats pressed her and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to explain what progress is being made in the Baghdad security crackdown and how soon U.S. troops will be coming home. ``There is no end, I say, no end in sight,'' exclaimed Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., the Appropriations Committee chairman. He decried the spending of $10 billion a month in Iraq and Afghanistan amid raging sectarian and insurgent violence. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., asked Gates to predict how soon Iraq would be stabilized. ``The honest answer to your question is: 'I don't know,''' Gates replied. He noted that Gen. David Petraeus had arrived in Baghdad as the new commander of U.S. forces and that Petraeus believes by early summer he will have a good idea of how the new Baghdad security plan, now getting under way, will work out. Noting recent speculation about U.S. military action to destroy neighboring Iran's nuclear facilities, Byrd asked Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whether it was true that the Pentagon was planning airstrikes against Iran. ``It is not true,'' Pace replied. ``Categorically?'' Byrd pressed. ``Categorically, sir,'' Pace said. Separately, Democrats' plans to limit Bush's war authority and force a change of course in Iraq were faltering amid party divisions over how quickly and aggressively they should act. Officials said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and other anti-war Democrats balked Tuesday at a draft measure that had circulated in recent days with the blessing of the leadership. The proposal would have repealed the 2002 law that authorized Bush to invade Iraq, and given the White House a goal of March 2008 to remove all combat troops from the country except for those carrying out limited missions. ``I will not vote for anything that the president could read as an authorization for continuing with a large military campaign in Iraq,'' Feingold said in a statement after a closed-door meeting. ``Deauthorizing the president's failed Iraq policy may be an appropriate next step if done right, but the ultimate goal needs to be using our constitutionally granted power of the purse to bring this catastrophe to an end.'' Other Democrats said there was general agreement among the rank and file on legislation that would limit the mission of troops remaining in Iraq, but there was no consensus on a means for accomplishing that goal. Meanwhile, House Democratic leaders are backing away from a proposal to scale back U.S. involvement in Iraq by withholding money for the war effort. Rice, in announcing the ``neighbors meeting'' on Iraq, said a wide range of interested countries were being invited. She said it was the Iraqi government's initiative to ask Iran and Syria. ``We hope that all governments will seize this opportunity to improve their relations with Iraq and to work for peace and stability in the region,'' Rice said. Her announcement was welcomed by Democrats and Republicans alike. ``Today's announcement is a first step, but it is not enough on its own,'' said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. ``Our national security requires a robust diplomatic effort in the Middle East, and the Bush administration cannot again settle for mere half measures.'' At the State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack said the agenda of the meeting would be set by the Iraqis. ``Security is clearly an important issue for the Iraqis. It's going to be at the top of the agenda,'' he said. ``There are clearly issues that we have with respect to security in Iraq.'' He said roadside bombs, which are the leading killer of American troops and are in some cases linked to Iran, are ``certainly at the top of our list.'' McCormack said the Iraq meeting would not include any formal U.S.-Iran negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, but he did not rule out informal discussions. The Bush administration says Iran's nuclear program is aimed at developing nuclear weapons, but Tehran says it is for new sources of energy. A U.N. Security Council deadline for Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment has just expired, and in response the U.S. wants the council to expand the limited sanctions the world body has imposed on Iran. The Iraqi government announced in Baghdad that it was preparing the meeting for mid-March, and that invitees include members of the Arab League and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - the U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia. A second meeting involving the countries' foreign ministers - which administration officials said Rice would attend - would also be held, perhaps as soon as early April. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 2 UPI: Iraq meeting not policy change for U.S. United Press International - NewsTrack - Updated: 02/28/2007 4:42:21 PM -0500 UTC WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- White House spokesman Tony Snow Wednesday cautioned against seeing coming diplomatic talks with Iraq's neighbors as a change in U.S. policy. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Tuesday told a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Iraq had invited Iran and Syria to a meeting on Iraqi security. At the daily press briefing, Snow noted there had been numerous diplomatic contacts with Iran, dating back to 2002, adding that the invitation did not signal a change in U.S. policy. "This administration is serious, when it comes to the Iranians, about a precondition for bilateral negotiations and also for diplomatic relations, which is they can't be working toward a nuclear weapon," Snow said. Snow said there would be no bilateral negotiations with Iran during the meeting but said the U.S. representative would participate in discussions of explosives and other issues if and when they come up. © Copyright 2007United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 3 Iran and the Nuclear Option Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 01:30:47 -0600 (CST) Feb 21, 2007 Guns and Butter www.gunsandbutter.net Iran and the Nuclear Option Interview with Professor of Economics, Michel Chossudovsky. Global Strike; Nuclear Posture Review; privatization of nuclear war; nuclear weaponry versus conventional weaponry; nuclear attack not about disarmament; timing; retaliation; anti-war movement; global economics; likelihood of attack; Israel; China and Russia; European Union; media complicity; police state; ground war; neo-liberal agenda. This show was originally broadcast on May 3, 2006, and is being repeated today to lay the foundation for future programming on a possible attack on Iran. Audio http://www.gunsandbutter.net/archives.php ======== ***************************************************************** 4 AFP: US lawmakers hail 'overdue' talks with Iran, Syria - Wed Feb 28, 2:56 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - US lawmakers on Wednesday hailed a decision by President George W. Bush's administration to take part -- alongside longtime nemeses Iran and Syria -- in a landmark conference on Iraq. "This development is long overdue. I hope this is the first step in a more comprehensive diplomatic effort by the Bush administration to begin to bring all countries in the region together to help stabilize Iraq and begin redeployment out of that country," US Senator Chris Dodd, a 2008 Democratic presidential contender, said Wednesday. "I'm disheartened to hear, however, that these talks will be strictly about Iraq and not other critical issues, such as terrorism and nuclear weapons programs, which must be addressed and resolved as quickly as possible," Dodd said in a statement. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at a congressional hearing Tuesday that the United States would attend the ministerial level meeting of Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria, as well as other world powers to discuss Iraq's future. The meeting, expected in early April, will follow a lower-level meeting announced by Baghdad Tuesday of Iraq's neighbors plus the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting record), another likely presidential hopeful, also praised the news. "This is an important diplomatic initiative taken by the Iraqi government. We will not achieve peace and stability in Iraq without a regional framework that includes Iran and Syria," he said. "This conference can be an important first step towards creating that framework," said Hagel. Another top lawmaker, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record), said that outreach to the two nations should have taken place "some time ago." "We're years behind having done that. It's so important that we understand the war will be won diplomatically, not militarily. We need a diplomatic surge, not a military surge," Reid said, referring to Bush's plan to introduce 21,500 additional US combat troops in Iraq. "As the Iraq Study Group said, the president and his administration should reach out to the Syrians and the Iranians. I support these talks. They should have happened some time ago," said Reid. Democratic US Senator James Webb (news, bio, voting record), one of a number of new lawmakers swept into office in November on a wave of nationwide dissatisfaction over the Iraq war, said in a statement a regional approach is the only one that will work in helping stabilize war-torn Iraq. "The expectations the administration has placed on the (Nuri) al-Maliki government are greater than Iraq's ability to meet them without a regional approach," said Webb. "It is gratifying that the United States is now working on a diplomatic effort equal to the contributions and sacrifice our military forces have made. Its time to break out of our strategic mousetrap in Iraq." Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 5 AFP: No bilateral talks with Iran, Syria: White House - Wed Feb 28, 5:58 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House Wednesday again rejected bilateral talks with Iran and Syria despite agreeing to participate with the two countries in an international security conference on Iraq on March 10. "There will not be bilateral talks between the United States and Iran, or the United States and Syria, within the context of these meetings," White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters. "These are organized by the Iraqis and these are on issues that are pertinent to Iraq," Snow said. "As for whether the United States has changed its policy dramatically, it has not," he added, replying to speculation that joining the conference together with Tehran and Damascus was a sign of Washington's warming toward the two US arch-rivals in the Middle East. "We are not engaging in diplomatic recognition of Iran. We are not engaging in bilateral talks with Iran," Snow continued. "A number of people have been characterizing US participation in a regional meeting as a change in policy, it is nothing of the sort," he emphasized. Snow stressed that Iran, which he said was seeking diplomatic recognition from the United States, needed to change its policies before Washington engaged directly with them. "They need to deliver," Snow said. But, he added, "There are multilateral forums where, if the Iranians are there, we're not going to walk out." Snow spoke a day after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States would attend a landmark conference on Iraq, which Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki fixed on Wednesday for March 10. Maliki's office said representatives of neighboring countries, permanent members of the UN Security Council, the United Nations, the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference were invited. Snow did say that issues standing between the United States and Iran, including US accusations that Iranian operatives were contributing to the sectarian violence and attacks on US forces in Iraq, would not be avoided in the conference. "If, in fact, topics like EFPs and such come up in that conference, obviously we will address them," he said, referring to the deadly "explosive formed penetrator" projectiles used against US forces that Washington says are being supplied to Iraqi insurgents from Iran. Snow said the United States has previously joined regional meetings attended by Iran and Syria without changing its bilateral position toward either. "The United States in a number of forums in the recent years has been at the table along with Iran and Syria on issues of regional concern ... so this is not a crack in the wall, it is another example though of the United States working diplomatically," Snow said. Bush previously has set out a tough stance on any diplomatic engagement with Iran and Syria. Snow reiterated the US administration's position on opening any dialogue with Iran, saying Tehran must first comply with UN Security Council demands to suspend uranium enrichment work "if they want to see us return to the table with them." Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 6 UPI: Analysis: Two Koreas in detente talks United Press International - International Intelligence - Published: Feb. 28, 2007 at 9:57 AM By LEE JONG-HEON UPI Correspondent SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- North and South Korea kicked off high-level talks Wednesday on reconciliation and economic aid amid hopes that the inter-Korean discussions could boost multilateral talks on the North's nuclear drive. In the Pyongyang ministerial talks, South Korean delegates called for the revival of cross-border exchange programs and the dismantling of the North's missile and nuclear programs, according to South Korean officials monitoring the meeting in the North's capital. In response, North Korean delegates urged its southern neighbor to resume economic aid and other humanitarian assistance immediately after the ongoing meeting, indicating its economic woes, they said. The ministerial talks, held after a seven-month hiatus, are the highest-level dialogue channel to coordinate cross-border reconciliation and cooperation since the 2000 summit between the two Koreas. The channel was frozen in the aftermath of tensions over North Korea's missile tests in July followed by its nuclear weapon test in October. This week's talks, the 20th since the 2000 summit, come two weeks after a groundbreaking agreement on ending the communist North's nuclear drive. Under the Feb. 13 deal, Kim Jong-Il's regime agreed to shut down and seal its plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, within 60 days and admit U.N. nuclear inspectors. In return, it will receive 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent assistance. The energy-starved nation will also receive an additional 950,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent as soon as it completes "disabling all existing nuclear facilities." South Korea said it would use this week's Pyongyang talks to produce a "great turning point" in establishing a permanent peace on the peninsula. "The meeting is to create the future of the Korean people and the hope of the Korean peninsula," the South's chief negotiator, Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung, told journalists in Seoul before leaving Tuesday. "We will also focus on normalizing the framework of inter-Korean dialogue and discuss ways of establishing a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula," he said. In a keynote speech at the ministerial talks, Lee expressed regret at the North's missile and nuclear tests as a threat to stability on the peninsula. He urged Pyongyang to fulfill the promise to dismantle its nuclear drive in return for energy aid in a "quick and smooth" manner. Lee also called for the North to allow a test run of trains on rebuilt tracks through the heavily armed border and open the rail links in the first half of this year, which would be a highly symbolic event to promote inter-Korean economic cooperation and exchanges. In response, the North's chief delegate, Kwon Ho Ung, called on Seoul to resume aid shipments immediately after the ministerial talks. He also proposed having further discussions on economic cooperation programs. The South has suspended its annual aid of 500,000 tons of rice and 350,000 tons of fertilizer after the missile tests. Seoul's state-run think tank Korea Rural Economic Institute warned Wednesday that North Korea could face a shortage of over 2 million tons of food if South Korea and the world withhold aid this year. Responding to the warning, Seoul officials said South Korea is set to revive the aid and has allocated $395.2 million (371.5 billion won) for food and fertilizer aid. Earlier this week, Seoul announced it was preparing to give 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil -- valued at $21.3 million -- to the North under the Feb. 13 nuclear deal, an apparent bid to warm up cross-border ties ahead of this week's talks. The South has also agreed to donate $800 million worth of raw materials to help the North improve its tattered light industry and produce more daily necessities. Officials and analyst here say the North is expected to use the talks, which end Friday, to win more economic aid in return for its reconciliation steps. Del.icio.us | Digg it | RSS E-MAIL | PRINT | SAVE | LICENSE © Copyright 2007United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. United Press International, UPI, the UPI logo, and other trademarks and service marks, are registered or unregistered trademarks of United Press International, Inc. in the United States and in other countries. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights ***************************************************************** 7 Huffington Post: Hold the Mushrooms Robert Koehler: 02.28.2007 Wow, the weapons heavies had to cut and run. A sense of enlightened self-interest -- the same stuff that legendary community organizer Saul Alinsky was preaching in Chicago's Back-of-the-Yards neighborhood six decades ago -- enabled a bunch of little guys out West to stare down the future of nuclear warfare, and win. This unprecedented development must be savored. Divine Strake, the simulated nuclear blast the Defense Threat Reduction Agency was initially planning to set off nine months ago at the Nevada Test Site near Las Vegas -- which would have raised a 10,000-foot mushroom cloud of god-knows-what -- has been scrapped for good. After several postponements and a round of power-point presentations at various locations downwind of the test site that did nothing but fuel people's outrage, it ain't gonna happen. "There was such a public outcry," said Salt Lake City resident Mary Dickson of Downwinders, one of the organizations leading the fight against the blast, the possibility of which revived hellish memories of the era of above-ground testing that ended in 1962. "I like to think the people will prevail, so I can go on thinking this fighting we do does matter," Dickson, a cancer survivor, told me. "I just want people to know, if they think they can't make a difference, look at this case." "Back in the '50s," said Idahoan Preston Truman, who heads Downwinders, "we were given a booklet on the first day of kindergarten that said, 'You people who live near the test site are, in a very real sense, active participants in this nation's testing program.' Well, I think it just got demonstrated!" But banding together Alinsky-style to thwart the powers that be and stop a test blast isn't what the era's propaganda writers had in mind. That it was the last thing they had in mind is more than just bitter irony. It's a raw example of the unfinished nature of American democracy, and the struggle ordinary citizens still have -- well, let's face it, it's never-ending -- to wrest control of their destiny from virulent special interests. And there's no special interest more virulent, or arrogant, than the weapons establishment: "I don't want to sound glib here," DTRA director James Tegnelia told reporters a year ago, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, "but it is the first time in Nevada that you'll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons." As of March 2006, a sham "environmental impact" study had been conducted and the big blast, composed of 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, was seemingly a done deal, scheduled to be detonated in June within a mile of a radioactive hot spot at the test site. A total of 928 above- and below-ground nuclear tests had been conducted there between 1951 and 1992, and millions of people -- the Downwinders -- reaped the horrific consequences of the fallout they were told was perfectly benign. The "active participation" assigned to them, it turns out, was to die quietly of cancer and not make a fuss. Well, enough is enough. People saw clearly that the horror of the Cold War era was about to begin again, with Tegnelia's lurid and clueless remark about a new mushroom cloud having a galvanizing effect on residents in four states -- Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Montana -- in the immediate vicinity of the site. Massive opposition, cutting across all political lines, formed immediately. The Downwinders had a clear, intractable message for the weapons industry: "You're not going to make another generation of us!" The stunning political diversity of the opposition speaks volumes. Conservative Republicans, such as Utah's Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. -- who described himself as "jubilant" about Divine Strake's cancellation -- were in the front lines of the opposition, right next to antiwar progressives. This conveys a crucial truth: A new, complex rationality is gaining political traction in American life. The logic of violence is deeply flawed and its paradoxes, which transcend ideology, are coming home to roost. The drive to create a new generation of low-yield nuclear weapons (e.g., bunker busters), of which Divine Strake was a part, has the glaring flaw, which government propaganda can no longer mask, of poisoning U.S. citizens in its testing and production phases. Even "strong defense" patriots see the problem with this, at least when it affects them and their loved ones. From here, the logic for a new kind of society, a new national purpose, gains momentum. Surely no Downwinder who fought Divine Strake merely wanted the test site moved elsewhere ("Bomb Indiana instead!"). The test was wrong, period. And a growing number of people are coming to grasp that actually using such weapons on an "enemy" population would be worse, by a factor of thousands or millions, than just testing it. And slowly we are withdrawing the government's mandate to perpetuate a violent world. But there's such a long way to go, and the cost of enlightened self-interest is so high. When I asked Dickson what was next for her, she noted that a friend and fellow activist had just been diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. "We take care of the people who are still dying," she said. "It's never over for us." - - - Robert Koehler, an award-winning, Chicago-based journalist, is an editor at Tribune Media Services and nationally syndicated writer. You can respond to this column at bkoehler@tribune.com or visit his Web site at commonwonders.com. © 2007 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC. Copyright 2007 © HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | User Agreement | ***************************************************************** 8 Forbes.com: TXU's Vanishing Plants - Utilities Brian Wingfield, 02.28.07, 6:00 AM ET Last April, TXU announced its intention to build 11 new coal-fired power plants in Texas to help offset the state?s soaring demand for electricity, which the company said would fall below reliability levels by 2010 if steps were not taken to meet rising energy needs. But following the news last week that two private equity groups and Goldman Sachs (nyse: GS - news - people ) intend to buy the Dallas-based company for $45 billion, TXU (nyse: TXU - news - people ) yielded to environmentalists' demands and reduced the number of new plants to just three. The leveraged buyout announcement, which TXU formally announced Monday, leaves several questions unanswered: Why are 11 plants no longer needed to meet the state's future energy needs? How will the new company meet the increased demand for power? Will new generating capacity be added to Texas' electricity grid? And, really, just how important were the eight canceled plants if they were so easily scrapped? "Even though TXU's business strategy has changed, the need for power still remains," says Kim Morgan, a TXU spokeswoman. The company still intends to build three of its previously announced coal-fired plants, adding 2,200 megawatts of generation to the grid. This is roughly 25% of the entire capacity that the 11 plants would have added. TXU also plans to invest $400 million during the next five years in "demand side" management--essentially giving customers the option to cut back on their energy consumption when electricity demand is highest, such as the hottest of summer days. This is usually achieved through the installation in homes of advanced energy meters that can show customers when power rates are highest. According to Morgan, the three plants that will still be built will help resolve Texas' energy needs for 2010. To ensure the reliability of the electric grid after that date, TXU is planning on building 1500 megawatts of wind generation and is considering building multiple nuclear facilities, though these would not come on line by 2015 at the earliest--too late to resolve the looming power shortage. In addition, TXU said it could bring back into service several natural gas-fired power plants that are now offline. However, doing so could expose consumers to volatile natural gas prices. The company is already 70% reliant on natural gas. Moreover, its chief executive, John Wilder, said in November that the company probably invested too much in natural gas in the past. According to Public Utility Commission of Texas spokesman Terry Hadley, "Clearly there?s a need for new generation" in the Texas electricity market, but he adds: "TXU wasn't the only player in terms of adding new generation." Further, Hadley says, there was doubt that 11 plants would even be built due to concerns about the company's potential monopoly power. In fact, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state's grid operator, more than 150 new generation facilities are in the development stage. But ERCOT cannot count on those facilities being built because they do not yet have regulatory permits or agreements to interconnect with other parts of the electric grid. In a preview earlier this month of its future energy needs, ERCOT predicted that it would not meet its reliability standards by 2009. Now that the eight scrapped plants will not be built, this picture becomes even more stark. So where does this leave TXU? The company's individual business units--which were separated into generation, distribution and retail companies under Texas' deregulation law--will now become even more distinct, with separate boards of directors. The company?s generation business will be known as Luminant Energy, its electric delivery business as Oncor (other-otc: ONCR - news - people ) Electric Delivery. Its retail unit will remain TXU Energy. And returning to the initial questions: Why are eight of 11 plants no longer needed to meet the state's future energy needs, and how will the company meet its increased demand for power? More generation in fact is still needed, but TXU says its diversified power facilities will help offset this demand in a much greener way. Will new generation be added to Texas? electricity grid? Certainly, even without TXU's three new plants and burgeoning wind industry. And how important were those eight plants, which have now been scrapped? This is the question that remains to be answered. Certainly consumers are better off environmentally without them. But during the next decade, an estimated six million people are expected to move to Texas. If TXU has to call into service its "mothballed" natural gas plants, or if new generating capacity in the state isn't enough to meet demand--causing prices to skyrocket--those additional facilities would have mattered quite a bit. Forbes Magazines ***************************************************************** 9 Guardian Unlimited: Blair promises 'star wars' debate | Matthew Tempest, political correspondent Wednesday February 28, 2007 MPs will be consulted over a controversial idea to base US missile interceptors in the UK, the prime minister promised today - but stopped short of guaranteeing a Commons vote. Mr Blair revealed that talks with Washington over allowing a future anti-ballistic missile system to be based in Britain were only at a "preliminary" stage. Quizzed by the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, at prime minister's questions, Mr Blair promised to put the issue before the Commons when the time came. Mr Blair himself is likely to have left Downing Street by the time a concrete proposal is put forward, and Number 10 could not immediately elucidate whether MPs would merely debate or have a vote on the issue. President Bush is keen to site a new generation of missile-destroying weapons in Europe, with the UK, Poland and the Czech Republic so far emerging as likely locations. Such a move is likely to be highly controversial within Labour circles, where a debate on recommissioning nuclear Trident missiles has already opened up a divide. Sir Menzies asked Mr Blair: "Do you accept that the system proposed is largely untried, indeed it has been described as firing a bullet in order to hit a bullet? "In the circumstances, there would undoubtedly be enormous strategic and political implications of any deployment - not least in the area of arms control. "Isn't it right we should have those discussions here in the house and not behind closed doors?" Mr Blair told him: "I'm sure we will have discussion in this house and elsewhere when we get to the point where there is a proposition that can be put before people. "Of course the technology is untried and in a stage of development with the US. The US is also ... in discussion with Poland and the Czech Republic as to whether to site ABM systems there. "When we've got a proposition to put, we will come back and put it, and no doubt you can then tell us whether you are in favour of it or not." The system is controversial because critics claim it harks back to cold war thinking, when interceptor missiles were planned to hit an incoming Soviet attack. Mr Blair agreed in 2003 to allow the US to upgrade the early-warning radar tracking station at Fylingdales in North Yorkshire, and the US-dominated Menwith Hill spy post near Harrogate, to direct the interceptor missiles to their targets. According to press reports, the chancellor is said to be "sceptical" about Britain hosting the actual missiles bases themselves. Paul Ingram, senior analyst at the British American Security Information Council, said: "The technology is wholly unproven. "The challenge is so difficult that this is just building sandcastles in the sky. It [also] makes Britain more vulnerable. If a country seeks to attack the US, this is the first line of defence, so we would be attacked first." Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 10 DAILY YOMIURI: Japan, Russia agree on N-cooperation talks Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov agreed Wednesday to start negotiations for concluding a nuclear cooperation agreement in which both countries promise to ensure nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, government officials said. The agreement would officially allow Japanese companies to let Russia enrich uranium taken from spent nuclear fuel from domestic power firms' nuclear power stations. Observers say the Russian agreement to enter negotiations on concluding the agreement will accelerate moves toward concrete examples of cooperation in the nuclear power field in the private sectors of both countries. Abe, speaking at a joint press conference on their talks, said, "We need to make further efforts to sufficiently utilize both countries' potential in the economic field and make progress in mutually beneficial spheres of cooperation." He noted the three areas of cooperation that both countries will emphasize will be energy, railways and airlines, and information and telecommunications technologies. Abe placed particular emphasis on cooperation in the nuclear field, saying both countries would begin negotiations for concluding a nuclear power agreement. Japan and Russia concluded an "arrangement" in 1991 on nuclear power, covering areas such as the exchange of information. However, there has so far been no agreement in which both sides promise not to convert enriched uranium into nuclear weapons. Although Abe and Fradkov did not announce when both sides plan to conclude the agreement, Japan is believed to be looking for an early agreement to encourage nuclear power cooperation as a key element in greater overall Japan-Russian energy cooperation, the officials said. Meanwhile, Sergey Kirienko, the director of the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency, who accompanied Fradkov, held talks with Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akira Amari at the ministry the same day. Kirienko touched upon a variety of bilateral nuclear cooperation programs including those for providing uranium enrichment services, exploration of uranium minerals, nuclear plant construction and parts for nuclear plants. © The Yomiuri Shimbun. ***************************************************************** 11 IRNA: Israel must 'come clean about its nuclear bombs,' says UK - London, Feb. 28, IRNA UK-Iran-Israel Nukes The British government is calling on the Zionist regime for the first time to officially admit to its illegal stockpile of nuclear weapons that is contrary to the Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT). "There is no question that Israel should come clean about its nuclear bombs and delivery systems," Foreign Office Kim Howells said during a parliamentary debate on the dispute over Iran's civilian nuclear programme on Tuesday. Howells warned that other MPs had also made "the important point that Israel will start to develop a second strike capacity." "I know from my discussions in the (Persian) Gulf that the Egyptians, the Saudis and Turkey will want a bomb because they feel threatened by that regime, which is why there is no more important issue on the international horizon," he said. The issue was raised by backbench Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, who asked the Foreign Office Minister to comment on "Israel's development of a nuclear arsenal and on the treatment of India and Pakistan." "Both of which have developed nuclear weapons and are being rewarded with large amounts of western aid and technology, even though they would both have been in breach of the non-proliferation treaty had they been signatories to it," Corbyn said. He also told MPs that Iran was a signatory to the NPT, "unlike Israel, which has 200 nuclear missile warheads and is not a signatory to any international treaty on the control of nuclear weapons." "Perhaps we should be promoting a nuclear-free Middle East, including Israel, which would involve nuclear disarmament and everybody signing up to the NPT," the anti-war MP said. Howells said that Corbyn "rightly raised the issues whether that was fair and whether Iran should be able to continue with fissile material production, because Israel also has a bomb." "For the sake of clarity, it should be put on record - I do so now, and I hope that it is marked - that we have no wish to deny Iran, or any other country, its rights under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, provided that it meets its obligations," he said. The minister said he had heard pleas for the UK government to try to engage with Iran in whatever way it can. "We have tried endlessly to engage with Iran, and we will continue to do so," he pledge. The notion, he said, that somehow the UK is "not part of an attempt to engage with Iran in rational discussions is probably the most serious slur of all." "There is still time for diplomacy to work. We remain committed to finding a negotiated solution and our approach has been to make it clear to Iran how it might benefit from meeting its obligations," he said. ***************************************************************** 12 UN Atomic Watchdog: Nuclear Detective Not Only for Weapons The United Nations atomic watchdog agency, better known around the world for its efforts to curb nuclear proliferation and stop weapons of mass destruction from falling into the hands of terrorists, is helping an Austrian museum assess damage and identify ways to preserve a stolen Renaissance sculptural masterpiece that was recently recovered. Acting as a nuclear detective in a little known sphere, the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has loaned Vienna's Kunsthistorisches (Art History) Museum an instrument known as X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (or XRF) to examine and uncover hidden truths about a golden salt and pepper cellar sculpted by Benvenuto Cellini, which was found buried deep in a forest after being stolen in 2003. Just under 30 centimetres high, the Saliera - sculpted in the 16th century to hold spices for royal feasts - shows the graceful bodies of a man and woman symbolizing the god of the sea and goddess of earth. Its value exceeds $60 million. Not many people know that nuclear-based techniques like XRF are used for studying works of art, from Cellini's Saliera to Michelangelo's David. But they have proved their worth in fields ranging from art restoration to archaeology and the preservation of cultural artifacts. The best feature is that the invisible rays do not destroy or harm the treasured art. Another is its portability. Since any movement to a work of art is potentially catastrophic, the goal of art restorers is to minimize disturbance. And XRF, about the size of an overhead projector mounted on a moveable chassis, can be brought right to the source. As it was to unlock the secrets of Cellini's Saliera. Initial findings show that the gold is very pure, about 90 per cent. The composition of the sensitive, partly flaking enamel that covers the masterpiece is still being examined. Martina Griesser, who heads the museum's conservation science department, said the enamel had been degrading over time but "the theft certainly did not help things." Having the sculpture exposed to harsh elements is a horrifying scenario for museum conservators. "The theft damaged the Saliera but fortunately not so much as we were expecting," Ms. Griesser said. Most obvious is a deep scratch at the breast of the female figure, probably caused by the crowbar the thief used to smash the showcase it was stored in. The information obtained from the XRF gives conservators like Helene Hanzer the best chance to restore the piece and protect it for the future. With the help of XRF, it is hoped that the Saliera will be fully restored and back on public display in 2008. Apart from its nuclear weapons remit, the IAEA has a multi-dimensional mission that crosses a host of fields from medical diagnosis and cancer treatment to isotope tracking of underground water to weather and climate studies. Source: United Nations judythpiazza@gmail.com Copyright © 2007, NewsBlaze, Daily News ***************************************************************** 13 Al Gore is a closet pro-nuker! (some clips and quotes to prove it) Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 15:39:09 -0800 -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Al Gore is a closet pro-nuker! (some clips and quotes to prove it) Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 10:19:01 -0800 From: Russell 'Ace' Hoffman To: Recipient list suppressed:; February 27th, 2007 Dear Readers, To back up my comments in yesterday's newsletter, here are some clips and quotes from the past decade, indicating Al Gore's pro-nuclear stance and his reluctance to admit it. Ace Hoffman Carlsbad, CA ------------------------------------------------------ >From 2000 (Congressional Quarterly, April 21, 2000): [Nevada senatorial candidate John] Ensign . . .has accused Vice President Al Gore--the certain Democratic nominee--of being unclear on the issue of nuclear waste. Gore's campaign has said that the vice president wants the EPA to rule on Yucca's suitability before sending waste to Nevada and that he opposes storing it there temporarily. He has not ruled out using Yucca as a permanent site, said a spokesman from the vice president's office. ------------------------------------------------------ >From an article in the LVS, April 26, 2000: But NEI won't ease up. Next year brings the promise of a new president, which has stirred speculation about how Al Gore and George Bush would handle a nuclear waste bill. Gore, like Clinton, objects to the current bill, but neither he nor Bush has said much beyond that. ------------------------------------------------------ >From LVSA April 21, 2000: Only Green Party candidate Joel Kovel said he outright opposed burying nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. He responded with a simple "no" to the question of whether he supported a high-level waste storage facility at Yucca. Only Republican Alan Keyes responded with a "yes" to the question posed by the Washington-based Sustainable Energy Coalition. Vice President Al Gore, who previously has voiced opposition to storing nuclear waste in Nevada, said in the survey that he still doesn't support the plan, at least for now. He said the nuclear waste debate should be "based on science, not politics." "Until the scientific analysis of the Yucca Mountain site is completed, it is premature to make a determination about its use as a disposal site," Gore said. "For that reason, I have strongly supported the administration's vigorous and successful fight against legislation that would move waste to the Yucca Mountain site before the scientific evaluation is complete." ------------------------------------------------------ LVS, May 15, 2000 (Not sure why it's in CAPS): `SOUND SCIENCE' THE PHRASE IT'S UNANIMOUS: THE NUCLEAR WASTE INDUSTRY AGREES WITH BOTH PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDERS: "SOUND SCIENCE" MUST BE THE FIRST AND FOREMOST CONSIDERATION WHEN IT COMES TO BUILDING A NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY. THAT PHRASE WAS USED BY DEMOCRATIC VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE AND BUSH. "SOUND SCIENCE NEEDS TO BE THE BASIS FOR A REPOSITORY DECISION, WE AGREE ON THAT," A SPOKESMAN FOR THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE SAID AFTER BEING ASKED TO REACT TO BUSH'S ONE-PARAGRAPH ISSUE POSITION. THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY DID NOT RETURN CALLS SEEKING COMMENT ON WHETHER THE POSITION OF EITHER CANDIDATE WAS PREFERABLE. ------------------------------------------------------ >From a pro-Nader Sierra Club document, June 29th, 2000: Reasons not to vote for Al Gore as compiled by Sierra Club board member Michael Dorsey as a discussion paper. ... 12. Gore failed to keep radioactive materials out of commercial products. The Vice President supported the plan to melt metals from the Oak Ridge nuclear facility and put them into ordinary commerce despite the lack of agreement over national radiation standards for such metal products. ------------------------------------------------------ Birds of a feather: Gore and Bush agree on Yucca Mountain, Idaho State Journal, Sept. 2000: Republican nominee George W. Bush, seeing his lead in Nevada melting away, has promised Nevada Republicans that he would veto plans to use Yucca Mountain as a temporary storage site for high-level nuclear waste. Bush is now in line with Vice President Al Gore, who made a similar pledge at the Democratic National Convention. ------------------------------------------------------ >From the Paducah Sun, October 10th, 2000: The Committee to Elect Al Gore, formerly known as the U.S. Department of Energy, is throwing a large bone to southern Ohio voters, hoping to convince them that the vice president will save the jobs of workers at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. ------------------------------------------------------ Some may say he has no responsibility to this, but note that the sins of the father have NEVER been undone -- even a little -- by the son. From my Stop Cassini newsletter #155, July 20th, 1999: In the 50's the American People had to be sold a lie in order for them to embrace the nuclear future that was being offered them. Al Gore' dad was one of the main proponents of that lie, and thousands of others bought into in themselves for whatever reason... ------------------------------------------------------ >From a presentation by Karl Grossman at the New School University, January 26, 2002: The Republican Bush-Cheney posture on nuclear power is super-extreme, but that doesn't mean the Democratic alternative was or is on the diametric other "side." The website of the Nuclear Energy Institute www.nei.org includes a page of "Endorsements of Nuclear Energy" and among those quoted are Al Gore: "Nuclear power, designed well, regulated properly, cared for meticulously, has a place in the world's energy supply," he is reported to have said. Gore's running mate as candidate for vice president, Senator Joseph Lieberman, is quoted as saying at a Senate hearing in 1998: "I am a supporter of nuclear energy." ------------------------------------------------------ >From Energy and Peak Oil News, April, 2005: Former Vice President Al Gore, a reputed environmentalist, authored a book called, "Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit," published in 1992. Yet on July 25, 1998, Gore visited the Chernobyl Museum in Kiev, Ukraine, and delivered a speech in which he said, "The lesson of Chernobyl is not an indictment of nuclear power as such. Nuclear power, designed well, regulated properly, cared for meticulously, has a place in the world's energy supply." ------------------------------------------------------ Here's a reader comment found at the Huffington Post blog, July 7th, 2006: Jim Lovelock is an absolute GOD to the environmental/anti-GW bloc...he created the Gaia Hypothesis &is cited by Al Gore for lotsa stuff in his movie. He too is urging the immediate/massive transition to nuclear power plants. ------------------------------------------------------ And lastly (not that I couldn't go on and on with this!), here's something from a pro-nuclear article in Opinion Journal by William Tucker, July 21st, 2006: No, it's more than ironic--it's dishonest. In "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore lifts the "seven-wedge" approach to global warming from Robert Socolow, director of the Carbon Mitigation Initiative at Princeton. Mr. Socolow's main "wedges" are efficiency, conservation, fuel switching, renewables, carbon sequestration, reforestation--and "nuclear fission." Mr. Gore conveniently leaves nuclear out. ------------------------------------------------------ Conclusion: Al Gore is a closet pro-nuker! ************************************************* ** THE ANIMATED SOFTWARE COMPANY ** Russell "Ace" Hoffman, Owner and Chief Programmer ** P.O. Box 1936, Carlsbad CA 92018-1936 ** (800) 551-2726 ** (760) 720-7261 ** Fax: (760) 720-7394 ** Visit the world's most eclectic web site: ** http://www.animatedsoftware.com ************************************************* IF YOU RECEIVED THIS EMAIL IN ERROR AND/OR DO NOT WISH TO RECEIVE ANY MORE EMAILS FROM US FOR ANY REASON, PLEASE CONTACT RUSSELL HOFFMAN AT: rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com MailTo:rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com?Subject=Unsubscribe-me-please . Please be sure that "Unsubscribe-me-please" appears in the subject line. ***************************************************************** 14 APN: United Way Questioned on Nuclear Bomb Plant Support, Industry Ties Atlanta Progressive News By Betty Clermont, Senior Staff Writer, Atlanta Progressive News (February 27, 2007) (APN) NORTH AUGUSTA, SOUTH CAROLINA – The United Way of Aiken County, South Carolina, has come under recent criticism for its support of the Bush Administration’s proposed new weapons-grade plutonium plant at a recent hearing, Atlanta Progressive News recently reported. United Way of Aiken County said it wants the plant to be located at the Savannah River Site (SRS)–where nuclear power is currently produced–at a recent hearing. However, Atlanta Progressive News has now uncovered a tangled web of nuclear weapons industry interests serving on the United Way of Aiken County’s Board of Directors. The United Way’s national media office has failed to respond to our questions about the relationship between the local and national branches of the agency. United Way Aiken has failed to respond to our requests for their lists of donors and audited financial statements for the last two years. The plutonium pits, which the United Way wants produced, are for use in nuclear bombs. And while the decision to produce bombs has not been made yet, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) told Atlanta Progressive News that a plan including more bombs, called Complex 2030, is the only plan, of several, which is consistent with Bush Administration priorities. Now, some community members are questioning the United Way, in light of their Mission Statement posted on their website, "to improve lives in our community." "Wow! This is amazing! A charitable organization is not supposed to be involved in something like this," retired physician, William Johnson of Augusta, thought during the hearing, he recalled in an interview. "It is totally inappropriate for a non-profit to show their support for such a controversial issue. The production of nuclear weapons - you can't get more controversial than that," Dr. Johnson explained. The SRS “is a safe place. I’ve never worried about it. This community depends a lot of the Savannah River Site,” Dee Stratford, President of the United Way of Aiken County, told Atlanta Progressive News in an interview. “It’s a staple in the economy,” Dave McRae, Director of Resource Development at the United Way of Aiken County, added. Stratford later said in her public comments at the hearing that the United Way of Aiken County received $1.9 million this year from SRS employees, and a total of $44 million since 1950. If this isn’t a conflict of interest in itself, take a look at United Way of Aiken’s County’s Board of Directors. UNITED WAY’S NUCLEAR INDUSTRY TIES REVEALED The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors includes not only Dave Hepner of the US Department of Energy (DOE) - SRS Operations, but also P.K. Hightower with Westinghouse Savannah River Co. and Brant Morowski with Bechtel Savannah River, Inc., both subsidiaries of Washington Group International. Why is this important? Well, the SRS is operated by the Washington Savannah River Company, a subsidiary of Washington Group International. Another employee of the Washington Group on the Executive Committee is John Paveglio with British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL). BNFL operates a nuclear power plant at Sellafield, in Cumbria, England, the site of Britain’s most dangerous nuclear accident in 1957 and the worst in the world until Three Mile Island in 1979. Sitting on the Board of Directors are seven more employees of Washington Group or their subsidiaries, also an employee of United Defense (part of the Carlyle Group portfolio) which produces arms and war materials for the U.S. Department of Defense. Also of interest are two employees of Wackenhut Services, Inc., which provides security for the SRS. CITIZEN RAISES CONCERN Outraged at the United Way's public statements, Dr. Johnson contacted the South Carolina State Employees Association, which contributes to the United Way, asking them "would state employee and retiree donors object to this activity for a United Way agency in South Carolina?" Johnson also sent a letter to the United Way Association of South Carolina expressing his concern but received no reply. The only response he received was a phone call from Sheila Consaul, Director of Media Relations, for the United Way of America. According to Johnson, Consaul indicated their endorsement activity was within the policy guidelines of the national organization because the Aiken chapter was not endorsing a specific candidate but was there in support of “economic development” of the community. Indeed, nonprofit organizations are not prohibited from lobbying, but depending on their filing status, may have certain limitations on the amount or types of lobbying they can do. Either way, the legal issue of whether United Way can legally endorse a nuclear bomb plant does not tells us whether the United Way’s endorsement of a nuclear bomb materials plant is consistent with their Mission. BOMBPLEX 2030 The recent hearing, held in North Augusta, South Carolina, by the DOE and the NNSA was to gather public comment concerning a Bush Administration program, titled "Transform to a More Modern, Cost-Effective Nuclear Weapons Complex (Complex 2030)." Complex 2030 goals are to replace aging warheads from the Cold War era, potentially move additional nuclear materials to SRS, and create a "consolidated plutonium center," plutonium being the most dangerous of all nuclear materials. A New York Times newspaper Editorial, dated January 15, 2007, says our current nuclear arsenal is in no need of upgrading and that Complex 2030 is a totally unnecessary "make-work program championed by the weapons laboratories and belatedly by the Pentagon, which hasn’t been able to get Congress to pay for its other nuclear fantasies." Like most Bush Administration initiatives, it would line the pockets of the already rich with more taxpayer dollars. The SRS, owned and funded by the DOE and located close to Augusta and Savannah (GA) as well Columbia, Greenville, and Charleston (SC), already has the most radioactivity of any nuclear weapons facility in the nation and is second in sheer volume of nuclear power waste, Frank Carl noted in Water Keeper Magazine. More than 5,500 radioactive offsite shipments and onsite transfers - "from entire trainloads to small samples of radioactive liquids" - took place at the SRS in 2005 alone, according to their website. Many advocates, as noted in our previous coverage, have taken a clear stand against the expansion of nuclear facilities in our state and on our border because of the inherent danger of nuclear plants and because the use of nuclear technology facilitates the world-wide proliferation of nuclear bombs. About the author:About the author:

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [NukeNet] NRC to study environmental impacts of a terrorist attack at Diablo Canyon Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 11:51:28 -0800 (PST) From: MoJo To: me NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
Posted on Mon, Feb. 26, 2007
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/breaking_news/16788719.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

NRC to study environmental impacts of a terrorist attack at Diablo Canyon

David Sneed
The Tribune
In a ruling issued today, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given its staff 90 days to prepare an analysis of the environmental impacts of a terrorist attack on Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant’s dry cask storage facility for high radioactive used reactor fuel.
The ruling settles a lawsuit by a local nuclear watchdog group that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Last year, a federal appeals court ruled that the agency erred in its "categorical refusal to consider the environmental effects of a terrorist attack" when it issued a license to Pacific Gas and Electric to build the facility near the power plant.
The commission ordered that as much of its revised environmental analysis as practical be made available to the public. However, some material will not be disclosed due to security concerns.
The agency expects to have the whole process wrapped up in a year.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"While America obsessed about Brittany's shaved head, Bush offered a
budget that offers $32.7 billion in tax cuts to the Wal-Mart family
alone, while cutting $28 billion from Medicaid." -- Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone

"It is vital that our state understand that once PG&E and SCE are no longer generating electricity from Diablo Canyon and San Onofre, high-level radioactive waste will be left on our coast vulnerable to attack. No longer will it be a matter of 'We need the power so the risk is worth it.' The utility - the jobs, property taxes and donations to the community will be gone. Only the risk will remain for our children and grandchildren." - Rochelle Becker, Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility

Molly Johnson
6290 Hawk Ridge Place
San Miguel, CA 93451

Have a burning question? Go to Yahoo! Answers and get answers from real people who know. _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings or access the archives at: http://mail.energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net ***************************************************************** 36 Northern Echo: Probe After Radioactive Substance Lost Comment A UNIVERSITY lost a substance which is more than one million times more radioactive than Uranium for five days. The Radium 226 went missing from York University after it was meant to have been transported to be disposed of. It was supposed to be held in a lead container and sent to a specialist disposal company. But when the container arrived there was nothing inside. A full-scale investigation was launched but the radium - about the size of a pea - was only found five days later at a plant in South Yorkshire where it had been sent by mistake. A university spokesman said it was "extremely unlikely that any person was exposed to any risk to their health at any time." As part of the investigation the university's biology department was swept and independent agents examined local waste skips. In the end it was traced to the stainless steel reprocessing plant. The university spokesman said the Radium 226 had now been disposed of in accordance with established procedures. He said: "The level of radiation from the capsule is extremely low and represents little or no danger to human health. "If crushed or broken, the capsule contents would be dangerous only if inhaled or ingested in significant quantities." He said all relevant agencies and companies had been kept informed of developments during the investigation. Professor Dale Sanders, head of biology, said the radium had been used to calibrate a machine in the biology department. The machine, a RackBeta device, is used to measure radioactivity in biological materials. It had been due for dismantling and the university had wanted to dispose of the radium before disposing of the rest of the machine. He said the university had swung into action as soon as it had been informed of the missing radium at 4pm on Friday, February 16. "The relevant agencies were notified, the Health and Safety Executive, the Environment Agency and the police," he said. He said the university investigation was being conducted by Keith Lilley, director of facilities management, and the report would be sent to the HSE. The investigation would examine exactly how the substance got to the reprocessing plant. A North Yorkshire Police spokesman confirmed the police had been informed. A spokeswoman for the HSE said: "The HSE has been informed and will be making its own 11:23am Wednesday 28th February 2007Print  Email this story Privacy Policy © Copyright 2001-2007 Newsquest Media Group ***************************************************************** 37 Daily Nexus: Nuclear Test Facility Avoids Penalties for Radiation Exposure - Previous UC Control Prevents Los Alamos Lab From Paying Fines Due to Health Code Violations Published Wednesday, February 28, 2007 Issue 84 / Volume 87 The UC-affiliated Los Alamos National Laboratory will not have to pay the $1.1 million in safety fines it was facing, due to its previously held non-profit contractor exemption status. The U.S. Dept. of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the lab, recommended the fines, but released a statement on Monday acknowledging that federal law prevented it. NNSA brought the charges up for nuclear safety violations that occurred in 2005, when the lab was still under UC control. Had the suggested fines been paid for the 15 violations, it would have been the largest civil penalty in the history of the NNSA program. Because LANL is now managed by a coterie of national defense contractors as well as the University, it has lost its exemption status and can be forced to pay fines for future incidents. Control of the facility was formally transferred to Los Alamos National Security, LLC in June 2006. According to the NNSA report, several workers were exposed to small amounts of radioactive material in March 2005. Additionally, that July, another worker contaminated himself and spread radiation to several offsite locations. The resulting radioactive exposure did not exceed NNSA limits; however, the association found the effects of the leaks could have been significantly worse. In addition to those incidents, A DOE Office of Independent Oversight inspection conducted in November 2005 uncovered several deficiencies in Los Alamos’ implementation of environmental, health and safety programs. -Staff Report All content, photographs, graphics and design Copyright 2000-2006 Daily Nexus at the University of California, Santa Barbara. All ***************************************************************** 38 Evening Times: Nuclear Emergency Staff In Mod Strike WORKERS trained to deal with a major incident at the nuclear submarine base on the Clyde went on strike today. The engineers were among more than 200 staff who are threatening more 24-hour stoppages in a bitter pay row. MoD workers at the base, which includes the Faslane and Coulport sites, are angry at having a below-inflation wage rise imposed of 2.5% for each of the next two years. Up to 6000 key staff at defence establishments across the UK are taking part in the national strike. Alan Grey, a union official with Prospect, revealed: "Joining the strike are members of our nuclear accident response team. But he added: "Team members have been told they must return to active duty immediately if there's a major incident." Union leaders say they are willing to re-open pay negotiations at any time but warn if the row is not settled they are likely to ballot for more strikes. But an MoD official insisted: "There is absolutely no need for this strike. "This is a good offer following four years when employees have enjoyed one of the best pay deals in government." Publication date 28/02/07 Copyright © 2007 Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights ***************************************************************** 39 York Press: Radioactive Alert At York Campus By Mike Laycock THE University of York was today investigating how it came to lose a radioactive chemical, sparking a major wide-scale search. The Radium 226 went missing after it was meant to have been transported inside a lead storage container to an external company for specialist disposal. When the container turned up, staff at the disposal company found there was nothing inside and informed the university. Staff there immediately launched a full investigation, which included sweeping the biology department with a monitor to determine whether it was still within the department. Independent radioactive waste monitoring agents were also employed to determine whether it had been put into local waste skips but they drew a blank. The radium - about the size of a small pea - was only located five days later when the university traced it to a stainless steel reprocessing plant in South Yorkshire, where it had been sent by mistake. A university spokesman said it had now been disposed of in accordance with established procedures. Anyone swallowing the Radium 226 would suffer serious health implications, but the spokesman said it was "extremely unlikely that any person was exposed to any risk to their health at any time". He said: "The level of radiation from the capsule is extremely low and represents little or no danger to human health. If crushed or broken, the capsule contents would be dangerous only if inhaled or ingested in significant quantities." He added that all relevant agencies and companies potentially involved in the issue had been kept informed of developments during the investigation, and the university had offered them every assistance. Professor Dale Sanders, head of biology, said the radium had been used to calibrate a machine within the biology department - a "RackBeta" machine used to measure radioactivity in biological materials. But it had been due for dismantling and the university had wanted to dispose of the radium before disposing of the rest of the machine. He said the university had "swung into action" as soon as it had been informed of the missing radium at 4pm on Friday, February 16. "The relevant agencies were notified; the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environment Agency, as well as the police," he said. He said the university investigation was being conducted by Keith Lilley, director of facilities management, and the report would be sent to the HSE. The investigation would be examining how the substance got to the reprocessing plant. A North Yorkshire Police spokesman confirmed that the disappearance of the radium had been reported to officers on the evening of February 16. A spokeswoman for the HSE said: "The HSE has been informed and will be making its own inquiries." What is Radium 226 and why was it in use at the University of York? RADIUM is highly radioactive - more than one million times more radioactive than the same mass of uranium. Inhalation, injection, ingestion or body exposure to radium can cause cancer and other disorders, and stored radium should be ventilated to prevent the accumulation of radon gas, which is also radioactive. Radium 226 has a half life of about 1,500 years - which means it loses half of its radioactivity every 1,500 years. It is naturally occurring in small amounts and can be found in soil, and every person has a small amount of radium 226 in them, usually in their bones. It is formed from naturally occurring uranium when it decomposes radioactively, and is sometimes found in naturally higher concentrations in soils and rocks, for example, in Cornwall. A person standing one metre from the source for one hour would receive an extremely small dose, much less than the dose received from a chest X-ray. If it were handled for an extended period of time, it could result in reddening of the skin and a small burn. Radium 226 has been used in smoke detectors and, in the past, it has been used in "luminescent watches" and in other forms of luminescent paint. Schools have radioactive sources so that they can teach radioactivity, usually in physics classes. Radium 226 is used extensively in schools for teaching about radioactivity. It is usually held in a so-called "sealed source". As long as it is not eaten or broken-up and inhaled, it is perfectly safe. The RackBeta machine at York University was used to measure radioactivity in biological materials, having come there with a new academic member of staff from the University of Cambridge in 1993. The machine was used to measure radioactivity in tests of function in various cells and tissues. The work was part of research in cryobiology, the aim of which was to develop methods of freezing tissues for biomedical purposes. This included methods for preserving the cells that line blood vessels and cartilage for use in transplantation surgery. The machine was last used last March. Using deadly gas as a therapy SCIENTISTS at the University of York are investigating whether high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer could be treated with a deadly gas. Experts have been given £110,000 to study whether using small amounts of carbon monoxide could help fight such conditions. They said that according to initial findings, releasing the gas into the bloodstream could help tackle high blood pressure, and also treat other related conditions. The team, from the university's chemistry department, has been given the cash from the Leverhulme Trust to carry out the three-year research. Carbon monoxide, which is formed because of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, is known as "the silent killer" because it cannot be seen or smelt but can kill people who breathe it in, as it prevents the blood from bringing oxygen to cells, tissues and organs. The gas can be created by faulty central heating systems, gas appliances and fires. Blocked flues and chimneys can allow the gas to build up and poison people, leading to their deaths. 11:00am Wednesday 28th February 2007Print  Email this story Post this story to: Digg | del.icio.us | Furl | reddit | NowPublic | Yahoo! Privacy Policy © Copyright 2001-2007 Newsquest Media Group A Gannett Company ***************************************************************** 40 Pahrump Valley Times: Infiltration is focus of panel studying Yucca Mountain Feb. 28, 2007 BERKELEY, Calif. -- The U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board's panel on Postclosure Performance will meet in Berkeley, Calif., March 14. The meeting agenda will focus on the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) infiltration estimates for the proposed repository site for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The board will review the results of new infiltration studies undertaken by DOE because of quality assurance questions that were raised about DOE's previous infiltration analyses. Information from the meeting will be used by the board to evaluate effects of the new analysis on the technical validity of DOE infiltration estimates. The board is charged by Congress with reviewing the technical and scientific validity of activities undertaken by DOE related to nuclear waste disposal, as stipulated in the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987. Presentation will be made by technical and scientific investigators from the University of Nevada, Reno, the U.S. Geological Survey and DOE and its contractors. Time will be set aside at the end of the meeting for public comments. Those wanting to speak are encouraged to sign the "public comment register" at the check-in table. A time limit may have to be set on individual remarks, but written comments of any length may be submitted for the record. Copyright © Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - ***************************************************************** 41 FR: NWTRB: ACTION: Notice of modification to two existing systems of records. Doc 07-885 [Federal Register: February 28, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 39)] [Notices] [Page 9037] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28fe07-101] NUCLEAR WASTE TECHNICAL REVIEW BOARD Privacy Act of 1974; Systems of Records AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. SUMMARY: 5 U.S.C. 552a requires that each federal agency review its systems of records containing personal information covered by the Privacy Act of 1974. As a result of its latest review, the Board is amending both of the systems of records that it maintains. A description of these systems was published in November 22, 2006 (71 FR 67654-67655). The Board proposed amending NWTRB-1 and expanding NWTRB-2 to include other information useful to the Board. In the first system, Administrative Files, some categories were overlooked in the previous notice. The Board further proposed expanding the second system, Mailing List, to become the Contact List. The Board determined that the changes to NWTRB-1 were important enough to republish the notice with the changes and that the changes to NWTRB-2 were substantial enough to accept comments on the proposed expansion until January 15, 2007. The Board received no comments on the proposed expansion. DATES: The changes to NWTRB-2 will become effective on February 28, 2007. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria Reich, 703-235-4473. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Board currently maintains two systems of records , NWTRB-1 and NWTRB-2, that contain information covered by the Privacy Act of 1974. In its review of these systems, the Board has found classes of information that were not included in its previous notice and on November 22, 2006, republished NWTRB-1 with the corrections added. The Board further found that expanding the records in NWTRB-2 would make it more useful and requested comments from the public from November 22, 2006, until January 15, 2007. No comments were received during this period. Accordingly, the Board plans to proceed with the proposed changes on February 28, 2007. Dated: February 23, 2007. William D. Barnard, Executive Director, U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. [FR Doc. 07-885 Filed 2-27-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6820-AM-M ***************************************************************** 42 World Nuclear News: Japan seeks enrichment partner 28 February 2007 Talks are in progress between Russia and Japan over the enrichment of uranium recovered from the recycling of used nuclear fuel. It is Japan's policy to recycle its nuclear fuel to limit the amount of uranium it has to import and to reduce the amount of waste for disposal. Russia's prime minister, Mikhail Fradkov led a Russian delegation, which included several cabinet ministers to meet their Japanese counterparts, led by prime minister Shinzo Abe. As well as nuclear fuel supplies, the politicians also discussed other energy security issues. At a Tokyo press conference, trade minister Akira Amari said: "Regarding uranium enrichment, it is important to broaden our options." He added that "Russia can be an important partner for Japan" for enrichment of recycled uranium and that international discussion of safeguarding Japanese nuclear materials in Russian plants would be key to any agreements. A bilateral agreement between Japan and Russia is likely to be necessary before commercial contracts could be signed. Japan must import 80% of its energy resources, including the nuclear fuel that provides 30% of electricity. It has long been government policy to recycle used nuclear fuel to extract reusable uranium and plutonium. Japan now has stocks of uranium recovered from previous reprocessing campaigns amounting to 6400 tonnes. This is currently stored in France and the UK, where the reprocessing was carried out. Before reuse as fresh uranium dioxide fuel, such material (around 1% U-235) must be enriched again (to 3-5% U-235) for use in a power reactor, but Japan does not have significant domestic uranium enrichment capacity. In addition, the isotopic composition of recycled uranium means it must be handled separately from fresh uranium. Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun has reported that the Japanese government along with nuclear utilities is entering the "final stage of negotiations" to have stocks held in Europe enriched in Russia. That country has surplus enrichment capacity left over from Soviet days. In addition, natural uranium from projects in Kazakhstan in which Japanese companies have interests could be enriched in Russia. Besides enriching recovered uranium for use as conventional uranium dioxide nuclear fuel, Japan also intends to use it instead of depleted uranium with recovered plutonium oxides as mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel. A reprocessing plant at Rokkasho is approaching commercial operation, with a neighbouring MOX fuel fabrication facility planned to operate in 2012. In time, 18 of Japan's current 55 power reactors are expected to use MOX. Further information WNA's Nuclear Power in Japan information paper ***************************************************************** 43 KCPW: EnergySolutions Bill Becomes Law - Feb 28, 2007 by Julie Rose Governor Takes More Steps to Control Nuke Waste in Utah (KCPW News) Governor Jon Huntsman Junior chose the course of "no action" last night, opting to let a controversial bill involving radioactive waste disposal company EnergySolutions go into effect without his signature. But the Governor has also pledged to limit the waste EnergySolutions can dispose of at its Utah facility. Spokesman Mike Mower says the move aligns with Huntsman's promise to keep Utah from becoming the nation's nuclear dumping ground. Senate Bill 155 lets EnergySolutions make changes to its existing waste permit with approval from state regulators, but not the Governor or Legislature. Huntsman believes the company has that right based on the actions of previous Governors. But Mower says Huntsman is disappointed lawmakers haven't done more to restrict waste in Utah, so he's asking the regional governing body for nuclear waste to limit any new volume of waste coming to Utah. State Director of Environmental Quality Dianne Nielsen says that could hamper a pending request from EnergySolutions to pile waste higher at its existing site. Anti-nuclear activist group HEAL-Utah says Huntsman has quote "turned a deaf ear" to the one-thousand people who called his office asking for a veto. Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom, Legislative Coverage, and 2007 Legislative Coverage. Copyright 2007 KCPW 1. Archie Phillips said: It's amazing to see how something as simple as a name change (and a few bucks here and there) has thrust the most terrible business in the state into prominence. Energy Solutions name is all over the place. And, they seem to be getting everything they want. It's too bad there isn't a truth in advertising presence in Utah. Their name should be Spent Energy Pollution. Copyright © 2006 KCPW ***************************************************************** 44 Carlsbad Current-Argus: GNEP meeting attracts large audience By Kyle Marksteiner Article Launched: 02/27/2007 09:38:10 PM MST CARLSBAD The proven record of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and the area's overall nuclear expertise were two of the primary reasons given Tuesday morning by Carlsbad residents for locating a spent nuclear reprocessing center and advanced burner reactor in southeastern New Mexico. More than 200 people attended the Department of Energy scoping meeting at the Pecos River Village Conference Center in Carlsbad. More than 50 individuals spoke, and all but one expressed support for bringing the proposed Global Nuclear Energy Partnership facilities to the region. The meeting was one of a series of public comment sessions that will be considered by the Energy Department in determining the scope of a planned environmental impact statement. Eleven communities nationwide have been selected to perform site studies. The Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, comprised of representatives of the two counties and the communities of Hobbs and Carlsbad, has suggested a site in western Lea County. Gandy Marley Inc., of Roswell, and Salt Lake City-based Energy Solutions have suggested a site in Chaves County. A scoping meeting held in Hobbs Monday night drew a crowd of about 100, according to the Hobbs News Sun, and about a dozen people spoke. A meeting in Roswell, for the Chaves County site, took place Tuesday night. Tuesday morning's meeting in Carlsbad was packed with city and county officials and WIPP employees. WIPP employees all clarified that they were speaking as individuals on their own time, but noted that the nuclear repository's proven record makes the area ideal for GNEP projects. Each individual was given three minutes to speak to the Energy Department officials present. Many speakers also read letters written by local elected officials, who are currently in Santa Fe attending the legislative session. Carlsbad resident Jeff Neal noted that area residents understand nuclear waste and nuclear enrichment. "We understand the science," he said. "We understand the engineering, and we understand protecting our employees. Most of all, we trust the Department of Energy." "I'm proud to say that Carlsbad anxiously awaits the future," noted councilor Jeff Diamond. "We're also supporting wind power and solar power projects." Former councilor Larry Henderson cited the number of roadblocks the community overcame in opening WIPP ? a common declaration made during Tuesday's meeting. WIPP's Bob Kehrman talked about how support for the nuclear industry runs across county and state lines in the area. His suggested criteria for the developing environmental impact statement included an examination of community and official support ? both high in Carlsbad. "That's refreshing in today's not in my backyard' society," he noted. Bertha Cassingham, noting the scoping meeting's goal of soliciting alternative ideas, suggested that the area also be considered for future disposal of waste related to GNEP projects. Dick Raaz, president and general manager of Washington TRU Solutions, said the support in Carlsbad and Hobbs wasn't just based on a desire for jobs, but was an enlightened support that came from a high level of knowledge. Carlsbad Fire Chief Mike Reynolds also cited the area's support for the nuclear industry. "Look outside. What you don't see are people carrying signs ? people protesting you," he said. When it comes to nuclear power, "Carlsbad and Hobbs have gotten their groove on," WIPP employee Meg Milligan said. Resident Rita Nelson cited the need to bring nuclear energy to other parts of the world. "My children's children will only be safe if the rest of the world is also a safe place," she said. "There is no reason why it should not be here," retiree Andy Anderson concluded. But Carlsbad resident Gene Harbaugh spoke as the event's single dissenter. Harbaugh said the proposal to build a nuclear reprocessing facility in the area is flawed for economic, ecological and escalation reasons. "Locally, it would depress the retirement sector," he said. "The nuclear industry as a whole would vanish without the heavy federal subsidizing." The nuclear industry, he noted, typically benefits a small elite sector of the population. "With nuclear economics, New Mexico ranks as the hungriest' state in the union, but has the richest county in the nation," he said. Fuel reprocessing would also require huge amounts of water in an environment where water is scarce, he noted. "The experts select scientific and strategic and statistical information to fit their purposes," he said. "But the experts in this debate are not scientists or politicians and statisticians, but ordinary people and families who want to live whole and healthy lives." Another Carlsbad resident, Jackie Hadzic, said she was for GNEP, but also saw merit in Harbaugh's comments. But the overwhelming feeling expressed Tuesday was that the area would be the ideal location for GNEP facilities. "It comes down to politics," said Cliff Stroud with Los Alamos National Laboratory's Carlsbad office, noting that the area has long been in favor of nuclear energy. "Carlsbad and Eddy County was country when country was not cool. It has to do with WIPP, and the changing of views as regards to (the nation's) nuclear society." "This is the biggest turnout you are going to see. Let's give our town a big hand," said Carlsbad Mayor Bob Forrest, brandishing a newspaper article mentioning the meeting. "I think we have a great path forward." A story about the informational portion of Tuesday's GNEP meeting in Carlsbad will be printed in an upcoming edition of the Current-Argus. Copyright © 2005 Carlsbad Current Argus, a MediaNews Group Newspaper. ***************************************************************** 45 Salt Lake Tribune: Utah firm fined after driver leaves N-material in truck bed Article Last Updated: 02/28/2007 12:05:21 AM MST A Clearfield company faces a $6,500 fine after one of its drivers left radioactive material unattended overnight when he stopped at a bar in Casper, Wyo., and was later arrested after being in a traffic accident. Universal Testing, LLC fired the unidentified driver, who left an industrial radiography device, which X-rays metal pipes at construction sites, in the open bed of a pickup on Feb. 18, 2006, the Nuclear Regulatory CommissionÕs statement released Monday said. Later that night, the NRC said, the driver was involved in a traffic accident, arrested, and held overnight in jail. His truck was impounded, while the radioactive device was left ''unattended and unsecured,'' the NRC said. The driver recovered his truck and the device the next day. Bruce Mallett, a regional administrator with the NRC, said the rule violation ''was significant because the material was vulnerable to unauthorized access or removal.'' On the company's Web site, is a quote: ''We have a saying here - 'If you want the job done right give us a call. If you don't care you should probably call someone else.' The company's office manager said no one was immediately available to discuss the case. According to the Web site, Universal Testing provides testing and inspection services in the nuclear, aerospace and petrochemical fields. The company has 30 days to pay or challenge the proposed fine, the NRC said. © Copyright 2007, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 46 Salt Lake Tribune: Hot-waste bill dodges guv's veto Huntsman allows EnergySolutions to grow within mile-square boundary The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 02/28/2007 01:21:55 AM MST EnergySolutions no longer needs to ask elected leaders for permission to allow its Utah radioactive landfill site to grow - up to a certain point. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. declined to veto a bill Tuesday that gives up policy oversight - by local officials, the Legislature and the governor - as long as expansions stay within the current mile-square boundary in Tooele County and do not involve hotter waste. For the first time in his administration, Huntsman allowed a bill to go into law without his signature, disappointing more than 1,000 Utahns who had called and written in opposition to the bill and prompting the nuclear waste company to declare victory. "From our perspective, we got what we wanted," said Greg Hopkins, vice president of communications for the company. Huntsman did not hand the critics a complete defeat, however. While he agreed with lawmakers and the company that the bill "clarified" the way the executive branch has regulated the company, he also announced he would use his authority to impose a cap on the volume of waste allowed at the site. "It is not the legislation that concerns me, but the nuclear waste industry and its impact on Utah," he said in a statement about his decision. "I take very seriously my responsibility to ensure that our state will not become the dumping ground for other states' nuclear waste." To get the cap, Huntsman will ask the federally designated oversight body for the EnergySolutions site - the Northwest Compact - to limit the amount of waste to the volumes currently licensed, no more than 13 million cubic yards or about double the amount of low-level radioactive and hazardous waste the site has disposed of in its 19 years. EnergySolutions said last fall its licensed capacity in Utah is 30 million cubic yards, and it insists that Huntsman and the Legislature no longer have control over what happens within the site's current boundaries. The company also operates a disposal site for hotter waste in South Carolina, the only low-level waste facility besides the Tooele County site to serve 39 states. In addition to the new cap, Huntsman said he will get regular reports of types and qualities of waste going to EnergySolutions, and he will "issue executive orders to ensure protection of the public health and environment." The Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, an environmental group better known as HEAL, said enactment of the bill still leaves open the possibility that legislators could overturn the state's ban on hotter waste and block the governor from stopping the change. At the same time, the group acknowledged that the governor exercised his authority to limit radioactive waste, as he pledged repeatedly during his campaign and while in office. "It sounds like Governor Huntsman told the [Department of Environmental Quality] to put away its rubber stamp," said Vanessa Pierce, HEAL's executive director. Regulators have amended the company's license more than 80 times since 1988. Those changes allowed the site to take more and different kinds of waste, and regulators never directed the company to seek approval for expansions from the Legislature and governor, as HEAL and other critics contend the law requires. Huntsman early in his tenure had said he would only sign or veto bills, never allowing them to go into effect without his signature. His spokesman, Mike Mower, said he decided to contradict that pledge because he felt SB155 did not go far enough in saying how EnergySolutions should be regulated and wanted to register his disapproval short of a veto. fahys@sltrib.com Privacy Policy | MNG Corporate Site Map ***************************************************************** 47 Times and Democrat: Legislators tour radioactive waste landfill in South Carolina By SEANNA ADCOX, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, February 28, 2007 SNELLING -- About 60 people, including more than a dozen lawmakers, learned how low-level nuclear waste is disposed of during a tour Wednesday at a low-level radioactive waste landfill in rural Barnwell County. Rep. Joan Brady was surprised to learn the trenches where the waste is buried aren't very deep so they don't interfere with the underground aquifers. "It's very valuable to see what the trenches look like. They're very different than what I thought," said Brady, R-Columbia. The lawmaker and others wanted to see the 235-acre Chem-Nuclear site first hand as legislators decide whether to change a decision to close the landfill next year to all but three states: South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut. The 36-year-old landfill currently accepts nuclear power plant debris and items such as radioactive hospital clothing from 34 states, where it is buried, said Michael Benjamin, a manager at Chem-Nuclear. A bill by Rep. Billy Witherspoon, R-Conway, would allow the facility to continue accepting the material through 2023, but some environmentalists oppose the plan. Witherspoon leads the House agriculture and environmental committee that will consider the bill. EnergySolutions, a Utah-based company that operates the site owned by the state, invited an 18-member House committee to tour the facility Wednesday. At first, the company denied a request by an environmentalist to attend, which raised questions about whether the trip violated the state's Freedom of Information Act. Eventually it was opened to the public. About 60 people, including 15 of the 18 legislators on Witherspoon's committee, toured the site. Rep. Laurie Funderburk, D-Camden, said she was surprised by how much room was left at the landfill. She also found it interesting only grass could be planted on top of trenches because tree roots could be a problem growing into where the waste is buried. The site, among the county's biggest employers, is financially important to the local economy and surrounding schools. Some argue its closure to most of the nation would throw the county into an economic crisis. The site's contributions make up roughly 10 percent of Barnwell County's overall budget, and supply $1 million split between the county's three school districts. "If it closes, we're in deep trouble," said County Council member Lowell Jowers. "This is a vital part of this county." A portion of the disposal fees also helps fund school building projects statewide. ***************************************************************** 48 RGJ.com: Berkley working against Yucca plan February 28, 2007 BRENDAN RILEY ASSOCIATED PRESS Posted: 2/27/2007 U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., discusses on Monday the federal budget, the Iraq war and other issues during a news conference in Carson City. U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, now on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, told state lawmakers Monday that the budget proposed by President Bush makes "asinine" cuts in federal funds that will hurt Nevada and other states. But Berkley, D-Las Vegas, said there's one federal budget account that she'd like to see disappear completely -- the nearly $500 million that Bush put into his $2.9 trillion budget plan for a high-level nuclear waste dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain. Berkley said she's working with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who is "hellbent on eliminating" the Yucca Mountain funding. She also urged legislators to continue their opposition to the dump until it's "nothing but a very, very bad memory." In comments to the lawmakers and to reporters at an earlier news conference, Berkley highlighted numerous problems created for Nevada by the proposed federal budget, including a 64 percent cut in the state's homeland security grant funds. There's also inadequate funding to fully carry out terms of the federal No Child Left Behind Act or properly run Head Start or anti-drug programs, Berkley said. In Nevada, about 425,000 people lack health insurance but the proposed federal budget makes cuts in critical programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, Berkley said, adding that a slight increase in federal funds for a health insurance program for children is far below what's actually needed. The proposed budget also cuts funding for Nevada's environmental programs, cuts job training and employment assistance and revives an attack on the Social Security system, Berkley said. Berkley also said she's working with other Democrats in the Democrat-controlled Congress to revise the federally mandated Real ID program, which will require Nevadans to apply for new, tamper-proof driver's licenses. The congresswoman told reporters the federal government will have to "pony up" additional money rather than force Nevada and other states to spend billions of dollars complying with the law. She said because of all the funding problems with the proposed budget, the hopes of adequate dollars for such pressing needs as highway construction are "becoming dimmer and dimmer." Nevada's projected shortfall for road funds is about $3.8 billion. Berkley also repeated her opposition to the Bush administration's troop "surge" in Iraq, and said a political rather than military solution is the best tactic. © Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett Co. Inc. Newspaper. ***************************************************************** 49 Daily Herald: Nuke waste: Huntsman abstains FRANK BOTT/Daily Herald Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. delivers the state of the state address to a joint session of state legislators inside the Territorial Statehouse located in Fillmore Utah Tuesday night. Wednesday, February 28, 2007 PAUL FOY - The Associated Press Gov. Jon Huntsman refused Tuesday to sign or veto a bill allowing for the expansion of a radioactive-waste dump in Utah's west desert. Huntsman's inaction means the measure will become law, giving EnergySolutions an easier time at winning approval to nearly double the capacity of its landfill about 72 miles west of Salt Lake City. Huntsman, however, vowed to take other steps to limit the radioactive waste sent to Clive, Utah, where EnergySolutions operates the country's largest and only privately owned radioactive-waste dump. The dump, which opened in 1988 with virtually no regulation, primarily takes tainted soil and debris from decommissioned power plants and defense depots. "I take very seriously my responsibility to ensure that our state will not become the dumping ground of other states' nuclear waste," Huntsman said in a statement. "I remain committed to fighting increased volumes of waste." Huntsman said he would ask the eight-state Northwest Interstate Low-Level Waste Compact to stop sending waste to EnergySolutions once the dump fills to currently approved volumes, before any expansion. Huntsman, who was returning from Washington, D.C., sent his environment chief to a news conference and released the statement just after the Legislature finished its business for the day. The legislature approved the measure by a veto-proof two-thirds majority in each house, and leaders said they were prepared to override any veto from the governor. His refusal to sign or veto the bill was highly unusual, something that Huntsman, a Republican who took office in 2004, vowed never to do. On Tuesday, Huntsman said EnergySolutions, which got its start as Envirocare of Utah in 1988, had "grandfather status" that exempted it from political vetting for changes at its licensed dump. Legislators said they inadvertently erased that grandfather status when they rewrote a radioactive-waste law in 2004. Huntsman said Senate Bill 155 was "simply a technical clarification" to restore an exemption for EnergySolutions allowing it to avoid having to ask the governor or Legislature for permission to pile waste higher on sections of its mile-square landfill. Regulators, meanwhile, will remain in charge of initially approving dumps, and they already have approved EnergySolutions' upward expansion on the engineering merits but haven't issued a license. The regulators agreed that the company could safely merge two waste cells into one supercell. EnergySolutions wants to fill in the middle and pile waste 83 feet high, up from the 47 feet currently allowed. The expansion would let EnergySolutions take 9.8 million cubic yards of radioactive waste from 5.5 million cubic yards currently licensed, said Dianne Nielson, executive director of the Utah Division of Environmental Quality. Nielson said one of the radioactive waste cells at issue was 72 percent full under current rules. She said another cell was only 1 percent filled to capacity. Both could expand. The new law carves the governor, Legislature and Tooele County out of the regulatory approvals needed for EnergySolutions to pile the waste higher. Huntsman, meanwhile, announced he would use other executive authorities in an effort to block EnergySolutions from taking any more waste than is allowed now. "He's doing all he can to keep nuclear and radioactive waste out of the state," Huntsman's deputy chief of staff, Michael Mower, said. This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1. Copyright © 2007 Daily Herald and Lee Enterprises ***************************************************************** 50 ITAR-TASS: Russia proportion on Japan uranium market can be increased 28.02.2007, 09.30 TOKYO, February 28 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s proportion on Japan’s low enriched uranium market can be substantially increased, the director of the Russian Agency for Nuclear Energy, Sergei Kiriyenko, said after his talks with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Akira Amari in Tokyo. Kiriyenko told ITAR-TASS that one of results of the upcoming meeting to the Russian and Japanese prime ministers would be the declaration of the beginning of talks on an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the nuclear energy sector. Russia can easily reprocess on its territory 6,400 tons of uranium, as the Japanese side wishes, from spent fuel of Japan’s nuclear power plants that is stored at present in Britain and France. “This is not so much for capacities of the Russian enrichment industry,” Kiriyenko said. He said that Russia’s proportion of enrichment capacities in the world is 40 percent. Kiriyenko stressed that he would not limit Russian-Japanese cooperation in the nuclear energy sector to 6,400 tons of uranium. With an intergovernmental agreement lacking, Russia covers 10-12 percent of needs of Japan’s low enriched uranium market, but “does that through intermediaries and side schemes”, he said. “Without such agreement, we cannot make direct deliveries,” he explained. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, ***************************************************************** 51 Bradford Era: Low-level radiative waste causing stir in Elk Co. By: Gretchen Rokosky, Era Correspondent 02/27/2007 KERSEY - Another load of low-level radioactive waste bound for the Veolia Greentree Landfill is causing a stir among residents of Fox Township. Officials said the demolition waste, which the state Department of Environmental Protection wants to place at the landfill, is coming from the Quehanna facility in Karthaus, the former site of radioactive material. However, Landfill officials have decided not to accept the waste. The matter was broached during a meeting of the Elk County Solid Waste Authority on Tuesday. This is not the first time nuclear material has been slated for the landfill. Last year, low-level nuclear ash from the Kiski Valley Water Pollution Control Authority's treatment plant lagoon in Allegheny Township in Westmoreland County was turned away from the landfill after residents, township supervisors and the county vehemently objected to it. The DEP - which began cleaning up the Karthaus site in 1998 - has indicated the waste is low-level, which can include the remainder of waste and material generated in power plants, such as contaminated reactor water, plus waste created in medical laboratories, hospitals and by various industries. Officials said the DEP has filed for an amendment to the byproduct materials license it holds at the Karthaus site with the Environmental Protection Agency. Contained in that document is a request from the DEP to the EPA to allow an exemption for the waste to be hauled to the landfill as long as it doesn't endanger public health. The Federal Register posted a notice about the waste on Oct. 11, 2006. Under the exemption granted to the landfill, any low-contaminated demolition material from the facility and site would, upon its receipt at the landfill, no longer be subject to Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations. Veolia's Area Manager Donald Henrichs said the first officials with the landfill knew anything about the license amendment was when a contractor called them about accepting demolition waste. When officials found out it would be coming from Quehanna, they called DEP to ask about it. They were then put in contact with the NRC and were told it was acceptable. Elk County Recycling-Solid Waste Coordinator Bekki Titchner said the state will save $1.2 million by sending the waste to the landfill, rather than to a low-level waste facility; the closest one would be in Utah. Officials said one of the main concerns for the county, as well as the Solid Waste Authority, was there was no notification, other than publishing the notice in the Federal Register, which is extremely difficult to find. Normally, a "Form U" is generated for industrial or commercial waste, Henrichs said, adding the landfill would receive the form U or the Material Data Safety Sheet (MSDS) paper. It would then be reviewed and sent to Veolia's headquarters in Milwaukee for review. From there, it would go back to the landfill, which would send it to the DEP for its review and approval. "They plan to bring it to us as construction demolition and no Form U is necessary," Henrichs said. In a written statement to The Era, Henrichs said "We (Veolia Greentree Landfill) decided not to take the Quehanna waste." The Fox Township Supervisors have also written a letter showing opposition to the acceptance of such waste at the landfill. "Without being certain of the potential long-term effects a material such as this may have on our land, water air and human life, we feel that it is in the best interest of our community and our citizens that all such material be permanently banned from disposal at the Greentree Landfill," the letter indicates. "In the interest of other host municipalities such as Fox Township, we further believe that this type of material should only be disposed of at sites specifically licensed to handle radioactive waste." The Quehanna facility was built in 1957 after the state enacted legislation for the location of a research facility at the site, which was to be operated by the Curtiss-Wright Corp. Plans for the facility included the development of nuclear jet engines and research in nucleonics, metallurgy and other areas. Then in 1958, a license was issued to Curtiss-Wright to operate a pool reactor at the facility. The license also included use of the hot cells and laboratories. The facility changed hands several times during its life, until 1998, when an NRC byproduct materials license was issued to Permagrain for the radioactive material remaining on site from past operations. In December 2002, Permagrain initiated bankruptcy proceedings and the byproduct materials license was transferred to the DEP. In 2003, radioactive material was removed from the site and shipped to a licensed disposal facility. In 2004, Permagrain's license was terminated. ©The Bradford Era 2007 ***************************************************************** 52 Roswell Daily Record: (GNEP) Nuclear plant hearing draws crowd Ashley Meeks Record Staff Writer Several hundred people attended the Department of Energy?s public hearing Tuesday night at the Best Western Sally Port Inn to register support or opposition for a proposed nuclear waste reprocessing center outside Roswell. In partnership with EnergySolutions, Gandy-Marley Inc., owners of the Triassic Park hazardous waste site between Roswell and Tatum, are seeking to develop a site at that location that would encompass a nuclear fuel recycling center or an advanced recycling reactor. The Gandy-Marley site is one of 11 sites across the country — including a site just outside of Hobbs — being considered for the project and the company partnership was recently awarded $1.1 million in grant money to study the idea. Dr. Paul W. Lisowski, deputy assistant secretary for fuel cycle management with the DOE?s Office of Nuclear Energy, said Tuesday that the proposed nuclear fuel reprocessing plant would use a uranium-extraction technology that has been demonstrated only at a laboratory scale. He said the site most similar to the proposed plant is the plutonium and uranium extraction site that has been operating in La Hague, France, since 1976, but that this project would be the first of its kind in the world. Nuclear power, produced by splitting uranium to produce heat and drive steam-powered turbines, provides 20 percent of the United States? total electricity and 70 percent of the country?s emission-free electricity, according to the DOE. The project proposed for Roswell would separate spent fuel into reusable uranium and other atomic elements, and non-reusable materials. The reusable fuel could then be used to generate electricity in a fast breeder reactor which produces more fuel than it consumes. Representatives of both the Gandy and the Marley families were present to speak in favor of the project. ?Our family moved here in the late 1870s and we don?t plan on moving,? said Bill Marley, vice president of Gandy-Marley Inc. ?We have no intention of building anything to the area that is unsafe.? Roswell Mayor Sam LaGrone, who spent four days in England last week viewing the Sellafield nuclear site with Bob Donnell, who heads the Chaves County Development Foundation, said he came away ?unbelievably impressed? by the site?s cleanliness and safety and by the independent monitoring provided by the West Cumbria Sites Stakeholder Group. ?The reliance on foreign oil is dangerous,? LaGrone said. ?I think (nuclear power) is a very needed thing.? The CCDF also produced the results of a telephone survey of 2,400 Roswell residents conducted Monday, saying that nearly 57 percent of those polled either supported the site or were in favor of studying the project more. Stephanie Darrow was not one of those Roswell residents in favor of the idea, saying she was worried about toxic byproducts of the process and overall safety on the ground. ?Reprocessing destabilizes waste,? she said. ?I?m concerned. I?m very concerned. I don?t want it here.? One Roswell resident, reading from a list of a dozen questions, asked why it wouldn?t make more sense to locate such a facility near the nuclear facility of origin, how much water such a facility would use, and how long spent fuel rods would be stored there. Another resident worried that the site in question was in the middle of an area riddled with caves. And another cited a general suspicion of GNEP, comparing it to abortion as an idea that ?sounds so good upfront? but ends up not being so decades down the line. Aldo Carrasco, a Dexter High School and New Mexico Military Institute graduate, worried that the project would compromise the environment just to reap the economic benefits. ?We?re a cash-strapped community. We shouldn?t compromise our futures because we?re in dire straits,? he said. Retiree John Popham seconded those remarks, worrying that the potential for disaster far outweighed the benefits. ?Just because we need jobs and because the air base is closed doesn?t mean we should accept anything that comes along,? he said. Representatives of several Albuquerque environmental groups, Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping, the Center for Peace and Justice, and the Southwest Information and Research Center, were also present at the hearing to voice their dissent. ?GNEP is another expensive, technologically unworkable and environmentally disastrous proposal which will fail,? said Don Hancock, of the Southwest Information and Research Center, citing cleanup projects at nuclear facilities in Hanford, Wash.; Savannah River, S.C.; West Valley, N.Y.; and the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. ?All of those were great failures both economically and environmentally.? Other speakers urged people to get informed at this early stage of the project and not to prematurely judge it. ?I?ve been all over that land,? said Roswell resident Todd Waggoner. ?I don?t think (the plant) would harm it. I think it?d probably enhance it,? he said, drawing a few chuckles from the audience. Additional support came from letters filed on behalf of local Republican legislators: U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce; state Reps. Nora Espinoza, Candy Spence Ezzell, Dan Foley, and Keith Gardner; and state Sens. Rod Adair and Gay Kernan. But absent from that list were local Democrats, including state Sen. Tim Jennings. Former Mayor Tom Jennings, the senator?s brother, spoke out against the project, as did his daughter, Jesse Jennings, 9. Tom Jennings recalled that during hearings in the 1980s about the then-proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the DOE promised it would never seek to store high-level waste in the area. WIPP, built in 1999 and located south of Carlsbad, ended up serving as permanent storage for nuclear waste. ?It was told to the community that there would not be any nuclear waste there,? Jennings said. ?Now it?s happening.? Jennings voiced concerns about safety, citing the ?unsafe? two-lane road on which much of the WIPP waste is transported and inferring that similar promises about safety would fall short of the reality in this case as well. ?We have not been told the truth,? said Jennings. Donnell said after the meeting that while he was in full support of the project, it was important not to rubber-stamp its way to approval. ?We have to ... ask the really tough questions,? he said, acknowledging that some people?s perceptions would never change on the subject, but most people just want more information. On that point, he was in agreement with Hancock, who said while he, after decades of working on nuclear issues, already had an opinion, most people still needed to formulate good questions for the DOE and Gandy-Marley, Inc. ?People shouldn?t know what they think at this point,? Hancock said. Aside from feedback registered at the DOE hearings, public feedback will be collected and registered: ? by e-mail, to GNEP-PEIS@nuclear.energy.gov ? by phone to 866-645-7803 ? by fax to 866-645-7807 ? by mail to Mr. Timothy A. Frazier, Office of Nuclear Energy/U.S. DOE, 1000 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, D.C. 20585. The current public comment period will be open until April 4. A draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement is expected to be published by this summer, after which public input will again be sought, according to Richard Black, associate deputy assistant secretary with the Office of Nuclear Energy. Black said a final report should be published in the summer of 2008. ***************************************************************** 53 AU ABC: Uranium exports expected to be worth $700m. 28/02/2007. ABC News Online Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says Australia's uranium exports are expected to be worth $700 million this financial year. He says that is enough to power almost 50 nuclear reactors and produce 2 per cent of global electricity. Mr Downer has also used Question Time to attack Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd's opposition to a nuclear power industry in Australia while supporting uranium exports. "What does the Leader of the Opposition think that this uranium is going to be used for?" he said. "Fluorescent-faced watches or something like that? Lava lamps? To pave the streets of Paris, or Beijing, dare I say it. "The hypocrisy of the Leader of the Opposition's position is obvious for all to see." ***************************************************************** 54 AU ABC: Australia's uranium exports to reach $US550m Last Updated 28/02/2007, 19:31:31 Australia's foreign affairs minister, Alexander Downer, says Australia's uranium exports are expected to be worth $US550 million this financial year. He says that is enough to power almost 50 nuclear reactors and produce two per cent of global electricity. Mr Downer has also used question time to attack the opposition's objections to a nuclear power industry in Australia, while supporting uranium exports. "What does the Leader of the Opposition think that this uranium is going to be used for?," he said. "Flourescent faced watches or something like that? Lava lamps? "To pave the streets of Paris ... or Beijing dare I say it? ***************************************************************** 55 Channel 4 KRNV.com: State Panel Warned About Effort to License Nuclear Dump in Nevada A Nevada panel fighting a proposed Yucca Mountain dump for nuclear waste has been told that project backers face big obstacles but are still seeking approval of the dump and of rail shipping routes -- including one through downtown Reno and Sparks. The warning to the Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects prompted its chairman, Richard Bryan, to say it's "no time to sit back" given the federal Department of Energy's efforts to open the dump. Bob Halstead, a transportation adviser to the commission, says rail shipments through the Reno-Sparks area would have a huge impact on commercial and residential properties near the route -- possibly lowering their combined value by well over one billion dollars. DOE spokesman Allen Benson says the agency is years away from settling on routes. He also says the federal government has been hauling nuclear waste by truck for half a century with no safety problems. (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) ***************************************************************** 56 ABC4: Controversial nuclear waste bill to become law without Huntsman's signature - ABC4.com February 28, 2007 - 11:49 PM The controversial Energy Solutions Bill will become law without the governor's signature. Governor Huntsman decided not to sign Senate Bill 155, which would remove the Governor and the Legislature from their past oversight of the Energy Solutions waste site in Tooele County. Without his signature, the bill automatically becomes law Tuesday at midnight. Critics say this could open the door for more and hotter radioactive waste coming to our state. As for the bill's supporters, they say it's no big deal and only makes technical changes to the law. On Tuesday, the Governor's office was absolutely flooded with calls and e-mails urging him to veto this bill. Story by: Chris Vanocur chris@abc4.com Copyright & Trademark Notice ***************************************************************** 57 IHT: High uranium prices spark bid for Summit - International Herald Tribune By Angela Macdonald-Smith Bloomberg News Published: February 27, 2007 SYDNEY: Paladin Resources, an Australian uranium explorer, offered Tuesday to buy Summit Resources for about 997 million Australian dollars, or $791 million, in shares as it seeks full ownership of a deposit of the nuclear fuel in the Australian state of Queensland. Summit shareholders would receive one Paladin share for every 2.04 Summit shares, Paladin said in a statement. That implies a price of 5.05 dollars per Summit share based on closing prices Monday, a 26 percent premium. Summit shares surged as much as 28 percent Tuesday to 5.11 dollars. Uranium prices have more than doubled in the past 12 months amid rising demand for the fuel for power generation, helping to almost triple Paladin's share price in the last 12 months. Australia has about 40 percent of the world's known uranium reserves, yet contributes 23 percent of output due to a ban on new mines by the Labour Party, which controls all state governments. Labour is expected to overturn the ban in April, Deutsche Bank said Feb. 21. "Summit has a very large uranium resource base, one of the biggest undeveloped resource bases in Australia, so from that point of view it's attractive," said Gavin Wendt, senior resources analyst at Fat Prophets Funds Management. "Paladin is looking five to 10 years down the track and is quite prepared to play a waiting game and hope that the situation will change and mining approvals will be granted." "This offer is not unexpected and, in my opinion, is designed to capture value that will otherwise flow to Summit's shareholders," Summit's managing director, Alan Eggers, said in the statement. "We will be communicating more fully about this with our shareholders shortly." Summit controls a uranium reserve of more than 34 millions kilograms, or 75 million pounds, at Mount Isa in Queensland. This is among the largest reserve of companies in Australia, not including than Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton, Summit said on its Web site. Its most advanced project is the Valhalla uranium deposit near Mount Isa, which is operated and 50 percent-owned by Summit, while Paladin owns the rest. Paladin stock has made a return of 34,085 percent in the past five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Paladin's bid adds to recent acquisitions in the industry, including SXR Uranium One's accord to buy UrAsia Energy for $3.1 billion, while last year Paladin bought Valhalla Uranium and Mega Uranium of Canada bought Redport. Areva, the world's biggest maker of nuclear power plants, said this month it wants to buy Australian deposits to raise its reserves. Paladin last week approved development of a $185 million uranium mine in Malawi, and earlier this year started its first uranium production at the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia. It secured the stake in the Valhalla/Skal project through a 174 million dollar stock-based purchase of Valhalla completed in November. "Summit has an attractive portfolio of Australian uranium deposits that will complement Paladin's extensive asset base," Paladin's managing director, John Borshoff, said in a statement made to the Australian Stock Exchange. Production may start up at the Valhalla/Skal deposits in 2012, assuming the Queensland government reverses its policy stance and permits uranium mining in the state, Borshoff said. Uranium spot prices reached $85 a pound as of Feb. 19, up from $38.50 a year ago, according to the Ux Consulting. The price rise was partly prompted by delays to Cameco's Cigar Lake project in Saskatchewan due to flooding. Prices may reach $95 a pound by 2008, up from an earlier forecast of $65, ABN AMRO Holdings said in a report Friday. "The significant number of new entrants in the uranium exploration space, the ongoing strength in uranium prices and the five-year-plus lead time in taking a project from exploration to production are likely to lead to ongoing rationalization, and we expect some ongoing excitement in the sector," ABN analysts led by Warren Edney said in the report. Copyright © 2007 the International Herald Tribune All rights ***************************************************************** 58 DOE: New Tritium Source On Line at DOE’s Savannah River Site February 27, 2007 Extraction Facility Essential to Maintain Safe and Reliable Nuclear Stockpile AIKEN, SC – U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Clay Sell today toured the new Tritium Extraction Facility (TEF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) and spoke at a celebration to mark the restoration of tritium production. The tritium facility gives the U.S. the ability to replenish tritium supplies in nuclear weapons after 18 years of recycling it. The extraction facility makes a key contribution to the safe inventory needed to maintain America’s nuclear weapon stockpile. “I am pleased to be with you today to personally congratulate the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) employees at the Savannah River Site for their successful completion of this critical project,” Deputy Secretary Sell said. “Through operations at the Tritium Extraction Facility, the United States is manufacturing an essential component of our nuclear defense system and helping to ensure the future safety, security, and reliability of our nuclear stockpile.” On February 6, 2007, SRS completed the startup of the TEF and safely made the first transfer of new tritium gas to the nation’s tritium inventory. Since SRS’s tritium production reactors were shut down in 1988, the United States has used tritium recycling operations to keep the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal viable. As weapons were retired from the stockpile, their tritium gas was recovered and recycled for use in refurbished weapons. Because tritium has a half-life of only 12.3 years, this practice provided only a short term solution. "Now that tritium operations have begun at the Tritium Extraction Facility, we have restored an important capability to meet our future needs and continue to ensure the reliability and safety of the nuclear weapons stockpile,” said Thomas P. D’Agostino, NNSA’s Acting Administrator. “This is a tremendous achievement for our country's stockpile, for NNSA, and for all the employees at the Savannah River Site who worked so hard to make this happen.” Ground-breaking for the $506 million TEF project was held in July 2000 and construction was completed in January 2005. Operational testing, training, and readiness reviews were completed over the past two years to allow this facility to begin processing tritium gas. The completion of TEF, along with the $142 million Tritium Modernization and Consolidation Project completed in 2004, have provided this nation with state-of-the-art tritium capabilities that were previously carried out in an SRS facility which operated for over half a century. Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; works to reduce global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad. SRS is owned by DOE and operated by a team of contractors led by Washington Savannah River Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Washington Group International. Media contact(s): Megan Barnett, (202) 586-4940 Jim Giusti, (803) 952-7684 U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 59 DOE: DOE Selects Six Cellulosic Ethanol Plants for Up to $385 Million in Federal Funding February 28, 2007 DOE Selects Six Cellulosic Ethanol Plants for Up to $385 Million in Federal Funding Funding to help bring cellulosic ethanol to market and help revolutionize the industry WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman today announced that DOE will invest up to $385 million for six biorefinery projects over the next four years. When fully operational, the biorefineries are expected to produce more than 130 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year. This production will help further President Bush’s goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive with gasoline by 2012 and, along with increased automobile fuel efficiency, reduce America’s gasoline consumption by 20 percent in ten years. “These biorefineries will play a critical role in helping to bring cellulosic ethanol to market, and teaching us how we can produce it in a more cost effective manner,” Secretary Bodman said. “Ultimately, success in producing inexpensive cellulosic ethanol could be a key to eliminating our nation’s addiction to oil. By relying on American ingenuity and on American farmers for fuel, we will enhance our nation’s energy and economic security.” Today’s announcement is one part of the Bush Administration’s comprehensive plan to support commercialization of scientific breakthroughs on biofuels. Specifically, these projects directly support the goals of President Bush’s Twenty in Ten Initiative, which aims to increase the use of renewable and alternative fuels in the transportation sector to the equivalent of 35 billion gallons of ethanol a year by 2017. Funding for these projects is an integral part of the President’s Biofuels Initiative that will lead to the wide-scale use of non-food based biomass, such as agricultural waste, trees, forest residues, and perennial grasses in the production of transportation fuels, electricity, and other products. The solicitation, announced a year ago, was initially for three biorefineries and $160 million. However, in an effort to expedite the goals of President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative and help achieve the goals of his Twenty in Ten Initiative, within authority of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), Section 932, Secretary Bodman raised the funding ceiling. “We had a number of very good proposals, but these six were considered ‘meritorious’ by a merit review panel made up of bioenergy experts. So I thought it would be best to front-end some more funding now, so that we could all reap the benefits of the President’s vision sooner,” Secretary Bodman said. Combined with the industry cost share, more than $1.2 billion will be invested in these six biorefineries. Negotiations between the selected companies and DOE will begin immediately to determine final project plans and funding levels. Funding will begin this fiscal year and run through FY 2010. EPAct authorized DOE to solicit and fund proposals for the commercial demonstration of advanced biorefineries that use cellulosic feedstocks to produce ethanol and co-produce bioproducts and electricity. The following six projects were selected: * Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas, LLC of Chesterfield, Missouri, up to $76 million. The proposed plant will be located in the state of Kansas. The plant will produce 11.4 million gallons of ethanol annually and enough energy to power the facility, with any excess energy being used to power the adjacent corn dry grind mill. The plant will use 700 tons per day of corn stover, wheat straw, milo stubble, switchgrass, and other feedstocks. Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass investors/participants include: Abengoa Bioenergy R&D, Inc.; Abengoa Engineering and Construction, LLC; Antares Corp.; and Taylor Engineering. * ALICO, Inc. of LaBelle, Florida, up to $33 million. The proposed plant will be in LaBelle (Hendry County), Florida. The plant will produce 13.9 million gallons of ethanol a year and 6,255 kilowatts of electric power, as well as 8.8 tons of hydrogen and 50 tons of ammonia per day. For feedstock, the plant will use 770 tons per day of yard, wood, and vegetative wastes and eventually energycane. ALICO, Inc. investors/participants include: Bioengineering Resources, Inc. of Fayetteville, Arkansas; Washington Group International of Boise, Idaho; GeoSyntec Consultants of Boca Raton, Florida; BG Katz Companies/JAKS, LLC of Parkland, Florida; and Emmaus Foundation, Inc. * BlueFire Ethanol, Inc. of Irvine, California, up to $40 million. The proposed plant will be in Southern California. The plant will be sited on an existing landfill and produce about 19 million gallons of ethanol a year. As feedstock, the plant would use 700 tons per day of sorted green waste and wood waste from landfills. BlueFire Ethanol, Inc. investors/participants include: Waste Management, Inc.; JGC Corporation; MECS Inc.; NAES; and PetroDiamond. * Broin Companies of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, up to $80 million. The plant is in Emmetsburg (Palo Alto County), Iowa, and after expansion, it will produce 125 million gallons of ethanol per year, of which roughly 25percent will be cellulosic ethanol. For feedstock in the production of cellulosic ethanol, the plant expects to use 842 tons per day of corn fiber, cobs, and stalks. Broin Companies participants include: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company; Novozymes North America, Inc.; and DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. * Iogen Biorefinery Partners, LLC, of Arlington, Virginia, up to $80 million. The proposed plant will be built in Shelley, Idaho, near Idaho Falls, and will produce 18 million gallons of ethanol annually. The plant will use 700 tons per day of agricultural residues including wheat straw, barley straw, corn stover, switchgrass, and rice straw as feedstocks. Iogen Biorefinery Partners, LLC investors/partners include: Iogen Energy Corporation; Iogen Corporation; Goldman Sachs; and The Royal Dutch/Shell Group. * Range Fuels (formerly Kergy Inc.) of Broomfield, Colorado, up to $76 million. The proposed plant will be constructed in Soperton (Treutlen County), Georgia. The plant will produce about 40 million gallons of ethanol per year and 9 million gallons per year of methanol. As feedstock, the plant will use 1,200 tons per day of wood residues and wood based energy crops. Range Fuels investors/participants include: Merrick and Company; PRAJ Industries Ltd.; Western Research Institute; Georgia Forestry Commission; Yeomans Wood and Timber; Truetlen County Development Authority; BioConversion Technology; Khosla Ventures; CH2MHill; Gillis Ag and Timber. Cellulosic ethanol is an alternative fuel made from a wide variety of non-food plant materials (or feedstocks), including agricultural wastes such as corn stover and cereal straws, industrial plant waste like saw dust and paper pulp, and energy crops grown specifically for fuel production like switchgrass. By using a variety of regional feedstocks for refining cellulosic ethanol, the fuel can be produced in nearly every region of the country. Though it requires a more complex refining process, cellulosic ethanol contains more net energy and results in lower greenhouse emissions than traditional corn-based ethanol. E-85, an ethanol-fuel blend that is 85-percent ethanol, is already available in more than 1,000 fueling stations nationwide and can power millions of flexible fuel vehicles already on the roads. For more information on President’s Bush’s Twenty in Ten Initiative, visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2007/initiatives/energy.html . Abengoa One pager Alico One pager Blue Fire One pager Broin One pager Iogen One pager Range Fuels one pager Media contact(s): Craig Stevens, (202) 586-4940 U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 60 KOMO-TV; More delays looming in cleanup of nuclear sludge at Hanford Seattle, Washington - News - February 28, 2007 By Scott Sistek RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) - The removal of radioactive sludge from the K Basins at the Hanford nuclear reservation may be delayed because of a new problem with pumping equipment following 10 earlier changes to the cleanup schedule, officials said. Fluor Hanford personnel are working around the clock to try to meet a May 31 deadline for removing the sludge from the leaking K East Basin, but the work likely won't be done before mid-June or possibly the end of September, Pete Knollmeyer, vice president of the company's K Basins closure project, told the Tri-City Herald. The sludge remains from decaying irradiated fuel that was left for years in cooling basins after the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons ended at Hanford, the nation's most contaminated nuclear site. Only after the sludge is removed can the basin be cleaned and drained, the pool dismantled and contaminated soil removed. A timetable for the troubled K Basins cleanup under an agreement by the state, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department, which is in charge of Hanford, has been adjusted 10 times, most recently at the end of last year. "We're disappointed, plain and simple," said Colleen French, an Energy Department spokeswoman. "Fluor proposed this schedule, and we're going to hold them accountable." Fluor crews vacuumed most of the sludge from the K East Basin into containers to be diluted with water but ran into trouble while pumping the slurry from the containers 2,500 feet - nearly half a mile - to the K West Basin for treatment that is scheduled to begin in October. The pumping has repeatedly stopped, once for several weeks, because of malfunctions in the four pumping stations. The system for moving particles of sludge up to a quarter-inch diameter was built to exactly a quarter of an inch, rather than with an extra 50 percent leeway that is the industry standard, said Larry Gadbois, an EPA environmental scientist . "The design was deficient," Gadbois said. "Clearly there was a piece of bad engineering." Fluor officials denied that engineering was the problem. The cleanup contractor worked with two companies that had experience pumping radioactive sludge in Europe: BNG worked on the design and Cogema on an independent technical review. All seemed well in a scale model test with a non-radioactive slurry, but small changes were made without Fluor's knowledge when the full-scale equipment to be used at Hanford was manufactured, Knollmeyer said. After sending a small fiber optic camera through the system, Fluor experts believe the problem occurs when dense particles of sludge stick on a blind spot of the impellers, curved rotating blades that push the sludge through the system, he explained. Knollmeyer said Fluor also found that a water jet initially was positioned too far from the sludge at the exit of the tank, resulting in clog-prone chunks of sludge getting into the system, rather than a uniform slurry. Fluor has proposed installing new impellers with more than a quarter-inch of clearance and spaces larger than a quarter-inch and an improved design to prevent sticking, but installation is complicated because the equipment to be replaced is contaminated by radioactivity Copyright © 2007 KOMO-TV 140 Fourth Ave. North, Seattle, WA 98109 ***************************************************************** 61 Platts: USEC's 2006 gross profit up $107.4 million from 2005 Washington (Platts)--27Feb2007 USEC Inc. reported 2006 gross profit was $336.9 million, an increase over the $229.5 million reported for 2005. In a February 26 release, the company said the improvement was the result of higher average prices billed to customers for enrichment services and uranium, an 18% increase in the volume of enrichment services, lower interest expense, and lower headquarters' expense. But, the company expects its 2007 gross profit will be substantially lower, reflecting an increase of more than 50% in the company's power costs under a one-year contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority. USEC said it is in negotiations with TVA for a new contract that it hopes will be a multi-year deal. USEC again acknowledged that it will need some form of investment or other participation by a third party and/or the US government in order to raise the capital needed in 2008 and beyond to build its commercial American Centrifuge Plant. Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 62 Tri-City Herald: K Basins sludge cleanup delayed Published Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer Engineering problems have slowed work to clean up radioactive sludge at Hanford's K Basins, jeopardizing yet another legal deadline. Hanford regulators have been notified that Department of Energy contractor Fluor Hanford may not be able to remove all sludge from the leak-prone K East Basin by May 31. That must be done before the basin can be cleaned, its water drained, the pool dismantled and contaminated soil beneath it removed. The project has a history of missed Tri-Party Agreement deadlines. The Environmental Protection Agency figures it has agreed to adjust deadlines 10 times for the K Basins cleanup, most recently at the beginning of 2006. "We're disappointed, plain and simple," said Colleen French, spokeswoman for DOE at Hanford. "Fluor proposed this schedule, and we're going to hold them accountable." Fluor has had some success. It got the bulk of the sludge in the K East Basin vacuumed into underwater containers and started transferring it from the containers to the K West Basin to await treatment in October. To meet legal deadlines, all the bulk sludge must be removed from K East, plus a final sweep of any remaining sludge done by May's end. But the transfer equipment has not worked as planned. "The design was deficient," said Larry Gadbois, environmental scientist for EPA. "Clearly there was a piece of bad engineering." Fluor is working 24 hours a day to try to meet the deadline. But it's more likely the work will not be finished until mid-June at best or the end of September at worst, said Pete Knollmeyer, vice president of the K Basins closure project for Fluor. But he disagrees that project engineering is the problem. Fluor worked with two companies with experience pumping radioactive sludge in Europe. BNG worked on the design and Cogema did an independent technical review. A scale model test with a nonradioactive simulant had no trouble pumping sludge. But when the equipment was scaled up and manufactured for use at K Basins, small changes were made without Fluor's knowledge that caused problems, Knollmeyer said. The sludge is left from the decay of irradiated fuel left for years in cooling basins after processing ended at Hanford to produce plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program. Once vacuumed into underwater containers, the sludge is diluted with water and pumped 2,500 feet from K East to the K West. Four pumping stations keep the slurry moving. But the pumping has repeatedly stopped, once for several weeks, as the pumping stations malfunctioned. EPA blames the problem on a system that was ordered to move particles of sludge up to 1/4-inch diameter. But it was built to just 1/4-inch diameter without the extra 50 percent leeway that is the industry standard, Gadbois said. The system plugs up, the pumping equipment starts to vibrate and then it must be shut down, Gadbois said. Fluor, after sending a small fiber optic camera through the system, believes the problem is with the curved rotating blades, called impellers, that push the sludge along. Tiny, dense particles of sludge tend to stick on a blind spot of the impellers, he said. Fluor also has had a problem with uniform mixing of the sludge with water. In part because the water jet was originally not close enough to the sludge at the exit of the underwater tank, slugs of sludge were being sent through the system. It's also twice had a problem with unexpected objects in the tanks stopping operations. One of them was a nut that evidently was dropped during the construction of the tank. Fluor has submitted a plan to DOE that proposes several fixes. In the first, it is using backup pumps at three of the four stations. But they may also fail because they have the same impeller design. Fluor believes it may be able to fix the problem, however, by injecting air to shake sludge off the impellers. If that fails, it may try installing new impellers. They have larger spaces than 1/4 inch and a revised design to prevent sticking. However, because the pumping equipment is already contaminated with radioactive sludge, the installation could be difficult. Workers are practicing with a mockup to find the best and most efficient way to do the work if needed. As a last resort, Fluor is considering abandoning the pumping system and moving the sludge in transfer casks that were used to move irradiated fuel from the basin. The solution is needed not only to get the K East sludge to K West, but also to move the sludge from K West to the facility where it will be treated for disposal. © 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press & Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 63 Inside Bay Area: UC won't pay for lab's nuclear safety violations Los Alamos put workers at risk, spread radioactivity, reports show; University exempt from $1 million penalty due to nonprofit status By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER Article Last Updated: 02/28/2007 02:29:35 AM PST Federal nuclear-safety regulators have slapped the University of California with a $1.1 million penalty, the largest ever assessed, for a pattern of recurring nuclear safety violations at Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab that put workers at risk and scattered radioactivity across two states. A lengthy and scathing letter from the National Nuclear Security Administration to the university said the only reason that workers did not inhale more radioactive substances or spread them to more places was mere "good fortune" and suggested the agency wanted to impose more than twice the fine. The university never will have to pay the fines because 15 safety violations date to 2005, a time when UC ran the New Mexico-based Los Alamos as a nonprofit and was classified by Congress as exempt from paying civil penalties for safety violations. Those days are over at Los Alamos now, since management was handed last year to a new, private team of corporations in addition to the university. In the future, the acting chief of the National Nuclear Security Administration warned Los Alamos executives, the lab will be fined. Even though the university won't pay a dollar in penalties, the timing of the violations notice hardly could be worse for the university. The UC-led team that now manages Los Alamos is competing with the nation's third largest defense contractor, Northrop Grumman, to operate a sister weapons research facility in the Bay Area, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The record fine is for a series of events and inspections in 2005 that exposed a haphazard safety culture inside Los Alamos even as university officials were assuring Congress that great improvements had been made in lab safety. The violations notice makes clear that lab employees flouted federal rules requiring one or more layers of safety reviews before handling radioactive substances, replacing critical equipment inside the lab's plutonium facility or decontaminating a radioactive sewage plant. The lab failed to hire enough radiation safety technicians, and when the rules called for those technicians to check for contamination, lab employees decided to push ahead regardless ? and ended up inhaling radioactive substances or tracking them off lab property, into vehicles, homes and out of state. In some cases, the federal nuclear agency suggested that the birthplace of the nuclear bomb often attempted to perform work involving radioactive substances without a "subject matter expert" available. In other words, employees didn't know what they were doing. In the past, university and Los Alamos officials have persuaded federal regulators to write off some safety violations or reduce the fines assessed when the lab has tried fixing at least some of the underlying problems. Acting NNSA administrator Thomas D'Agostino denied these requests because many of the safety failings were rooted in the same problems that the university never corrected when it was cited, without paying a fine, in the 1990s, as well as 2003 and 2004. "NNSA does not find it appropriate to provide mitigation for corrective actions when significant safety events continue to occur as a result of unresolved issues," D'Agostino wrote last week. "I hope to see improved performance on the part of the university with its participation in the new contract," he wrote. Contact Ian Hoffman at ihoffman@angnewspapers. com or (510) 208-6458. © 2000-2006 ANG Newspapers | Privacy Policy ***************************************************************** 64 SF Chron: CALIFORNIA / UC exempt from $1.1 million fine levied for Los Alamos lab mishaps Keay Davidson, Chronicle Science Writer Wednesday, February 28, 2007 The federal government has recommended that the University of California pay a $1.1 million fine for incidents at Los Alamos National Laboratory that resulted in 15 nuclear safety violations, including a case in which an employee accidentally spread radioactive material to three states and episodes in which workers inhaled radioactivity. The university won't have to pay the fine, however, because at the time of the incidents in 2005, its federal contract for managing the lab exempted it from financial liability for such mishaps. Otherwise, the fine would have been "the largest single civil penalty in the history of the (U.S. Energy Department's) Nuclear Safety Enforcement Program," Thomas P. D'Agostino, acting administrator of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, said in a Feb. 16 letter to UC Vice President S. Robert Foley Jr. In the letter, D'Agostino noted that worker exposures to radioactivity "were limited by good fortune but had the potential to be significantly greater." "I hope to see improved performance on the part of the university," he added. The UC system no longer runs Los Alamos lab exclusively, but manages it in collaboration with Bechtel National and a few industrial partners. Under the current contract, fines such as the one recommended this month would have to be paid. In one incident, lab officials admitted that a lab employee reportedly sent the hazardous radioactive isotope americium-241 to sites in New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas in addition to a business in Pennsylvania -- in the latter case, via a FedEx package. D'Agostino's letter cites only three states but does not name them. It does not clarify exactly what happened in the case. The continuing revelations of safety mishaps at the two nuclear weapons labs run by UC -- Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory -- have caused UC embarrassment for years. The accidents, combined with security and managerial scandals at the lab, spurred Congress and the Energy Department to open management contracts for Los Alamos to outside bidders. In December 2005, the UC-Bechtel consortium beat a bid by Lockheed Martin and the University of Texas. The latest news comes at a bad time for the university, because the Energy Department is expected to soon announce the winner of a separate competition to manage the Livermore lab. UC and Bechtel are competing for the contract against aerospace giant Northrop Grumman. On Tuesday, Los Alamos spokesman Kevin Roark declined to comment on the D'Agostino letter and referred calls to a UC spokesman. Roark hung up when a reporter persisted in seeking comment. In a statement, UC spokesman Chris Harrington said "the University of California takes safety and security issues very seriously as part of our commitment to managing the national laboratories." He said that in response to the incidents, UC "took a number of corrective actions," such as "the implementation of more robust integrated work management processes." E-mail Keay Davidson at kdavidson@sfchronicle.com. This article appeared on page B - 4 of the San Francisco Chron ***************************************************************** 65 KnoxNews: Chemist invents new cleaning cloth By News Sentinel staff February 28, 2007 OAK RIDGE - Ron Simandl is Y-12's "Mr. Clean." The research chemist at the nuclear weapons plant has invented a new tack cloth that reportedly can clean a surface of virtually all particles without leaving behind a sticky residue. The tack cloth was developed for use in removing beryllium contamination from surfaces at the Oak Ridge warhead plant. But the federal plant's contractor, BWXT, said the nontacky tack cloth could have much broader uses. "There's a whole clean-room industry that uses wipes and solvents to clean surfaces," Simandl said in a statement distributed to the news media. "A lot of the time, they are just moving dust around. This new tack cloth is like flypaper for particulate." At Y-12, the cloth has been helpful in removing traces of beryllium, a toxic metal that if inhaled can cause chronic beryllium disease - an incurable respiratory illness. "Beryllium is an issue at Y-12," Simandl said. "We are always looking for ways to lower to the maximum extent possible the potential for exposure to beryllium. This new tack cloth has shown consistent results in cleaning surfaces below detection levels (of beryllium) with no sticky residue." Copyright 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 66 UPI: U. of Calif. fined for Los Alamos safety United Press International - NewsTrack - Updated: 02/27/2007 10:05:34 PM -0500 UTC LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The University of California has been hit with a fine of more than $1 million for safety violations at the Los Alamos, N.M., nuclear weapons lab. But the university will not have to pay up because the violations cited by the National Nuclear Security Administration occurred in 2005, the Oakland Tribune reported. At the time, Los Alamos was being run as a non-profit and was exempt under federal law from paying fines for safety violations. In a letter that said only "good fortune" saved lab workers from serious injury, the agency warned the university that in the future fines will be enforced. Los Alamos is now run by the university and a consortium of private companies. The findings could also affect the university's bid to operate the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the Bay Area, the report said. UC is in competition with Grumman Corp. © Copyright 2007United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 67 KnoxNews: Sherry touts turnaround at Y-12's uranium house By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com February 28, 2007 Ted Sherry, the federal boss at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, said he believes the problems that disrupted construction of the plant's new uranium storehouse are a thing of the past. "There are still things we need to do, but I am totally confident in the team that we've put together and the processes we have put in place that we are recovering HEUMF from the issues that we had." The Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility is about half finished, with a price tag of about $500 million. About a year ago, construction of the high-security facility was put on hold after it was found that insufficient rebar - reinforcing steel - had been installed in parts of the new building. Officials later determined that, even though the rebar did not match the original design specifications, it was sufficient to move forward with the project. There were, however, plenty of changes made - including a slew of new quality-control measures and more oversight managers (federal and contractor). "The work force out there is fully staffed," Sherry said. "We're going full bore." Completion is scheduled for 2009, with full operations there a year later. The facility will house the nation's primary stockpile of bomb-grade uranium. A subcontractor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory was found guilty in federal court last week of padding costs and laundering the money, and that, as you might imagine, has created a lot of talk in the contractor community that thrives on the government operations. Reginald Hall, the founder of Advanced Integrated Management Services Inc., at one time worked on the staff at ORNL and for years had done subcontract work. His firm was qualified as a small and disadvantaged business. One of the interesting things that came out of the trial was that AIMSI had done work involving ORNL's Building 3019, a high-security facility that houses a significant stockpile of uranium-233 - fissile material that could be converted into nuclear bombs. Billy Stair, communications director at the lab, confirmed that AIMSI held six subcontracts involving work at 3019. Some of those predated UT-Battelle's arrival as the managing contractor in April 2000, he said. Among the projects were technical support for the U-233 disposition and storage, readiness inspections at the facility and other activities related to the safe storage of nuclear materials there. "There is no evidence whatsoever that any of the assets of 3019 were compromised," Stair said. UT-Battelle apparently checked closely to see how much time Hall spent at the facility, the highest security site at ORNL. "From October of '01 until the present, he (Hall) was in the building for one time for 9 minutes in May '02," Stair said. The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance typically stages a peace vigil every Sunday at the Y-12 weapons facility, and participants this Sunday plan to read the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. "It's not terribly long," said Tom Egan, who's organizing the events for March. Peace activists believe that a number of U.S. actions, including much of the work at the Oak Ridge warhead facility, violate provisions of the treaty. The vigils are held from 5-6 p.m. at the plant's entrance on Scarboro Road. Egan said the theme for the March vigils is three-fold: racism, militarism and poverty and their interconnections. Senior writer Frank Munger covers the Department of Energy for the News Sentinel. He may be reached at 865-342-6329 or at munger@knews.com. This column is also available in the opinion section of knoxnews.com. Copyright 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 68 UPI: U.S. resumes weapons tritium production United Press International - Security & Terrorism - 2/28/2007 7:54:00 AM -0500 AIKEN, S.C., Feb. 28 (UPI) -- The United States has resumed production of tritium gas used in nuclear weapons after some 18 years of using recycled chemicals. The $506 million Tritium Extraction Facility located at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina will produce the first fresh tritium for the U.S. weapons program since 1988 when the previous production reactors were shut down due to safety concerns, according to the Department of Energy. The substance will be used to maintain the readiness of the U.S. nuclear arsenal at the levels specified under the START I treaty and maintain a five-year tritium reserve. Tritium is an ingredient in the chemical mix that produces a nuclear explosion in what is known as a "boosted-fission" weapon. It is combined with the gas deuterium, both of which are heated and pressurized by the detonation of plutonium or uranium inside the bomb to the point that fission takes place. The result is a flood of neutrons that causes even more fission to take place. Tritium, however, has a half-life of about 12 years, so it must be replaced periodically. The United States had been recycling tritium extracted from retired warheads, according to the DOE news release. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 69 KnoxNews: Cleanup of K-25 appears in doubt Budget could delay tearing down of contaminated plant By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com February 28, 2007 OAK RIDGE - The K-25 plant is badly deteriorated and thoroughly contaminated with uranium and a host of other hazardous materials. Tearing down the World War II-era structure is the Department of Energy's highest priority in Oak Ridge. The project, however, is behind schedule, and there could be additional delays, depending on the budget outcomes for this year and next, according to DOE's Oak Ridge manager. "We've not officially stretched anything yet, but it may get stretched some," Gerald Boyd said. The original schedule for demolition of K-25 and other buildings at the former uranium-enrichment site was fall 2008. After a worker fell through a second-story floor and was seriously injured, DOE and its cleanup manager, Bechtel Jacobs Co., changed the strategy and added a number of safety measures. A new completion date was set at August 2009. In the Bush administration's budget request for fiscal 2008, documents indicate that closure of the site - now known as the East Tennessee Technology Park - won't be completed until 2010. If the schedule slips, the cost typically goes up. Boyd said nothing is firm because Oak Ridge officials don't know how much money will be available for the rest of 2007. But he noted that there's a "fairly substantial" decline in the proposed cleanup funding for 2008. That's about $100 million less than the 2006 spending level. "We are distressed about the '08 budget, no doubt about that," said Susan Gawarecki, executive director of the Local Oversight Committee, which evaluates environmental projects for local governments. There's a growing concern about K-25, Gawarecki said. "The race is to take the building down before it falls down," she said. The mile-long, U-shaped structure was built during the World War II Manhattan Project, and it is "very fragile," Boyd said. Bechtel Jacobs and its subcontractors are working on K-25 and its sister building, K-27, but they have been unable to ramp up action as planned because of spending restrictions in place. Boyd said it may be two or three more weeks before officials learn how much money DOE is allotting for Oak Ridge cleanup projects for the remainder of fiscal 2007. "If we can get what we need this year, then that makes next year a little easier with that lower budget," the DOE official said. Boyd said it's still possible that the K-25 project could be finished by August 2009, but he didn't sound confident. Boyd said DOE wants to discuss priorities with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before changing schedules. Many of DOE's projects have enforceable milestones under a legally binding cleanup agreement with regulators. Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. Copyright 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 70 KTRV FOX 12: Idaho National Laboratory Impacts Economy Boise, Idaho News Boise, Idaho -- New research says the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) plays a vital role in Idaho's economy. INL contracted with Boise State University to conduct the economic study. Researchers found that INL is the third largest employer in the state, generating over 19,000 jobs and accounting for 2.5 percent of personal income in Idaho. Geoff Black, chairman of the Economics Department at BSU and one of the project's researchers, says INL is almost as important to Idaho as Micron. Black says, "The largest employer in the state is the state government, second is Micron, and then closely followed by INL, so the importance of the lab to the state's economy. It's knocking on the door to how important Micron is." Researchers say they took a unique approach to their work, analyzing the economic impact of the Idaho National Laboratory specific to its location in rural eastern Idaho. All content © Copyright 2000 - 2007 WorldNow and KTRV. 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