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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 US: Reuters: Sen. Reid favors bill restricting attack on Iran 
2 New York Times: U.S. Had Doubts on North Korean Uranium Drive - 
3 Guardian Unlimited: Seeking Aid, N. Korea Vows to Stop Nukes
4 Guardian Unlimited: Hill: N. Korea Hurt by U.S. Restrictions 
5 Guardian Unlimited: Uranium Issue Could Undo N.Korea Deal 
6 Korea Times: Song, Rice to Discuss Peace Regime
7 Korea Times: Real Horse or Trojan Horse?
8 AFP: US now uncertain about North Korean uranium program 
9 US: MWB: Political interference alleged in sacking of a U.S. attorne
10 US: MWB: Democrats move to require approval before any strike on Ira
11 RIA Novosti: Russia, US begin dialogue to replace START II treaty - 
12 US: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Green energy could leave coal in the du
13 Guardian Unlimited: Date set for Trident vote 
14 Guardian Unlimited: Trident: the facts 
15 AFP: Labour rebels try to delay decision on Trident - 
16 UPI: Rice case for BMD doesn't wash with Russia
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
17 US: Patriot News: Fire at nuclear plant no threat, officials say(Pea
18 ForUm: SOLAR, NOT NUCLEAR
19 AU ABC: Garrett wants MPs to reveal stance on nuclear plant location
20 US: Fredericksburg.com: North Anna reactor running after repair
21 US: Grist: What nuclear must do 
22 US: Platts: California bill would lift state ban on new nuclear plan
23 business.iafrica.com: features SA presses the nuclear button
24 AU: Border Mail: Nuclear power takeover
25 AU: Border Mail: Treasuer: Nuclear off until price right
26 MDN: TEPCO admits that more nuclear power plant data was falsified -
27 West Australian: Nuclear energy not needed yet - Costello
28 IHT: Westinghouse to build 4 nuclear reactors in China - 
29 US: Vermont Guardian: Feds reject last contention to VY uprate
30 US: JOURNAL NEWS: Indian Point 2 shut down for fifth time in 15 mont
31 US: Journal News: Indian Point nuke plant is back up
32 Xinhua: Westinghouse selected to provide pressurized water reactors
33 AFP: Czech power company admits radioactive leak at Temelin plant -
34 Jakarta Post: Sidoarjo refuses to take over mudflow problem
35 Japan Times: Warning to the power industry | 
36 People's Daily: China masters 4th-generation nuclear reactor technol
37 Reuters: Canada sees possible nuclear renaissance 
38 UPI: Chile to start nuclear study
39 UPI: Czech nuke plant sparks Austria protests
40 US: UPI: NRC board denies Vermont Yankee opposition
41 US: UPI: Malfunction shuts Indian Point nuke plant
42 AFP: Russia a safe option for energy-starved Japan - 
43 Japan Times: Tepco submits new report on nuke coverups 
44 Japan Times: Japan, Russia agree to discuss nuke pact |
45 csmonitor.com: Nuclear industry sees fertile ground in green Europe 
46 SNA: Bulgaria: Czech Temelin Nuke Admits Light Radioactive Leak
47 AU: Herald Sun: Garrett's nuclear challenge to PM voted down 
 
                          NUCLEAR SECURITY
 
48 West Australian: Nuke transport safeguards bill approved
49 AFP: US hands Vietnam equipment to detect nuclear materials 
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
50 US: Bradenton Herald: Lockheed: Health care data off-limits
51 US: FR DHHS: Class of employees at Denison plant in Cleveland
52 US: FR DHHS: Employees at Allied Chemical exposure
53 US: FR DHHS: Employees at WR Grace in Erwin TN exposure investigatio
54 US: FR DHHS: Hanford Exposure compensation Invesitgation
55 Scotsman.com: Enriched uranium unearthed from man's garden
56 US: FR: DHHS: Ames Lab Employee Contamination investigation
57 US: Deseret News: Downwinder says enough is enough
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
58 reviewjournal.com: YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Nuclear waste dump still alive
59 US: NC Times: Regional water officials consider permanent closure of
60 FT.com: UK must catch up on nuclear waste
61 US: Aiken Today: Legislators tour radioactive waste landfill in Barn
62 US: SF New Mexican: Research proposal gets public airing
63 US: Platts: Uranium prices won't sink nuclear revival, says Exelon's
64 Platts: Thorp reprocessing plant restart delayed until mid-year
65 US: PE.com: San Bernardino County ordered to submit perchlorate test
66 AU ABC: Station manager sees benefits in nuclear waste dump. 
67 LasVegasNOW.com: Yucca Mountain Project Not Completely Dead Yet
68 Whitehaven News: Thorp N-leak alarms ignored
 
                           PEACE
 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
69 Tracy Press: Tour is the bomb
70 lamonitor.com: Lab mulls closing waste areas
71 lamonitor.com: LANL director updates council
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
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 1 Reuters: Sen. Reid favors bill restricting attack on Iran 

11:58PM EST, Thu 1 Mar 2007

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday
said he likely would support legislation barring a U.S. attack on
Iran unless Congress explicitly gave President George W. Bush the
green light to do so.

The Nevada Democrat was responding to reporters' questions about an
amendment to an upcoming war-funding bill, which could come to the
Senate floor later this month. The amendment is being drafted by
Sen. James Webb, the Virginia Democrat who won his seat in November
largely on a vow to work to end the war in Iraq.

"I would be very, very confident, I have not read this (amendment),
but I'm confident, in real generality ... that I can support him,"
Reid told reporters.

Webb's amendment would prohibit Bush from spending any money on a
"unilateral military action in Iran without the express consent of
the Congress," the Virginia senator told reporters on Wednesday. He
said there would be some exceptions, but did not detail them.

Webb said he used as a "starting point" legislation introduced in
the U.S. House of Representatives in January by Republican Rep.
Walter Jones of North Carolina making it clear that the Iraq war
resolution passed by Congress in 2002 does not authorize the use of
force in Iran.

U.S.-Iran relations are tense, in part because of Tehran's nuclear
ambitions, but also following U.S. allegations that Iran has been
encouraging the sectarian violence in Iraq that has raised the
number of American casualties there.

For the past few months, congressional Democrats have been warning
the Bush administration against creating a pretext for a military
strike against Iran, which many fear could spark a regional
conflict.  

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 2 New York Times: U.S. Had Doubts on North Korean Uranium Drive - 

Susan Walsh/Associated Press

Christopher R. Hill, an assistant secretary of state who brokered
the nuclear deal, said it would be unwise for North Korea to
pretend to disarm.

By DAVID E. SANGER and WILLIAM J. BROAD

Published: March 1, 2007

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 — Last October, the North Koreans tested 
their first nuclear device, the fruition of decades of work to 
make a weapon out of plutonium.

For nearly five years, though, the Bush administration, based on
intelligence estimates, has accused North Korea of also pursuing a
secret, parallel path to a bomb, using enriched uranium. That
accusation, first leveled in the fall of 2002, resulted in the
rupture of an already tense relationship: The United States cut off
oil supplies, and the North Koreans responded by throwing out
international inspectors, building up their plutonium arsenal and,
ultimately, producing that first plutonium bomb.

But now, American intelligence officials are publicly softening
their position, admitting to doubts about how much progress the
uranium enrichment program has actually made. The result has been
new questions about the Bush administration’s decision to confront
North Korea in 2002.

“The question now is whether we would be in the position of having
to get the North Koreans to give up a sizable arsenal if this had
been handled differently,” a senior administration official said
this week.

The disclosure underscores broader questions about the ability of
intelligence agencies to discern the precise status of foreign
weapons programs. The original assessment about North Korea came
during the same period that the administration was building its case
about Iraq’s unconventional weapons programs, which turned out to be
based on flawed intelligence. And the new North Korea assessment
comes amid debate over intelligence about Iran’s weapons.

The public revelation of the intelligence agencies’ doubts, which
have been brewing for some time, came almost by happenstance. In a
little-noticed exchange on Tuesday at a hearing at the Senate Armed
Services Committee, Joseph DeTrani, a longtime intelligence
official, told Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island that “we still have
confidence that the program is in existence — at the mid-confidence
level.” Under the intelligence agencies’ own definitions, that level
“means the information is interpreted in various ways, we have
alternative views” or it is not fully corroborated.

“The administration appears to have made a very costly decision that
has resulted in a fourfold increase in the nuclear weapons of North
Korea,” Senator Reed said in an interview on Wednesday. “If that was
based in part on mixing up North Korea’s ambitions with their
accomplishments, it’s important.”

Two administration officials, who declined to be identified,
suggested that if the administration harbored the same doubts in
2002 that it harbored now, the negotiating strategy for dealing with
North Korea might have been different — and the tit-for-tat actions
that led to October’s nuclear test could, conceivably, have been
avoided.

The strongest evidence for the original assessment was Pakistan’s
sale to North Korea of upwards of 20 centrifuges, machines that spin
fast to convert uranium gas into highly enriched uranium, a main
fuel for atom bombs. Officials feared that the North Koreans would
use those centrifuges as models to build a vast enrichment complex.
But in interviews this week, experts inside and outside the
government said that since then, little or no evidence of Korean
procurements had emerged to back up those fears.

The continuing doubts prompted the Office of the Director of
National Intelligence on Wednesday to declassify a portion of the
most recent, one-page update circulated to top national security
officials about the status of North Korea’s uranium program. The
assessment, read by two senior intelligence officials, speaking on
the condition of anonymity in a joint interview, said the
intelligence community still had “high confidence that North Korea
has pursued a uranium enrichment capability, which we assess is for
a weapon.”

It added, they said, that all the government’s intelligence agencies
“judge — most with moderate confidence — that this effort continues.
The degree of progress towards producing enriched uranium remains
unknown, however.”

In other words, while the agencies were certain of the initial
purchases, confidence in the program’s overall existence appears to
have dropped over the years — apparently from high to moderate.

It is unclear why the new assessment is being disclosed now. But 
some officials suggested that the timing could be linked to North 
Korea's recent agreement to reopen its doors to international 
arms inspectors. As a result, these officials have said, the 
intelligence agencies are facing the possibility that their 
assessments will once again be compared to what is actually found 
on the ground. "This may be preventative," one American diplomat 
said.

American intelligence agencies had long known of North Korea's 
nuclear program employing plutonium, which can make compact 
weapons but requires large, easily detected reactors. By 
contrast, uranium warheads tend to be larger, but the technology 
for enriching uranium is much smaller and easier to hide.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the national security 
adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, declined to discuss the decisions to 
confront North Korea in 2002 or the quality of the intelligence 
behind that decision, though both have noted previously that 
North Korea purchased equipment from Pakistan that could only 
have been intended for use in producing weapons fuel. One former 
official said that it was Ms. Rice, in a meeting at the C.I.A. in 
2004, who encouraged intelligence officials to soften their 
assessments of how quickly the North Koreans could produce 
weapons-usable uranium.

"She asked, how did we know about the timing, and they didn't 
have answers," said the former official. "Did they have Russians 
and Chinese helping them? No one was sure. It was really a 
guesstimate about timing."

Different players in the 2002 debate have different memories. 
John R. Bolton, the former American ambassador to the United 
Nations, who headed the State Department's proliferation office 
at the time of the 2002 declaration, said in an interview on 
Wednesday evening that "there was no dissent at the time, because 
in the face of the evidence the disputes evaporated." Mr. Bolton, 
one of the most hawkish voices in the administration and a vocal 
critic of its recent deal with North Korea, recalled that even 
the State Department's own intelligence arm, which was the most 
skeptical of the Iraq evidence, "agreed with the consensus 
opinion."

But David A. Kay, a nuclear expert and former official who in 
2003 and 2004 led the American hunt for unconventional arms in 
Iraq, said he had found the administration's claims about the 
North Korean uranium program unpersuasive. "They were driving it 
way further than the evidence indicated it should go," he said in 
an interview. The leap of logic, Dr. Kay added, turned evidence 
of equipment purchases into "a significant production 
capability."

But the doubts were on full display on Wednesday, when 
Christopher R. Hill, the chief American negotiator with North 
Korea, testified on Capitol Hill. "If we determine that there is 
a program, it's got to go," Mr. Hill said, words that were far 
more tentative than American policy makers have used about the 
program in the past. Expressing his resolve to get to the bottom 
of the mystery, he added: "We cannot have a situation where we - 
you know, they pretend to disarm and we pretend to believe them. 
We need to run this into the ground." He said that while there 
was no doubt that North Korea had bought centrifuges from Abdul 
Qadeer Khan, the rogue Pakistani engineer, there was doubt about 
"how far they've gotten."

John E. McLaughlin, a former director of central intelligence and 
the deputy C.I.A. director in 2002, defended the initial North 
Korean findings as accurate. "At the time we reported this, we 
had confidence that they were acquiring materials that could give 
them the capability to do this down the road," he said in an 
interview. But no one, he added, "said they had anything up and 
running. We also made clear that we did not have a confident 
understanding of how far along they were."

That confidence has dropped further because inspectors have been 
banned from North Korea for four years, nearly as long as they 
were out of Iraq before their readmittance just before the 2003 
invasion. In Iraq's case, intelligence analysts extrapolated from 
the last information they had to assess what kind of weapons Iraq 
might be producing.

Outside experts, including David Albright, president of the 
Institute for Science and International Security, a private group 
in Washington that tracks nuclear arms, have suggested in recent 
days that something similar happened in North Korea's case. "The 
evidence doesn't support the extrapolation" to the judgment that 
North Korea was making crucial strides in its uranium program, 
Mr. Albright said in an interview. "The extrapolation went too 
far."

He said administration analysts were right in thinking that Dr. 
Khan had sold North Korea about 20 centrifuges. Gen. Pervez 
Musharraf, the Pakistani president, confirmed that in a memoir 
published last year. But, Mr. Albright said, intelligence 
agencies overstated whether North Korea had used those few 
machines as models to construct row upon row of carbon copies.

His report zeroed in on thousands of aluminum tubes that the 
North Koreans bought and tried to buy in the early 2000s. The 
C.I.A. and the Bush administration, the report said, pointed to 
these tubes as the "smoking gun" for construction of a 
large-scale North Korean plant for the enriching of uranium. It 
was assessments about the purpose of aluminum tubes that were at 
the center of the flawed Iraq intelligence.

In the North Korea case, intelligence analysts saw the tubes as 
ideal for centrifuges. But Mr. Albright said the relatively weak 
aluminum tubes were suitable only for stationary outer casings - 
not central rotors, which have to be very strong to keep from 
flying apart while spinning at tremendous speeds.

Moreover, he added, the aluminum tubes were "very easy to get and 
not controlled" by global export authorities because of their 
potentially harmless nature. So that purchase, by itself, Mr. 
Albright added, was "not an indicator" of clandestine use for 
nuclear arms.

David E. Sanger reported from Washington, and William J. Broad from
New York.

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
*****************************************************************
 3 Guardian Unlimited: Seeking Aid, N. Korea Vows to Stop Nukes

From the Associated Press

Thursday March 1, 2007 7:46 PM

AP Photo SEL806

By BURT HERMAN

Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea's No. 2 leader reiterated 
Thursday his country's pledge to abandon its nuclear weapons, as 
the impoverished nation sought a resumption of aid at its first 
high-level talks with South Korea since conducting an atomic 
test.

 Kim Yong Nam said ``the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula 
is the dying wish'' of the country's founding president, Kim Il 
Sung, the father of current leader Kim Jong Il.

    North Korea ``will make efforts to realize it,'' he told 
South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung in Pyongyang, the 
North's capital.

  Lee pressed for North Korea to follow through on its 
breakthrough Feb. 13 agreement with the U.S. and four other 
countries to shut down its sole operating nuclear reactor in 60 
days, and to eventually dismantle all its atomic programs.

   ``It is important to make efforts to ensure that South and 
North Korea cooperate and six countries each assume their 
responsibilities,'' Lee said.

   Kim Yong Nam also called for the two Koreas to work together 
to reunify the peninsula, which was divided after World War II 
and remains officially at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended 
in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

  South Korea has been one of the North's main aid sources since 
the two nations held their first and only summit in 2000. This 
week's meetings are the 20th Cabinet-level talks since then.

  But South Korea halted rice and fertilizer shipments to the 
North after it test-fired a barrage of missiles last July, and 
relations worsened following North Korea's Oct. 9 underground 
nuclear test.

    The provocations were the most serious challenge yet to South 
Korea's ``sunshine'' policy of engagement with its longtime foe, 
which has been criticized by conservatives for helping prop up 
the North's totalitarian regime without requiring reforms or 
disarmament.

    South Korea has been hesitant at this week's talks, which run 
through Friday, to immediately restart aid without seeing the 
North take real steps to dismantle its nuclear program.

     The North wants to resume separate discussions this month on 
economic cooperation that would address aid, but South Korea 
prefers to wait until after April 14 - the deadline for Pyongyang 
to switch off its nuclear reactor, pool reports from South Korean 
journalists at the talks said.

  However, the South may offer a limited amount of fertilizer if 
the North agrees to other conditions, such as resuming reunions 
of families split between the Koreas, the pool reports said. The 
sides may also agree on conducting trial runs of trains on 
restored rails across the border.

    Earlier over dinner, the North's main negotiator at the 
talks, Senior Cabinet Councilor Kwon Ho Ung, said ``a wide road 
will be opened for the drastic development of North-South 
relations'' if certain measures are implemented. He did not 
specify them.

  Last month's six-nation nuclear agreement has raised hopes it 
will foster a relaxation of regional tensions, since the deal 
also provides for North Korea to hold talks to normalize ties 
with Japan and the United States, both of which are scheduled to 
begin next week.

 The nuclear pact also calls for negotiations to finally 
establish a peace agreement between the Koreas.

  South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun urged in a speech Thursday 
in Seoul that the agreement ``be successfully implemented so that 
a peace regime can be firmly established on the Korean 
peninsula.''

 Amid intense diplomacy to ensure the disarmament deal goes 
forward, the State Department's No. 2 diplomat, John Negroponte, 
arrived in Japan Thursday on the first stop of an Asian trip 
expected to focus on the North Korea issue. He will also visit 
South Korea and China.

 Meanwhile, South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon left 
Thursday for Washington for talks with Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice on North Korea. He is also set to travel to 
Moscow.


   Associated Press reporters Kwang-tae Kim and Bo-mi Lim in 
Seoul contributed to this report.


Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
 4 Guardian Unlimited: Hill: N. Korea Hurt by U.S. Restrictions 

From the Associated Press

Thursday March 1, 2007 3:16 AM

AP Photo DCSW108

By FOSTER KLUG

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The lead U.S. envoy in nuclear talks with North 
Korea told lawmakers Wednesday that U.S. financial restrictions 
connected with North Korean money laundering and counterfeiting 
had forced banks around the world to question their business 
dealings with Kim Jong Il's government.

   Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said the 
measures, which the United States is working to resolve as part 
of a recent disarmament agreement with Pyongyang, had hurt the 
communist government by hindering its access to the international 
financial system.

 Hill spoke as the State Department announced that he will meet 
with his negotiating counterpart, North Korean Vice Foreign 
Minister Kim Kye Gwan, in New York on March 5-6 to discuss first 
steps toward establishing normal ties after decades of hostility 
that followed the 1950-53 Korean War.

 The bilateral meeting emerged from a Feb. 13 six-nation 
agreement in which North Korea agreed to shutter its main nuclear 
reactor at Yongbyon within 60 days in exchange for aid. That 
accord has sparked strong criticism in Washington, especially 
among conservatives who see it as rewarding the North for years 
of bad behavior.

 Hill assured lawmakers at a House Foreign Affairs Committee 
hearing that the agreement ``begins to lay out a path to complete 
denuclearization, not just a temporary shutdown of the reactor at 
Yongbyon.''

    Although the United States was working to settle its 
financial restrictions against the Macau bank quickly, Hill said 
in prepared testimony, ``This will not solve all of North Korea's 
problems with the international financial system. It must stop 
its illicit conduct and improve its international financial 
reputation in order to do that.''

  Resolving the issue was a crucial condition in the North's 
nuclear agreement.

 Washington's restrictions against Banco Delta Asia in September 
2005 prompted Macau to freeze about $24 million in North Korean 
money at the bank. An angry North Korea boycotted the nuclear 
negotiations for more than a year.

 Hill suggested that once the U.S. Treasury Department concludes 
its regulatory action against the bank, it will be Macau's 
responsibility to deal with the North's frozen funds.

   Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea's envoy to the talks, was scheduled 
to stop Thursday in San Francisco for talks with nongovernmental 
organizations on his way to New York. He was to arrive in New 
York on Friday for internal consultations before his meetings 
with Hill, the State Department said.

   Spokesman Sean McCormack cautioned against high expectations 
for what probably would be more of an organizational meeting 
between the countries.

 ``Don't expect anybody to come out the front door on March 6 
waving a piece of paper with breakthrough agreements,'' McCormack 
told reporters. ``That's just not the kind of meeting that this 
is going to be.''

  On Tuesday, U.S. intelligence officials told lawmakers at 
another hearing that North Korea appears to have started 
complying with the disarmament agreement, although they said they 
would continue to watch the country's actions closely.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
 5 Guardian Unlimited: Uranium Issue Could Undo N.Korea Deal 

From the Associated Press

Thursday March 1, 2007 8:31 AM

By BURT HERMAN

Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - It was late 2002 when U.S. officials in 
the North Korean capital confronted their hosts with intelligence 
purporting to prove the North was embarking on a program to 
enrich uranium for nuclear bombs.

   The Americans said they were surprised when the secretive 
North Koreans actually fessed up to their atomic dealings - 
although the North since then has never publicly acknowledged 
doing so and some critics dispute what really was said.

 The allegation launched the latest nuclear crisis, with the U.S. 
and its allies halting aid under an earlier disarmament agreement 
that they said the North had violated. That prompted North Korea 
to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and restart 
its sole functioning atomic reactor, later leading to six-nation 
talks seeking to get the North out of the nuclear weapons 
business.

    Now, more than four years later and in the wake of the 
North's nuclear bomb test in October, the communist nation has 
agreed again to follow the path of disarmament under a Feb. 13 
accord with the U.S. and four other countries.

  As hopes rise of an end to the latest nuclear standoff, the fog 
of confusion about the North's uranium enrichment program is also 
slowly starting to lift - and appearing to be less a menacing 
prospect than was previously assumed.

  But the uranium issue could still be a crucial stumbling block 
in whether the disarmament plan succeeds in eliminating North 
Korea's nuclear arsenal.

  The main U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill appeared to 
minimize the uranium allegations during comments last week in 
Washington.

    He said the United States has information that North Korea 
has ``made certain purchases of equipment which is entirely 
consistent with a highly enriched uranium program.'' But he added 
that such a program would ``require a lot more equipment than we 
know that they have actually purchased'' and ``production 
techniques that we are not sure whether they have mastered.''

    On Wednesday, Hill again was pressed on the uranium issue at 
a Congressional hearing.

   ``How far they've gotten; whether they've actually been able 
to produce highly enriched uranium at this time - I mean these 
are issues that intelligence analysts grapple with. But what we 
know is they have made the purchases, and we need to have 
complete clarity on this program,'' he said.

 South Korea's top nuclear negotiator, Chun Young-woo, also said 
last week that other countries knew about the uranium program 
through North Korea's shopping abroad, but that the country 
wasn't believed to be actively enriching the material for bombs.

  The U.S. had wanted the uranium program specifically mentioned 
in the Feb. 13 accord, but backed down when the North refused to 
let it be included. Still, officials from the other countries 
involved have said the uranium program must be addressed under 
the section of the agreement that requires Pyongyang to detail 
all its nuclear doings to international nuclear inspectors.

        The North's acknowledged nuclear program is based on a 
Soviet-designed reactor in the city of Yongbyon, some 55 miles 
north of the capital, Pyongyang. That area is also home to a 
reprocessing center that takes the fuel rods from the reactor and 
extracts plutonium usable for bombs.

 North Korean officials recently told visiting U.S. experts that 
the radioactive core for the Oct. 9 nuclear test was made from 
plutonium produced at Yongbyon.

  No one has publicly said where the North's alleged uranium 
program is, and the country has a vast network of underground 
tunnels that would be a likely hiding place.

 The belief that the North was seeking a uranium program is based 
in part on its acquisition of aluminum tubes - an echo of similar 
accusations about Iraq in the run-up to the war there that was 
waged on claims Saddam Hussein was seeking to develop weapons of 
mass destruction. The weapons in Iraq were never found.

 However, David Albright, president of the Washington-based 
Institute for Science and International Security who has been a 
regular visitor to North Korea, noted in a recent report that the 
aluminum tubes were consistent with those used to build the 
centrifuges required to enrich uranium.

  The North also is believed to have cooperated with Pakistan's 
A.Q. Khan, whose underground nuclear network based on uranium 
technology spread bomb-making know-how across the world.

 However, Albright wrote that ``a large centrifuge plant likely 
does not exist; perhaps it never did.''

      During a visit this year to Pyongyang ahead of the Feb. 13 
agreement, Albright said North Korean officials still denied the 
enrichment program but said their government has a ``will to 
clear this issue up'' and would respond to written U.S. evidence.

  Albright cautioned that the new agreement's implementation 
should not be based on earlier potentially flawed assessments 
despite the questions that remain unresolved.

 The fate of North Korea's new agreement to disarm could indeed 
rest on those words uttered back in 2002 - and how far Pyongyang 
is willing to go to prove American intelligence is again wrong.

                                 ---

  Burt Herman is chief of bureau in Korea for The Associated 
Press.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
 6 Korea Times: Song, Rice to Discuss Peace Regime

Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation

By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Song Min-soon will discuss a
roadmap for a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula when he meets
with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington, D.C.

The minister began a weeklong visit to the United States and Russia
on Thursday for talks on follow-up actions to an agreement on the
dismantlement of North Korea¡¯s nuclear weapons program and building
up a peace regime on the peninsula.

Song will coordinate with Rice the initial steps to implement the
``Feb. 13 agreement¡¯¡¯ on disabling the North¡¯s nuclear program,
ministry officials said.

He is accompanied by Vice Foreign Minister Chun Young-woo, who
concurrently serves as chief nuclear negotiator.

Under the agreement reached at the end of the six-party talks in
Beijing, Pyongyang is required to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear
reactor within 60 days and accept international nuclear inspections.

Follow-up measures include disabling nuclear facilities and programs
in exchange for a total of 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil, other
economic incentives and normalization of relations with Washington
and Tokyo.

Another top agenda item on the table will be a roadmap on the
creation of a peace regime to replace the current armistice on the
peninsula signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War between the
U.S.-led United Nations and North Korea, the officials said.

The truce signed in July 27, 1953, has left the two Koreas
technically at war.

``Seoul and Washington are expected to exchange opinions on the
schedule, attendees and agenda for the proposed peace regime forum
ahead of next round of the six-party talks and a meeting of foreign
ministers of South Korea, the U.S., China and Russia slated for next
month,¡¯¡¯ a ministry official said, asking not to be identified.

The forum involving the four countries is likely to open as early as
May, he added.

Establishing a peace pact has been a thorny issue in dealing with
the nuclear deadlock with North Korea.

North Koreans have long demanded a peace treaty in which the U.S.
Forces Korea (USFK) would pull out from the peninsula, while the
U.S. government was skeptical about the offer unless the communist
regime first agrees to disable its nuclear programs.

But the tone has changed as the Bush administration took a new
approach to the North Korean problem facing a growing nuclear
challenge from Iran.

U.S. President George W. Bush said last year he was willing to
declare a formal end to the 1950-1953 Korean War, if North Korea
abandons its nuclear programs, paving the way for two-track
discussions on the creation of a peace treaty and the disarmament
talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and
Russia.

White House Deputy National Security Adviser Jack Crouch said in
Seoul earlier this week, ``We are approaching (the North's
denuclearization) with energy and with cautious optimism thanks to
the coordinated stance among members of the six-party talks.¡¯¡¯

Some diplomatic sources said Song may meet with the North Korean
nuclear envoy, Kim Gye-gwan, in New York during his stay in the
United States.

``There is no formal arrangement for a Song-Kim meeting, but they
will be in the same place at the same time, so we can't rule out the
possibility that they might run into each other,¡¯¡¯ the source said.

The North¡¯s vice foreign minister is scheduled to arrive in San
Francisco tomorrow for talks with his U.S. counterpart, Christopher
Hill, assistant secretary of state.

During his three-day stay, Song will also meet senior U.S. officials
such as Stephen Hadley, White House national security adviser, and
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and give a speech at a forum.

Next Monday, Song will fly to Moscow to meet with his Russian
counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, to discuss ways to expand bilateral
cooperation in space technology and energy resources, as well as
joint efforts on the nuclear agreement, officials said.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr 03-01-2007 17:49
  
*****************************************************************
 7 Korea Times: Real Horse or Trojan Horse?

Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Opinion

By Heo Mane

The Beijing agreement followed the 17-month hiatus in bargaining
that followed the September 19 Joint Declaration. People all around
the world cautiously welcomed the agreement, seeing it as a
primitive step toward dismantling the long dragged-out nuclear
deadlock. Although it lacks a complete roadmap for the working-level
committees, the agreement carries commitments on the shutdown of
nuclear facilities, their disablement and in the end, their
abandonment. North Korea must stop the operation of the 5-megawatt
Yongbyon nuclear reactor within 60 days, seal it and submit to the
inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The
IAEA¡¯s inspection teams are to confirm that Pyongyang is operating
the nuclear facilities. In return, North Korea will be rewarded
incrementally.

But critics say the six-party negotiators did not set a roadmap to
durable peace and stable security. Many of them hold the opinion
that North Korea will never trade its nuclear weapons for energy and
economic aid. I would like to remind the negotiators and future
working groups that North Korea did not prepare nuclear weapons to
abandon them later.

The late leader Kim Il-sung said in 1990 that Pyongyang had neither
the intention to produce nuclear weapons nor the ability to do so.
Later he said the Korean Peninsula was too narrow for nuclear
weapons. But the regime started extracting weapons-grade plutonium
and producing highly enriched uranium. These preparations were
detected by U.S. satellite photos, and the Clinton administration
threatened surgical strikes on nuclear facilities in the Yongbyon
area.

In 1994, the Geneva freeze agreement was concluded. The reclusive
regime violated the agreement by reactivating the reactors soon
afterward. In 2005, the detailed September 19 Joint Declaration,
which set a principle of action for action, was signed by the six
countries involved in the six-party talks _ South Korea, North
Korea, Japan, China, the United States and Russia. But they failed
to put the declaration into practice.

The Beijing agreement reconfirms Article 6 of the September 19 Joint
Declaration: ``The six-parties directly concerned will hold a proper
forum aimed at establishing a peace system on the Korea
peninsula.¡¯¡¯ The six negotiators could not hold a forum for this
purpose because of the Pyongyang regime¡¯s veto.

It should be noted that Pyongyang continued to deny its uranium
program and that the Beijing February accord was no more than a
temporary delay in the operations of the Yongbyon reactor. The
Beijing accord did not mention how to deal with the nuclear weapons
produced. This was the biggest mistake ever made.

The North Korea nuclear issue is not confined to the Korean
Peninsula. It can directly and indirectly impact the fragile peace
supported by the current cease-fire agreement. People around the
world must know that although the peninsula has not been at war
technically, it is not a genuinely peaceful environment.

North Korea has already obtained the status of a nuclear state,
which resulted in an asymmetric relationship between South and North
Korea. The Pyongyang leadership has secured a stronger position in
the inter-Korean unification talks. Despite the developments, the
Roh Moo-hyun government has made efforts to withdraw its wartime
operational control.

I would like to propose three points of view in efforts to create
durable peace and stable security.

First, Pyongyang should give up all its nuclear capabilities,
including the nuclear weapons it has already developed.

Second, the IAEA inspection team should be invited soon to inspect
steps toward the shutdown, disablement and abandonment of nuclear
facilities. Inspection should neither be limited nor superficial.

Third, the working groups to be formed should not allow Pyongyang to
make selfish demands. Bad behavior in the nuclear deal with
Pyongyang will only aggrandize its nuclear ambitions. Working groups
have the moral obligation to teach North Korea that reasonable
thinking will help it open and reform its regime and eventually
bring it to be a normal state in international society. Reasonable
thinking on the nuclear bargaining issue alone will guarantee that
the poverty-stricken Pyongyang regime prospers and will serve to
bring about durable peace and stable security.

I am eager to state all once again that durable peace will not come
to the Korean Peninsula easily. With a firm will and determination,
it will be born. If the Pyongyang regime were not were prepared for
this, it would be not a real horse, but a Trojan horse.

The writer is president of the Korea-EU Forum.

03-01-2007 18:05
*****************************************************************
 8 AFP: US now uncertain about North Korean uranium program 

Thu Mar 1, 2:46 PM ET

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - Opposition Democrats said Thursday they will
press the Bush administration to explain the growing uncertainty
surrounding past US allegations about a secret North Korean uranium
enrichment program.

The explosive US accusations in 2002 led to a political standoff
with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, but a US
intelligence official said Tuesday the United States is now less
certain about the uranium program's existence.

"We still have confidence that the program is in existence -- at the
mid-confidence level," Joseph DeTrani, the North Korea mission
manager at the national intelligence director's office, told the US
Senate Armed Services Committee.

Under US intelligence definitions, that level "means the information
is interpreted in various ways, we have alternative views" or it is
not fully corroborated, according to The New York Times.

Democrats in Congress said the controversy harkens back to the
administration's past reliance on flawed intelligence, citing the
now discredited allegations that Saddam Hussein's Iraq was hiding
weapons of mass destruction.

"This goes back to Iraq -- and goes back to Iran," Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) told AFP. "It appears
that there are some who are saying that the intelligence -- even
with North Korea -- has been manipulated."

Democratic Senator Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), the
chairman of the armed services committee, said Thursday a letter
would be sent to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and likely to
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, "with a series of questions" on
the matter.

"This is a very significant development potentially," Levin said.
"We want to get all the facts as we possibly can before we take any
steps beyond that, so the secretary will receive a letter with our
questions by Monday."

The top Republican on the armed services panel, Senator John Warner
(news, bio, voting record), said he also expected to sign the
letter, as the issue "should be clarified."

The US accusations in 2002 that the North was running a secret
uranium program, in addition to its declared plutonium-based nuclear
operation, led to the collapse of a 1994 denuclearization deal with
the Stalinist regime.

North Korea, which last month agreed to scrap its nuclear program in
a landmark deal, has denied having a covert uranium enrichment
program.

The New York Times said two unnamed US administration officials
suggested that if Washington had harbored the same doubts when it
leveled the accusation in 2002 as it does now, the negotiating
strategy with North Korea might have been different.

The tit-for-tat actions that led to Pyongyang's atomic bomb test in
October could conceivably have been avoided, the Times said, citing
the officials.

"The question now is whether we would be in the position of having
to get the North Koreans to give up a sizable arsenal if this had
been handled differently," an unidentified senior administration
official was quoted as saying in the Times.

The White House referred questions to the intelligence community.

"We've said for a long time, North Korea is an opaque regime," White
House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.

"I'm sure the intelligence community continually tried to assess and
reassess and look at the information that they have," she said.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Thursday
that North Korea admitted in 2002 to having a highly-enriched
uranium program at the time, before then denying its existence.

He said Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf confirmed in his memoir
that the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, had
sold North Korea equipment for the program.

Pressed on whether Pyongyang just purchased the equipment but never
really got an enrichment program running, McCormack also referred
questions to the intelligence agencies for an assessment of "where
it stands right now."

North Korea agreed at six-nation talks in Beijing last month to
scrap its nuclear program in exchange for economic aid and
diplomatic benefits.

Under the multi-phase February 13 agreement worked out at the talks
involving China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States,
North Korea had 60 days to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear facility,
invite back international nuclear inspectors and declare all its
nuclear programs.

Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 9 MWB: Political interference alleged in sacking of a U.S. attorney

McClatchy Washington Bureau | McClatchy Newspapers

02/28/2007 | 

By Marisa Taylor

WASHINGTON - Congressional leaders said Wednesday that they'd 
seek testimony from several U.S. attorneys who were summarily 
fired by the Bush administration, hours after the top federal 
prosecutor in New Mexico alleged that he was fired because of 
political interference.

Democrats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate 
vowed to hold a new round of hearings to determine if partisan 
politics played a role in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys 
across the country. The House is set to vote Thursday on whether 
to issue subpoenas to four of the prosecutors. The Senate 
Judiciary Committee plans to ask the U.S. attorneys to testify 
voluntarily before it decides whether to subpoena them.

The controversy flared up early Wednesday afternoon after David 
Iglesias, the departing U.S. attorney from New Mexico, told 
McClatchy Newspapers that he believes he was forced out because 
he refused to speed up an indictment of local Democrats a month 
before November's congressional elections.

Iglesias said that two members of Congress called separately in 
mid-October to inquire about the timing of a federal probe of a 
kickback scheme. They appeared eager, he said, for an indictment 
to be issued before the elections in order to benefit the 
Republicans. He refused to name the members of Congress because, 
he said, he feared retaliation.

Two months later, on Dec. 7, Iglesias became one of six U.S. 
attorneys who've been ordered to step down for what 
administration officials have called "performance-related 
issues." Two other U.S. attorneys also were asked to resign.

Iglesias, however, had received a positive performance review 
before he was fired and said that he suspected he was forced out 
because he resisted the pressure and didn't indict anyone before 
the election.

"I believe that because I didn't play ball, so to speak, I was 
asked to resign," Iglesias, who stepped down Wednesday, told 
McClatchy.

A Justice Department spokesman denied hearing of any 
congressional interference in the investigation and said Iglesias 
wasn't fired because of the case.

"The suggestion that David Iglesias was asked to resign because 
he failed to bring an indictment over a courthouse construction 
contract is flatly false," said Brian Roehrkasse, a Justice 
Department spokesman. "This administration has never removed a 
United States attorney in an effort to retaliate against them or 
inappropriately interfere with a public integrity investigation."

Roehrkasse said the department has encouraged federal prosecutors 
to go after corruption cases leading to a number of high-profile 
corruption indictments.

Justice Department officials have defended the firings of the 
U.S. attorneys as legitimate administrative decisions meant to 
improve the workings of the attorneys' offices. Deputy Attorney 
General Paul McNulty told the Senate last month that most of the 
forced resignations were motivated by "performance-related" 
reasons.

However, McClatchy Newspapers reported last month that five out 
of the six attorneys that McNulty mentioned had received positive 
job evaluations.

Iglesias acknowledged that he had no proof that the pressure from 
the members of Congress prompted his forced resignation. But he 
said the contact violated one of the most important tenets of a 
U.S. attorney's office: Don't mix politics with prosecutions.

"I was appalled by the inappropriateness of those contacts," 
Iglesias said of the calls.

U.S. attorneys are appointed by the president in a political 
process that includes Senate confirmation. But as soon as they 
assume office, they're expected to refrain from being politically 
active and to resist the urge to allow their political leanings 
to affect the outcomes of cases.

Iglesias said the two members of Congress not only contacted him 
directly, but also tried to wrest details of the case from him. 
Iglesias wouldn't comment on the case to McClatchy, but the local 
media have reported on aspects of the investigation, including 
allegations that a former Democratic state senator took money to 
ensure that an $82 million courthouse contract would go to a 
specific company.

Congressional questions about ongoing cases are supposed to go 
through the Justice Department's Office of Legislative Affairs to 
avoid the appearance of impropriety.


Local media had reported that Iglesias' office might issue an 
indictment before the elections.

Iglesias said he refused to tell the lawmakers when any 
indictment would be issued, although he'd decided that the 
investigation needed more time.

He said he now regrets that he didn't report the calls to the 
Justice Department, as required by policy.

"I thought it would blow over," he said. "But I was wrong."

Democrats have described the midterm firings of the 
Republican-appointed U.S. attorneys as unprecedented and 
questioned whether the firings were politically motivated to root 
out moderates and install candidates loyal to the administration.

"I called this meeting because we pledged to do everything we can 
to get to the truth of what could be brazen abuse of power by the 
Bush administration," said Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., the 
chairwoman of the House judiciary subcommittee that'll vote on 
the subpoenas.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., took to the Senate floor 
Wednesday afternoon to question the Bush administration's 
rationale for the firings.

"Clearly, the performance of these U.S. attorneys was not a 
reason to fire them," Feinstein said.

The decision to fire the U.S. attorneys first came under scrutiny 
earlier this year after Senate Democrats discovered that Attorney 
General Alberto Gonzales could use a little-noticed change in the 
Patriot Act to fill vacancies with interim U.S. attorneys for 
indefinite terms without Senate approval.

Iglesias and former U.S. attorneys Carol Lam in San Diego, John 
McKay in Seattle and Bud Cummins in Arkansas could be subpoenaed 
to testify before the House subcommittee. Iglesias said he would 
testify only if he were subpoenaed.

Iglesias' allegation raises new questions about the firings and 
appears to undermine the theory that the administration singled 
out moderate Republicans. Iglesias, a former military lawyer 
whose work helped inspire the Tom Cruise character in the movie 
"A Few Good Men," describes himself as a social conservative who 
strove to implement the administration's policies. Iglesias also 
was the first Hispanic to serve as U.S. attorney in his state in 
decades.

"I represent three huge voting blocks of the Republican party," 
he said. "I don't know why they would let someone go with those 
political credentials who has demonstratively done a good job."

Jude McCartin, a spokeswoman for Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said 
she hadn't heard of the allegations and couldn't comment on them.

"It wasn't us - that's all I can say," she said.

Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., didn't contact Iglesias about the 
courthouse investigation, Pearce spokesman David Host said.

Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., also didn't call about the case, said 
Marissa Padilla, Udall's spokeswoman.

Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, both Republicans, 
didn't return phone calls.

Domenici wasn't facing re-election in November, but the state's 
two other Republicans, Pearce and Wilson, were up for election. 
Both won, but Wilson beat her opponent by only 875 votes out of 
nearly 211,000.

*****************************************************************
 10 MWB: Democrats move to require approval before any strike on Iran

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 03/01/2007 | 

Thursday, Mar 01, 2007

By Margaret Talev

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Fearing that President Bush may be preparing to 
launch a military strike against Iran, Senate Democrats are 
drafting legislation that would require the White House to seek 
congressional approval before any such action.

Freshman Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a former Republican Navy secretary 
and decorated Vietnam veteran who opposes the Iraq war, is 
leading the effort. Webb said Thursday that he's still working on 
the details, but he intends to introduce his measure next week as 
an amendment to the $93.4 billion war spending bill.

Democrats aren't satisfied with assurances from Secretary of 
State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint 
Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace that there are no plans 
to attack Iran.

Despite their assurances, Bush has deployed two aircraft carrier 
battle groups off of Iran's coast. He also frequently denounces 
Iran's alleged supply of weapons to Shiite fighters in Iraq, and 
he has issued orders to U.S. troops there to hunt those Iranians 
who are making mischief.

In addition, there are persistent reports quoting people close to 
the administration saying that an attack on Iran is under 
consideration, both to inhibit Iran's nuclear program and to try 
to undermine its leaders.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he supports 
Webb's concept.

"There are many out there much smarter than I am who believe the 
administration is ramping up to have the same thing happen in 
Iran that's happened in Iraq," Reid said.

At the same time, the administration announced this week that it 
will attend a regional conference on Iraq that will include 
representatives from Iran and Syria, reversing its previous 
refusal to talk to either regime.

Many Democrats are skeptical that the Bush administration is 
committed to solving its problems with Iran diplomatically. They 
see similarities to the buildup to the Iraq war and want to leave 
no doubt that the 2002 authorization to use force in Iraq doesn't 
extend to Iran.

Webb said that under his proposal, the U.S. military "would still 
be able to repel an immediate attack if it began on Iranian soil 
or (undertake) hot pursuit if there were Iranian activity where 
they were to cross the border. I want to be very reasonable about 
this."

"What we would be going after would be any notion of beginning 
unilateral military action inside Iran without provocation and 
without the consent of the Congress. I'm not saying, `Don't do 
it,'" Webb said. "I'm saying if they want to begin that sort of 
new military activity, they should come to the Congress and 
discuss it."

Republicans are expected to fight Webb's effort. Sen. Judd Gregg, 
R-N.H., who last month helped his party block debate on a 
nonbinding resolution opposing a troop buildup in Iraq, said an 
Iran amendment is a political stunt.

"It sounds to me like somebody's trying to make an issue for the 
sake of getting some press," he said.

Webb also must convince at least one skeptical Democrat, Armed 
Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin of Michigan.

Levin said he believes the law already requires Bush to seek 
congressional approval if he decides to attack Iran. He suggested 
that the amendment could backfire on Democrats if Republicans 
block it or the president vetoes it, and he said that Bush might 
then argue anew that he doesn't need congressional approval to 
attack.

The urgency is heightened as anti-war Democrats quarrel among 
themselves over whether to rescind the 2002 Iraq war 
authorization, renew it with restrictions or leave it untouched.

"We don't trust the president," said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. 
"I want to support something that forces the president to come to 
us before he goes into Iran."

*****************************************************************
 11 RIA Novosti: Russia, US begin dialogue to replace START II treaty - Ambassador

2/03/2007

Any nuclear development scenario possible in Iran - senator Boy 
found in Uzbekistan after eight years of animal existence First 
S-400 missile regiment to go on combat duty in Russia Moscow 
baffled by U.S. ABM plans for Europe Russia may open new space 
launch site - Space Agency

MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and the U.S. have begun
dialogue on strategic security to find a replacement for the START
II strategic arms reduction treaty, the U.S. Ambassador to Moscow
said Thursday.

William Burns said the two countries should get ready to resolve
issues that will come up after the START I treaty expires in 2009.

START II that followed START I, although it was ratified, has never
been activated. In June 2002 Russia withdrew from START II shortly
after the United States withdrew from the ABM Treaty. According to
the START II treaty signed in 1993, the sides were to have reduced
their strategic arms arsenals by two thirds against the January 1993
levels by 2003.

Russia and the U.S. signed the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty
(SORT) in May 2002, envisioning a reduction in the nuclear arsenals
of each side to 1,700-2,200 by the end of 2012.

William Burns said he does not think Russia and America are in a
state of "cold war" though they are rivals.

He said the two countries are not enemies and that no one wants a
new cold war or a new arms race.

Burns voiced concern over Iran and North Korea's nuclear programs.

RIA Novosti
*****************************************************************
 12 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Green energy could leave coal in the dust

Thursday, March 01, 2007 

By Elwin Green, 

For decades, Western Pennsylvania and much of the nation's coal 
industry saw their fortunes twist in the wind, as mines shut down 
and younger workers skipped the industry for more stable, less 
risky jobs elsewhere. But that changed this decade, as economic 
growth and a push to lessen the country's reliance on foreign 
sources of energy made coal king again.
 
 David J. Phillip, Associated Press file photo
A pile of coal is shown at the TXU Corp's Big Brown power plant in
this file photo near Fairfield, Texas.


But just as the industry appears poised for a new round of
prosperity, with more than 150 new coal-fired plants on the drawing
board and industry plans to hire thousands of new miners, comes a
move by one of the nation's largest energy company's to scale back
its use of coal.

This week's proposed $32 billion buyout of Dallas-based utility
giant TXU came with a big win for environmentalists: The buyers, KKR
and Texas Pacific Group, said they would not pursue plans to build
eight of 11 coal-fired plants. But the deal, if it clears
regulators, also came with a big worry sign for the coal industry.

Some observers believe it not only will deal a short-term blow to
coal, but possibly could serve as a turning point that will lead
other energy companies to pursue alternatives to coal, the source
for more than half of this nation's electricity.

Share prices of coal companies, including Upper St. Clair-based
Consol Energy, initially plunged on Monday's news, though they
recovered somewhat with yesterday's rebound from Tuesday's massive,
broad-based sell-off of stocks around the world.

Still, the question remains: Will the push to 'green' energy leave
coal in the dust?

Jim Owen doesn't think so.

The spokesman for the Edison Electric Institute, an industry group
whose membership includes 60 utility companies, said that while
"coal-based generation would have some vulnerability in a
carbon-constrained environment ... coal will continue to be the main
workhorse of our generation mix."

One reason for that is that coal's chief competitor for electricity
generation, nuclear power, has its own challenges that will not be
easily resolved, beginning with the storage of radioactive nuclear
waste.

Waste storage was a point of contention between President Bush and
challenger John Kerry during the last presidential campaign, when
Mr. Kerry famously promised that if elected, the Bush
administration's plan to store nuclear waste in an underground
facility in Yucca Mountain, Nev., would be scuttled. Mr. Kerry lost
that election, but the Democrats won the Senate last fall, making
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada the majority leader. In that role, he
has promised to kill the Yucca Mountain project.

Nuclear power fuels some 20 percent of the nation's electricity
production; natural gas, 15 percent. Beyond those fuels,
"alternative technologies have a long way to go to become
competitive with either coal or nuclear energy," said Consol Vice
President Tom Hoffman.

Still, some observers view the TXU deal as a watershed event.

On the day of the unveiling of the proposed buyout, which was done
with input from environmental groups that only months before were
protesting TXU's plans for more coal-fired plants, Rainforest Action
Network executive director Michael Brune called it "the beginning of
the end of big coal's dominance over America's energy future."

On the same day, a leading scientist with the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration called for an end to building coal-fired
power plants altogether. "There should be a moratorium on building
any more coal-fired power plants," James Hansen, director of the
Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, told journalists
gathered at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

While burning oil and natural gas also release carbon dioxide, Mr.
Hansen said coal is the major culprit. "Until we have that clean
coal power plant, we should not be building them. It is as clear as
a bell."

Henry Lee, lecturer in public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy
School of Government, offered a more moderate view. He said that he
expects most coal plants built after 2012 to be equipped with
technology for capturing and storing carbon emissions so that they
will not pollute.

In the meantime, he said, "we have more coal than most of the
countries in the world and we're not going to walk away from it."

(Elwin Green can be reached at egreen@post-gazette.com or
412-263-1969.)

Copyright ©1997-2007 PG Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 13 Guardian Unlimited: Date set for Trident vote 

Press Association

Thursday March 1, 2007 12:43 PM

Opponents of nuclear weapons stepped up their campaign for the
scrapping of the Trident missile system as it was announced that MPs
will take a crucial vote on whether to order a replacement on March
14.

Estimates on how much it would cost to replace Trident range from
£25 billion to £75 billion.

CND is co-ordinating most of the opposition and plans to hold a huge
demonstration outside Parliament on the day of the vote.

The anti-war protests in London and Glasgow at the weekend were also
aimed at opposing Trident, while the Church of England this week
strengthened its opposition to the renewal of the nuclear deterrent.

Its General Synod voted in favour of a stronger amendment to a
motion which already raised "serious questions" about the possible
renewal.

The issue will be debated at this weekend's Liberal Democrat Spring
conference in Harrogate amid a pledge from party leader Sir Menzies
Campbell to vote against the Government's plans to renew the system.

CND chairwoman Kate Hudson said: "We have appealed to the Government
for more time to debate Trident and we are now doing all we can to
get our message across by lobbying MPs and ministers."

The Prime Minister has said it would take 17 years to design, build
and deploy a new Trident submarine, so the decision had to be taken
now.

He has dismissed the options of aircraft with cruise missiles and a
land-based system, insisting a submarine-based system was "the best"
for the country and that Britain would retain full operational
independence.

Anti-war Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North), said: "If we
want a nuclear free world, we should play our part by not renewing
Trident."

© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2007, All Rights Reserved.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
 14 Guardian Unlimited: Trident: the facts 

Press Association
Thursday March 1, 2007

A Trident missile. Photograph: AP.

Opponents and supporters of replacing Trident were today gearing 
up for the last few weeks of campaigning ahead of a crucial vote 
in parliament on March 14 on whether to order a new generation of 
nuclear weapons.

· Estimates of the cost of a new Trident range from £25bn to 
£75bn.

· Opponents say that £25bn could pay for 120,000 nurses every 
year for the next 10 years, capping student top-up fees for the 
next decade, 60,000 teachers every year for the next 20 years, or 
100,000 extra firefighters every year for a decade.

· The prime minister has said it would take 17 years to design, 
build and deploy a new Trident submarine, so the decision had to 
be taken now.

· CND said opposition in the UK has increased from 54% to 59% in the
past year, and a growing number of political and religious leaders
are now speaking out.

· The Church of England this week strengthened its opposition to the
renewal of the nuclear deterrent.

· Unions have argued that thousands of skilled jobs will be created
and safeguarded if new Trident submarines are built.

· The existing submarine fleet is expected to start coming to the
end of its service life from 2022.

· Around 16 missiles are carried on each of the UK's four Trident
submarines, each having between three and eight warheads.

· One warhead has eight times the explosive power of the atomic bomb
dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 which killed more than 140,000 people.

· A Commons motion calling for a delay in the decision has been
signed by more than 140 MPs.

· More than 50 British bands and musicians, including Thom Yorke and
Damon Albarn, have signed a statement calling on the public to
"choose peace and justice, not nuclear weapons and war".


Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
*****************************************************************
 15 AFP: Labour rebels try to delay decision on Trident - 

Thu Mar 1, 4:25 AM

LONDON (AFP) - Rebel MPs will likely soon table an amendment 
calling for more debate over the decision to modernise Britain's 
nuclear deterrent, according to a candidate for the Labour 
Party's deputy leadership.

Jon Cruddas, who has declared himself as a candidate for the post
once John Prescott steps down by September, told Thursday's edition
of the Financial Times (FT) that while he was not against having a
nuclear deterrent in principle, the decision seemed rushed.

His comments coincided with those from Liberal Democrat leader
Menzies Campbell who said in another interview that his party would
oppose the government's plans to renew the aging Trident system if
they were put to a vote.

"I haven't been convinced ... It seems to me pretty self-evident we
should have quite a mature discussion about whether this is the
contemporary weaponry to deal with the contemporary threat or
whether this is a hangover from a previous epoch," Cruddas told the
Financial Times.

The MP continued: "Is this the most effective prioritisation of
resources? It's an awful large sum of money."

In December, Prime Minister Tony Blair unveiled plans to modernise
Britain's nuclear arsenal, including a new generation of nuclear
submarines, at a cost of up to 20 billion pounds.

He then argued that action was needed immediately to take the first
steps towards maintaining Trident, because of the estimated 17 years
it takes to design, build and deploy a new submarine.

The government promised a vote before parliament in March.

Campbell told The Guardian that if "the government puts a motion
embodying the proposals Tony Blair has announced I will lead the
Liberal Democrats into the no lobby."

"This is clearly yet another effort by the prime minister to
establish his legacy ... There is more than a hint that the
government has come under very considerable pressure from defence
manufacturers to make a premature decision," he continued.

Nuclear weapons are a divisive issue within Labour, as unilateral
disarmament was a key plank of its policy at the height of the Cold
War during the 1980s.

But he is unlikely to suffer an embarrassing defeat in parliament as
Conservative leader David Cameron has already told Blair that his
party agreed with the proposal "on substance and on timing".

Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Canada Co. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 16 UPI: Rice case for BMD doesn't wash with Russia

United Press International - Security & Terrorism - 

2/28/2007 7:33:00 PM -0500

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Don't expect a thaw in chilly 
relations between Russia and the United States soon.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that U.S. 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had failed to persuade him 
that the Bush administration's reasons for wanting to deploy 
ballistic missile defense radars and interceptors in Central 
Europe were valid ones.

"The secretary of state told me the 10 missiles, which will be 
deployed as the third missile defense ring, are nothing compared 
to the potential of Russian missile forces," Lavrov said 
according to a report from the RIA Novosti news agency.

But Lavrov said it wasn't just the plans to put BMD radars in the 
Czech Republic and interceptors in Poland that alarmed the 
Kremlin. He said Russia was even more concerned about the United 
States deploying such assets on the Aleutian Islands in the North 
Pacific and by the possibility that Britain might sign on board 
as well, the report said.

"Every separate component poses no military strategic threat on 
its own, but the number of these components is increasing 
rapidly," Lavrov said.

Russia could not risk waiting until "somebody is tempted to 
backtrack on the commitment not to use this system against 
Russia," Lavrov said.

"Our experts, armed with a pair of compasses and a globe, have 
tried to show [to their American colleagues] the range of Iranian 
missiles and persuade them that [Washington] does not need to 
place radars and missile defenses in the proposed countries to 
neutralize a hypothetical threat from Iran," Lavrov said.

Lavrov's comments strongly signaled that the serious 
deterioration in relations between Washington and Moscow 
discussed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his Munich 
speech on Feb. 10 are likely to continue.


© Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 17 Patriot News: Fire at nuclear plant no threat, officials say(Peach
 
Date: Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:38:23 -0800


<x-flowed>
*From: *Eric Epstein <ericepstein@comcast.net 
<mailto:ericepstein@comcast.net>>
*Date: *March 1, 2007 7:58:46 AM EST
*Subject: **Peach Bottom fire*



More <http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/>  |  Subscribe 
<http://www.pennlive.com/pnsubscriptions/>  |  14-Day Archives (Free) 
<http://www.pennlive.com/search>  |  Long-Term Archives (Paid) 
<http://www.patriot-news.com/searchArchives.php>
*YORK COUNTY*

*Fire at nuclear plant no threat, officials say*

Wednesday, February 28, 2007
*BY GARRY LENTON*
*Of The Patriot-News*

An electrical fire at the Peach Bottom nuclear station in southern York 
County yesterday posed no threat to the plant's operating nuclear 
reactors, according to company and government officials.

The fire, discovered shortly after 9 a.m. in a non-nuclear area, was 
extinguished by 10:32 a.m. and there were no injuries, officials said.

The fire was traced to a transformer cabinet in the turbine building of 
the Unit 3 reactor, said April Schilpp, spokeswoman for the plant's 
owner, Exelon Nuclear. As a precaution, officials shut down the turbine 
and cut power to 50 percent.



Company officials were assessing the damages, but they were expected to 
be minor.

"It should not prevent the plant from operating normally," Schilpp said.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Diane Screnci said the 
plant was stable and that its inspectors were in the plant control room 
monitoring the situation.

The fire is the ninth at Peach Bottom since 1986, and the second in the 
Unit-3 turbine buildings, according to a chronology put together by the 
watchdog group Three Mile Island Alert using NRC documents.

The most recent was a small fire in an emergency backup diesel generator 
in August, 2004.

"Fires at nuclear power plants are never a welcome development," said 
TMIA Chairman Eric Epstein. "Older plants with aging parts, like Peach 
Bottom, require heightened vigilance. The root cause needs to be 
identified and defeated."

GARRY LENTON: 255-8264 or glenton@patriot-news.com 
<mailto:glenton@patriot-news.com>


</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 18 ForUm: SOLAR, NOT NUCLEAR

Letter to the editor / 1 March 2007 | 10:46

Dear Editor,

Regarding your report "Three nuclear power units to be built in
Ukraine" (2007-02-27), there is absolutely no need for nuclear power
in the Ukraine (or anywhere else in Europe or the USA) because there
is a simple mature technology that can deliver huge amounts of clean
energy without any of the headaches of nuclear power.

I refer to 'concentrating solar power' (CSP), the technique of
concentrating sunlight using mirrors to create heat, and then using
the heat to raise steam and drive turbines and generators, just like
a conventional power station. It is possible to store solar heat in
melted salts so that electricity generation may continue through the
night or on cloudy days. This technology has been generating
electricity successfully in California since 1985 and half a million
Californians currently get their electricity from this source. CSP
plants are now being planned or built in many parts of the world. A
recent report from the American Solar Energy Society says that CSP
plants in the south western states of the US "could provide nearly
7,000 GW of capacity, or ***about seven times the current total US
electric capacity***" (emphasis added).

CSP works best in hot deserts and, of course, there are not many of
these in Europe! But it is feasible and economic to transmit solar
electricity over very long distances using highly-efficient 'HVDC'
transmission lines. With transmission losses at about 3% per 1000
km, solar electricity may, for example, be transmitted from the
Middle East to Kiev with only about 10% loss of power. A large-scale
HVDC transmission grid has also been proposed by the wind energy
company Airtricity as a means of optimising the use of wind power
throughout Europe.

In the recent 'TRANS-CSP' report commissioned by the German
government, it is estimated that CSP electricity, imported from
North Africa and the Middle East, could become one of the cheapest
sources of electricity in Europe, including the cost of
transmission. That report shows in great detail how Europe can meet
all its needs for electricity, make deep cuts in CO2 emissions, and
phase out nuclear power at the same time.

Sincerely,

Dr Gerry Wolff

Coordinator of TREC-UK.

All rights are reserved by © LTD. Inter-Media, ForUm 2001-2007 
*****************************************************************
 19 AU ABC: Garrett wants MPs to reveal stance on nuclear plant location

ABC Home Radio 

ABC Australian Capital Territory  

(ACST)Thursday, 1 March 2007. 10:19 (AEST)Thursday, 1 March 2007.

Opposition environment spokesman Peter Garrett has tried to make all
Lower House MPs reveal whether they would be happy to have a nuclear
power plant built in their electorates.

The Opposition has been pressuring the Government to say where
nuclear reactors might be located if a nuclear industry is developed
in Australia.

Many Coalition MPs have already said they would not want a nuclear
plant in their seat.

Mr Garrett attempted to have all MPs explain their stance on the
issue in Parliament.

"[I] noted the stated opposition outside the house of a growing
number of members to the location of a nuclear power plant in their
electorate, [I'm] providing all members with an opportunity to come
into the house and declare their opposition to the location of a
nuclear power plant in their electorates," he said.

Mr Garrett's motion was defeated by the Government.

Meanwhile the Greens want the owners of any future nuclear power
stations in Australia to be legally responsible for any damage that
might be caused to private property in Australia.

Greens Senator Christine Milne says there is a standard nuclear
exclusion clause in every insurance policy, which leaves home owners
liable for any costs resulting from an accident at a nuclear
facility.

Senator Milne is calling on the Government to back a Greens' Bill to
force a change.

The Greens will be moving a private member's Bill which will make it
very clear that nuclear facilities bear absolute liability for any
damage to property surrounding that facility," she said.

"Now if the Government doesn't support that then it will be leaving
all Australians vulnerable."


*****************************************************************
 20 Fredericksburg.com: North Anna reactor running after repair

Thu, Mar. 01, 2007

Exhaust system failure results in brief cut in power at North Anna
reactor

By RUSTY DENNEN

A backup safety system that malfunctioned at the North Anna Power
Station Tuesday has been repaired and the unit is operating normally.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission mentioned the problem yesterday in
its daily event report.

According to the NRC, power was reduced at Unit 2 around 4:20 p.m.
Tuesday when exhaust bypass dampers failed during a test. Temporary
repairs were completed four hours later.

"We had to reduce power to repair a system designed to provide
post-accident ventilation. It's a safety system," said Richard
Zuercher, spokesman for Dominion power's nuclear operations.

"The repairs were made and the unit's back to 100 percent [power]."

The North Anna plant, in Fredericksburg's backyard, is on
13,000-acre Lake Anna's Louisa County shore.

The plant, which has two reactors, sits across from Spotsylvania
County.

Dominion has applied to the NRC to add up to two more reactors on
the property.

Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com

Copyright 2007, The Free Lance-Star Publishing Co. of
Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA
*****************************************************************
 21 Grist: What nuclear must do 

Gristmill: The environmental news blog | 

Posted by David Roberts at 3:26 PM on 01 Mar 2007

The Oil Drum has a long and technically rich piece on the pros 
and cons of nuclear power (updated and reposted from last year) 
by Martin Sevior, an Associate Professor at the School of Physics 
in the University of Melbourne. It's more sanguine about nuclear 
energy than I am, but it's dense with great info.

I have but one quibble. Here's how he starts his conclusion: 
Technically, there appear to be no show stoppers for a 
considerable expansion of Nuclear Power throughout the world. It 
is a low carbon energy source with abundant fuel supplies. The 
technology works and has much potential for improvement.

Fair enough. But then there's this:

Whether or not a large scale expansion eventuates depends on how it
competes with Coal on economic grounds and with the public on
political grounds.

No. It depends on how nuclear competes with renewables and
efficiency in a carbon-constrained environment.

Then: This in turn will be determined by the performance of the
nuclear industry over the next few years as these purportedly
cheaper and safer plants are built.

All the nuclear industry can do in the "next few years" is permit
and build plants. In ten years they'll be up and running.

Let's think about 30 years out. For nuclear, the first 10 were spent
planning, permitting, and building plants. For the next 20, they
produced power.

For R&E, that's 30 years of efficiency improvements, grid upgrades,
R&D on thin-film solar and wave energy and batteries, deployment of
solar thermal and solar PV and geothermal and offshore wind,
domestic job creation, and behavioral changes as communities adjust
themselves to increasing energy independence.

If you were an investor, where would you put your money?

Perhaps you think nuclear will win that race, but is there any good
reason we're pouring billions of dollars into the first option and a
pittance into the latter?


Grist: Environmental News and Commentary
©2007. Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 22 Platts: California bill would lift state ban on new nuclear plants

San Francisco (Platts)--28Feb2007

A California legislator with an eye on curbing greenhouse gas 
emissions has introduced a measure that would lift the state's 
ban on new nuclear plants.

     California law bans new nuclear facilities until the waste 
storage question is resolved. But a bill (A.B. 719) by 
Assemblyman Chuck DeVore would repeal the ban, citing the need to 
curb greenhouse gas emissions.

     "Other states and nations produce far more zero carbon 
dioxide emission electricity than does California largely due to 
nuclear power," according to the bill. With federal efforts "well 
underway to provide an approved means of high-level nuclear waste 
disposal," and given the long lead times to develop nuclear 
facilities, by the time a nuclear facility is operational, "an 
approved high-level waste disposal means will be available," 
according to the legislation.

     The bill, introduced on February 22, comes amid an apparent 
resurgence of interest in nuclear power in California. A staff 
member for the California Energy Commission Wednesday said the 
California Legislature is expected to conduct hearings on nuclear 
issues in coming weeks.

     Southern California Edison President John Fielder last week 
said his company is tracking developments in the nuclear industry 
and may consider building a plant in the next 10 to 20 years.  

     Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation CEO Peter Darbee recently 
said his company would welcome a partner to invest in nuclear 
generation outside of California.

     In addition, the city of Fresno, California, is pushing to 
build a nuclear plant.

--Lisa Weinzimer, lisa_weinzimer@platts.com

Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
 23 business.iafrica.com: features SA presses the nuclear button

Thu, 01 Mar 2007

AFP Tom Nevin

Two developments in South Africa’s energy arena hold high
significance, both for the immediate region and the continent that
the country is mapping out a nuclear future.

The government declarations in mid-February came simultaneously: one
announced that work is to begin on a second nuclear power station,
and the other proclaimed South Africa’s deposits of uranium as a
strategic reserve.

The government is said to be considering a wide-ranging nuclear
energy programme that could see a string of five atom-powered
electricity generators scattered throughout the country. The
recently announced facility will probably be situated at Koeberg,
the current nuclear power station near Cape Town, a move aimed at
contributing more baseload power to the southern part of the
national grid areas, in recent times most affected by power
shortages.

Finalising the strategy

"To that end we are finalising a national nuclear energy strategy
which will be a comprehensive policy that will look at the
utilisation of nuclear energy," the government said.

The government has not confirmed or denied speculation emanating
from the corridors of power that its medium-term plan includes a
series of nuclear energy generators in the 1500MW to 1800MW range,
some sited in the northern provinces of Limpopo and Northern Cape
and others in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng.

Public Affairs Minister Alec Erwin has, however, conceded that
nuclear energy will be a central plank in the government’s energy
strategy, while identifying uranium as a strategic mineral to secure
nuclear energy supply.

Nuclear the lead option

In pressing the nuclear button, South Africa shuffled the atom to
the front of the pack of energy-generating options it has to choose
from to confront an electricity shortage now reaching critical
proportions.

Rolling blackouts and load-shedding has become the order of the
South African day as galloping economic growth consumes more power
than Eskom, the government-owned electricity monopoly, can supply.

The Eskom shortfall is also a worry for the clutch of neighbouring
countries that Eskom supplies. The nuclear ramp-up, along with other
new generating potential, as demothballing old thermal stations, the
possibility of building new ones, the commissioning of gas turbine
installations in the Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and serious
consideration of such clean energy provision as wind, solar and
tidal facilities will be of comfort.

But nuclear is the flavour of the moment and its development as an
affordable and environmentally sound alternative to gas and
coal-fired sources is now at centre stage.

Export uranium?

Also in the nuclear mix the demonstration Pebble Bed Modular Reactor
plant at Koeberg is going ahead as planned, providing top-up power
of about 165MW.

In light of its nuclear expansion, South Africa’s reserves of
uranium — a nuclear fuel derivative — was declared a strategic
mineral. It is a mineral South Africa has in abundance, and which
the country is eager to add value to as it builds its nuclear energy
capacity.

As a strategic mineral, the government will have more controls over
uranium’s production and exportation to ensure that South Africa has
adequate reserves of the mineral in years to come. "We can’t export
uranium when we want to embark on a nuclear programme," says
Minerals and Energy Minister Bulelwa Sonjica.

"We want to ensure that all the time, when we need it, we have
reserves in store. There will be limitations on the export of
uranium. We’ll be managing it very carefully."

Tight supply

These interventions are expected to add thousands of megawatts over
the short-term to the electricity grid which, with its capacity
currently stretched to a limit of between 37 500MW and 40 000MW, is
in "a tight supply" situation, Erwin conceded.

Eskom is the largest single supplier of electricity in Africa,
answering to about 63 percent of the continent’s power needs. It is
the eleventh-largest electricity utility in the world and supplies
about 95 per cent of the electricity consumed in South Africa.

South Africa will make other, long term infrastructural adjustments
over the next 10 to 20 years, says Mr Erwin, and these will put paid
to the current tight electricity supply situation.

The South African economy is currently in the largest upswing in its
history. Gross Domestic Product per capita growth was less than one
per cent per year between 1994 and 2003, but then accelerated from
3.1 percent in 2003 to 4.8 percent in 2004, and up to 5.1 percent in
2005.

In taking the nuclear route, South Africa joins a growing nuclear
power capacity taking place in developing nations, including those
that had sworn off the atom in the wake of nuclear mishaps at
Chernobyl in Russia and Three Mile Island in the US. Such incidents
seem to have receded sufficiently in the global memory to allow a
robust nuclear renaissance worldwide. -Business in Africa Magazine

Copyright © 2002-2005 iafrica.com, a division of Metropolis* - a
Primedia company
*****************************************************************
 24 AU: Border Mail: Nuclear power takeover

 Thu, 1st March, 2007 

Differing state laws might prompt a ....

Nuclear power takeover

THE Federal Government has refused to rule out taking over planning
controls from the states to build nuclear power stations.

Nuclear physicist Ziggy Switkowski, who headed Prime Minister John
Howard&rsquo;s taskforce into the nuclear industry, has raised the
prospect of a federal takeover, saying state laws are too varied and
inconsistent.

Labor Leader Kevin Rudd asked Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane if
he could rule out taking planning controls from the states to build
reactors.

But Mr Macfarlane ducked the question, saying the Government had not
responded to Dr Switkowski&rsquo;s report.

&ldquo;The Government is yet to respond to that report, and I look
forward to the Government&rsquo;s response on that report,&rdquo; Mr
Macfarlane told Parliament.

Several Liberal backbenchers have expressed concerns about where
nuclear reactors might be sited, saying they do not want one in
their electorate.

But Mr Howard said he was open to the idea of a reactor in Sydney,
even in his seat of Bennelong.

&ldquo;I am open-minded about where it might be, whether it&rsquo;s
in Sydney or somewhere else,&rdquo; Mr Howard said.

&ldquo;That is something some years into the future and something
that will be determined by economic, environmental and regulatory
considerations.

&ldquo;And if we are to have a genuine debate, a mature debate, a
sensible debate, then we must be willing to avoid and set our faces
against this silly game of will you rule it out here and
there.&rdquo;

Mr Howard denied he set up his inquiry into the feasibility of a
nuclear power industry to benefit Liberal Party powerbroker Ron
Walker, who has registered a company to investigate the power source.

Mr Howard conceded that he called the inquiry about the same time
that Mr Walker told him he had registered Australian Nuclear Energy
Pty Ltd.

The company was registered on June 1, 2006 &mdash; five days before
Mr Howard announced his taskforce.

But Mr Howard pointed out that then science minister Brendan Nelson
had proposed an inquiry in November, 2005.

Mr Rudd said the Opposition could be excused for being suspicious.

© 2007 The Border Morning Mail Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 25 AU: Border Mail: Treasuer: Nuclear off until price right

Fri, 2nd March, 2007
 
TREASURER Peter Costello says he can&rsquo;t see any point in
switching to nuclear power for at least another decade.

Mr Costello said it made no sense to go ahead with the energy source
until it became cheaper than current sources of electricity.

&ldquo;If you were to set up nuclear power today, you would put up
the price of electricity. What would be the point of that?&rdquo; Mr
Costello said.

&ldquo;Now, in 10 or 15 or 20 years, maybe it would be a cheaper
form of electricity so I could see a point in it.

&ldquo;But I can&rsquo;t see the point in it today.

&ldquo;There would be no point in doing it unless it was cheaper
than the form of electricity that we have today, which it
isn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;

Prime Minister John Howard kicked off the debate last year when he
appointed a task force to investigate the feasibility of nuclear
energy for Australia.

That taskforce found that a network of 25 nuclear reactors built
within kilometres of suburban homes could be supplying a third of
Australia&rsquo;s power by 2050.

This week, 16 government MPs have said that they did not want a
reactor in their electorate.

Mr Costello would not comment on whether he thought a reactor would
be appropriate for his Melbourne electorate of Higgins.

&ldquo;I just don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any point in engaging
in discussion like that because the question in front of the country
is whether we have nuclear power at all, and if we were (to have
one), it is a long way off,&rdquo; he said.

Mr Costello said there was no need for a referendum to gauge public
opinion.

&ldquo;I think there should be a full public debate and after
that&rsquo;s run its course governments will have to make their
decision,&rdquo; he said.

Nuclear energy&rsquo;s main advantage was that it did not emit
carbon dioxide and was greenhouse compliant, he said.

&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s got other things going against it,
particularly the price,&rdquo; the treasurer said.

© 2007 The Border Morning Mail Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 26 MDN: TEPCO admits that more nuclear power plant data was falsified -

MSN-Mainichi Daily News

March 2, 2007

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has found that additional data at
its nuclear power plants was falsified, company officials said.

The company reported Thursday to the government's Nuclear and
Industrial Safety Agency nine cases in which data on nuclear power
plants was falsified, including six newly uncovered cases, and six
other cases in which data at a thermal power plant was falsified.

The firm was apologetic about the cover-up. "We apologize from the
bottom of our heart for causing anxiety to the public and local
residents," said TEPCO Vice President Katsutoshi Chikudate.

In one of the six newly uncovered cases, a diesel power generator
that is part of the emergency reactor core cooling system of the No.
3 Reactor at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Niigata
Prefecture broke down shortly after trial operations in July 1995,
according to TEPCO officials.

However, it deliberately omitted the trouble in its trial records
and instead stated that the test ended without any problems.

The thermal output at No. 5 and 6 reactors at Fukushima No. 1
Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima Prefecture surpassed its rated
output by 0.1 percent on five occasions between 1991 and 1998, but
workers entered figures below the actual output in their logbooks,
the officials said.

Workers falsified data on inspections conducted at TEPCO's Futtsu
Thermal Power Plant in Chiba Prefecture in accordance with the
Industrial Safety and Health Law on six occasions between 1995 and
2005. (Mainichi)


March 1, 2007

Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 27 West Australian: Nuclear energy not needed yet - Costello

thewest.com.au

1st March 2007, 12:43 WST

Treasurer Peter Costello says he can't see any point in switching to
nuclear power for at least another decade.

Mr Costello said it made no sense to go ahead with the controversial
energy source until it became cheaper than current power sources.

"If you were to set up nuclear power today, you would put up the
price of electricity. What would be the point of that?" Mr Costello
told AAP.

"Now, in 10 or 15 or 20 years, maybe it would be a cheaper form of
electricity so I could see a point in it. But I can't see the point
in it today.

"There would be no point in doing it unless it was cheaper than the
form of electricity that we have today, which it isn't."

Prime Minister John Howard kicked off the debate last year when he
appointed a task force to investigate the feasibility of nuclear
energy for Australia.

That taskforce, headed by former Telstra chief Ziggy Switkowski,
found that a network of 25 nuclear reactors built within kilometres
of suburban homes could be supplying a third of Australia's power by
2050.

This week, 16 government MPs have said that they did not want a
reactor in their electorate.

Mr Costello would not comment on whether he thought a reactor would
be appropriate for his Melbourne electorate of Higgins.

"I just don't think there's any point in engaging in discussion like
that because the question in front of the country is whether we have
nuclear power at all, and if we were (to have one), it is a long way
off," he said.

"The question is whether it will be commercial and my assessment is
it will not be commercial for 10, 15, 20 years, even if it becomes
commercial.

"So that's the issue that's being looked at at the moment, not
location issues."

Mr Costello said there was no need for a referendum to gauge public
opinion.

"I think there should be a full public debate and after that's run
its course governments will have to make their decision," he said.

"But I don't think anything's going to happen in the next year, I
don't think anything's going to happen in the next five years.

"Something might happen in 10 to 15 years although if anything
happens, I think it might even be longer than that."

Nuclear energy's main advantage was that it did not emit carbon
dioxide and was greenhouse compliant, he said.

"I think it's got other things going against it, particularly the
price," the treasurer said. AAP


'thewest.com.au'

'The West Australian' is a trademark of West Australian Newspapers
Pty Ltd 2006. All Rights Reserved.

*****************************************************************
 28 IHT: Westinghouse to build 4 nuclear reactors in China - 

International Herald Tribune The Associated Press

Published: March 1, 2007

BEIJING: Westinghouse Electric Co. sealed a deal on Thursday to
provide China's State Nuclear Power Technology Co. with the
technology to build four civilian nuclear reactors, state media said.

Westinghouse will provide two third-generation water pressurized
water reactors in eastern China's Zhejiang province and two similar
reactors in Shandong province, the official Xinhua News Agency
reported, citing a framework contract signed in Beijing on Thursday.

A technology transfer agreement between China and the United States
signed in December paved the way for the deal. Under terms announced
then, two of the reactors were to be in Guangdong instead of
Shandong.

DowJones Newswires reported on Thursday that industry officials said
in February the location of those reactors was changed to give a
contract in Guangdong province to Westinghouse's French rival Areva
SA.

Copyright © 2007 the International Herald Tribune All rights
*****************************************************************
 29 Vermont Guardian: Feds reject last contention to VY uprate

By Shay Totten | Vermont Guardian

Posted March 1, 2007

ROCKVILLE, MD &mdash; A key advisory panel to the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) threw out a citizen group&rsquo;s final challenge
to Entergy&rsquo;s application to boost power at Vermont Yankee an
additional 20 percent.

The ruling, issued Feb. 26, essentially closes the door on further
federal review of the uprate, which won formal approval in March of
2006 and began shortly thereafter, unless the New England Coalition
(NEC) raises additional money and appeals the Atomic Safety and
Licensing Board&rsquo;s (ASLB) decision to the full NRC.

The NEC had two of its initial six contentions approved for review
by the ASLB, one on the stability of a cooling tower during an
emergency, and the other on whether the plant should undergo a full
transient test before boosting power. They argued that such a test
was needed to ensure that key plant components would operate safely
while pumping out additional power.

While this ruling is likely the end of the road on the federal side,
the NEC still has challenges to the uprate before the Vermont Public
Service Board and the Vermont Supreme Court. The court held a
hearing last week on the appeal.

The NEC is also challenging Entergy&rsquo;s thermal discharge permit
before the state Environmental Court. The NEC believes an adverse
ruling could affect the uprate, but Entergy disagrees.

&ldquo;We could appeal it to the full commission, but the history of
the commission overturning the ruling of the ASLB in favor of public
interest interveners is not in our favor,&rdquo; said Ray Shadis,
technical advisor to the citizens group. &ldquo;More frequently,
they will overturn a decision on behalf of industry appellants as
opposed to public interest appellants.&rdquo;

In its ruling, the ASLB said Entergy had presented a burden of proof
that the plant could be operated safely.

&ldquo;After considering the evidence and arguments, we conclude
that Entergy 1 has met its burden of showing that it is not
necessary to perform the testing proposed by NEC in order to satisfy
the relevant legal requirement &hellip; and thus deny NEC&rsquo;s
contention,&rdquo; said the ASLB in its ruling.

VY officials were not surprised by the ruling, and have contended
all along that their application met NRC muster.

&ldquo;Our application was grounded in NRC regulations, and our
power ascension testing program involved all of the NRC-required
testing and the NEC was clearly wrong in its interpretation of the
regulations regarding power ascension and the ASLB has upheld that
view,&rdquo; said VY spokesman Rob Williams. &ldquo;But, the NEC
exercised its right to have its concerns addressed and that has been
done. Our focus is continuing to operate the plant safely and
reliably.&rdquo;

However, the ASLB did acknowledge that the computer codes used to
simulate the stress of the plant under uprated conditions could be
improved upon in the future, though not flawed enough to warrant
concern in this case.

&ldquo;I think the public has been served well in this case by the
coalition,&rdquo; said Shadis, who represented the group pro se in
this case. On the other side were batteries of attorneys at both
Entergy&rsquo;s corporate counsel and that of the NRC.

&ldquo;In the process with the various contentions, we led Entergy
Corp. to engineering examinations and calculation that they would
not have done otherwise,&rdquo; said Shadis.

However, the coalition is focusing most of its efforts &mdash; and
fundraising to cover legal expenses &mdash; on Entergy&rsquo;s
proposal to extend VY&rsquo;s operating license beyond 2012.

Thursday, Mar. 01, 2007

Northern Vermont: PO Box 335, Winooski, VT 05404 Southern 
Vermont: 139 Main Street, Suite 702, Brattleboro, VT 05301 
Contact: 802.861.4880 (ph) | 802.861.6388 (fax) | 877.231.5382 
(toll-free)

©2005 Vermont Guardian |

Visit us: www.vermontguardian.com
This document can be located online:
www.vermontguardian.com/local/032007/ASLB.shtml

*****************************************************************
 30 JOURNAL NEWS: Indian Point 2 shut down for fifth time in 15 months

By BRUCE GOLDING AND GREG CLARY

(Original publication: March 1, 2007)

BUCHANAN - Control room operators unexpectedly shut down the Indian
Point 2 nuclear power plant for the fifth time in 15 months after
water levels in its steam generators suddenly dropped below normal.

Repairs began yesterday after the 6:33 a.m. incident, which was
blamed on a faulty unit in the water-supply system.

The breakdown occurred in a building outside the containment dome
and did not release any radioactivity, officials said.

It's the second malfunction at Indian Point 2 in less than a week.
Workers discovered a cracked nuclear fuel rod in that reactor's
spent-fuel pool Friday, halting a routine inspection.

A spokeswoman for Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which owns the
33-year-old nuclear power plant, said the utility hoped to be making
electricity again today.

"I think the best message here is we were able to identify the
situation very quickly," spokeswoman Kathleen McMullin said. "We're
effecting the repairs safely and efficiently, and we should be
restored to service very shortly."

McMullin said the problem involved failure of a pressure transmitter
on a half-inch pipe off the 30-inch main that feeds heated water to
the steam generators.

The broken device, about the size of a calculator, helps regulate
water flow to the steam generators, which use heat from the atomic
reactor to make non-radioactive steam that spins a 1,000-megawatt
turbine.

McMullin likened the situation to "having a spark plug that doesn't
work on your car." She said Entergy was replacing the failed unit
with a backup it had in storage.

In an e-mail, Neil Sheehan of the federal Nuclear Regulatory
Commission said, "All plant equipment responded to manual reactor
shutdown as expected."

Sheehan said a preliminary review indicated yesterday's incident
"will not change the plant's Performance Indicator for Unplanned
Shutdowns from 'green' to 'white.'"

"That indicator looks at whether there have been three or more
unplanned shutdowns during the last 7,000 hours the plant has been
online," he wrote. "There have been four unplanned shutdowns during
the last 12 months, but because the one that occurred last March
will drop off when the PI is updated at the end of this quarter, the
PI is expected to remain 'green.'"

Indian Point 2, which began operating in 1973, is one of two atomic
plants in operation at the Buchanan site. Earlier this year, Entergy
said it would seek federal permission to extend both licenses and
keep making nuclear energy there through 2035.

A spokesman for Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano, who has
called for the shutdown of Indian Point, said yesterday's incident
underscored Spano's concerns "about the age of the plant and its
location in a densely populated area."

Reach Bruce Golding
at bgolding@lohud.com or 914-694-5012.

    Copyright 2006 The Journal News, a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper
  serving Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties in New York. Use
  of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service and
                Privacy Policy, updated June 7, 2005.
*****************************************************************
 31 Journal News: Indian Point nuke plant is back up

(Original publication: March 1, 2007)

Greg Clary


BUCHANAN - Indian Point 2 started producing electricity about 3 a.m.
this morning, less than a day after it was shut down because of
problems with its steam generators.

Control room operators shut the 1,000-megawatt plant down at 6:30
yesterday morning, when water levels in the generators dropped below
normal.

It was the fifth unplanned shutdown at that plant in 15 months.

Indian Point spokesman Jim Steets said the repairs were handled
quickly and without incident.

There was no radiological release when the event occurred, company
and federal regulators said, and no danger to workers or the public.

It's the second malfunction at Indian Point 2 in less than a week.
Workers discovered a cracked nuclear fuel rod in that reactor's
spent-fuel pool Friday, halting a routine inspection.

Reach Greg Clary at 914-696-8566 or gclary@lohud.com.


    Copyright 2006 The Journal News, a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper
  serving Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties in New York. Use
  of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service and
*****************************************************************
 32 Xinhua: Westinghouse selected to provide pressurized water reactors


www.chinaview.cn 

2007-03-01 19:19:11



    BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- China's State Nuclear Power
Technology Co. has selected Westinghouse Electric Co. to provide
technology for four nuclear power generating units to be built in
China, according to a framework contract signed here on Thursday.

    Under the framework contract, Westinghouse will provide four
third-generation pressurized water reactors: two in Sanmen City, in
east China's Zhejiang Province, and two in Haiyang City, Shandong
Province.


Editor: Feng Tao



*****************************************************************
 33 AFP: Czech power company admits radioactive leak at Temelin plant -

Thursday March 1, 09:39 AM

PRAGUE (AFP) - Around 2,000 litres (520 gallons) of mildly
radioactive water escaped from the Czech Republic's controversial
nuclear power station, Temelin, on Monday night when a tap was left
open by mistake, power company CEZ announced on Thursday.

"Everything took place within a closed space and within the
controlled area of the power station," the company said in a news
release, adding that the contaminated water was channeled into a
tank.

"No radioactive substances were released outside of the controlled
area of the power plant and the health of workers was at no time
threatened," it continued.

The latest hitch at the Soviet-designed power plant around 40
kilometres (25 miles) from the Czech-Austrian border is likely to
fuel calls by Austrian protesters for its closure. They claim the
power plant, the biggest producer of electricity in the Czech
Republic, is unsafe.

Czech and Austrian leaders agreed at a meeting in Prague earlier
this week for a joint parliamentary commission from both countries
to examine the nuclear power plant's safety record, the biggest
source of conflict between the two neighbours and EU member states.

Austrian protesters dismissed the move and pledged to continue a
series of weekly blockades of Czech-Austrian border crossings.

AFP
*****************************************************************
 34 Jakarta Post: Sidoarjo refuses to take over mudflow problem

 National News March 02, 2007

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Sidoarjo

The local administration says it will be unable to take over efforts
to stem the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, when the mandate of the
government-appointed national team set up to deal with the disaster
ends on March 8.

Sidoarjo Regent Win Hendrarso said it would be impossible for the
administration to take over for the national team because it did not
have the funds to deal with the disaster.

"The regency administration's budget and revenue are not nearly
enough to deal with the mudflow disaster, which no one knows when it
will end," he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

"Even Governor Imam Utomo himself said the (provincial)
administration will not take over the work to deal with the
mudflow," he said.

Sidoarjo regency's budget is about Rp 1.2 trillion annually. In the
current budget, about Rp 5 billion is being allocated to deal with
natural disaster.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono earlier told the company at the
center of the disaster, Lapindo Brantas Inc., to begin compensating
affected residents by March.

The compensation would cost the company around Rp 2.5 trillion
(US$271.7 million). In addition to compensation, Lapindo Brantas
also would have to spend some Rp 1.3 trillion to stop the mud, which
has been gushing from the company's gas exploration site since May
29, 2006.

"The central government needs to show some wisdom in dealing with
this matter. Don't simply drop the problem into the lap of the local
administration. We're already under a lot of pressure here; don't
dump this problem on us," Win said.

In addition to appealing for funds, the regent urged the central
government to formulate a clear legal basis for the handling of the
disaster.

"Currently, Lapindo has said it cannot afford to provide cash
compensation to thousands of residents from the Perumtas housing
complex that has also been affected by the mudflow. This has upset
people," Win said.

Residents of the housing complex staged protests last week to demand
compensation for their lost homes and land. They blocked major roads
in Sidoarjo, causing heavy traffic congestion.

Meanwhile, the national team in charge of dealing with the mudflow
remains confident about its plan to stem the flow of mud by dropping
strings of concrete balls into the mud crater.

The team is pressing ahead with the plan, despite the skepticism of
many experts, preparing 70 more chains of concrete balls on
Wednesday. It earlier prepared 80 chains of the balls. As of
Thursday, a total of 25 concrete balls have been dropped into the
crater.

A former member of the national mudflow team, Rudi Rubiandini, a
drilling expert from the Bandung Institute of Technology, said the
team had decided on the concrete balls because of limited funds
provided by Lapindo to deal with the disaster.

"It's a lot cheaper to use concrete balls than to dig relief wells.
So, in order to save money, the team declared the relief wells would
not work and instead decided to go with concrete balls," he told the
Post.

It is estimated the concrete balls will cost about Rp 3 billion,
while the relief wells would have cost Lapindo about US$90,000 a day.

Rudi resigned from the national team after its chairman, Energy and
Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, decided to halt
construction of the relief wells.

Rudi and several geologists have described the idea of dropping
concrete balls into the mud crater as "crazy", saying it was like
moving a pimple from the right cheek to the left one.

"If the balls fail and create new mudflows in other places, Lapindo
will be the one responsible," he warned.

The team's spokesman, Rudi Novrianto, has asked geologists and
drilling experts who are critical of the concrete ball plan to come
up with some other viable options.

"The decision to stop the relief well work was made by the minister.
It's not true the decision to use the concrete balls was made to
save money. Please don't just talk without working or thinking of
the best way to fight the mudflow," he said.

He expressed optimism the concrete balls would be able to reduce the
outpouring of mud by 50 to 70 percent from the current 100,000 cubic
meters a day.


*****************************************************************
 35 Japan Times: Warning to the power industry | 

  Web  japantimes.co.jp   

Thursday, March 1, 2007

EDITORIAL

Two and a half years after an accident in a nuclear power plant
killed five workers and injured six others, police have sent up
papers to public prosecutors on five employees of Kansai Electric
Power Co. and an employee of the utility's subsidiary. It is rare
for police to pursue criminal responsibility in the operation of a
nuclear power plant.

Although KEPCO's management is not criminally accused, it should
seriously examine whether the company truly gives priority to safety
and whether its safety system really works. The police action also
should serve as a warning to the entire power industry since it was
recently found that Tokyo Electric Power Co. falsified data or
committed other irregularities in connection with the state
inspection of nuclear power plants on 199 occasions.

On Aug. 9, 2004, a worn pipe in the secondary cooling system of the
No. 3 reactor at KEPCO's Mihama nuclear power plant in Fukui
Prefecture ruptured, releasing nonradioactive burning-hot steam,
which killed the five subcontract workers. Police said the six
criminally accused employees were in a position to know that the
pipe had not been examined since operations began in 1976, yet had
not taken proper actions.

The discovery July 1, 2004, that a pipe at the No. 1 reactor at
KEPCO's nuclear power plant in Oi, Fukui Prefecture, had worn down
to a thickness below the government-set standard had compelled the
company to check all its reactors and made it realize that the pipe
in the Mihama plant had been left unchecked. This means that the
company failed to follow maintenance regulations over the years and,
as a result, the wear continued to reduce the pipe's thickness from
10 mm to 0.4 mm in some places.

In the case of TEPCO's irregularities, the most serious was the
hiding of the fact that a pump in the emergency core cooling system
at the No. 1 reactor of its Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata
Prefecture was out of order in May 1992. Power companies should
realize that a lax attitude toward safety will deepen public
distrust of nuclear power plant operations.

The Japan Times

*****************************************************************
 36 People's Daily: China masters 4th-generation nuclear reactor technology

UPDATED: 16:03, March 01, 2007

China's 10 mega-watt high-temperature gas-cooled reactor project 
was awarded first prize at the National Science and Technology 
Advancement Award ceremony at Tuesday's State Science and 
Technology Award Conference. China has mastered the core 
technology involved in designing the system integration 
technology for a modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactor 
(MHTGR) and has advanced 4th-generation nuclear reactor 
technology worldwide.

The key project of the country's 863 Program, the 10 mega-watt 
high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor includes 34 separate systems 
including the reactor and steam generation systems. It took 17 
years for scientists and researchers to design and complete the 
project, which cost a total of 275 million yuan.

By People's Daily Online

Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved



*****************************************************************
 37 Reuters: Canada sees possible nuclear renaissance 

11:26PM EST, Thu 1 Mar 2007

By Randall Palmer

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Concern over global warming has breathed new life
into Canada's nuclear industry, which is eyeing the possibility of
its first new plants in the country in a quarter century, industry
officials said on Thursday.

"The climate change driver is so compelling a case that the nuclear
file becomes a critical part of the solution," Duncan Hawthorne,
chairman of the Canadian Nuclear Association and chief executive of
Bruce Power, told Reuters.

Though atomic energy always raises the question of what to do with
nuclear waste, its attraction in terms of the climate change debate
is that it emits none of the greenhouse gases that are blamed for
global warming.

Officials said Canada's "nuclear renaissance" had created a
challenge for companies and regulators to hire enough qualified
workers, particularly as the workforce ages.

Bruce Power as well as Ontario Power Generation, which is owned by
the Ontario government, have begun the applications process or new
power plants on separate sites in Ontario.

The head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Linda Keen, told
a nuclear conference on Thursday that her regulatory body had
accepted Bruce Power's project description in just five months, at
the end of January, and was now looking at a way of speeding up its
environmental assessment.

Keen said she would recommend to federal Environment Minister John
Baird that the project go straight to a public panel rather than
first going through an eight-month process to determine if an
environmental assessment panel was necessary.  Continued...

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.
  8. Euribor



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*****************************************************************
 38 UPI: Chile to start nuclear study

United Press International - Energy - 

2/28/2007 8:48:00 PM -0500

SANTIAGO, Chile, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Chile's Energy Ministry, under
pressure from politicians to solve an impending energy crisis, will
look into building nuclear plants in the country.

Mercopress reports Chilean Energy Minister Karen Poniachik will
start a technical study of adding nuclear power to the country's
energy mix.

Chile is expecting a 5,000 megawatt increase to its 7,500 megawatt
annual demand for electricity. The growth is being attributed to
both residential and a growing mining industry.

Seventy-two percent of Chile's energy is imported. Last year,
Argentina said it may stop selling Chile natural gas, possibly by
this year.

President Michelle Bachelet ordered an evaluation of the energy
needs and potential new sources last year.

"Chile has to begin the studies today so that we can diversify our
country's electricity-generating capabilities," said Congressman
Antonio Leal. He led a call by opposing political parties for
Poniachik to begin the study.

The governing Concertacion Party has backed nuclear energy but the
Alliance Party backs an increase in hydropower.


© Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 39 UPI: Czech nuke plant sparks Austria protests

United Press International - Energy - 

3/1/2007 3:42:00 PM -0500

TEMELIN, Austria, March 1 (UPI) -- Opponents of a Czech nuclear
plant near the Austrian border blocked border crossings in protest
as the countries' leaders meet over the row.

Austrian protestors held one-hour blockades at three of the 10
Czech-Austrian border crossings Wednesday, Ceske Noviny reports, in
protest of the Temelin plant. Austria had allowed the protests to
occur, though it notified drivers to take alternate routs.

Czech authorities were tight-lipped. "There is no point in
commenting on these regional events after the Czech prime minister
and the Austrian chancellor on Tuesday launched a dialogue between
the two countries on the topic," Czech foreign ministry spokeswoman
Zuzana Opletalova said.

The two leaders joint formed a parliamentary commission to study the
nuclear plant and the uproar it has caused. The blockade action was
the third such tactic.

Opponents of Temelin said they wouldn't stop and criticized Austrian
Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer for not securing larger results. The
opponents' calls were further bolstered when local news reported
after the meeting that low-level radioactive water was leaking from
the plant just the day before.

The Temelin plant, in the Czech Republic's South Bohemian region, is
one of the country's two nuclear plants.

© Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 40 UPI: NRC board denies Vermont Yankee opposition

United Press International - Energy - 

3/1/2007 4:50:00 PM -0500

ROCKVILLE, Md., March 1 (UPI) -- A federal nuclear panel denied a
request by opponents of a Vermont nuclear plant to shut down the
plant to prove the quality of its emergency response.

The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, a board within the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the move wasn't necessary, the
Rutland Herald reports.

The New England Coalition urged the board to order the Vermont
Yankee nuclear plant conduct an emergency shutdown. The goal was to
prove whether the backup and safety systems of the plant could
handle a real emergency. The group wanted the plant's possible power
uprate to hinge on such a test.

NRC officials say there are no more legal challenges to the uprate
application by Entergy Nuclear, Vermont Yankee's owner, though the
New England Coalition may appeal the board's ruling the entire
commission.

Vermont Yankee, located in Vernon, Vt., has a capacity of 650
megawatts.

© Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 41 UPI: Malfunction shuts Indian Point nuke plant

United Press International - NewsTrack - 

Updated: 02/28/2007 6:24:39 PM -0500 UTC

BUCHANAN, N.Y., Feb. 28 (UPI) -- A nuclear power plant near New 
York was shut down Wednesday when a pressure transmitter in the 
feed-water system malfunctioned, the plant's operator said.


No radioactivity from the Indian Point Unit 2 reactor along the 
Hudson River, 24 miles north of New York, was released into the 
environment, Entergy Corp. said.


The 6:35 a.m. malfunction affected the water supply line to the 
main boiler feed pumps that send heated water to steam generators 
in a non-nuclear part of the reactor, Entergy said.


The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and local public officials 
were notified of the shutdown, the Mid-Hudson News Network 
reported.


The reactor is expected to return to service as early as 
Thursday, once the malfunction's cause has been confirmed and 
repairs are made, the utility said.


The adjacent Indian Point 3 was unaffected by the shutdown, 
Entergy said.


The Indian Point 1 reactor was deactivated in 1974.

© Copyright 2007United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 42 AFP: Russia a safe option for energy-starved Japan - 

by Kyoko Hasegawa Thu Mar 1, 3:04 AM ET

TOKYO (AFP) - Despite rocky political relations, Japan needs 
Russia for gas and oil imports as the energy-hungry Asian power 
tries to ease its dependence on the volatile Middle East, 
analysts say.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, on a visit to Tokyo that
wrapped up late Wednesday, pledged his country would be a "stable"
partner.

His visit came after the Kremlin unnerved Japanese and Western
investors by taking majority control of the massive Sakhalin-2 gas
project, in which two Japanese companies are shareholders.

"Of course you have to be cautious with Russia, but compared with
Iran, Russia is far safer as an energy supplier," said Koji Nakatsu,
a professor at Osaka University of Commerce who wrote a book on the
Kremlin's energy policy.

Japan signed a two-billion-dollar deal in 2004 to develop Iran's
largest onshore oil field at Azadegan, irritating its close ally the
United States.

But Tokyo slashed its stake from 75 to 10 percent last year as the
Iranian nuclear crisis intensified and sanctions loomed on the
Islamic republic.

Asia's largest economy imports nearly all of its oil from the Middle
East and has long sought to diversify. Last week Japan signed a
15-year, 3.5 billion-dollar oil deal with Venezuela.

Japan has increasingly turned to liquefied natural gas (LNG), of
which it is by far the world's biggest importer.

"Securing access to Russian gas is important if you think of a
coming era when LNG replaces oil as fuel energy," Nakatsu said.

The Russian premier on his visit sought to focus on trade rather
than a lingering territorial dispute.

The two countries have never signed a peace treaty formally ending
World War II due to Japan's claims to four islands off its coast
seized by Soviet troops in 1945.

"Tokyo cannot avoid building relations with Moscow, as it is a
neighbour and a resource-rich country," said Koji Inomata, a
researcher at the Japan Institute of International Affairs.

But pundits said Japan was not negotiating only from a position of
weakness.

"The reason why the Russian prime minister came with a large
delegation is because they need Japan's technology and money," said
Hiroshi Kimura, professor at Takushoku University in Tokyo.

President Vladimir Putin said in February that Russia must wean
itself off its dependency on exporting raw materials and use the
country's wealth of natural resources to develop the economy.

"Russia can't make LNG without Japan's technology," Nakatsu said.

Analysts said that Japan could also use its purchasing power to
secure Russian oil and gas.

Japan is partly funding a multibillion-dollar Siberian pipeline
being built to the Siberian coast and has threatened to snap off
funding if Russia first builds a branch first to China.

Russia has faced criticism that it has turned its energy wealth into
a political weapon. Russia last year briefly cut off gas to Ukraine,
disrupting supply to western Europe, and has threatened to do
likewise to Belarus.

But Kunihiko Miyake, a visiting professor of Ritsumeikan University
in Kyoto, said Japan was different in the Kremlin's eyes than former
Soviet republics.

"Russia's relations with Asia and Japan are different from its
relations with Ukraine and Belarus," Miyake said. "It is unlikely
that Russia would flex its energy muscle over the territorial
disputes with Japan."

Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The
*****************************************************************
 43 Japan Times: Tepco submits new report on nuke coverups 

  Web  japantimes.co.jp   

Friday, March 2, 2007

Kyodo News

Tokyo Electric Power Co. reported to the government Thursday about
coverups and data manipulations involving its nuclear plants in
Niigata and Fukushima prefectures.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, under the Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry, voiced "deep regret" about the misdeeds
and said it will decide how to penalize Tepco after studying a
detailed report the utility will compile by the end of the month.

Katsutoshi Chikudate, an executive vice president of Tokyo Electric,
apologized for the wrongdoing, saying, "We will continue to do our
best to investigate."

According to the nuclear agency, Tepco covered up an emergency
shutdown of a reactor in 1992 at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear
plant in Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast.

The utility also concealed another emergency shutdown, at the No. 2
nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture in 1985.

Both incidents occurred when workers tried to halt reactors while
reducing output for a regular government checkup. Tepco failed to
tell the government about the emergency shutdowns, even though
reporting is mandatory.


The Japan Times

(C) All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
 44 Japan Times: Japan, Russia agree to discuss nuke pact |

  Web  japantimes.co.jp   

Thursday, March 1, 2007

By By REIJI YOSHIDA Staff writer

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Russian counterpart, Mikhail 
Fradkov, agreed Wednesday to negotiations on a nuclear 
cooperation pact and inked accords to boost bilateral economic 
ties, a Japanese government official said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addresses a news conference Wednesday 
at the Prime Minister's Official Residence while Russian Prime 
Minister Mikhail Fradkov looks on. KYODO PHOTO

The two leaders did not discuss details of the possible nuclear pact
during the meeting. Trade minister Akira Amari has said Japan might
outsource uranium enrichment to Russia for power plants in Japan.

Fradkov arrived Tuesday in Tokyo with a delegation of about 200
government officials and business leaders.

The Russian government and members of the delegation have signed a
combined 15 agreements with Japanese government and business leaders
to expand bilateral economic ties, including a deal for a joint
project to lay 500 km of fiber-optic cable on the ocean floor
between Hokkaido and Sakhalin, the Foreign Ministry said.

"I was quite satisfied with my talk with Prime Minister Abe,"
Fradkov told reporters Wednesday evening.

Five of the 15 agreements are between the two governments, including
one to help businesses enter each other's market by means such as
helping to host product exhibitions.

The remaining 10 include one signed by Isuzu Motors Ltd. and OAO
Severstal-Avto of Russia to launch feasibility studies on a joint
venture to produce and sell trucks in Russia.

Political issues, in particular the long-standing dispute over the
Russian-held islands off Hokkaido, were effectively untouched,
because Fradkov's jurisdiction is mainly limited to economic and
trade issues, not political issues.

"Wide-ranging cooperation (in business) will improve the environment
for resolving the territorial issue," a senior Foreign Ministry
official said. "In other words, we don't expect that (leaders of the
two countries) will have intensive discussions on the territorial
issue."

However, during the meeting, Abe did mention his determination to
push for the return of the four islands, which Soviet forces seized
from Japan at the end of the war, saying he wants to settle the
long-standing issue while he is in office, the government official
said.

The Japan Times
(C) All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
 45 csmonitor.com: Nuclear industry sees fertile ground in green Europe | 

from the March 2, 2007 edition

It is redoubling efforts to promote its product as a
climate-friendly alternative to fossil fuels.

By Susan Sachs | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

Monitor science reporter Peter N. Spotts on nuclear energy. (01:10)

PARIS - While European leaders are at the forefront of fighting
global warming, these no-carbon crusaders for building green and
promoting renewable sources of energy still tiptoe around nuclear
power.

It's widely unpopular among Europeans who are worried about what to
do with nuclear waste and prickly for politicians who are not keen
to swim against the antinuclear current.

But hoping to regain some momentum from Europe's push to fight
global warming, the nuclear power industry is redoubling efforts to
promote its product as a climate-friendly alternative to fossil
fuels.

That movement to deal aggressively with climate change could put
some European governments in a vise, facing the twin pressures of an
antinuclear public and a pro-nuclear campaign by the energy industry.

When Europeans opposed to nuclear power were told that it doesn't
produce greenhouse gases, some did change their minds, says Ute
Blohm-Hieber, a nuclear energy specialist at the European
Commission, the executive body of the 27-member European Union.

Still, she says, most people surveyed said they still would not
favor increasing the number of nuclear reactors.

Most countries are not considering building new nuclear power plants
unless the private sector puts up the money. Many of the countries
that already have plants, such as Germany and Sweden, are committed
to phasing them out over the next 20 years.

So while European energy companies have been actively looking to
sell their nuclear power technology to the Asian and American
markets, they are finding the door shut to them at home.

Nuclear power is likely to be little more than a footnote to the
energy and climate change agenda for the next European Union summit
later this month, much to the frustration of the nuclear energy
industry.

As one industry representative, Alessandro Clerici, put it this
week, the industry has failed to get across its message that nuclear
power is a safe, clean alternative to fossil fuels.

"Communication is bad," said Mr. Clerici, a leader of the World 
Energy Council, at a Brussels conference on nuclear energy in 
Europe. "Final users of electricity are not using their brains 
but their emotions."

The EU, meanwhile, is forging ahead with other ideas to change 
the way it produces and uses energy.

Two years after it adopted an ambitious program to cut greenhouse 
gases associated with global warming, it is set to consider a new 
round of proposals this month that would further commit its 
members to wean themselves from energy dependence on oil and gas.

The European Commission has proposed that by 2020 at least 20 
percent of Europe's power should come from renewable energy 
sources, such as wind towers for electricity and biofuels for 
transportation.

The goal would be to shrink energy consumption, lower carbon 
dioxide emissions, and reduce Europe's dependence on foreign oil 
and gas suppliers. The commission steered clear of making any 
recommendations regarding nuclear power, saying each country 
would be left to make its own decisions about whether to add, 
cut, or maintain nuclear reactors.

The absence of any recommendations involving nuclear power, which 
now generates 30 percent of the electricity in the EU as a whole, 
has pleased longtime opponents.

"Of all different energy options, nuclear was the loser," says 
Mark Johnston, a lobbyist for the international environmental 
group Greenpeace.

"It's not popular, for one. And there are still widespread doubts 
across Europe, partly for economic and cost reasons and because 
of the waste issue," he says.

While EU surveys have found some shift in public attitudes toward 
nuclear power, opinion remains generally negative. A survey of 
1,000 people in each of the 27 EU member countries recently found 
only 37 percent of those interviewed favored nuclear power, while 
55 percent said its risks outweighed the advantages.

While those questioned were less concerned than in the past about 
the safety of reactors, but were still worried about what to do 
with stockpiles of nuclear waste, says Ms. Blohm-Hieber. 

In France, for example, 80 percent of electricity is generated by 
nuclear power. A new-generation nuclear reactor has been approved 
and is set for construction on the Normandy coast, one of only 
two new reactors being built in Europe.

The state-owned electrical utility, EDF, remains committed to 
developing new nuclear plants and has been seeking to export its 
technology to Britain and Asia. And the French nuclear generator 
manufacturer Areva is aggressively looking for new customers 
outside France and is in negotiations to sell reactors to China.

But the French appear less enamored of nuclear power than their 
energy industry or government. The EU survey on nuclear power 
found that 52 percent of people in France believed the risks of 
nuclear energy outweighed its benefits because of the unresolved 
issue of how to dispose of nuclear waste.

The survey also found that 56 percent of the French believed 
nuclear power could easily be replaced by renewable energy 
sources like wind power. Other polls have found that climate 
change and global warming are major preoccupations for a large 
majority of people in France. The combination of all those 
interests creates a headache for politicians, as the French 
Socialist candidate for president, S‚golŠne Royal, found 
recently.

Last month Ms. Royal, responding to environmentalists' concerns 
about radioactive waste, called for a moratorium on new nuclear 
plants, including the one scheduled for construction in France. 
But within days, she had to pull back from that position after 
French energy companies complained that it could hurt their 
efforts to export nuclear reactor technology.

A similar discussion is brewing in Germany, where the main 
political parties agreed in 2000 to shut down all the country's 
17 nuclear plants by 2020.

Chancellor Angela Merkel endorsed the deal when she formed her 
coalition government two years ago. But she also warned that what 
she called "an ideologically motivated nuclear phaseout" might 
make German energy companies less competitive in the market for 
selling nuclear know-how. 


www.csmonitor.com | Copyright © 2007 The Christian Science Monitor.
All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 46 SNA: Bulgaria: Czech Temelin Nuke Admits Light Radioactive Leak

   Fri 2 Mar 2007
  
Business: 1 March 2007, Thursday.

Close to 2,000 liters of slightly radioactive water have leaked 
in the Czech Nuclear Power Plant at Temelin, near the border with 
Austria.

The incident took place Monday evening local electricity company 
CEZ announced.

The leak was caused by a turn-cock that someone forgot to close 
and was only restricted to the containment, plant officials 
explained. They added that the accident did not endanger the life 
of the workers and that the water was collected in a reservoir 
and never left the restricted area.

Many Austrians claim that the Russian-model plant is not safe and 
this incident may further increase pressure on the Czech 
authorities.

novinite.com  Forum  Google  Tourism  Business  MobileBulgaria    

Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency -
www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news
provider in English that informs its readers about the latest
Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online
newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency -
www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest
*****************************************************************
 47 AU: Herald Sun: Garrett's nuclear challenge to PM voted down 

NEWS.com.au |

March 01, 2007 11:56am

Article from: AAP

LABOR environment spokesman and former rock musician Peter Garrett
has tried to hijack the start of parliament and force the government
to reveal its nuclear plans.

Seconds after parliament started at 9am today, Mr Garrett rose to
move a motion challenging Coalition MPs to declare whether they'd
allow a nuclear plant to be built in their electorates.

The government used its numbers in the house to vote down the motion.

Labor's former environment spokesman Anthony Albanese was also
silenced with a vote after shouting "shine the radioactive light on
them".

Mr Garrett's motion followed on from his call for the Prime Minister
to reveal it knew about a proposed nuclear power company set up by
key Liberal Party figure and businessman Ron Walker days before the
PM set up a taskforce into nuclear energy.

"There is a communication between the prime minister and Mr Walker
concerning the development of an Australian nuclear energy industry
proposal," he said on ABC radio.

"The posture of the government in terms of initiating the Switkowski
inquiry and going on is something there is huge public interest in,"
Mr Garrett said.

Mr Howard said he knew Mr Walker was setting up a nuclear energy
company but denied there was anything sinister about his discussions
with him.

© Herald and Weekly Times. All times AEDT (GMT + 10).
*****************************************************************
 48 West Australian: Nuke transport safeguards bill approved

thewest.com.au


1st March 2007, 13:03 WST

The Senate has passed legislation designed to make it harder for
nuclear materials to fall into terrorist hands.

The Non-Proliferation Legislation Amendment Bill brings in new
international requirements that improve protection of atomic
facilities and ensure nuclear materials are safe while they are
being transported.

The bill also regulates the process of decommissioning nuclear
reactors to ensure Australia complies with International Atomic
Energy Agency requirements.

Australia has just one nuclear facility, the science and research
reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney, but the Howard government says
nuclear power may be an option to provide for Australia's future
energy needs and reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Greens senator Christine Milne said it was hypocritical for the
government to support the non-proliferation legislation while
promoting nuclear energy.

Senator Milne accused the government of undermining the
Non-Proliferation Treaty by refusing to use its influence in the
Nuclear Suppliers Group to prevent the US exporting uranium to
India, which is not a signatory to the treaty.

"It's a case of saying one thing and doing another," she said.

The bill was passed without amendment and now goes to the House of
Representatives. AAP


thewest.com.au

'The West Australian' is a trademark of West Australian Newspapers
Pty Ltd 2006. All Rights Reserved.


*****************************************************************
 49 AFP: US hands Vietnam equipment to detect nuclear materials 

Thu Mar 1, 11:31 AM ET

HANOI (AFP) - The United States on Thursday presented Vietnam with
customs inspection equipment to help prevent illegal trafficking in
nuclear materials.

US Ambassador Michael Marine thanked Vietnam for its cooperation in
the fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

"It is our hope that this equipment... will assist your agencies in
the more effective performance of a task that is a vital link in the
overall effort to block the illegal transit of controlled
materials," Marine said.

The US handed over 18 radiation pagers valued at a total of 91,000
dollars to the Department of Customs and the Border Army, a grant
made under the auspices of the US Export Control and Border Security
program.

Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The


*****************************************************************
 50 Bradenton Herald: Lockheed: Health care data off-limits

03/01/2007 | 

Spokeswoman says she misunderstood company's policy on free medical
plan

DONNA WRIGHT

Herald Staff Writer

TALLEVAST - Lockheed Martin Corp. will not seek access to medical
records compiled through a free health care program as previously
stated, according to a statement issued Wednesday by Gail Rymer,
Lockheed spokeswoman.

Rymer, who took responsibility for the mistake, said she was
incorrect last week when she said company lawyers would seek access
to medical records from the free exams if any plaintiffs in a
lawsuit against Lockheed used any findings from those exams to back
up claims of anxiety or emotional distress caused by the Tallevast
plume of toxic waste.

Lockheed has created a $500,000 trust through the Bank of New York
to fund a free health care program under the direction of Dr. Steven
Morris, for current and former Tallevast residents, as well people
who work in Tallevast.

"There truly are no strings attached," Rymer said. "I misunderstood,
but now that it is has been explained to me, I realize it has never
been our intent to have access to these records. We will not at any
time seek access to these records."

Rymer's retraction floored Wanda Washington, vice president of
FOCUS, a residents' advocacy group who has been concerned about how
Lockheed might use information compiled through the free exams.

"Does this mean she really misunderstood or is Lockheed changing
policy once again?" Washington said. "This is why they need to come
to the table, to meet with FOCUS. We still have a lot of questions."

Rymer's promise needs to be written into the trust document that
created the free medical program, said Laura Ward, FOCUS president.

Furthermore, she said, the defense giant must be willing to meet
with FOCUS in a community meeting to explain the program.

Ed Cottingham, lead attorney for the Tallevast plaintiffs, said
Morris has refused to answer meeting requests from FOCUS.

"Dr. Morris and Lockheed need to know this program can be done, but
it depends upon FOCUS to make it work," Ward said. "If they are the
nice guys they say they are, then they should be willing to meet and
come to the table."

County Commissioner Carol Whitmore and Dan Schlandt, from the county
administrator's office, met with Ward and Washington on Wednesday at
the FOCUS office.

Both promised to approach Lockheed with the advocacy group's desire
for a meeting with the company.

"We need the medical program," said Ward, who claims many residents
have been made sick by the pollution. "We need extended medical
care. And Lockheed needs to realize that FOCUS is the spokesgroup
for the community."

Rymer said she hopes the community will accept the company's promise
and take advantage of the free medical program.

"I am truly sorry for this misunderstanding," she said. "I
personally hope they will call Dr. Morris. Everything they discuss
with Dr. Morris and his team of doctors is off-limits to Lockheed
Martin."

Rymer said the error caught the attention of Lockheed's top officers.

"Lockheed Martin management from the top down - and I mean the very
top - is seriously committed to doing what is right for the
community," Rymer said.

As the former owner of the beryllium plant identified as the source
of the Tallevast plume, Lockheed has the responsibility to
investigate the extent of the pollution and remove the toxic waste
from contaminated groundwater. The Florida Department of
Environmental Protection oversees that process.

Donna Wright, health and social services reporter, can be reached at
745-7049 or at dwright@Bradenton.com.

Lockheed Martin Corp. retraction

"I want to correct my statement to the Bradenton Herald regarding
Lockheed Martin's access to the medical records from the Tallevast
Community Health program run by Dr. Morris and funded by Lockheed
Martin.

"There was a misunderstanding between me and our lawyers. It has
never been our intent to have access to the records from the
Lockheed Martin-funded program. As represented on our Web site and
in the announcements about the medical exams, we will not seek, at
any time, these records.

"Anything discussed or any medical tests taken with Dr. Morris and
his team, are off-limits to Lockheed Martin. There are truly no
strings attached.

"I am extremely sorry for creating this misunderstanding and hope
you will consider correcting the record and let the community know
that Lockheed Martin hopes they will take advantage of this program."

- Gail Rymer, director, Environmental Communications,

Lockheed Martin Corp.

*****************************************************************
 51 FR DHHS: Class of employees at Denison plant in Cleveland

Doc 07-909

[Federal Register: March 1, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 40)] 
[Notices] [Page 9341] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr01mr07-80]                         

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

 
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; 
Designation of a Class of Employees for Addition to the Special 
Exposure Cohort

AGENCY: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives 
notice of a decision to designate a class of employees at the 
Harshaw Harvard- Denison Plant in Cleveland, Ohio, as an addition 
to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) under the Energy Employees 
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. On 
February 1, 2007, the Secretary of HHS designated the following 
class of employees as an addition to the SEC:

    Atomic Weapons employees who were monitored or should have been 
monitored while working at the Harshaw Harvard-Denison Plant located 
at 1000 Harvard Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio from August 14, 1942 
through November 30, 1949, and who were employed for a number of 
work days aggregating at least 250 work days or in combination with 
work days within the parameters established for one or more other 
classes of employees in the Special Exposure Cohort.

    This designation will become effective on March 3, 2007, unless 
Congress provides otherwise prior to the effective date. After this 
effective date, HHS will publish a notice in the Federal Register 
reporting the addition of this class to the SEC or the result of any 
provision by Congress regarding the decision by HHS to add the class to 
the SEC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Elliott, Director, Office of 
Compensation Analysis and Support, National Institute for Occupational 
Safety and Health (NIOSH), 4676 Columbia Parkway, MS C-46, Cincinnati, 
OH 45226, Telephone 513-533-6800 (this is not a toll-free number). 
Information requests can also be submitted by e-mail to OCAS@CDC.GOV.

    Dated: February 22, 2007.
John Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 07-909 Filed 2-28-07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4100-17-M
*****************************************************************
 52 FR DHHS: Employees at Allied Chemical exposure

Doc 07-910

[Federal Register: March 1, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 40)] 
[Notices] [Page 9340-9341] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr01mr07-78]                         

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
 
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; 
Designation of a Class of Employees for Addition to the Special 
Exposure Cohort

AGENCY: National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives notice 
of a decision to designate a class of employee at the Allied Chemical 
Corporation Plant in Metropolis, Illinois, as an addition to the 
Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) under the Energy Employees Occupational 
Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. On February 1, 2007, the 
Secretary of HHS designated the following class of employees as an 
addition to the SEC:

    Atomic Weapons employees who were monitored or should have been 
monitored for exposure to ionizing radiation while working at Allied 
Chemical Corporation Plant in Metropolis, Illinois from January 1, 
1959 through December 31, 1976, and who were employed for a number 
of work days aggregating at least 250 work days or in combination 
with work days within the parameters established for one or more 
other classes of employees in the Special Exposure Cohort.

    This designation will become effective on March 3, 2007, unless 
Congress provides otherwise prior to the effective date. After this 
effective date, HHS will publish a notice in the Federal Register 
reporting the addition of this class to SEC or the result of any 
provision by Congress regarding the decision by HHS to add the class to 
the SEC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Elliott, Director, Office of 
Compensation Analysis and Support, National Institute for Occupational 
Safety and Health (NIOSH), 4676 Columbia Parkway, MS C-46, Cincinnati, 
OH 45226, Telephone 513-533-6800 (this is not a toll-free number). 
Information requests can also be submitted by e-mail to OCAS@CDC.GOV.

[[Page 9341]]

    Dated: February 22, 2007.
John Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 07-910 Filed 2-28-07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4160-17-M


*****************************************************************
 53 FR DHHS: Employees at WR Grace in Erwin TN exposure investigation

Doc 07-911

[Federal Register: March 1, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 40)] 
[Notices] [Page 9341] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr01mr07-81]                         

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Decision 
To Evaluate a Petition To Designate a Class of Employees at W.R. 
Grace in Erwin, Tennessee, To Be Included in the Special Exposure 
Cohort

AGENCY: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives notice 
as required by 42 CFR 83.12(e) of a decision to evaluate a petition to 
designate a class of employees at W.R. Grace in Erwin, Tennessee, to be 
included in the Special Exposure Cohort under the Energy Employees 
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. The initial 
proposed definition for the class being evaluated, subject to revision 
as warranted by the evaluation, is as follows:
    Facility: W.R. Grace.
    Location: Erwin, Tennessee.
    Job Titles and/or Job Duties: All workers.
    Period of Employment: January 1, 1958 through December 31, 1970.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Elliott, Director, Office of 
Compensation Analysis and Support, National Institute for Occupational 
Safety and Health (NIOSH), 4676 Columbia Parkway, MS C-46, Cincinnati, 
OH 45226, Telephone 513-533-6800 (this is not a toll-free number). 
Information requests can also be submitted by e-mail to OCAS@CDC.GOV.

    Dated: February 22, 2007.
John Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 07-911 Filed 2-28-07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4163-19-M


*****************************************************************
 54 FR DHHS: Hanford Exposure compensation Invesitgation

Doc 07-912

[Federal Register: March 1, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 40)] 
[Notices] [Page 9340] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr01mr07-77]                         

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Decision 
To Evaluate a Petition To Designate a Class of Employees at 
Hanford in Richland, Washington, To Be Included in the Special 
Exposure Cohort

AGENCY: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives notice 
as required by 42 CFR 83.12(e) of a decision to evaluate a petition to 
designate a class of employees at Hanford in Richland, Washington, to 
be included in the Special Exposure Cohort under the Energy Employees 
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. The initial 
proposed definition For the class being evaluated, subject to revision 
as warranted by the evaluation, is as follows:
    Facility: Hanford.
    Location: Richland, Washington.
    Job Titles and/or Job Duties: All roving maintenance carpenters and 
apprentice carpenters who worked in the 100, 200, 300, and 400 Areas.
    Period of Employment: April 25, 1967 through February 1, 1971.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Elliott, Director, Office of 
Compensation Analysis and Support, National Institute for Occupational 
Safety and Health (NIOSH), 4676 Columbia Parkway, MS C-46, Cincinnati, 
OH 45226, Telephone 513-533-6800 (this is not a toll-free number). 
Information requests can also be submitted by e-mail to OCAS@CDC.GOV.

    Dated: February 22, 2007.
John Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 07-912 Filed 2-28-07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4163-19-M


*****************************************************************
 55 Scotsman.com: Enriched uranium unearthed from man's garden

Thu 1 Mar 2007

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man obtained enriched uranium and 
buried it in his garden, raising concerns about the security of 
Germany's nuclear reactors, the environment ministry in the state 
of Lower Saxony said on Thursday.

"How do pellets get out of a nuclear reactor? That's not supposed 
to happen," said ministry spokeswoman Jutte Kremer-Heye.

She said it was unclear when the man, a resident of the
north-western German town of Lauenfoerder, got hold of and buried
the 14 low-enriched uranium pellets, which he had sealed in a steel
container wrapped in a plastic bag.

He wrote to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in December saying he
wanted to hand it over, but it was not until last week that
officials unearthed the pellets from his garden. Kremer-Heye said
passing the letter on to the relevant government department had
taken some time.

The pellets were enriched to a level of around 4 percent, well below
the weapons-grade threshold of 80-90 percent, and tests on the area
revealed no radioactive contamination. German authorities were
analysing the uranium to determine its origin.

Lower Saxony's chief prosecutor Christian Gottfriedsen said
unauthorised possession of nuclear fuel is a criminal offence in
Germany but formal charges had not yet been filed since the
investigation was still under way.

(c) Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or
redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or
similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written
consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are
registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of
companies around the world.

This article: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=324972007

Last updated: 01-Mar-07 15:21 GMT

©2007 Scotsman.com | contact | terms &amp; conditions
*****************************************************************
 56 FR: DHHS: Ames Lab Employee Contamination investigation

Doc 07-913

[Federal Register: March 1, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 40)] 
[Notices] [Page 9341] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr01mr07-79]                         

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Decision 
To Evaluate a Petition To Designate a Class of Employees at the Ames 
Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, To Be Included in the Special Exposure Cohort

AGENCY: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives notice 
as required by 42 CFR 83.12(e) of a decision to evaluate a petition to 
designate a class of employees at the Ames Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, to 
be included in the Special Exposure Cohort under the Energy Employees 
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. The initial 
proposed definition for the class being evaluated, subject to revision 
as warranted by the evaluation, is as follows:
    Facility: Ames Laboratory.
    Location: Ames, Iowa.
    Job Titles and/or Job Duties: All sheet metal workers, physical 
plant maintenance and associated support staff (includes all 
maintenance shop personnel) of Ames Laboratory and supervisory staff 
that may have been exposed to the maintenance and renovation activities 
of the thorium production areas in Wilhelm Hall (also known as the 
Metallurgy Building or ``Old'' Metallurgy Building).
    Period of Employment: January 1, 1955 through December 31, 1970.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Elliott, Director, Office of 
Compensation Analysis and Support, National Institute for Occupational 
Safety and Health (NIOSH), 4676 Columbia Parkway, MS C-46, Cincinnati, 
OH 45226, Telephone 513-533-6800 (this is not a toll-free number). 
Information requests can also be submitted by e-mail OCAS@CDC.GOV.

    Dated: February 22, 2007.
John Howard,
Director, Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 07-913 Filed 2-28-07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4163-19-M


*****************************************************************
 57 Deseret News: Downwinder says enough is enough

Thursday, March 1, 2007

By Cathy Free Deseret Morning News

      In the early 1950s, Darlene Phillips and her new husband,
Warren, often pitched a tent in the southern Utah desert so they
could enjoy a rare "sunrise" in the west.

      Darlene felt it was her patriotic duty to drive 300 miles from
Salt Lake City to witness the spectacular mushroom clouds that lit
up the dark sky with a white glow.

      Born on the Fourth of July, "I thought it was my
responsibility as an American to be there when it was announced
they'd be doing a nuclear test," she says today over a Free Lunch of
veggie sandwiches and tomato soup in her Bountiful home. "Like a lot
of people, I was young and stupid. It never occurred to us that what
we were doing was dangerous."

      The U.S. government, of course, did nothing to warn people
about the serious effects of fallout from those tests. It wasn't
until a friend of the Phillipses' told them his Geiger counter had
"gone off the charts" in their own west-side neighborhood that
Darlene and her husband quit going on those patriotic camping trips.

      But the damage had already been done. Darlene, who switched to
powdered milk when it was discovered that cows had been contaminated
with Iodine 131, began losing her hair. Then, she became ill with
pneumonia, again and again.

      Years later, she learned that the powdered milk she'd consumed
for calcium benefits while nursing five children had also been
contaminated. When farmers were told to dump their milk supplies,
many had shipped them off to powdered milk factories instead.

      Through testing at the National Institute for Health, it was
discovered that Darlene no longer had an immune system. An eye
doctor told her that she had a cataract problem that he had only
seen in two places: Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

      "He said he believed her health problems had been caused by an
overdose of radiation," recalls Warren, "but he couldn't put that on
her chart. He said it was an 'unacceptable' diagnosis."

      Darlene, 73, is the only original immune-failure test patient
who is still alive, among more than 50 who were tested. She knows
she's lucky. For the past year, her patriotic duty was focused on
speaking out against the government's plan to set off 700 tons of
explosives in the same Nevada desert contaminated by hundreds of
above- and below-ground nuclear tests. When the test was canceled
last week, Darlene was tempted to dance a jig in the middle of her
street.

      Divine Strake was a mistake, she says, and there was nothing
divine about it.

      "The government has already poisoned their own people once,"
she says. "I was worried they would figure most of the downwinders
had died, and nobody would make a fuss. But enough of us spoke out,
and it clearly made a difference."

      Even so, Darlene has a hard time believing that the test will
never happen. "I feel a little like Ronald Reagan: 'Trust but
verify,"' she says.

      "After being fooled by the government in the 1950s and 1960s,
part of me is cynical. Are they going to try to find some way to
sneak this in behind our backs?"

      At least, for now, there is relief. "I can look at my
grandkids and my great-grandkids and say, 'You're safer now,"' she
says. "A few weeks ago, I couldn't say that. I hope we can keep this
momentum going. Utah should never be poisoned again."

Have a story? You do the talking, I'll buy the lunch. E-mail your
name, phone number and what you'd like to talk about to
freelunch@desnews.com. You can also write me at the Deseret Morning
News, P.O. Box 1257, Salt Lake City, UT 84110.
 

© 2007 Deseret News Publishing Company
*****************************************************************
 58 reviewjournal.com: YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Nuclear waste dump still alive

Mar. 01, 2007

Panel hears warning about rail shipping routes

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CARSON CITY -- A Nevada panel fighting a proposed Yucca Mountain 
repository for nuclear waste was told Wednesday that project 
backers face big obstacles but are still seeking approval of the 
facility and of rail shipping routes, including one through 
downtown Reno and Sparks.

Bob Halstead, a transportation adviser to the commission, said 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 $1 billion.

Asked after the commission meeting why Nevada must press its fight
against the repository, Halstead said, "We've driven a stake through
this vampire's heart three or four times, and each time he stands up
and says, 'Yucca Mountain.' "

Halstead said while U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.,
has promised to block the Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain
Project, which already has cost at least $9 billion, Nevada remains
the No. 1 target because no other states want to take high-level
radioactive waste.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Feb. 5 that his department will
prepare an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a
license for the repository, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas,
by June 2008.

The project has been set back repeatedly by lawsuits, money
shortfalls and scientific controversies.

In his remarks to the commission, Halstead said some trains from
waste-producing power plants would run on tracks parallel to
Interstate 80 in Northern Nevada, coming from the east and west.
Trains from the west would run through downtown Reno and Sparks.

The trains would then run south to Yucca Mountain along a route near
U.S. 95, which goes through several towns including Schurz,
Hawthorne, Mina, Tonopah and Goldfield. Halstead said the Energy
Department's estimated cost of upgrading rail routes and laying new
track is $1.6 billion, but he called that "a made-up number."

Also speaking at the commission meeting was Sparks City Manager
Shaun Carey, who said Energy Department officials rejected a request
for a hearing on the rail route. He said the route is of particular
concern for his city, since it's home to a major rail operations
yard.

Bob Loux, head of the state's Agency for Nuclear Projects, said it
looks like the Energy Department wants to "deliberately keep people
in Northern Nevada out of the process."

Energy Department spokesman Allen Benson said a preliminary hearing
on rail routes was held at the University of Nevada, Reno in late
November, adding, "I don't know much closer we could get to Sparks
City Hall."

Benson said additional hearings will be held in Northern Nevada in
the future.

"We're years away from routes. We haven't settled on any routes. Our
focus is on completing and submitting the licensing application."

Benson also said the federal government has been hauling nuclear
waste by truck for half a century with no problems, and "we're quite
confident we can continue our safety record."

Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2007
                  Stephens Media | Privacy Statement
*****************************************************************
 59 NC Times: Regional water officials consider permanent closure of the 
Las Pulgas Landfill - North County Times - San Diego / County -

Last modified Wednesday, February 28, 2007 9:43 PM PST

By: North County Times wire services -

CAMP PENDLETON - Regional water officials have suggested the
possible permanent closure of the Las Pulgas Landfill, saying
problems at the site may be beyond fixing, it was reported Wednesday.

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board also rejected
turnaround plans for the landfill offered by Camp Pendleton
officials, who initially denied any problems with their site, The
San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The dump, situated near the base's central area, was expanded in
1999 to hold decades' worth of trash. But shoddy construction caused
the landfill's liner to rupture in numerous places, forcing Marine
officials to close the site in 2003.

Base leaders have spent about half a million dollars to trap and
store hundreds of thousands of gallons of hazardous waste --
including radioactive material and heavy metals -- that have gushed
from the landfill.

State regulators fear such runoff could pollute drinking-water wells
and aquifers located just a few miles from the dump. They have
described the landfill as the greatest engineering failure of its
kind in San Diego County history, the Union-Tribune reported.

The water board denied a $5.5 million liner-replacement proposal
chosen by Camp Pendleton officials, saying in a review sent to the
base Friday that the plan "contains very significant deficiencies in
the level of technical information ... (It) fails to comply with
minimum requirements," the newspaper reported.

The water board wants Camp Pendleton to submit a new proposal that
either details how the existing liner might be replaced or how the
landfill might be closed indefinitely, according to the
Union-Tribune. Camp Pendleton officials said they would comply with
the mandate.

Previous Story: Edison International reports 2006 income increased
by more than 3 percent to &#036;1.18 billion


webmaster@nctimes.com © 1997-2007 North County Times ? Lee
Enterprises editor@nctimes.com
*****************************************************************
 60 FT.com: UK must catch up on nuclear waste

Financial Times FT.com

By Carola Hoyos and Ed Crooks in London

Published: March 1 2007 16:25 | Last updated: March 1 2007 16:25

Britain must catch up with countries such as Finland and France 
in solving its nuclear waste problem if it is to succeed in 
building a new generation of nuclear plants, the International 
Energy Agency, the developed countryâ€™s energy watchdog, said on 
Thursday.

Claude Mandil, executive director of the IEA, said: â€œNuclear 
will not be developed if there is not a credible, satisfactory 
answer to nuclear waste.â€ Mr Mandil said that to balance the 
UKâ€™s sources of power, â€œwe think that nuclear has to be a 
part of the mix.â€ However, he added that winning public support 
would be critical, saying â€œYou never in any country in the 
world have nuclear power against public opinion.â€

He added there was a top tier of countries moving ahead in 
finding a solution to how and where to permanently store their 
nuclear waste, but that the UK was not among them.

Finland, for example, has begun to build a permanent underground
bunker for its nuclear waste, while France in September passed a law
saying it would do the same. Britain is still a step behind, having
yet to start implementing recommendations that its waste should be
buried under ground.

The IEA yesterday released its latest study of UK energy policy,
which it does every four or five years. In it, the Paris-based
organisation called for â€œa rapid move towards the selection and
implementation of a comprehensive policy for radioactive waste
disposal.â€

It also urged the government to make sure adequate funds were
available for decommissioning old nuclear plants, and give more
detail of its intentions for new nuclear construction.

â€œThe work done and the proposals made thus far do not yet include
sufficient information on the exact steps the government would take.
Further work needs to be done to fill in the details,â€ the report
said. â€œWithout such additional work, potential investment in new
nuclear generation stations still face substantial uncertainty which
will act as a barrier to new plant[s].â€

The energy white paper, expected in May, will be accompanied by a
consultation document on nuclear power, leading to government
decisions on the framework for new nuclear power stations in the
autumn.

Last month a court decision upheld a complaint from Greenpeace, the
environmental campaign group, that the government had failed to
consult properly its public over whether to build new nuclear
reactors.

The IEA also urged the government to address the obstacles to
investment in all energy projects created by the planning system.

The British Wind Energy Association is on Friday releasing analysis
of planning decisions showing that since October last year â€“ when
Sir Nicholas Sternâ€™s review of the economics of climate change was
published â€“ only one in three proposals for onshore wind farms
have been approved. Of 18 applications, 12 were rejected.

Mr Mandil said: â€œDelays in getting approvals jeopardise energy
security and climate change policies. Since these projects will
benefit the whole country â€“ and indeed the whole world â€“ the UK
government has a role in making sure that permits are not
excessively delayed.â€

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

* Â© Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2007. "FT" and "Financial
*****************************************************************
 61 Aiken Today: Legislators tour radioactive waste landfill in Barnwell

AikenStandard.com

Thu, Mar 1, 2007

SNELLING, S.C. (AP) ? 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.

© 2005 The AikenStandard. All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
 62 SF New Mexican: Research proposal gets public airing

Thu Mar 1, 2007 5:52 pm
 
By ANDY LENDERMAN | The New Mexican

Los Alamos is among six potential places where new research on
advanced nuclear power might be located. A public meeting is
scheduled for this evening in Los Alamos to discuss and take public
comment on the proposal, known as the Global Nuclear Energy
Partnership.

That program involves three new facilities -- a research center, a
nuclear fuel recycling center and an advanced nuclear reactor that
would burn old nuclear fuel that's been reprocessed into something
usable.

Los Alamos is on the list for potential research sites only. The
recycling center and reactor would be located at one of 11 places,
including Hobbs, a report in the federal register shows.

Proponents say it would take care of lots of partially consumed
nuclear fuel that would otherwise need to be buried and generate
lots of electricity in an energy-driven economy.

Critics say the program is a waste of money and could make wherever
it's located a nuclear waste dump.

"Our society has a great need for nuclear power -- a safe,
emissions-free, and affordable source of energy -- and GNEP puts us
on that path," Assistant Secretary Dennis Spurgeon of the Department
of Energy said in a news release.

"It will encourage expansion of domestic and foreign nuclear energy
production while reducing the risk of nuclear proliferation."

A flier released by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety this week
encourages people to speak against the project.

"Communities living near GNEP would not greatly benefit economically
from the program, and would be forced to deal with the program's
hazardous effects on human and environmental health," the flier
reads.

Today, roughly 20 percent of the country's electricity comes from
nuclear power plants.

Tonight's meeting is part of the environmental impact statement
required by the project.

Contact Andy Lenderman at 995-3827 or alenderman@sfnewmexican.com.

IF YOU GO

What: Meeting to discuss the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership

When: 6 to 9 p.m. today

Where: Hilltop House Best Western, 400 Trinity Drive, Los Alamos


| ©2007, Santa Fe New Mexican, all
*****************************************************************
 63 Platts: Uranium prices won't sink nuclear revival, says Exelon's Crane

Washington (Platts)--28Feb2007

Today's rising uranium prices are "not deterimental" to the 
future renaissance of nuclear power, said Exelon Nuclear 
President and Chief Nuclear Officer Christopher Crane in his 
presentation this afternoon at the UBS Natural Gas and Electric 
Utilities Conference in New York. 

Crane said Exelon believes that "recent price increases are not 
sustainable, and the market will correct." Exelon's "main 
approach" has been to decrease tails assay for its enriched 
uranium product, he said, because "it's more economical" to 
purchase more enrichment services and less uranium. 

He noted "alternative" uranium sources, such as copper and 
phosphate mines, also have potential to contribute significantly 
to supplies.

Overall, "the current uptick in prices is not hitting us 
significantly, and we do believe the market will turn before we 
have to buy significant quantities in 2011 to 2013," Crane said. 

		--Steven Dolley, steven_dolley@platts.com

Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
 64 Platts: Thorp reprocessing plant restart delayed until mid-year

London (Platts)--28Feb2007

The restart of Sellafield's Thorp reprocessing plant has been 
delayed until at least the middle of 2007, Sellafield site 
manager British Nuclear Group said February 28. 

Thorp was given permission to restart by regulator Nuclear 
Installations Inspectorate January 9. The permission followed a 
21- month shutdown for repairs after a major leak of highly 
radioactive liquid from primary to secondary containment had 
damaged interior equipment. 

BNG said in January, however, that Thorp could not resume one of 
its key activities -- cutting up spent fuel -- until 
precautionary checks on an evaporator downstream from Thorp had 
been completed. 

Those checks have still not been completed. However, the 
evaporator was started up again for "a limited period" a few days 
ago to process some highly radioactive liquid that had been in 
storage, BNG said February 28. "We expect to shut down Evaporator 
C once again during March in order to carry out the next series 
of technical investigations which will not be complete until the 
middle of 2007," it said. 

"Full scale operations within Thorp will not be possible until 
the investigations have been completed." 

BNG added that, in the interim, it is developing a safety case to 
support some limited cutting up of spent fuel and chemical plant 
operations within Thorp. "Once we are satisfied that this is an 
appropriate step, we will seek the regulatory agreement to 
implement this proposal," it said.

Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
 65 PE.com: San Bernardino County ordered to submit perchlorate testing results

10:00 PM PST on Wednesday, February 28, 2007

By MASSIEL LADRÓN DE GUEVARA The Press-Enterprise

A notice of violation has been issued to San Bernardino County for
missing a deadline to submit testing results and a plan to clean up
perchlorate in Rialto to the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality
Control Board, records show.

A Cleanup and Abatement Order issued in January 2003 requires the
county to characterize the lateral and vertical extent of
perchlorate pollution from the Mid-Valley Landfill property in
Rialto.

The submission of a detailed remedial action plan to clean up or
abate the contamination also is required, said Kurt Berchtold,
assistant executive officer for the water board.

An amendment to the order in September 2004 requires the county to
provide Rialto with replacement water, he said.

The notice of violation was sent to the county Feb. 16. The county
could face further enforcement action if the requested documents
aren't submitted by March 5.

The maximum fine for violating such an abatement order is $5,000 per
day of violation, Berchtold said.

The water board wants results of a groundwater modeling simulation
and a final interim remedial-action plan, records show.

The county is on schedule to submit the requested documents by the
deadline, said Peter Wulfman, manager of the county's solid waste
management division.

Groundwater modeling simulation is a way of predicting where
contamination is expected to flow and its effect, based on
computerized data, he said.

The delay resulted from the county's efforts to find the best
location for treatment wells in the Renaissance Rialto project area,
Wulfman said.

Renaissance Rialto is a 1,500 acre master-planned community along
the 210 freeway, west of Ayala Avenue. It calls for mixed-use
development, including retail, housing, industrial and commercial
uses.

If the water board approves the plan the county submits, it will
take six to nine months to install the additional treatment wells,
Wulfman said.

The county installed a perchlorate treatment system at Rialto's Well
Number 3 that began operation in March 2006.

Reach Massiel Ladrón De Guevara at 909-806-3054 or mdeguevara@PE.com

© 2007 Press-Enterprise Company
*****************************************************************
 66 AU ABC: Station manager sees benefits in nuclear waste dump. 

01/03/2007. ABC News Online


The manager of Muckaty Station in the Barkly region of central
Australia, Ray Aylett, says a nuclear waste facility may bring
benefits to the area.

The Northern Land Council says Aboriginal groups at Muckaty Station
have expressed interest in putting the national nuclear waste dump
on their country.

Mr Aylett has leased Muckaty Station through the Northern Land
Council for eight years and says he is not opposed to the idea.

"Oh, if it came here we might get our rural power like we're
promised, we might get a decent road around the place ... and it
would bring revenue to Tennant Creek," he said.


&copy; 2007 ABC | Privacy Policy



*****************************************************************
 67 LasVegasNOW.com: Yucca Mountain Project Not Completely Dead Yet

Jonathan Humbert, Legislative Reporter

Opponents of the proposed Yucca Mountain Project believe the 
project is dead. Nevada is still fighting it, but the state may 
be running out of options and the nuclear waste repository may be 
moving forward after all.

A recent budget battle gave a sense of cautious optimism to
Wednesday's meeting of the Commission on Nuclear Projects.

Former U.S. senator and governor Richard Bryan chairs the
commission, he worries about opponents saying the project is dead.
"My concern is declaring victory prematurely."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "Yucca Mountain, after 25
years, it's history. They can keep spending money there, but Yucca
Mountain is not going to happen."

U.S. Senator Reid promised Yucca's demise to the legislature, and
Bob Loux, the head of Nevada's nuclear agency fighting the project
says Senator Reid's support can help regulators kill it.

"Their strategy is to starve the project by cutting the budget
further and further every year making it almost impossible for them
to proceed," Loux said.

But Yucca Mountain is far from starved. In fact, it's setting up a
David versus Goliath situation with the state. The White House has
asked for nearly half-a-billion dollars to keep the project on
schedule. Nevada is fighting back with only $20 million.

Former Gov. Bryan said, "If they saw an opportunity they'd move on
it quickly. My own view is that it's not over until the fat lady
sings, and the fat lady has not yet sung."

And the stakes couldn't be higher.

The current plan opens the possibility of using transport trucks to
fill Yucca Mountain, but that means high-level nuclear waste could
be just a lane over. So as budgets are finalized on Capitol Hill and
in Carson City, the war of words goes on.

Bob Loux, Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, said, "It's kind of a
mixed message, we know. It's kind of a tightrope, but that's kind of
where we're at."

The Department of Energy will apply for an operating license in June
of 2008. That's expected to be the final make or break decision in
the future of the Yucca Mountain Project.

Email your comments to Legislative Reporter Jonathan Humbert.

 All content © Copyright 2000 - 2007 WorldNow and KLAS. All Rights
Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 68 Whitehaven News: Thorp N-leak alarms ignored

Published on 01/03/2007

By Alan Irving

ALARMS were ignored before the discovery of the major leak of highly
radioactive liquid which led to the closure of Sellafieldâ€™s Thorp
plant.

A damning report by the Health and Safety Exeecutive into the
incident said important alarms were missed due to operational
problems.

The report says the plant was â€œoperated in a culture that seemed
to allow instruments to operate in alarm mode rather than
questioning the alarm and rectifying the relevant fault.

â€œAlarm response instructions were not being followed, leading to
the conclusion that the culture also condoned non-compliance with
instructions and fault tolerance.

â€œAn underlying cause was the culture within the plant that
condoned the ignoring of alarms, the non-compliance with some key
operating instructions and safety-related equipment which was not
kept in effective working order for some time, so this became the
norm.â€

Sellafield operators British Nuclear Group, which has been publicly
censured as well as being fined Â£500,000 for safety breaches, said:
â€œWe appreciate that mistakes were made and this has led to
improved workforce training, operating instructions and responses to
alarms.â€

Thorp will still not re-start until the middle of the year due to
checks on an evaporator which supports the plantâ€™s operations but
Magnox reprocessing, which was stopped a few months ago due to
problems with another evaporator, is now all set to resume.

n The findings in full: page 9

n Magnox to restart: page 4

*****************************************************************
 69 Tracy Press: Tour is the bomb

March 1, 2007 Tracy, CA

Niko Kyriakou/Tracy Press Thursday, 01 March 2007

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will give public tours of 
its bomb test range, Site 300. By Niko Kyriakou

Press file photo - test site ride:Lawrence Livermore National 
Laboratory will offer tours of its bomb test range, Site 300, 
shown at left, beginning Friday.

Starting Friday, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will 
offer tours of its bomb test range, Site 300, which is just 
outside Tracy.

Visitors must call ahead to go on the twice-monthly tours, which are
already booked full through April 6.

The 2½-hour trip through Site 300, which is six miles southwest of
downtown Tracy and one mile from city limits, starts with a
presentation of the work done at the lab and a history of the test
site. Visitors, who must be 18 years old or older, will then be
bused along a network of roads that pass by the places munitions are
made and stored. They also get to see where the bombs are exploded.

Site 300 is authorized to test 200 bombs a year that include
radioactive materials such as depleted uranium and tritium, but no
bombs will be blown up on tour days, a lab spokeswoman said.

Visitors will see an outdoor testing location as well as an
indoor-explosion arena.

The two-story-high Contained Firing Facility has 6-foot walls of
reinforced steel and concrete and is used to test bombs of up to 120
pounds. Its purpose is to minimize the impact of noise, blast
pressure, and debris on people who live nearby.

Site 300 is also a Superfund site — which means it is on a
government watch list as a heavily polluted area — and tourists will
be shown the lab’s toxic waste cleanup operation.

“We’re doing a lot of environmental cleanup due to past practices in
the area,” said spokeswoman Lynda Seaver. “You won’t get up close
and personal with it (on the tour), but you’ll see some of the work
going on.”

Seaver said people on the tour might also glimpse some wildlife.

“Site 300 is home to quite a bit of diverse California wildlife and
protected species,” Seaver said. “It’s not uncommon to see deer and
coyotes running around.”

The laboratory has long offered tours of its main facility in
Livermore, but this is the first time that Site 300 will offer
regular public tours.

Asked why the 52-year-old site is starting tours now, Seaver said,
“It seemed like the time was right.”

Site 300 has recently been the subject of heated debate in the Tracy
community.

Lawrence Livermore recently asked the San Joaquin Valley Air
Pollution Control District to permit test blasts at Site 300 as
large as 350 pounds, up from the previous 100-pound limit.

Earlier this month, a proposal to build a laboratory at the site
that would test incurable biological agents was met with resistance
by the Tracy City Council.

To contact reporter Niko Kyriakou, call 830-4274, or e-mail This
email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript
enabled to view it

*****************************************************************
 70 lamonitor.com: Lab mulls closing waste areas

The Online News Source for Los Alamos


ROGER SNODGRASS Monitor Assistant Editor

A thousand-year plan for protecting the environment around and under
two hazardous waste storage areas took preliminary steps Wednesday
night with a poster session and one-on-one discussions in the La
Vista Room of Hilltop House.

Area G is the final and easily one of the most difficult projects in
a comprehensive environmental cleanup project at Los Alamos National
Laboratory. Area L, also located in LANL's Technical Area-54, north
of Pajarito Road, stored liquid chemical wastes for more than two
decades in three artificial ponds that have not been used since the
mid-80s.

Under a March 2005 consent order with the New Mexico Environment
Department, formal corrective measures evaluation reports are due on
Area L in July and on Area G in August. A final report on the
completion of Area L is due in 2011. Area G is supposed to be
finalized at the end of the current cleanup project in 2015.

NMED is supposed to approve the report and begin its remedy
selection in December 2007.

The meeting was not required by the consent order, but laboratory
officials said they wanted public input on closure options before
and beyond the NMED process.

"We're just starting the process and we want to get public input up
front," said John Hopkins, the project leader for closure of TA-54.

The sooner the better for public participation, said Gordon Dober,
program director for corrective actions. "Farther down the road, you
get locked in," he said. "We're really trying to move it earlier in
the cycle."

The officials were interviewed before the meeting Wednesday.

The options under consideration for the two sites are similar, they
said. Each plan must include a "no further action" component as a
baseline standard, but must also compare options for an engineered
cover or engineered controls and either a program for stabilizing
contaminants or partial or complete removal of the contamination.

The consent order requires specific alternatives, but LANL has added
additional options, especially in the categories of containment and
source removal.

The Area-G cover closure options, like other elements of the
remedial technology must be designed to last a thousand years and
will take into consideration the region's arid climate.

Environmental groups, regulators and the Department of Energy's
chartered advisory group for environmental input have had Area G in
particular under careful observation for a number of years.

More than 10 million square feet of hazardous waste has burdened the
area over time. Some of it has been dug up, repackaged and forwarded
to the Waste Isolation Pilot Project for permanent storage, but much
remains buried in unlined pits.

The Northern New Mexico Citizens Advisory Board held a special forum
on the Low-Level Radioactive Solid Waste and Disposal Area, as Area
G was known in 2005, and has made several recommendations as a
result.

One of them called for the closure of boreholes used in the most
recent investigations of contaminant migration below Area G. Tests
associated with those boreholes found evidence that tritium and
other man-made radionuclides were infiltrating tuff beneath the
site, along with volatile organic chemicals.

A resolution from the citizens advisory board noted that the
boreholes were protected from storm water at the surface of the
ground, but that open boreholes offered pathways for subsurface
contamination to migrate elsewhere beneath Area G and had resulted
"in expanded contamination at the site."

Hopkins said a recent meeting with Los Alamos County officials had
resulted in an agreement to attend to that.

"We do have plans to plug all the abandoned boreholes," he said.

Closure plans will also require consideration of long-term
maintenance and monitoring programs for the protection of human
health and the environment, decisions that will be made next year by
NMED.

"We recommend; they select," said Dober.

The laboratory is considering building on what they have said were
positive results from a pilot test of a soil vapor extraction
technology at Area L to reduce the volatile organics from the plume
known to be underground at that location.

The nuclear watchdog group Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety
noted in their response to the laboratory's site-wide environmental
impact statement now under review that the impact statement does not
include a key document, the performance assessment for Area G.

The Citizens Advisory Group and the Los Alamos Study Group have also
expressed concern about the lack the document, answering questions
about the long-range climate, geological processes and the chances
of human intrusion required by the Department of Energy in their
closure procedures.

Laboratory spokesman said this morning that the performance
assessment was submitted to DOE at the end of last year and is under
review.

Another set of stakeholders in neighboring San Ildefonso Pueblo have
requested attention be given to the aesthetic qualities of the
remediation. Hopkins and Dober said they met with tribal leaders
Wednesday to brief them on the plans.

Area G opened in 1957 as a five-acre landfill, growing to 37 acres
by 1976 and 66 acres in 2005. The closure plan covers 80 acres.

Even as plans are made to close the old Area G site, a new low-level
waste depository is planned for 30 acres in an unused part of Area G
known as Zone 4, to be opened within months of Area G's closure.

© 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.
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 71 lamonitor.com: LANL director updates council

The Online News Source for Los Alamos

DARRYL NEWMAN Monitor Staff Writer

Speaking about the recent congressional subcommittee hearings in
Washington regarding Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lab Director
Michael Anastasio also addressed building upon a partnership with
Los Alamos County.

"We really believe in the notion of a shared future between the lab
and northern New Mexico," Anastasio said during a council session
Tuesday night. "Congress expressed deep frustration with security
incidents at the laboratory. I'm the third director to come and
testify about the incidents there. They feel desperate change is
needed."

Anastasio identified two primary messages he wanted to send as part
of the hearings: to acknowledge that the breaches were serious
matters and let the public know that immediate steps were being
taken to correct them.

"One of the things we need to do is to build a long-term plan," he
said after mention of a recent DOE evaluation. "We need a robust
plan put in place that looks at threats. Putting such a plan
together helps us communicate with staff."

Lawmakers in Washington have followed up on initial questions posed
at hearings, Anastasio said.

"They're wanting to make operations smaller," he said. "But we're
going to demonstrate that the impression they have of us is wrong.
Part of what we need to do is build our credibility as a management
team."

Anastasio characterized LANL's budget as "relatively flat" after
receiving notice that the laboratory would receive something less
than the $1.8 billion it expected to obtain from DOE.

"That will keep us in more challenging times," he said. "I request
your help as a council and a community. This is an opportunity for
us to make the lab into what it can be because we're in this
together."

Council Vice Chair Mike Wheeler promised Anastasio that the county
would continue to provide the support that it can to help LANL meet
its mission. One way in which Los Alamos as a government can offer
its assistance is to make the county more attractive to potential
employees.

"The issue of recruitment is important," Anastasio said commenting
that LANL continues to see a significant amount of interest from
scientists interested in relocating to the Hill. "It's exciting to
have a tremendous amount of candidates - a strong set of people who
want to come here. The budget will allow us to continue to hire, but
maybe not as much as we wanted."

Councilor Jim Hall asked the laboratory director if LANL is being
held to a different standard than other complexes in the nation,
considering its lapses in security.

"It's the pattern of incidents," Anastasio said. "It's the pattern
of repetition that matters a lot."

© 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.
    
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