***************************************************************** 04/30/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.101 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 Guardian Unlimited: EU, U.S. Agree on Iran, Russia Disputes 2 Guardian Unlimited: Inside the struggle for Iran 3 Guardian Unlimited: Bush to Discuss Missile Plan With Moscow 4 US: Scientific American: Special Report: New Nukes Are Good Nukes? 5 [NYTr] Vanunu Convicted Again, 6 Ban Ki-moon Urges Npt Review Meeting To Address Crisis On Nuclear Ar 7 The Hindu: EC reviews UP poll preparations ahead of final phase 8 AFP: Warnings about nuclear proliferation at opening of meeting in V NUCLEAR REACTORS 9 UN climate plan to call for GMOs and more nukes 10 The Hindu: Nuke deal: India, US to hold another round of talks 11 Guardian Unlimited: Merkel Presses Hard on Nuclear Issue 12 AU ABC: Greens Senator rejects nuclear push 13 AU ABC: MP rejects nuclear power decision 14 Times of India: We will get this nuke deal done, says US- 15 Czech Business Weekly: More problems at Temelin 16 West Australian: NZ 'at risk from Aussie nuclear plants' : 17 West Australian: Labor calls for an end to nuclear debate 18 Bangkok Post: Nuclear power 'no answer to global warming' 19 US: Burlington Free Press: You rate it: Vermont Yankee 20 US: Journal News: Nuke plant to test sirens tomorrow 21 Bangkok Post: Bangkok climate-solutions meet opens 22 US: Bennington Banner: Rep will fight tax on Yankee 23 Xinhua: IPCC meeting focuses on mitigation of climate change 24 Reuters: Experts meet on U.N. report but time running out 25 US: UPI: NRC special inspection of Farley plant 26 US: NRC: NRC to Discuss 2006 Performance at Wolf Creek Nuclear Plant 27 Accountancy Age: NAO to probe nuclear body after PAC request - Finan 28 The Statesman: Enviromentalists reject nuclear energy in Ghana 29 AU ABC: Nuclear plant sites not Govt's decision: PM. 30 AU ABC: Top Australian scientist warns against nuclear power 31 US: PRN: PG&E's Diablo Canyon Power Plant Begins Scheduled Refueling 32 Hindustan Times: N-deal: little room left for negotiations- 33 Deccan Herald: 123 Agreement: India, US for another round of talks - 34 AFP: Bush, EU leaders deadlocked on climate change 35 AFP: Indian foreign secretary in US for nuclear talks - 36 US: NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meetings on May 2 at Browns Ferry Nuclea 37 US: NRC: NRC Begins Special Inspection at Farley Nuclear Plant 38 US: NRC: NRC Names Darren Ash as Chief Information Officer and Deput 39 The Australian: NZ weighs into nuclear debate NUCLEAR SECURITY 40 The Hindu: Pakistan tightens nuclear export 41 US: UPI: Commentary: Money laundromat for nukes NUCLEAR SAFETY 42 US: NRC approves work-hour limits for some plant workers 43 US: The Hawk Eye: Nuke workers' woes continue NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 44 ReviewJournal.com: Delays fan frustration with Yucca 45 US: West Australian: SA now open for new uranium mines - Rann 46 US: AU ABC: Rann hoping to fast track uranium mining licences. 47 US: AU ABC: Uranium stocks trading up as analysts doubt opposition t 48 US: AU ABC: Uranium mining would boost NT economy, says Minerals Cou 49 The Telegraph: U-waste heat raises a stink PEACE 50 BBC NEWS: Vanunu convicted for media links US DEPT. OF ENERGY 51 DOE: High School Teams from Connecticut and West Virginia Win 52 DOE: Poudre High School From Fort Collins , Colorado Wins U.S. 53 DOE: DOE Announces the 2007 Solar Decathlon Teams 54 DOE: Ostendorff Sworn in as NNSA’s Principal Deputy 55 Hanford News: 3 Hanford burial sites excavated by deadline ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Guardian Unlimited: EU, U.S. Agree on Iran, Russia Disputes From the Associated Press Monday April 30, 2007 9:01 AM By DESMOND BUTLER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - As U.S. and European Union officials showcase closer ties at a summit Monday, they may have found common ground over Iran's nuclear program and Russia's objections to a missile defense plan. The day before the summit, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso responded to recent comments by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Russian President Vladimir Putin by expressing unity with the United States. The comments come as U.S. and EU officials have made clear they would sidestep disagreements over global trade and climate change and highlight smaller signs of improving ties. Both sides have emphasized a proposal by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to boost trans-Atlantic commerce by eliminating some bureaucratic hurdles. Joint diplomatic efforts will also be on display. Barroso signaled Sunday that moves by Moscow or Tehran to divide the EU and the U.S. would backfire. In an interview with CNN, Barroso, who will lead the European delegation with Merkel, responded strongly to Ahmadinejad's suggestion last week that the EU needed to be more independent from the U.S. European leaders and the U.S. have helped push through two sets of United Nations sanctions as part of international efforts to pressure Iran to make nuclear concessions. In response to Ahmadinejad, Barroso said Tehran should know that the concern about its nuclear program was coming from many parts of the world, not just Washington. ``They should understand that this is not just a concern of the United States. It's a real concern of the international community,'' he said. ``I think the game should not be to try to divide the United States from Europe or Europe from the United States.'' Barroso also praised a comment by President Bush that he would be open to direct talks with Tehran, following a suggestion from Javier Solana, the EU's foreign and security affairs chief. Bush said last week that he would consider talks with Tehran if he thought they would be fruitful, but added he did not believe they would be. Barroso also said Sunday that Russia, which has criticized the U.S. proposal to build a missile defense system in Europe, should not have a veto. ``Any sovereign state of the European Union has the right to establish security arrangements with others,'' he said. His comments follow a threat by Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week to withdraw from a key post-Cold War treaty that set limits on the deployment of military forces in Europe. ``We believe that the announcement to suspend Russia's participation in the CFE treaty, the Conventional Forces Treaty, that was a symbol of the Cold War, was, indeed, very disappointing,'' Barroso said. In recent months, Putin has stepped up criticism of U.S. foreign policies, including the expansion of NATO to Russia's borders and the missile defense plans. The U.S. has said the system is aimed at countering a threat from Iran. Some European officials have also criticized the U.S. missile defense plans as provocative or unnecessary. Others have said the U.S. has inadequately consulted Russia, a charge that the U.S. has both rejected and responded to by stepping up talks with Moscow. Merkel issued a statement praising U.S. moves to intensify talks with Moscow after she spoke with Putin by telephone over the weekend. The comments by Merkel and Barroso just ahead of the summit seemed to illustrate the closer ties that Merkel has sought to foster after years of disputes over the Iraq war and the U.S. treatment of terror suspects. Relations were boosted when Merkel assumed the EU's rotating presidency in January. As British Prime Minister Tony Blair prepares to leave office, she is considered Bush's best friend among European leaders, and the White House has welcomed her entreaties to repair European ties. Merkel has specifically sought out a project that would engage the two sides as a priority for her presidency of the 27-nation bloc. Her proposal to harmonize European and U.S. regulations, such as those governing automobile safety standards or business takeovers, is designed to increase trade and lower costs. Officials plan to announce an agreement Monday to establish a body to oversee the negotiations. They also will sign an pact to open up trans-Atlantic air routes. --- On the Net: European Commission site on summit: http://tinyurl.com/2uykk3 Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 2 Guardian Unlimited: Inside the struggle for Iran Simon Tisdall in Tehran Monday April 30, 2007 Mohammad Khatami: parties loyal to the former president are uniting with other anti-government forces. Photograph: AP A grand coalition of anti-government forces is planning a second Iranian revolution via the ballot box to deny President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad another term in office and break the grip of what they call the "militia state" on public life and personal freedom. Encouraged by recent successes in local elections, opposition factions, democracy activists, and pro-reform clerics say they will bring together progressive parties loyal to former president Mohammad Khatami with so-called pragmatic conservatives led by Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani. The alliance aims to exploit the president's deepening unpopularity, borne of high unemployment, rising inflation and a looming crisis over petrol prices and possible rationing to win control of the Majlis in general elections which are due within 10 months. Parliament last week voted to curtail Mr Ahmadinejad's term by holding presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously next year. Though the move is likely to be vetoed by the hardline Guardian Council, it served notice of mounting disaffection in parliament. But opposition spokesmen say their broader objective is to bring down the fundamentalist regime by democratic means, transform Iran into a "normal country", and obviate the need for any military or other US and western intervention. Rightwing political and religious forces, divided and dismayed by Mr Ahmadinejad's much-criticised performance, are already mobilising to meet the threat. The movement amounts to the clearest sign yet within Iran that the country is by no means unified behind a president who has led it into confrontation with the west over the nuclear issue, while presiding over economic decline at home. "The past two years have been a very bitter time for Iran," said Mohammad Atrianfar, a leading opposition figure with ties to Mr Rafsanjani, the former president now emerging as a likely future kingmaker in Iran. "Ahmadinejad has done everything upside down - politics, economy, foreign policy - putting all our achievements at risk. He has done a lot of damage at home and abroad." Mr Atrianfar said that a majority in the Majlis was now critical of the president and would certainly impeach him but for the support he enjoyed from the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to Ali Alavi of Siyasat-e Ruz newspaper, some 150 political activists, governors-general, former administration officials and dissident MPs drew up a coalition "victory strategy" at a secretive conference last month presided over by Mr Khatami. The strategy envisaged "aggravation of the differences among the fundamentalists" and "constant criticism of Ahmadinejad" by "presenting a dark image of the country's affairs," Mr Alavi said. Opposition sources said that a future reformist-pragmatist government would continue to maintain Iran's claim to nuclear energy and other "national rights" but would seek to settle disputes through talks. Iran wanted a "normal" relationship with the rest of the world based on mutual respect, the opposition sources said. In an oblique swipe at Mr Ahmadinejad, Mr Rafsanjani told the weekly Friday prayer meeting in Tehran that the nuclear issue should be settled by negotiations "conducted in a rational atmosphere". Mr Atrianfar said the economy was the battleground on which Iran's political future would be decided. The president has faced mounting criticism in recent weeks over high unemployment, especially among younger people, rising inflation and escalating housing costs. Significantly, for a major oil producer, heavily subsidised petrol prices are due to rise next month, hitting poorer people hardest in a country with poor or non-existent public transport. "They are playing with fire. Nobody wants to take responsibility for this. It's going to blow up in their faces," said Hussein Dirbaz, a resident of Narmak, the Tehran suburb where Mr Ahmadinejad was brought up. In an unusual intervention, Grand Ayatollah Yusef Sa'anei, one of Iran's most respected Islamic scholars, has attacked Mr Ahmadinejad's government for failing to tackle social ills such as youth unemployment, drug addiction, and gender inequality. In a rare interview with a western newspaper at his office in the holy city of Qom, Mr Sa'anei said: "The government should be at the service of the people. But it is putting too much pressure on the people. "It bans newspapers, sends people to jail, segregates boys and the girls at the universities, makes noise about hijab." A senior government official said the rising tide of criticism directed at Mr Ahmadinejad was unwarranted. "People say we don't care but that's not true. We've created more credit, more jobs. "It's too soon to say [Ahmadinejad] has failed. It's too soon to say the reformists will win." Observers claim that a power struggle is inevitable. "A very big battle is coming. It's unavoidable," a western diplomat said. "There's a widening gulf between the two sides. There are profound divisions about which way Iran should go. It's going to get very rough." The looming power struggle could decide whether Iran continues on a path of confrontation with the west or comes in from the cold, the diplomat said. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 3 Guardian Unlimited: Bush to Discuss Missile Plan With Moscow From the Associated Press Monday April 30, 2007 11:31 PM By DESMOND BUTLER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush said Monday he is stepping up a dialogue with Russia over a planned U.S. missile defense system in Europe in hopes of convincing Moscow it's only ``a friendly force.'' The issue came up on the first day of a U.S.-European Union summit at the White House. Bush said German Chancellor Angela Merkel's urging, he has begun trying to better explain his plans to President Vladimir Putin. The Bush administration is planning to install a radar system and interceptors in Eastern Europe as part of its broader missile defense system. Last week, Putin repeated opposition to the U.S. plan and threatened to pull out of a key post-Cold War treaty that set limits on the deployment of military forces in Europe as a result. ``Our intention of course is to have a defense system that prevents rogue regimes from holding western Europe and/or America hostage,'' Bush said. ``Evidently, the Russians see it differently.'' Bush said he personally requested of Putin that he give Defense Secretary Robert Gates an audience on a recent trip to Moscow so that Gates could discuss the plan more fully. ``We have started a dialogue, as a result of Secretary Gates' visit, that hopefully will make explicit our intentions, and hopefully will present an opportunity to share with the Russians so that they don't see us as an antagonist force, but see us as a friendly force,'' Bush said. Ahead of the talks with Bush, Merkel, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, proposed that Russia be invited to participate in a common threat analysis to clarify the need for the defense system. She said that talks should take place in the NATO-Russia council. Though she said she did not expect great progress on the impasse with Russia at the summit, she said she would press her concerns. ``I want to make clear again that things need to be discussed jointly with Russia,'' she said. Merkel did not comment on the topic in her joint appearance with Bush after the summit meetings. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who led the summit's European delegation with Merkel, said over the weekend that Russia should not have a veto over the proposed missile defense system and criticized Putin's threat. The missile defense issue overshadowed the meetings, the primary goal of which was U.S.-European unity at a time when the two sides have made clear they will sidestep disagreements over global trade and climate change. Diplomatic efforts to achieve Middle East peace and to get Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program were also on tap at the summit, as were a U.S. visa waiver program that excludes some European nations, the violence in Sudan's Darfur region, and global trade talks. European leaders and the U.S. have helped push through two sets of United Nations sanctions as part of international efforts to pressure Iran to make nuclear concessions. Bush called Iran ``a significant threat to world peace today and in the future'' because of its nuclear program and said the United States and the European Union are ``united in sending this very clear message'' to back enforcement of U.N. resolutions on Iran to allow inspections of nuclear facilities. Merkel has sought to foster closer ties between Europe and Washington, after years of disputes over the Iraq war and the U.S. treatment of terror suspects. The three leaders praised a new agreement they reached to integrate their economies in such areas as trade, investment and innovation. ``It is a recognition that the closer the United States and E.U. become, the better off our people become,'' Bush said. ``And so this is a substantial agreement and I appreciate it.'' Bush and his European colleagues also pushed for the completion of stalled international trade talks, known as the Doha Round. --- Associated Press writer Michael Fischer contributed to this report. --- On the Net: European Commission site on summit: http://tinyurl.com/2uykk3 Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 4 Scientific American: Special Report: New Nukes Are Good Nukes? April 30, 2007 What does it mean when the U.S. government announces plans to create the first new nuclear warhead in two decades? By David Biello Image: COURTESY OF NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION BIG BOMBS: The Castle Romeo nuclear test in 1954 produced 11 megatons of explosive force, roughly 110 times the power of the W76 warhead The threat of total nuclear annihilation seems to have receded since the demise of the Soviet Union. China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, the U.K. and even Russia are U.S. allies or, at worst, nonbelligerent competitors with (Russia notwithstanding) limited nuclear arsenals. North Korea and Iran, although both enemies of the U.S., do not as yet possess the weaponry to inflict massive nuclear harm on this nation. In fact, the most pressing nuclear threat appears to be a "dirty bomb"—a conventional explosive packed with radioactive material—or a small nuclear explosive smuggled into the country. Despite the threat reduction, however, the U.S. retains the weaponry to fight a total nuclear war: roughly 10,000 warheads and bombs. A third of these are warheads—dubbed W76—which, since 1978, have been deployed atop submarine-based ballistic missiles or stored in what is known as the Enduring Nuclear Stockpile, according to Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Washington, D.C.-based Federation of American Scientists (FAS), an organization founded by the creators of the original nuclear weapon in 1945 that has been monitoring the nation's nuclear arsenal ever since. The W76 generates 100 kilotons of explosive force when detonated, the equivalent of 100,000 tons of the chemical explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT). It is designed to obliterate so-called "soft targets," such as ports, garrisons, or factories. The U.S. plans to retire many of these weapons as part of its nuclear arsenal reductions under the Moscow Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions. But the U.S. Departments of Energy (DOE) and Defense (DOD) would also like to replace some of them. And in early March, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California won the initial competition to design the nation's first new nuclear warhead in 20 years. The new weapon would not fulfill a new strategic role in a changed world, but rather replace a portion of the W76 arsenal, due to concern over the aging warheads' ability to retain their full destructive potential in storage. STRATEGIC BACKBONE: The W76, pictured here, makes up as much as a third of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. A government-commissioned independent review by a panel of scientists known as JASON estimated that the current warheads will last a minimum of a century in storage, however, and, therefore, recommended that no action be taken other than routine maintenance, such as replacing surrounding circuitry and parts as they age—a core function of the Lifetime Extension Program the W76s are currently undergoing. Despite the panel's findings and the imminent refurbishments, the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program, an effort to replace the W76 launched three years ago by the DOE to allay reliability fears, continues. In an effort to keep the modernization program alive, the Nuclear National Security Administration (NNSA)—a a semiautonomous agency of the DOE in charge of the nation's nuclear weapons—has offered a variety of other rationales, ranging from national security to creating a more environmentally benign weapon. The U.S. Congress is now weighing the fate of the program and whether to fund it as part of efforts to determine what the U.S. nuclear arsenal will look like in the 21st century. Same Old, Same Old? During a press conference and subsequent interviews, NNSA officials stressed that the design for the W76 replacement warhead is not a new one. Rather, it is based on a formerly tested weapon that includes a host of new surrounding features. "It's new in the sense that we've never done this before, but it's not new in the traditional arms control sense," says NNSA's John Harvey, director of policy planning staff. "It will have the same form and function as the current weapon." In fact, the reason the Livermore design triumphed is because it is based on a former design, one detonated underground before the U.S. moratorium on such experiments in 1992. "[The pit] was nuclear tested four times," says Bruce Goodwin, Livermore's associate director for defense and nuclear technologies. "It's the exquisite test pedigree of the baseline for this design that gives very high confidence that it will work as expected." The new warhead would work much the same as any other fusion bomb. The fissile nuclear pit, or primary, explodes and floods surrounding chemical compounds, known as the secondary, with radiation. This radiation triggers a fusion reaction between the tritium and deuterium isotopes of hydrogen produced by the irradiated compound. A thermonuclear explosion follows. Only a limited number of such primaries have been tested. "It's the SKUA9 design," Goodwin says, one of a series of primaries created by Livermore during the nuclear testing program simply to test the viability of secondaries, and never produced as a weapon. As a result of this prior testing, this first Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW1), if built, would require no further detonations, according to the NNSA and Livermore. ADVERTISEMENT (article continues below) It will also provide increased confidence in the weapon's "margin," says J. Stephen Rottler, vice president for weapons engineering and product realization at Sandia National Laboratories in White Sands, N.M., which will be responsible for integrating the nuclear explosive into weapons systems such as missiles. Margin is the term used to describe a weapon's ability to avoid failure, such producing as a smaller explosive yield than for which it was designed. Some scientists argue that the W76 has a low margin of failure because of the thin uranium shell that surrounds its core explosive. It could weaken, particularly as its plutonium core bombards it with radiation over time, subsequently failing to contain the primary fission explosion long enough to generate the high temperatures needed for fusion to take place in creating the secondary hydrogen detonation. The new warhead will be bigger, thicker and heavier than the W76s, and therefore less likely to allow for that kind of failure, according to both Rottler and Goodwin. "That provides a margin, if you will, as the warhead ages," Rottler says. "The chances of us going underground [to test] again are remote." This is key to the appeal of RRW, because the U.S. government, complying with its treaty obligations, has mandated no return to underground testing. But critics note that no nuclear weapon in the current U.S. arsenal has ever been manufactured without being tested. "Is there a military commander out there who will ever rely on something that has not been fully tested?" the Federation of American Scientists' Kristensen asks. "So far that has not been the case." Building a Better Bomb During the Cold War, the military emphasized packing as many warheads into one weapon as possible to generate maximum explosive yield, while also minimizing the overall weapon's weight to enable maximum range, resulting in weapons like the W76. Now that the Cold War has thawed such considerations are no longer as crucial, weapons designers say, allowing them to add new, heavier features-insensitive high explosives and advanced security technology-to the RRW1. Insensitive high explosives, which resist detonation except when properly triggered, would improve the safety of handling these weapons in storage. "We have taken insensitive high explosives and slammed it into reinforced concrete blocks at Mach 4. It will not detonate," Livermore's Goodwin says. It is so secure, "you can put a gasoline fire out with it. If you put a blowtorch to it, you can get it to molder." Further, the W76 lacks permissive action links (PAL), a computerized system that requires appropriate authorization to fire the weapon. "Under refurbishment, if we wanted to improve security interior to the warhead, we would have had to retrofit that into the warheads, which is difficult to do without nuclear testing," NNSA's Harvey says. The W76 spends the majority of its life aboard submarines or in heavily secured stockpiles, reducing its need for such features, critics note. And the Life Extension Program for other nuclear weapons, such as the B61 gravity bomb, has incorporated added security measures, such as increased encryption, FAS's Kristensen argues. "Here was a weapon that was designed back in the 1960s and 1970s, and when it was first deployed it did not have safety features," he says. "They refit it all on the weapon itself without having to rebuild it. This suggests that you can achieve extraordinarily high levels of safety in current designs without going to a new design." The U.S. also spent billions of dollars upgrading the security of nuclear weapon storage sites after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, leaving open the question of who is capable of improperly triggering such weapons. "I don't know anyone who believes that the physical security of U.S. nuclear weapons is in doubt," says Ivan Oelrich, FAS's vice president for strategic security programs. The American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) Nuclear Weapons Complex Assessment Committee, a panel of experts convened to evaluate RRW, agrees, finding no reason to believe that such features would "substantially reduce the current reliance on guns, guards and gates" in its April assessment report. The NNSA, for its part, believes the new features are necessary for the small amount of time such weapons spend being trucked from site to site to eliminate the threat of hijacking. "It gives us an extra measure that we think is prudent, particularly in transportation scenarios," NNSA's Harvey says. The "Green" Nuclear Warhead The RRW1 would also eliminate the need for some of the toxic substances in such weapons, such as beryllium, a light metal that hardens alloys but is also carcinogenic and can cause pulmonary disease. "Because of the release of the weight requirement, we are able to use materials that are heavier but more environmentally benign," Livermore's Goodwin says. "We will be able to eliminate an entire process that produces 96 percent radiological toxic waste that has to be buried and replace it with nontoxic waste that is 100 percent recyclable." "You replace it with something that quite honestly you could eat and be healthy," he adds. "It is in prosthetic body implants. It's about as biologically benign as any material can be." Because the exact specifications remain classified, however, he was unable to reveal exactly what the benign substance is and its exact purpose in the new weapon. Building a new nuclear warhead would also entail rebuilding the individual nuclear weapon-producing factories, such as Amarillo, Tex.-based Pantex, Los Alamos's TA-55 or Y-12 in Oak Ridge, Tenn., "antiques," as Goodwin calls them because some date from the 1940s. The Bush administration unveiled plans in April 2006 for a new complex to build all the components of new nuclear warheads-dubbed Complex 2030 for the year set for its completion. "If you are going to life-extend weapons, you need to recreate the enterprise, the production complex of the 1970s, which is an enormous investment in infrastructure," Goodwin says. "Do you want to reinvest in technologies that in many cases are extremely unpleasant? Or do you want to make the smallest possible enterprise to support a very different deterrent stockpile, a much smaller stockpile?" But the AAAS panel found that substantial upgrades to the current infrastructure would be needed anyway to carry out the RRW program, including at least a doubling of the current assembling and disassembling work at the Pantex nuclear weapon assembly facility as well as a significant increase in the amount of plutonium pits produced at the TA-55 facility. The Cost of Nuclear The NNSA asked for $27.7 million for fiscal year 2007 to research the RRW design. That will rise to $88 million in fiscal year 2008, according to the NNSA's acting administrator Thomas D'Agostino, and a detailed cost of the entire program should be available before the 2009 budget once the engineers have completed their cost estimates. Until such cost estimates are available, there is no way to determine whether RRW and Complex 2030 present a cost savings or an additional financial burden in the long run compared with simply maintaining a diminished portion of the present arsenal. Production on the W76 replacement could begin by 2012, depending on how much money Congress provides, Sandia's Rottler says. In the bomb makers's preferred scenario, the RRW1 would replace some portion of the W76s that would otherwise be refurbished as the vast majority are dismantled. This swap would likely take decades, according to the AAAS experts, and would require a commitment of "significant new funds." "In this year's budget, the NNSA requested $88 million for the first design and development stages of RRW1. Where did [the funding] come from? It came out of the Life Extension Program for the W80," notes Robert Nelson, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an independent scientific research and advocacy group. "We're worried about the long-term reliability of the stockpile, but to pay for [RRW] we are going to cut the very programs that maintain the reliability of the stockpiles." He adds that by cutting the funding for the maintenance programs for existing weapons: "It makes it impossible to reverse course." Billions more will be needed to retool the production infrastructure if Congress decides to authorize RRW and Complex 2030, both proponents and opponents say. And members from both sides of the aisle on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development have expressed skepticism about the program. "Although a lot of time and energy went into determining the winning design for a new nuclear warhead, there appears to have been little thought given to the question of why the United States needs to build new nuclear warheads at this time," panel chair Rep. Pete Visclosky, (D-Ind.) said in a written statement. "Without a comprehensive defense strategy that defines the future mission, the emerging threats, and the specific U.S. nuclear stockpile necessary to achieve the strategic goals, it is impossible for Congress to appropriate funding for RRW in a responsible and efficient manner." The RRW W76 replacement is also just the first. "If we're really going to have an impact as to a reduction in the stockpile, we have to address the whole stockpile," Steve Henry, deputy assistant to the secretary of defense for nuclear matters, said at a press conference announcing the design winner. "The RRW1 is to address the first portion, which is a submarine-based W76 replacement." The NNSA has already launched a feasibility study for a second RRW specifically designed for an air-delivered weapon, according to NNSA's Harvey. A likely candidate for such an RRW2 would be the W78 warhead that sits atop land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, FAS's Kristensen says. It is nearly as old and also lacking insensitive high explosives and security features. A Credible Deterrent But the biggest impact of the replacement weapons program might be on the global nuclear arms situation. Whereas the U.K., France, Russia and China have similar modernization efforts underway or planned, building the RRW1 might provide a dubious signal to the rest of the world as well as potentially provoke accusations of a violation of nuclear nonproliferation and arms control goals. "If the United States, the strongest nation in the world, concludes that it cannot protect its vital interests without relying on new nuclear weapons for new military missions, it would be a clear signal to other nations that nuclear weapons are valuable, if not necessary, for their security purposes, too," Sidney Drell, arms control expert and physicist at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center said at the American Physical Society Conference in Denver this past March. Nuclear weapons are intended to be a deterrent, making the price of a particular geopolitical prize that might be seized too costly to bear. Yet, the U.S. has no avowed nuclear enemies as in the days of the Soviet Union and certainly none that would require thousands of nuclear warheads to deter or destroy, according to critics of the RRW plan. As a result, former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, former secretary of defense William Perry and former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn (a former chair of the Senate Committee on Armed Services) have argued for the elimination of such weapons. "We endorse setting the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons and working energetically on the actions required to achieve that goal," they wrote in an editorial that appeared in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year. But the first Reliable Replacement Warhead-and Complex 2030 behind it-is not designed with that goal in mind and, in the absence of policy statements from the current administration, it remains unclear what the role for nuclear weapons-old or new-in the U.S. might be. But the RRW program may simply be designed to address a more fundamental concern: ensuring that the U.S. retains the capacity to build and field nuclear weapons well into the future. "We want to exercise the scientists and engineers," NNSA's Harvey says. "The folks who did this back in the Cold War are about to retire. We need the next generation to do this and do it now so that they can be mentored by that older generation." As the Department of Defense's Henry noted: "Based upon our analysis, the expertise is aging faster than the plutonium. And, it's a responsive infrastructure that you rely on to mitigate technical surprise and changes in the geopolitical environment. That responsiveness allows you to trade off numbers of weapons." The true rationale for the Reliable Replacement Warhead program may be reliable replacement scientists, engineers and technicians. © 1996-2007 Scientific American, Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 5 [NYTr] Vanunu Convicted Again, Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 13:12:51 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit sent by MichaelP (activ-l) - Apr 30, 2007 VANUNU: CONVICTED OF VIOLATING COURT ORDER; BANNED FROM LEAVING ISRAEL ANOTHER YEAR "The verdict came days after Vanunu was informed that a government ban on him leaving Israel has been extended by another year." israelinsider magazine --- April 30, 2007 http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Briefs/11274.htm Mordechai Vanunu convicted of violating court order The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court found nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu guilty on 14 counts of violating a court order to avoid contact with foreign journalists and of attempting to travel to Bethlehem without permission. In 1986, Vanunu, a former employee at the Negev Nuclear Research Center near Dimona, gave the English paper The Sunday Times information that led experts to conclude that Israel had a large number of nuclear weapons, ranking it sixth in the world. Vanunu served an 18-year prison term for his disclosures. He was released from prison in 2004, but has been arrested numerous times since then. The verdict could mean added jail time for Vanunu and damage his battle to leave Israel, which the government has denied every year, due to security concerns. Ynetnews reported that Vanunu told reporters that the verdict was "additional proof that there is no democracy in Israel," adding that all he wanted was to move freely and to leave Israel. "I want to leave this country," he said. "I want to be free." Since his release from prison, Vanunu has fought for Israel's disarmament and has denied that he bears more secrets that he could reveal if allowed to leave the country. *** Jewish Telegraph Agency http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/101484.html VANUNU GUILTY ON MEDIA CONTACTS Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu was convicted of illicit contacts with foreign media. The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Monday found that Vanunu, who finished an 18-year prison sentence for treason in 2004, violated the terms of his release by giving unauthorized interviews to the foreign press. Sentencing is expected next month. The verdict came days after Vanunu was informed that a government ban on him leaving Israel has been extended by another year. Security officials say Vanunu, who tore the cover off much of Israel's nuclear secrecy by discussing his work at the Dimona reactor with a British newspaper in 1986, has more classified information that he could divulge if he goes abroad. Vanunu denies it. *** Asia News via Yahoo - Apr 30, 2007 http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070430/ap/d8oqrrl00.html Vanunu Could End Up Back in Jail Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu could end up back in jail after an Israeli court convicted him on Monday of violating an order forbidding him contact with foreigners. Vanunu, a former technician at Israel's nuclear plant near the southern town of Dimona, spent 18 years in prison for giving details of the country's atomic program to a British newspaper in 1986. Upon his release in 2004, Vanunu was banned from leaving the country or talking to foreigners, because Israeli authorities claimed he could still divulge classified information. A Jerusalem court convicted him on Monday of violating those restrictions by holding contacts with foreigners. Vanunu's attorney, Michael Sfard, said the charges could mean six months in prison. Sentencing was expected within two months, Sfard said. Emerging from the courtroom, Vanunu said the verdict proved "that Israel is not a democracy," and pleaded to be allowed to leave the country. "I want to leave this country," he said. "I want to be free." The details divulged by Vanunu and published in the Sunday Times of London led experts to conclude that Israel has the world's sixth-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, including hundreds of warheads. Israel has never acknowledged or denied having a nuclear weapons program. * ================================================================ .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org .List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ .Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 6 Ban Ki-moon Urges Npt Review Meeting To Address Crisis On Nuclear Arms Front Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 07:01:23 -0400 BAN KI-MOON URGES NPT REVIEW MEETING TO ADDRESS CRISIS ON NUCLEAR ARMS FRONT New York, Apr 30 2007 7:00AM Spotlighting the current "crisis" in international efforts to address the world's nuclear arsenal, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on delegates attending a review conference in Vienna on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to demonstrate that progress is possible. "I urge you to show the world what multilateral cooperation can achieve in building a safer world and advancing the interests and ideals of humanity," Mr. Ban said in a message to the opening session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2010 NPT Review Conference. "By looking both backward and forward, the process can help States parties to keep the Treaty in step with changing times, to strengthen accountability of States Parties and to promote constructive engagement with civil society," he said, according to the text of the message, which was to be delivered by Hannelore Hoppe, Officer-in-Charge of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs. Mr. Ban paid tribute to the Treaty, noting that it commits the nuclear-weapon States to disarmament, while affirming the inalienable right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, consistent with other treaty obligations. But at the same time, he called attention to the many obstacles facing efforts to address the nuclear issue. Mr. Ban's message marked the first from any UN Secretary-General to an NPT Preparatory Committee, a step he called "necessary because of a persisting crisis of confidence in the treaty." The current stalemate on the nuclear issue is evidenced by the "disappointing outcome" of the 2005 NPT Review Conference, insufficient progress in nuclear disarmament, as well as a lack of universal adherence to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards agreements -- and cases of non-compliance, said the Secretary-General. Nuclear tests were conducted as recently as 2006, and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) faces difficulties. "Ongoing te nuclear-capable missiles, possible discrimination in peaceful nuclear cooperation and a failure to implement the proposal to establish a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East have also raised serious concerns," the Secretary-General observed. Under the provisions of the Treaty, a review conference is held every five years. 2007-04-30 00:00:00.000 ___________________ For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news To listen to news and in-depth programmes from UN Radio go to: http://radio.un.org/ _______________________________ To change your profile or unsubscribe go to: http://www.un.org/apps/news/email/ ***************************************************************** 7 The Hindu: EC reviews UP poll preparations ahead of final phase Monday, April 30, 2007 : 1745 Hrs Gorakhpur, April. 30 (PTI): The Election Commission today reviewed poll preparations for 59 seats in nine districts of Uttar Pradesh where elections will be held in the seventh and final phase on May 8. Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami was accompanied by two other Commissioners, Navin Chawla and S Q Qureshi, and other district officials while reviewing the preparations. Expressing satisfaction, the CEC said that a political party had complained about some voters being prevented from casting their franchise as their ration cards and job cards had been kept by village heads in some rural areas. "The Commission would look into the matter," he said. Gopalaswami said that a magisterial probe has been ordered into the police atrocities on Congress workers in Deoria district two days ago. About a media report that jailed Samajwadi Party MP Amarmani Tripathi had addressed an election rally over mobile phone, the CEC said that it could not be officially confirmed. Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the ***************************************************************** 8 AFP: Warnings about nuclear proliferation at opening of meeting in Vienna by Michael Adler Mon Apr 30, 10:54 AM ET VIENNA (AFP) - The United States called for cracking down on nations that withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, as North Korea did, at an NPT conference that opened in Vienna Monday. "It is important . . . for us to make such withdrawal more unattractive before any other State Party violator is tempted to follow such a course," US head of delegation Christopher Ford told the 188-nation meeting, which gathered as the Iranian nuclear crisis escalated. "Let us not mince words, the NPT is in a serious crisis today," Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said in an opening address. The meeting on the landmark 1970 NPT came with Iran under UN sanctions for failing to stop uranium enrichment and as an agreement to dismantle North Korea's nuclear program, which unlike Iran has actually produced atomic bombs, has stalled. Japanese ambassador Yukiya Amano, the chairman of the meeting in Vienna, said: "It is no secret that the NPT has had serious challenges," adding that "issues related to the DPRK (North Korea) and Iran have become more pressing." The international community "cannot afford to be complacent," Amano said. Plassnik proposed setting up a multilateral, international nuclear fuel bank so that there "should no longer (be) concern about potential misuses of fuel" for military purposes by individual nations, such as Iran. Ford said states that withdraw from the NPT, thus freeing themselves from UN inspections, should "remain accountable for violations". He also said the UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency should have the authority "to terminate assistance and withdraw any material or equipment" made available by the agency or a nation to help with peaceful nuclear development. The NPT, which went into effect at the height of the Cold War and was extended indefinitely in 1995, is reviewed every five years. The last such meeting in 2005 failed to resolve any key questions, with non-aligned countries and nuclear powers bickering over an agenda. Such delays threatened to hurt the Vienna meeting however as Iran was holding up adoption of an agenda, objecting to items on compliance with IAEA safeguards and on penalties against withdrawing from the NPT. The Vienna meeting is the first of a series of preparatory sessions ahead of the next overall review in 2010. Beyond the proliferation concerns raised by Iran and North Korea, there is also concern that the NPT, a deal under which nuclear weapons states agree to disarm while those nations without the bomb agree not to seek it, is threatened by the new US strategy to use pre-emptive force if judged necessary and Britain's upgrading of its nuclear arsenal. Experts agree that the NPT is ill adapted to the modern era, where so-called rogue states seek to acquire a nuclear weapons capacity by first developing peaceful programs under the terms of the treaty. Proposed fixes include having all states sign on to tougher UN inspections under an Additional Protocol to the NPT. North Korea withdrew from the NPT in 2003, shortly after kicking out United Nations inspectors. Pyongyang tested an atomic bomb last October. Iran justifies its nuclear work under Article IV of the NPT, which guarantees "the inalienable right . . . to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes." But the United States charges that Iran is using this as a cover for the secret development of nuclear weapons, something that is banned by the treaty. There are believed to be nine nuclear weapons states. They are the five allowed under the NPT -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States; North Korea which withdrew from the treaty; and three nuclear states -- India, Israel and Pakistan -- which have refused to sign it. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 9 UN climate plan to call for GMOs and more nukes Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 19:16:58 -0500 (CDT) Leaves one speechless... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,, 2068122,00.html UN facing a backlash on emissions action plan Environmental groups go on the attack as world experts reveal proposals to tackle climate change Amelia Hill, Juliette Jowit and Robin McKie Sunday April 29, 2007 The Observer The world's leading climate change experts will this week outline highly controversial plans to save the world from global warming. Their proposals - which include a major expansion in nuclear power, the use of GM crops to boost biofuel production, and reliance on unproven technologies, including the underground storage of carbon dioxide - will put the UN's climate group on a collision course with a host of environmental groups. The proposals for saving the planet are outlined in a draft version of 'Mitigation of Climate Change' by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This is the third part of the panel's 2007 analysis of global warming. Previous reports have focused on the science of climate change and its likely impacts. The third and final report concentrates on measures that can be taken to save the Earth from the worst, most catastrophic effects of rising temperatures triggered by the pumping of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A draft version, which has been obtained by The Observer, will be debated by UN climate experts this week, and a final version will be published on Friday. It is clear that experts now believe the situation is desperately urgent. 'Global emissions must peak,' states the draft report. 'Mitigation efforts over the next two or three decades will determine the long- term global temperature increase.' Crucially the IPCC panel insists that it is 'technically and economically' feasible to stabilise greenhouse emissions - but only if countries are prepared to pay the extra costs of transforming everything from energy supply networks to agriculture to waste. By 2030, the report estimates that the cost of stabilising greenhouse gases at levels that are considered the maximum for avoiding catastrophic climate change would cost between 0.2 and 0.6 per cent of global wealth. As well as plans for more nuclear power, genetically modified biofuels and carbon capture and storage, the report sets out a vision of the future that is a mixture of existing policies, such as energy efficiency and renewable energy from wind and wave farms, and more futuristic ideas for hydrogen car fleets and 'intelligent' buildings which can control energy use. In addition, the report makes it clear that both developed countries, including the United States, and developing nations, in particular India and China, will have to play major roles. Last night Tony Juniper, executive director of the environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth, said far more fundamental lifestyle changes were needed than had been considered by the UN group. 'Simply replacing one set of technologies with another set of technologies won't work, especially when there are such big downsides with some of them,' he said. Nuclear reactors are dangerous and land clearance and chemical pesticides and fertilisers used to grow fuel crops can cause huge environmental damage, he added. 'Structural change to the economy, behaviour change and culture change - those have to be elements in a world of decarbonisation,' said Juniper. However, other groups criticised the IPCC for not being sufficiently robust in its support for technological fixes to the world's climate problems. Bruno Comby, president of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy, said nuclear power should provide an even bigger proportion of energy than that envisaged by the UN scientists and politicians. 'Nuclear is not the only solution, but it's the biggest solution,' he said. The news of the IPCC's controversial plans comes as Britain continues to bask in exceptionally hot weather. Yesterday the Met Office released figures which showed this month will be the warmest April for more than 140 years. The average temperature for the past month has been 11.1C (51.9F), beating the previous record of 10.6C (51F) set in 1865. Met Office figures also indicate that the past 12 months have been the warmest in 10 years, with average figures of 11.6C. Experts at the Met Office's Hadley Centre in Exeter, Devon - which undertakes research on climate change - said this was consistent with global warming predictions. 'The effects of temperature rise are being experienced on a global scale,' said Dr Debbie Hemming. 'Many of the regions that are projected to experience the largest climate changes are already vulnerable to environmental stress from resource shortages, rapid urbanisation, population rise and industrial development.' Interactive guides Global warming The slowdown of the Gulf Stream Special reports Special report: climate change Special report: G8 Useful links IPCC UN framework convention on climate change -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.6.2/781 - Release Date: 4/30/2007 9:14 AM ***************************************************************** 10 The Hindu: Nuke deal: India, US to hold another round of talks Monday, April 30, 2007 : 1435 Hrs Washington, April 30 (PTI): Indian and US officials will tomorrow hold talks on ironing out differences on a proposed agreement to operationalise the civil nuclear deal. Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, who arrived here today, would interact with the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky in the context of the Global Issues Forum but the senior Indian official's trip has assumed importance against the backdrop of a perception here that the 123 Agreement negotiations between the US and India is not moving in the pace it should be. Menon will tomorrow hold discussions with the US Under Secretary Nicholas Burns amid "frustration" in the US at the slow pace of negotiations and India's insistence on right to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and perennial cooperation even if it were to conduct an atomic test. They will joined in their discussions by senior officials of the two sides. In fact, Menon and top officials of the two sides will interact in the evening itself at a working dinner hosted by Burns. Significantly, the meeting between Menon and Burns on Tuesday will take place ten days after senior officials from the two sides met in the South African city of Cape Town. Indian officials had said that "some progress" was made during the discussions but some differences remained for which further parleys were required. India, while noting its declared policy of unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing, refuses to accept it as legally binding by including a clause in the 123 Agreement. New Delhi insists that civil nuclear cooperation should not be affected if India were to conduct a nuclear test and should be treated at par with other nuclear weapon countries in this regard. While Washington may agree not to include the clause in the 123 agreement, perenniality of the nuclear cooperation becomes an issue as the US law provides for snapping of atomic ties if any country were to conduct a test. The top Indian official will today attend the Fifth Meeting of the India-United States Global Issues Forum at the State Department which is being hosted by Dobriansky.The first meeting of the GIF took place in 2002. At least four sets of issues are to be discussed between India and the United States at the Global Issues Forum with the first pertaining to Democracy Issues as it pertains to the Community of Democracies;how to move forward with the Mali Meeting scheduled for the end of the year;the United Nations Democracy Fund and in the evaluation of the number of grants that have already been made and if a second tranche is required. In the realm of democracy, officials says Afghanistan will merit some detailed attention. The United States, it is being stressed, is highly appreciative of the role played by India in the movement of democratic initiatives in Afghanistan. The second set of issues that are to be discussed at the GIF would be trafficking in persons and refugee issues both within the framework of the US and UN. A third set of discussion topics will be around the Human Rights Committee that has been recently established of which the United States is not a member. Washington and New Delhi will also be dealing with such issues as science and technology, climate change and Avian Flu. Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. ***************************************************************** 11 Guardian Unlimited: Merkel Presses Hard on Nuclear Issue From the Associated Press Monday April 30, 2007 5:01 PM By DESMOND BUTLER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged President Bush Monday to step up dialogue with Russia over a planned U.S. missile defense system. The comments, coming on the first day of a U.S.-European Union summit at the White House, followed the chancellor's praise over the weekend of greater U.S. efforts to consult Russia over its plans to install a radar system and interceptors in Eastern Europe as part of the system. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently traveled to Moscow, as well as Berlin to discuss Russia's opposition to the plan. Merkel on Monday proposed that Russia be invited to participate in a common threat analysis to clarify the need for the defense system. She said that talks should take place in the NATO-Russia council. Though she said she did not expect great progress on the impasse with Russia at the summit, she said she would press her concerns. ``I want to make clear again that things need to be discussed jointly with Russia,'' she said Monday ahead of talks with Bush. Comments last week by Russian President Vladimir Putin repeating opposition to the U.S. plan and threatening to pull out of a key post-Cold War treaty that set limits on the deployment of military forces in Europe have cast a shadow on the summit. But they have also provided an opportunity for European leaders to demonstrate unity with the U.S. at a time when the two sides have made clear they will side step disagreements over unresolved differences on issues like global trade and climate change. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who is leading the summit's European delegation with Merkel, said over the weekend that Russia should not have a veto over the proposed missile defense system and criticized Putin's threat. The EU- as well as the U.S.- has been increasingly critical of Russia on human rights and free speech issues, raising concerns that planned elections for Putin's successor in March 2008 may be less than fair and open. But European criticism has been tempered by a perceived need to cultivate Russia as a giant neighbor with essential commercial and political ties. ``For us of course, Russia is also a strategic partner, an important partner,'' EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Monday in Washington. But she said that Putin's comments were not welcomed in Brussels and would be discussed at the summit and at EU-Russia talks next month. Diplomatic efforts to achieve Middle East peace and to get Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program are also on the table at the summit. Barroso responded strongly on Sunday to a suggestion last week by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the EU needed to be more independent from the U.S. European leaders and the U.S. have helped push through two sets of United Nations sanctions as part of international efforts to pressure Iran to make nuclear concessions. In response to Ahmadinejad, Barroso said Tehran should know that the concern about its nuclear program was coming from many parts of the world, not just Washington. Barroso also praised a comment by Bush that he would be open to direct talks with Tehran, following a suggestion from Javier Solana, the EU's foreign and security affairs chief, who met last week with Iran's top nuclear negotiator. Bush said last week that he would consider talks with Tehran if he thought they would be fruitful, but added he did not believe they would be. Ferrero-Waldner said she also welcomed Bush's comments and expected that further talks with Iran would be discussed at the summit. The comments by the European officials ahead of the summit seemed to illustrate the closer ties with Washington that Merkel has sought to foster after years of disputes over the Iraq war and the U.S. treatment of terror suspects. Relations were boosted when Merkel assumed the EU's rotating presidency in January. As British Prime Minister Tony Blair prepares to leave office, she is considered Bush's best friend among European leaders, and the White House has welcomed her entreaties to repair European ties. --- Associated Press writer Michael Fischer contributed to this report. On the Net: European Commission site on summit: http://tinyurl.com/2uykk3 Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 12 AU ABC: Greens Senator rejects nuclear push ABC Riverina NSW (ACST)Monday, 30 April 2007. 06:44 (AWST) Greens Senator Christine Milne has used a weekend visit to the Riverina, in southern New South Wales, to attack the Government's and the Opposition's stance on uranium. Senator Milne, who attended the first public event for the local climate action group, CROW, in Junee on Saturday, says the major parties have abandoned those wanting a nuclear-free Australia. She insists Australia's uranium deposits should be left in the ground. "We don't need nuclear to deal with climate change. We've got the technology with the renewables to harness renewable energy right now and we have got the technology for energy efficiency," she said. "The problem is that both the Liberal and Labor parties are besotted with the profit that they can get by exporting uranium and they are putting profit before principle and profit before global security and peace." ***************************************************************** 13 AU ABC: MP rejects nuclear power decision ABC Tropical Queensland (ACST)Monday, 30 April 2007. 11:39 (AWST) Labor's Member for Capricornia says the Federal Government's announcement of the removal of legislative bans on nuclear power is a desperate gimmick. Prime Minister John Howard made his strongest commitment yet to a nuclear future for Australia over the weekend, announcing private companies will be given the right to develop nuclear power reactors. Kirsten Livermore says the decision is wrong because Australia has abundant energy resources and the technology to make electricity generation cleaner. "There are so many other options for us in Australia, most notably our very affordable coal and our development of clean coal technology to go along with that," she said. "The Prime Minister's suggestion of suddenly springing up 25 nuclear reactors along Australia's coastline just seems like a desperate gimmick." ***************************************************************** 14 Times of India: We will get this nuke deal done, says US- Updated: 30 Apr, 2007 2235hrs IST | Powered by Indiatimes WASHINGTON: Ahead of a crucial meeting between India and the US to iron out differences on the civil nuclear agreement, Washington on Monday said it would like to "move rapidly" to operationalise the deal. "We would like to move rapidly and conclude this deal, and we'll see what kind of ideas the Indian government comes to the table with," State department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "We will get this deal done." India's Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, who arrived here on Monday, will hold discussions on Tuesday with the US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns to iron out differences between the two countries about the deal. US officials have recently expressed "frustration" at the slow pace of negotiations and India's insistence on right to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and perennial cooperation even if it were to conduct an atomic test. India, while noting its declared policy of unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing, refuses to accept it as legally binding by including a clause in the 123 Agreement. Copyright © 2007 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. For ***************************************************************** 15 Czech Business Weekly: More problems at Temelin 04/30 - 05/07 By: CBW, 30. 04. 2007, More by this author The nuclear power plant in Temelín, South Bohemia, experienced problems with one of its circulation pumps, and was temporarily put offline. Dana Drábová, chairwoman of the Nuclear Safety Institute (SÚJB) said that Temelín must re-evaluate the work of its contractors. Austrian activists again called on the Austrian government to file an international complaint due to the Czech Republic’s failure to adhere to the Melk process, which calls for monitoring safety and upgrading Temelín. ©2004 - 2007 Stanford, a. s. with all rights reserved. webmaster@cbw.cz www.profit.cz | www.bookoflists.cz | www.skoleni-konference.cz | www.podnikatelskesetkani.cz ***************************************************************** 16 West Australian: NZ 'at risk from Aussie nuclear plants' : thewest.com.au 30th April 2007, 9:03 WST New Zealand's Green Party has attacked moves to expand Australia's nuclear industry, saying an accident could send a toxic plume across the Tasman. Co-leader of the Green Party Russel Norman said moves in Australia to allow more uranium to be mined and enriched was bad news for New Zealand. "It is entirely possible that if there was a serious accident on the east coast of Australia that we could cop some of the fallout, like with Chernobyl across Europe," Norman said. "An accident can have a very large impact," he said. He said his party also remained opposed to Australia expanding their nuclear industry because of the issue of nuclear waste and the "inevitability" of nuclear material making its way into the weapons trade. Norman said there was a long timeframe before a nuclear power industry would have an impact on climate change. "If you want to address climate change the timeframe for getting a nuclear industry up and running in Australia is very substantial ... There are a lot of renewable options that are ready to go now," he said. He said mining uranium was a water-intensive process and in drought-ridden Australia there were water implications. "I am quite cynical that this is Howard trying to do wedge politics on the environment movement, like he used race as wedge politics on the working class Labor supporters." New Zealand's main opposition party, National, was supportive of moves to expand nuclear options in Australia, said party environment spokesman Nick Smith. "I think there is an unhealthy paranoia that goes with nuclear technologies, but if we are really serious about tackling climate change and CO2 emissions then we need to find economically viable alternatives to coal," he said. The ALP voted at its national conference on the weekend to abandon its ban on allowing new uranium mines in Australia but remains opposed to using nuclear power or enriching uranium. But Prime Minister John Howard has said he wants to pave the way to allow a nuclear industry, allowing uranium enrichment, more mining and nuclear power. Australia has the world's largest amount of low-cost uranium, about 39 per cent of the world's reserves. New Zealand has been nuclear-free since 1987 and bans warships that are nuclear armed or powered from entering its waters. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark is on Monday in cabinet meetings and was unable to immediately comment on the issue. AAP West Australian Newspapers Limited 2007. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 17 West Australian: Labor calls for an end to nuclear debate : thewest.com.au 30th April 2007, 15:09 WST Labor wants an end to the nuclear debate in order to focus on developing technologies to exploit existing energy sources. Labor is defending its rigid stance against nuclear power despite overturning its no new uranium mines policy at the ALP national conference at the weekend. "Nuclear energy would be far more costly for this country than clean coal or better exploiting renewable," Labor's deputy leader Julia Gillard told Southern Cross Broadcasting. "Developing nuclear reactors, constructing them, is a generation-long endeavour, these are not quickly developed facilities let alone solving the issue of where are they going to go. "We have the ability to develop all of the technologies to make that energy useable, we can better invest in clean coal, we can better invest in renewables. Let's get on with that rather than having, what in some ways is, an unproductive debate about nuclear energy," she said. Prime Minister John Howard is continuing his push for nuclear energy, announcing plans at the weekend to open the way for nuclear power stations in Australia. Mr Howard dismissed Labor's stance as hypocritical. "You have this ridiculous situation where they have hailed themselves as apostles of the 21st century by ending their three mines policy on uranium ... yet in the same breath they're saying 'but of course, we can't convert the uranium for nuclear power in Australia although we can sell it to countries overseas and they can use it for civilian nuclear purposes'. "What a hypocritical, contradictory position to have." Opposition leader Kevin Rudd defended Labor's position, saying it makes sense. Mr Rudd said that because Australia, unlike many countries, has abundant alternative energy resources - solar, wind, geothermal and coal - there was no need to go nuclear. "There are a whole bunch of other countries around the world which are not so energy-rich, and therefore they do need uranium," Mr Rudd told the Nine Network. "Mr Howard's plan by contrast is to forget coal, forget clean coal, turn your back on the coal industry and instead let's build 25 nuclear reactors in a suburb near you. "We have been selling uranium for many, many years and our policy simply recognises that new reality," he said. South Australian Premier Mike Rann backed the change in policy, saying it was a victory for common sense. "The ALP conference decision on uranium represents, from my point of view - mission accomplished," the premier told the Australian Resources and Energy Investment conference in Adelaide. He said South Australia was now "totally and completely open for business" in the area of uranium mining and export. Queensland Premier Peter Beattie supported the lifting of the uranium mining ban, but said his state's policy would remain the same. Mr Beattie said Queensland would remain free of uranium mines and coal would continue to be the backbone of the state's economy. "In terms of nuclear generation - the prime minister, who is one of the best wedged politicians in Australia's history, is going to wedge himself on this - because Australians will not support nuclear reactors in this country. "You can imagine Queensland's position - and tourism is our second biggest industry - going out saying 'beautiful one day, radioactive the next' - it just doesn't work." AAP West Australian Newspapers Limited 2007. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 18 Bangkok Post: Nuclear power 'no answer to global warming' General news >> Tuesday May 01, 2007 GREENHOUSE GASES / CLIMATE CHANGE MEETING IN BANGKOK PIYAPORN WONGRUANG and APINYA WIPATAYOTIN The world scientific body assessing the health of the world's climate yesterday dismissed speculation that it will recommend nuclear power as a means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) insisted that energy efficiency as well as renewable energy was still a central issue in the Bangkok meeting which continues until Friday. The meeting began yesterday. Rajenda Pachauri, head of the IPCC, maintained that the agency had never said that the world should go for any particular options or actions as claimed by some media. In fact, it was not the agency's work to recommend particular actions, he said, adding that it would provide facts to governments to decide. "I don't know where newspapers have picked that up. We never say let's go nuclear, go coal or, go natural gas. That's not the work of the IPCC," Mr Pachauri said. He said the meeting in Bangkok would finalise a summary report for policy-makers to cope with greenhouse gases through mitigation options, including the use of scientific technology for energy efficiency, renewable energy and measures to help reduce emissions. All are expected to help the world to cope with the effects of climate change by 2030. The Bangkok meeting has brought together hundreds of leading scientists in the field of climate change to finalise the last of the IPCC's three summary reports for policy-makers. The IPCC's three working groups have assessed the situation four times since early 1990. This time it has divided the work into three main evaluations. They involve the world's climate conditions, impacts and adaptations, and mitigation. The outcome of its work will pave the way for consideration on future actions before the global commitment on greenhouse gas reductions under the Kyoto Protocol run out in 2012. The agency's assessment is expected to spark heated debates since it will involve extensive socio-economic costs. Mr Pachauri did not rule out the possibility of such debates in the meeting, but believes that the scientists would make sure the proceedings run smoothly. According to the draft summary report summarised by Thailand's Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, it foresees greenhouse gas emissions increasing during the next two to three decades if no action is taken to discourage their release. Most would come from developing countries, the draft said. Its impacts would give rise to more diseases and extreme events, from which the poorest would suffer the most. The ministry is responsible for approving the report on behalf of the Thai government. The IPCC's draft on mitigation being discussed at the Bangkok meeting also says that the cost of taking action against climate change can be compensated by health benefits from reducing those gases. Chatree Chueyprasit, deputy permanent secretary for natural resources and the environment, did not rule out that the IPCC's work is also about a fight between the developed and developing countries. He said the draft summary report tried to focus on farm sector emissions in developing countries, despite the fact emissions per capita in such countries was far below those in developed countries. The IPCC's reports would definitely impact the policy decisions of the world governments, he said. Thailand has been planning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions despite the fact that the country has not been asked to do so by the Kyoto Protocol. However, a level of mitigation must be set among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). "We are going for an acceptable level of mitigation, which we, as a developing country, will not burden ourselves too much with when it comes to the cost of mitigation," he said. Martin Hiller, WWF's climate change spokesman, called for a serious discussion on the cost and who should cover that to determine clear procedures for governments to be able to adopt it in the future. © Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2007 ***************************************************************** 19 Burlington Free Press: You rate it: Vermont Yankee Opinion Tuesday, May 1, 2007 VT Yankee proponents? That would be the people who work there and the shareholders. A small number compared to the number of Vermonters and others affected by a potential meltdown or leak of poorly stored nuclear wastes. This plant is already old beyond its original expectations and being forced to produce power beyond its capacity. There have been a number of problems. If you live in the area close by you get their evacuation plan calendar for Christmas every year. Nothing can convince me that nuclear power is a solution for anything. To me it is like saying smoking is a good stress reliever. Sure, once you become addicted to nicotine it works great, but is it good for you? My understanding is that in the last year alone we have replace VT Yankees power from outside sources already 14 times! Yes those sources are probably coal for the most part, but to say we are stuck with Yankee as a clean emissions source is erroneous and ridiculous. We have not even begun to explore conservation options or alternative sources and to say they are pie in the sky without even venturing into that realm is shortsighted. Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 1:22 pm Shumnlin is on the lunatic fringe of the left. He thinks adding more taxes to VY is a good deal for Vermonts. This is a company that has made an investment in our future. It has improved the efficiency and productivity of aging plant. Now Shumlin wants to suck on the tit of another innovative business so that he can get them to close down or leave. Besides that, who will pay the tax in the end? It will always be the rate payers. Any business that thinks Vermont is business friendly only needs to look here and a Howard Dean's treatment of IBM. The Democrats only want to tax these enterprises and put road blocks in their paths. They don't want the jobs or the revenue they create they want them to leave plain and simple. Nuclear power has been around for a lot longer than 30 years my friends, only an anti-nuclear person would make that statement. Nuclear submarines were in use over 50 years ago and are still the number one source of new sub power in the world. Nuclear power meets 80% of the demand in environmentally friendly France and is more dominate than any other source of power in many European countries. Nuclear submarines were in use over 50 years ago and are still the number one source of new sub power in the world. I do not fear nuclear power, one must only respect it and use it. Green is great, put to simply believe we are going solve all of our current and future energy needs by erecting wind towers, putting up solar panels and building new hydro projects only creates a new set of problems. As we are finding out all bio sources of power have an additional cost and really don't provide complete elimination of CO2 emissions. We will need all these sources of power plus new ones if we are to survive as a society. The "bottom line" you speak of is what drives the economy, provides jobs and allows us a comfortable living. I don't think Vermont would be the Utopia you think it is without cheap power. That includes whether you ski or sit at home admiring the ridge lines. Perhaps you would rather we all walk to work, use candles and sing Kumbia. I can't, I won't and I can't carry a tune. Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 12:01 pm You refuse to address my main question! WHAT POWER IS GOING TO REPLACE THE POWER GENERATED BY VERMONT YANKEE? Just saying "we are going to have to live with less"....IS NOT GOING TO CUT IT! Just how to you plan to achieve that? Have the state legislature pass some idiotic laws forcing people to cutback? I have to live in a realistic world. Conservation...I am all for, however increase demand for electricity will exceed any conservation efforts. http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/pdf/trend_3.pdf Also looking at the overall picture.....AGAIN! We are just 5 short years away from 2012. No combination of Solar, Wind and Hydro is going to offset the lost of Vermont Yankee. If you want me to go through each source individually and explain....WHY, I'll be happy to do that. Bottom line...shut down Vermont Yankee and that power WILL BE REPLACED BY FOSSIL FUELS. And expect utility rates to increase because of it. Any idea of using more fossil fuels is not going to go over to well with the Al Gore Crowd. Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:30 am While I know you will respond with the baseload argument -that VY is power 24/7, all the power, all you need, all the time, with the money going to Louisiana....the real true answer is we need to learn to live with less. Wind, solar, small hydro mixed with HQ, a strong base of efficiency and conservation and look at that, we no longer are producing radiioactive waste and we are no longer risking the VT economy or environment with the risk of an accident. Cancer rates will likely decrease too. Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:16 am In response to the last two comments. I see no answer from either one. WHAT FORM OF ENERGY IS GOING TO USED TO REPLACE THE POWER LOST IF VERMONT YANKEE IS CLOSED???? Come on guys....you just can't wave the 'magic wand' and......POOF instant energy. As for the Nuclear Waste issue, the problem is solvable. The problem is that the same bunch of 'clowns' who oppose Nuclear Energy are also opposed to any of the solutions to the waste issue. The French figured it out.....The US can too, and 75% of France's electricity is supplied by.....NUCLEAR! As for the other comment regarding public transporation. It is only effective in high-density population centers. Remember the Champlain flyer? 'Wishful thinking' isn't going to solve the problem of increasing energy demands. FYI, projected electricity demand will increase 50% by year 2030 and 100% worldwide.....AND THAT ENERGY IS GOING TO COME FROM.....WHERE?????? Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:03 am Copyright ©2007 Burlingtonfreepress.com All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 20 Journal News: Nuke plant to test sirens tomorrow Monday, April 30, 2007 Greg Clary BUCHANAN - Indian Point plans a series of tests for its new emergency siren system tomorrow, with local residents likely to hear two separate soundings of the siren nearest to them, about an hour apart, according to the New York State Emergency Managment Office's Web site. The siren tests will last about eight days, as the company works to solve problems with the new $15-million system that have centered on triggering alert notification via radio and microwave disc technology. The company missed an April 15th deadline to install the new system and has been fined by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission $130,000. Until the new system is in place, the current system will be used to alert residents in the event of real emergency. The test soundings will happen throughout the four counties in the 10-mile emergency evacuation area around the nuclear plant - Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange. Soundings will be between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily. There will be two tests at each location about one hour apart. Officials from Entergy Nuclear Northeast, the owner and operator of Indian Point, said they will test 16 sirens in the next eight business days. The days may not be consecutive depending on various factors including county approval, weather and accessibility. The company also plans to notify residents about the nearest siren, using the Code Red telephone system sometimes known as Reverse-911. The public is not required to take any action during the tests. For more information, log on to the state's emergency management Web site at http://jic.semo.state.ny.us. 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. ***************************************************************** 21 Bangkok Post: Bangkok climate-solutions meet opens (dpa) - The world's leading climate experts and state representatives from 150 countries gathered in Bangkok on Monday for a five-day meeting on the United Nations' recommendations for curbing carbon emissions to slow global warming. "The is time now," said Chartree Chueytrasit, deputy permanent secretary of Thailand's ministry of natural resources and environment in opening remarks at the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). "Global warming has increasingly become a hot agenda that requires harmonisation of our position." The IPCC will meet Monday through Friday to discuss and debate means of mitigating greenhouse gases over the coming decades to slow the rate of rising world temperatures, blamed primarily on the world's growing dependency on fossil fuels. The group is working on a report, which contains a controversial recommendation for countries to shift towards nuclear energy - which emits no carbon dioxide but raises other concerns - and will be finalised and released on Friday. The five-day meeting will be held in closed-door sessions at the UN Economic and Social Commission for the Asia-Pacific (UNEscap) building in Bangkok. © Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2006 Privacy ***************************************************************** 22 Bennington Banner: Rep will fight tax on Yankee NEAL GOSWAMI, Staff Writer Article Launched: 04/30/2007 02:58:48 AM EDT BENNINGTON ? A plan to tax Yankee Nuclear to fund the expansion of Efficiency Vermont has drawn opposition from a local legislator who has vowed to fight it, calling the proposal "dirty politics." Rep. Joseph L. Krawczyk Jr., R-Bennington, said the funding source proposed by Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, which will cost Vermont Yankee about $37 million dollars over the next five years, is ill-advised and irresponsible. "This is dirty politics," said Krawczyk. "We should be doing policy but we're playing politics." Legislative leaders have lumped together House and Senate bills dealing with renewable energy and climate change. The Senate bill contains a section seeking the expansion of the state's efficiency utility and proposes to tax Yankee Nuclear to fund that expansion. Efficiency Vermont ostensibly works to make homes, farms and businesses more energy efficient. Some legislators now want to expand the utility from solely working with electrical efficiency to also include home heating fuels. The plant provides about one third of the state's power, and supplies Central Vermont Public Service, Vermont's largest electrical utility, with the majority of its electricity. The "extended spent fuel nuclear storage charge" would tax the power plant, owned by Entergy Nuclear, for storing spent nuclear waste in the state. Proponents say that when Vermont Yankee went on line in 1972, it was understood that spent nuclear waste would remain on site for only a brief period. However, waste storage has become a long-term problem. The federal government is responsible for the long-term disposal of nuclear waste, but has been unable to move forward in building a repository in Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The U.S. Department of Energy had originally planned for the repository in 2010, but now says 2017 or 2020 are more accurate. The state reached a deal with Vermont Yankee in 2005 that allowed the company to store waste in dry casks in exchange for paying $15 million over a six year period. Without the dry casks, the plant was expected to run out of storage space before its licensing agreement ended in 2012. Opponents of the plan say it is unfair to tax the plant two years after a storage agreement was reached, especially because power is being provided to Vermonters at about half the market rate. Additionally, the state has known for some time that the Yucca Mountain repository would be delayed or abandoned. "We knew very well that there was barely a snowball's chance in Vermont in July that Yucca would be built," said Joyce Errecart, R-Shelburne, vice chairwoman of the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee last week. "I think this is very clearly reneging on a deal. This is amazing, for two years later to say, 'oh, you need to give us more.'" Krawczyk lamented the Democratic majority in the Legislature for proposing new taxes to fund programs they hope to implement. "That's all we've done up there ? raise taxes," he said. Shumlin's plan will make it difficult for the state to attract business, said Krawczyk. "If I was looking into investing in wind, I wouldn't do it after seeing how we're screwing with Vermont Yankee," said Krawczyk. House and Senate members will come together in conference committee to iron out differences between the two chambers before the unified bill gets sent back for approval. Krawczyk said he and the other three Republican representatives in his committee intend to argue against the legislation on the House floor. However, the bill will likely pass because of heavy pressure from Shumlin. Shumlin is trying to force legislation after opening the Legislative session with several weeks of seminars and hearings about global climate change, said Krawczyk. "He has to do something after the first three weeks," he said. ***************************************************************** 23 Xinhua: IPCC meeting focuses on mitigation of climate change www.chinaview.cn 2007-04-30 14:54:38 BANGKOK, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Over 400 top experts of the world and delegates from over 130 governments gathered Monday in Bangkok for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) meeting which aims to finalize the third volume of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) "Climate Change 2007: Mitigation," which is to be launched here on Friday, May 4th. The draft of the upcoming report, contributed by the Working Group III (WGIII) of the IPCC, based on IPCC's research in the last six years on latest development in the mitigation of climate change in various countries, analyzes mitigation options, including policy tools like carbon tax and alternative energy like nuclear power, for limiting greenhouse gas emissions so as to undermine impacts of climate change. Zhou Dadi, a Chinese energy expert and coordinate lead author of the third volume, said that the latest analysis, compared with the Third Fourth Assessment Report released in 2001, has more focus on practice conducted by various countries, as well as their social and economic impacts, benefits and costs, on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and thus provides a clearer picture of mitigation options for policy makers. The launch of the finalized report, after being discussed and approved by delegates of governments line by line at the 26th session Plenary of IPCC on Friday, follows the release of the first and second volume, respectively focusing on "Physical Science Basis," and "Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability," in February and April this year. The First Assessment Report of IPCC in 1990 has led to the adoption of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, while the Second Assessment Report, Climate Change 1995, has played an important role towards the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC in 1997. The latest AR4 is expected to provide key information to the upcoming negotiation on Kyoto Protocol negotiations scheduled in December in Bali, Indonesia. Editor: Xiao Jie ***************************************************************** 24 Reuters: Experts meet on U.N. report but time running out Mon Apr 30, 2007 2:09AM EDT By David Fogarty BANGKOK, April 30 (Reuters) - After two gloomy U.N. reports on global warming, scientists and governments on Monday began looking at how to fight climate change, with green groups saying the world has the means to cut emissions at little cost. Experts are meeting in Bangkok to review the latest U.N. report, with a raft of solutions to be issued on Friday after review by more than 100 nations. The draft report warns that time for inexpensive fixes is running out because of a surge in greenhouse gas emissions. The survey is the third this year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). "Science certainly provides a lot of compelling reasons for action," IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri told reporters. When asked how the IPCC could convert the report into government action, he said: "The IPCC doesn't have any muscle, it has grey matter. The muscle will have to come from somewhere else." Major polluters such as United States, China and top oil producer Saudi Arabia are expected to seek to water down the report, wary of language that proscribes targets to cut emissions or threatens their oil and gas industries. The U.N. climate panel issued its first report in February saying it was at least 90 percent certain that mankind was to blame for warming. The second report on April 6 warned of more hunger, droughts, heatwaves and rising seas. Green groups say the time for bickering by governments is over. "The key thing is whatever they decide here that it cannot be ignored anymore that climate change is happening in a big way. It's happening much faster. We have more solutions out there than before and it's not as costly as some people want us to believe it is," said Stephan Singer, head of the WWF's Climate Change Policy Unit. MANY SOLUTIONS The report estimates that stabilising greenhouse gas emissions will cost between 0.2 percent and 3.0 percent of world gross domestic product by 2030, depending on the stiffness of curbs on rising emissions of greenhouse gases. Under some scenarios, GDP growth might even get a tiny net spur from less pollution and health damage from burning fossil fuels, blamed as the main cause of warming. The conclusions broadly back those by former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern, who estimated last year that costs of acting now to slow warming were about one percent of global output -- 5 to 20 percent if the world delayed action. More than 1,000 amendments have been proposed to the draft 24-page summary for policymakers. Some countries complain it is hard to understand and too laden with scientific jargon. The report lays out solutions such as capturing and burying emissions from coal-fired power plants, a shift to renewable energies such as solar and wind power, more use of nuclear power, more efficient lighting and insulation of buildings. But it says that temperatures will rise by at least 2 to 2.4 Celsius (3.6 - 4.2F) above pre-industrial levels even under the most stringent curbs. The European Union says a 2 C rise is a threshold for "dangerous" changes to the climate system. The more deep and rapid the emissions cuts, the more costly to economies, says the draft report, which gives a range of stabilisation levels of greenhouse gases in the future. By 2030, the costs of letting greenhouse gas concentrations rise to 650 ppmv (parts per million volume) of CO2-equivalent are 0.2 percent of global gross domestic product, it says. Greenhouse gas concentrations are now at about 430 ppmv of carbon dioxide and rising sharply. South African delegate Peter Luckey said any talk of stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations at 650 ppmv "is quite disturbing to us". He worried that some governments will try to water down the draft recommendations. "Our major mandate is to defend the document as much as possible," Luckey, chief director of air quality management in South Africa's Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism. (Additional reporting by Darren Schuettler and Ed Cropley) (Editing by Sonya Hepinstall; Reuters messaging: rm://david.fogarty.reuters.com@reuters.net; email: david.fogarty@reuters.com, telephone: +65 6870 3815)) © Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 25 UPI: NRC special inspection of Farley plant United Press International - Energy - Briefing Published: April 30, 2007 at 6:22 PM DOTHAN, Ala., April 30 (UPI) -- Federal nuclear regulators are looking closely at a recurring failure at an Alabama nuclear plant's reactor cooling system. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday a special investigation is ongoing at the Farley nuclear plant near Dothan, Ala. A test conducted earlier this year revealed valve failures on Unit 2's residual heat removal system. The valves are used to keep heat from the reactor when it is shut down, and they didn't open. The plant, operated by Southern Nuclear Operating Co., had the same problem in the second quarter of 2006, according to an NRC release. The dual reactor plant has a 1,776 megawatt generating capacity. The agency said there were "no difficulties" during operations of the plant. The special inspection was called for because it involves safety equipment. The reactor needs to be kept cool when it isn't in operation. The NRC team will look at the history of the reactor, as well as actions to be taken to fix the problem. The NRC says residents of the area are not threatened by the incident. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 26 NRC: NRC to Discuss 2006 Performance at Wolf Creek Nuclear Plant News Release - Region IV - 2007-012 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington TX 76011 www.nrc.gov CONTACT: Victor Dricks Phone: 817-860-8128 E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet on May 3, with representatives of the Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp., to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety performance last year at the Wolf Creek nuclear plant near Burlington, Kan. The meeting, which will be open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the Coffey County Library, 410 Juniatta St., Burlington. The NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the safety performance of Wolf Creek, as well as the NRC’s role in ensuring safe plant operation. “The NRC continually reviews the performance of Wolf Creek and the nation’s other commercial nuclear power facilities,” NRC Region IV Administrator Bruce S. Mallett said. “This meeting will provide an opportunity for a discussion of our annual assessment of safety performance with the company and with local officials and residents who live near the plant.” A letter sent from the NRC Region IV office to plant officials addresses the performance of the plant during 2006 and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/wc_2006q4.pdf. The NRC utilizes color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess nuclear power plant performance. The colors start with "green" and then increase to "white," "yellow" or "red," commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. The NRC said Wolf Creek operated safely during 2006 and will receive baseline, or routine inspections, during 2007. Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the Region IV Office in Arlington, Texas. Among the areas of plant performance to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are activities associated with engineering, fire protection, emergency preparedness, maintenance and radiological controls. Current performance information for Wolf Creek is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/WC/wc_chart.html. NRC news releases are available through a free list server subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site. Monday, April 30, 2007 ***************************************************************** 27 Accountancy Age: NAO to probe nuclear body after PAC request - Financial Director AccountancyAge.com, Accountancy Age, 30 Apr 2007 Position of Lady Judge, chairwoman of United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, under scrutiny The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) is to be investigated by the National Audit Office (NAO) following a request by Edward Leigh, chairman of the Commons public accounts committee. Leigh called for the probe after it was revealed that the UKAEA is chaired by Lady Judge a businesswoman with 30 other directorships, including posts in the US and Hong Kong. She is also deputy chairman of the Financial Report Council. Last year the UKAEA was fined £2m after a leak at the Dounreay plant in Scotland. Lady Judge is paid £60,000 a year for a two-day week as head of UKAEA. Further reading: NAO says tax forms too complicated NAO report finds government green failings NAO faces conundrum over crystal-hall gazing All Audit © 1995-2007 All rights reserved VNU Business Publications Ltd., 32-34 Broadwick Street, London, W1A 2HG, is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 01513633 ***************************************************************** 28 The Statesman: Enviromentalists reject nuclear energy in Ghana Adu Koranteng , 30/04/2007 Environmentalists are calling for a rejection of nuclear power in Ghana, citing negative repercussions to the suggested solution for the energy crisis currently facing the country. Erasmus Aborley, coordinator of Friends of the Earth Ghana, a non governmental organisation, argues that Ghana lacks the expertise and the managerial ability to operate nuclear reactors, considerably increasing the risk of an accidental spillage during its operations. The idea has been debated for some weeks now, after Government set up a committee to consider the possibility of using nuclear energy by the year 2018, as recommended by the Energy Commission. In a debate this week organised by the Environmental Film Festival, in alliance with stakeholders in the environmental sector and held at the British Council in Accra, Mr Aborley said that Ghana could not afford to access nuclear power anyway. Acquiring nuclear power is unaffordable, with a minimum price tag of $2 billion each for the construction of a reactor or power plants, he said. That is 50 percent more expensive than putting coal-fitted power plant online, and more expensive than new gas-fired power plants. Mr Aborley disclosed that subsidiaries for nuclear research have by far exceeded the subsidiaries for any other type of energy in the last 50 years, and without the heavy state subsidiaries nuclear power would not be a very good product to invest in. At this time of abolishing subsidiaries on petroleum products and hydro power, the main sources of power generation, Ghana could not afford to subsidise nuclear power with its little economic resources, he argued. Further, any move to build a nuclear reactor would place a huge burden on the ordinary people who would have to pay higher electricity tariffs, according to the environmentalist. The problems which can result from nuclear power are incomparable to any other type of energy, and include environmental cases, health detriment, and tonnes of radioactive material that needs to be carried around the country and hidden in salt mines for thousands of years. The price left for future generations to pay could be momentous. Although nuclear energy does not produce carbon dioxide gas, which is contributing to global warming, radiation resulting from nuclear power is in fact the most unhealthy element, according to Mr Aborley. He said radiation spillage in places like Chernobyl in Russia, where there was a massive nuclear explosion in 1986, and Pennsylvania in the United States, has killed about 9 million people in the Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Poland, the USA and other western and northern European countries. William Kojo Agyei Bonsu, Director in Charge of Focal Point at Ghana's Environmental Protection Agency, said Ghana"s 20 million population could be wiped out within a few days if there should be a spillage of a radioactive element. He wondered whether uranium would be mined in Ghana or imported into the country to generate nuclear power. According to him, 60 years into the nuclear era, scientists still don’t know how to safely transport, dispose of or spare nuclear rods are piling up all over the world. The US government spent more than $8 billion and 20 years to build an airtight underground burial tomb to hold radioactive material, he said. The vault, which was designed to be leak-free for 10,000 years, has been found to have developed some cracks that could make it leak. He noted that a study conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2001 revealed that known uranium resources could fail to meet demand, possibly as early as 2026. Also Ghana’s security system is too porous to keep a nuclear reactor safe from the sophisticated tactics of the Islamic terrorists, he added. Evangelist professor Edmund Osae of the Physics Development of the University of Ghana in a reaction termed nuclear energy as the safest and cleanest source of energy in he world. Professor Osae, a former director of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, revealed that GAEC has been operating a nuclear reactor for research over the past 12 years. The reactor which is situated at the Commission’s premises, is efficiently and effectively managed, he said. Since its construction, it has never developed faults and never threatened living species. That shows how efficient it could be managed if developed in Ghana, he argued. Joseph Esssoundoth Yeddy, Head of the Planning and Policy division of the Energy Commission, indicated that Government has approved the construction of the plant in Ghana by the year 2018. And as part of the long term measures towards solving the energy crisis, a feasibility study would be done this year on nuclear power, solar energy and thermal power. © Copyright of Statesman 2005. Terms & Conditions of reading. ***************************************************************** 29 AU ABC: Nuclear plant sites not Govt's decision: PM. 30/04/2007. ABC News Online Prime Minister John Howard says he cannot tell Australians where nuclear power stations could be located because it is not a government decision. The Federal Government is planning to lift bans on nuclear power and remove impediments to uranium mining and exports. But Mr Howard has told Southern Cross radio that private companies will be establishing any nuclear power stations. "I have not promised to build power stations, I've promised to allow them to be built if others deem them desirable and they are commercially viable and competitive - a vastly different proposition," he said. "We're not going to start establishing power stations ourselves and I can't tell you what commercial decisions are going to be made and where they're going to be made." ***************************************************************** 30 AU ABC: Top Australian scientist warns against nuclear power Last Updated 01/05/2007, 10:53:40 The climate change scientist and Australian of the Year Tim Flannery says nuclear power should be a last resort for tackling global warming. The Australian federal government is planning to lift bans on nuclear power and remove impediments to uranium mining and exports. Dr Flannery is a long-time critic of the federal government's climate change policies, and warns that there are many undesirable consequences of nuclear power. "I just think you take a three-fold approach," he said. "First, on energy efficiency, get as efficient as we can; secondly, use our local power sources and renewables, whether they be geothermal or wind, which we've got excellent sources of here in this country; and then if we still have a deficit, we can look at nuclear power." Dr Flannery says that some places, such as Ontario in Canada, have nuclear power as their only option for the generation of power while reducing greenhouse gases. "(Canada's) done a great job with efficiency gains, it's plugged into as much local renewable energy as it can and it still finds itself with a deficit," he said. "Now they're in a position where they've got to make a decision between conventional coal at the moment or expanding their nuclear capacity. ***************************************************************** 31 PRN: PG&E's Diablo Canyon Power Plant Begins Scheduled Refueling and Maintenance Outage On Unit 1 AVILA BEACH, Calif., April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Diablo Canyon Power Plant operators safely shut down Unit 1 at 1:30 a.m. Monday, April 30, 2007 to begin a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage. Unit 1 operated continuously for 513 days, beginning at the conclusion of the last refueling outage in December 2005. "Operating Unit 1 continuously between refueling outages is a testament to the people who maintain and operate it safely and efficiently every day," said Jim Becker, Vice President, Operations, and Station Director. "The Diablo Canyon team is prepared to execute a world-class outage that will set the stage for another long, continuous run for our customers." Diablo Canyon personnel, supplemented by over 1,200 specialized and local union contractors, will complete nearly 11,000 tasks during the outage, including replacing one-third of the nuclear fuel. This will allow the plant to produce electricity safely and efficiently through the next 18-month cycle. Diablo Canyon's two units together produce 2,300 net megawatts of electricity, about 10 percent of all electricity generated in California, and enough to meet the needs of over 2 million homes in central and northern California. For more information about Pacific Gas and Electric Company, please visit our web site at http://www.pge.com SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company Copyright © 1996- PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved. A United Business Media company. ***************************************************************** 32 Hindustan Times: N-deal: little room left for negotiations- New Delhi, May 01, 2007 Even as India and the US hold talks on Tuesday on a civil nuclear pact, there is a belated recognition in the government that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's drawing of "red lines" in Parliament last year has left little elbow room for negotiations on key issues. "We have painted ourselves into a corner," a reliable source privy to the nuclear deal negotiations said. "It's no longer diplomacy. It's English now," the source added while alluding to semantic quibbles that will be involved in finalising the text of the 123 agreement. He was referring to Manmohan Singh's assurances in the Rajya Sabha on August 17 last year in which he laid down "red lines" which India will not cross in the course of negotiations on civil nuclear cooperation with the US. "Now, we can't be seen to be conceding even slightly on these assurances given by the prime minister to Parliament," said the source. The source, who was speaking to journalists on the condition of anonymity, admitted that if things were left a little open-ended, negotiations would not be so difficult now. Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon will hold talks with Nicholas Burns, the US' chief pointman on the nuclear deal, in Washington on Tuesday to iron out major differences over the text of the 123 agreement which will pave the way for resumption of nuclear commerce between the two sides. The prime minister's assurances to parliament last year were made in the face of a combative and sceptical opposition, most notably the Leftist allies of the ruling coalition and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, which were insisting on a parliamentary resolution on the nuclear deal. In an important speech, Manmohan Singh assured that India would never compromise on its strategic autonomy and repudiated any attempt to impose a ban on nuclear testing and a moratorium on the production of fissile materials. "We are not prepared to go beyond a unilateral voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing. We are not willing to accept a moratorium on the production of fissile materials," he had said. The rigidity of New Delhi's stand on these critical issues has led to a hardening of Washington's positions as well and sparked apprehensions in some quarters that the deal itself was in danger of collapsing. The US is pushing for including a ban on nuclear testing by India that is not acceptable to the latter on grounds that it will be tantamount to sneaking a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) through the back door. Washington has insisted on a clause that will terminate all civilian nuclear cooperation with New Delhi should the latter conduct a nuclear test. Before he left for Washington, Menon told a parliamentary panel about the "red lines" laid down by Manmohan Singh in parliament last year and said he will go strictly by these guidelines which "command broad support across the political spectrum." ***************************************************************** 33 Deccan Herald: 123 Agreement: India, US for another round of talks - Monday, April 30, 2007 Washington, PTI: Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon's Menon will on Tuesday hold discussions with the US Under Secretary Nicholas Burns amid "frustration" in the US at the slow pace of negotiations and India's insistence on right to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and perennial cooperation even if it were to conduct an atomic test. Indian and US officials will on Tuesday hold talks on ironing out differences on a proposed agreement to operationalise the civil nuclear deal. Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, who arrived in Washington on Monday, would interact with the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky in the context of the Global Issues Forum but the senior Indian official's trip has assumed importance against the backdrop of a perception here that the 123 Agreement negotiations between the US and India is not moving in the pace it should be. Menon will tomorrow hold discussions with the US Under Secretary Nicholas Burns amid "frustration" in the US at the slow pace of negotiations and India's insistence on right to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and perennial cooperation even if it were to conduct an atomic test. They will joined in their discussions by senior officials of the two sides. In fact, Menon and top officials of the two sides will interact in the evening itself at a working dinner hosted by Burns. Significantly, the meeting between Menon and Burns on Tuesday will take place ten days after senior officials from the two sides met in the South African city of Cape Town. Indian officials had said that "some progress" was made during the discussions but some differences remained for which further parleys were required. India, while noting its declared policy of unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing, refuses to accept it as legally binding by including a clause in the 123 Agreement. Copyright 2005, The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd., 75, M.G. Road, Post Box No 5331, Bangalore - 560001 Tel: +91 (80) 25880000 Fax No. +91 (80) 25880523 ***************************************************************** 34 AFP: Bush, EU leaders deadlocked on climate change by Olivier Knox Mon Apr 30, 4:08 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush and visiting European leaders agreed Monday to define global warming as a serious problem requiring "urgent" action, but deadlocked on what concrete remedies to apply. "I think this is where we should be clear about the glass being half full instead of half empty," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a joint public appearance on the sidelines of the annual US-EU summit at the White House. Merkel, who holds the rotating presidencies of the EU and the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations, spoke after talks with Bush and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The three leaders formed a united front on Iran's nuclear program, which Washington says is cover for an atomic weapons quest. The United States has backed talks led by Britain, France and Germany. "We talked about Iran and the need for our nations to continue to work closely together to send a unified message to the Iranians that their development of a nuclear weapon is unacceptable to peace," said Bush. "Nuclear proliferation is indeed a threat, not only to regional stability but to the global peace and global stability," said Barroso. "And the Iranians should understand that this message they are receiving." In a joint statement on energy security and climate change, the three leaders called for "urgent, sustained, global action" to battle global warming. Asked what concrete steps they had agreed to take, the leaders said they had set up a US-EU conference on alternative-fuel standards to meet in here next year, and plans to take up climate change at the June G8 summit in Germany. Merkel also said they had agreed on the need for "a proper agenda" for UN talks on the environment in December on the Indonesian island of Bali, calling that "an enormous step forward." Bush, who declared "the good news is that we recognize there's a problem," said no solution is possible unless it includes major developing nations like China and India but seemed to say that Washington would find its own way. "I think that each country needs to recognize that we must reduce our greenhouse gases and deal, obviously, with their own internal politics to come up with an effective strategy that hopefully, when added together, that it leads to a real reduction," he said. Bush called earlier this year for a 20-percent cut in gasoline use over 10 years, citing advances in the use of alternative fuels, and for the US Congress to broaden his powers to overhaul emissions standards. The 27 EU members agreed in March to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020, based on 1990 levels. Germany's proposal was a more aggressive 40 percent cut. "There are different approaches, obviously, as to how to solve that. But we have been able, actually, to find a lot of common ground," Barroso said at the White House. Merkel said any solution had to cover developing countries but warned "what is also true is that, if the developed countries, who have the best technology, don't do anything, it will be even harder to convince the others. "But without convincing the others, CO2 emissions worldwide will not go down," she said. The leaders also said they had discussed efforts to revive the Doha Round of global trade talks; reconstruction and development efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan; Cuba's future; and the Middle East peace process. "We have been talking at greater length also about the situation in Darfur, which we consider to be totally unacceptable, and that we need to do everything we can in order to help the people there," said Merkel. "We ought to use all of our possibilities in order to achieve progress also in the United Nations," she said. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 35 AFP: Indian foreign secretary in US for nuclear talks - Yahoo! Canada News Mon Apr 30, 4:33 PM WASHINGTON (AFP) - Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon held talks here Monday on wide-ranging issues, ahead of key discussions aimed at kickstarting a landmark nuclear cooperation deal with the US. Menon was meeting Monday with US under secretary of state for global affairs and democracy Paula Dobriansky to discuss issues of common concern such as the environment and HIV, Indian embassy officials said. The civilian nuclear agreement "is one of the issues which will be discussed tomorrow (Tuesday)" in talks with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, embassy press attache Rahul Chhabra told AFP. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said earlier Monday that the United States would like to rapidly finalize the landmark civilian nuclear deal struck in July 2005. "We will get this deal done," McCormack said. "I think the meetings coming up over the next couple of weeks will give us a good indication of how quickly a deal can get done." He added the United States was interested in "what sort of ideas the Indian government comes to the table with," on the issue. Tuesday's talks will focus on the accord under which India wins access to US nuclear fuel and technology for civilian use without requiring New Delhi to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty as required by US law. But differences persist, chiefly over a clause which states the United States would withdraw civil nuclear fuel supplies and equipment if India breaches its unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. India has a "very clear approach" on the deal, Menon said in a report tabled in the Indian parliament on Thursday. He was seeking to dispel fears from Indian atomic scientists and critics who say the agreement will put restrictions on the country's nuclear weapons program. "Whatever we do with the US will not affect our nuclear strategic program," Menon said. The nuclear energy deal is the centerpiece of India's new relationship with Washington after decades of Cold War tensions and is part of New Delhi's efforts to expand energy sources to sustain its booming economy. Burns on Sunday predicted that in the coming years New Delhi would become a main US strategic partner, hailing ties as "the strongest relationship the two countries have enjoyed since India's independence in 1947." "The pace of progress between Washington and Delhi has been so rapid, and the potential benefits to American interests so substantial, that I believe within a generation Americans may view India as one of our two or three most important strategic partners," Burns wrote in an opinion piece in Sunday's Washington Post. Burns also noted that Washington considers the nuclear deal, which the US Congress approved overwhelmingly in December, the centerpiece of the new warmer relations. "When fully implemented in 2008, this initiative will permit American and international companies to begin peaceful civilian nuclear cooperation with India for the first time in more than a generation." But he added that the two countries can and should go even further in their bilateral cooperation, highlighting two areas: counterterrorism and the military. Indian experts have meanwhile warned that India must act fast on the nuclear deal, saying that with the US presidential elections looming next year the accord could soon drop off the radar screen in Washington. "There is genuine concern about the delay. India is not the center of the universe for them," said G. Balachandran, visiting Fellow at the Indian security think-tank Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. One likely outcome was a compromise on the wording of the agreement. "The differences are over the consequences of nuclear testing. The Americans can't take away the right to test. It's a matter of reaching a compromise over the wording of the deal, not a compromise of interests," he said. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 36 NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meetings on May 2 at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant on Regulatory Findings for Restart Decision News Release - Region II - 2007-027 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region II 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 www.nrc.gov CONTACT: Ken Clark (404) 562-4416 Roger D. Hannah (404) 562-4417 E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is scheduled to meet with Tennessee Valley Authority officials on Wednesday, May 2, to discuss regulatory findings prior to an NRC decision on TVA’s requested restart of Browns Ferry Unit 1, which has been shut down since 1985. Two meetings will be held at the plant training center, located on the plant site at 10833 Shaw Road near Athens, Al., and are open to the public. The first meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. (CDT) when the NRC will discuss with TVA officials the results of an NRC Operational Readiness Assessment Team inspection which has just been completed at Unit 1. The second meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. (CDT) at which time NRC officials will discuss the conclusions of an NRC Browns Ferry Unit 1 Restart Oversight Panel which will then make a recommendation on TVA restart readiness to the NRC Region II Administrator in Atlanta. TVA has retained Browns Ferry Unit 1's operating license during the extended shutdown but requires approval of the Region II Administrator prior to restart. That decision is expected to come as soon as feasible after Wednesday’s meetings. NRC officials will be available at the conclusion of both meetings to answer questions from the audience. NRC news releases are available through a free list server subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site. Monday, April 30, 2007 ***************************************************************** 37 NRC: NRC Begins Special Inspection at Farley Nuclear Plant News Release - Region II - 2007-028 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region II 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 www.nrc.gov CONTACT: Ken Clark (404) 562-4416 Roger D. Hannah (404) 562-4417 E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is conducting a special inspection at the Farley nuclear power plant, operated by Southern Nuclear Operating Co., near Dothan, Al., to assess circumstances associated with valve failures during periodic testing on Unit 2 of the two-unit plant. NRC officials said that a valve on one of two redundant systems in the reactor’s residual heat removal (RHR) system failed to open during a routine surveillance test early this year. The RHR system is used to remove heat from the reactor after it has been shut down. The NRC said the same valve had also failed to operate properly during the second quarter of 2006. The NRC said that, while no difficulties resulted from these conditions during operations, the problems indicated repetitive failures involving safety-related equipment and required a special inspection by the NRC staff. The special inspection team will review historic data related to the component failures, including a timeline of previous valve operation and maintenance; review corrective actions and the company’s root cause analysis; and evaluate the potential for failures on similar components. The NRC said the condition posed no immediate threat to safe operation at Farley but the agency determined that a special inspection team was the appropriate level of NRC response. Agency officials will determine at a later date whether further NRC regulatory action is appropriate. NRC news releases are available through a free list server subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site. Monday, April 30, 2007 ***************************************************************** 38 NRC: NRC Names Darren Ash as Chief Information Officer and Deputy Executive Director for Information Services News Release - 2007-054 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov www.nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced the selection of Darren B. Ash as Chief Information Officer and Deputy Executive Director for Information Services. "I am pleased that Mr. Ash is joining our team that is committed to excellence," said Chairman Dale Klein. "He brings a wealth of IT experience to the agency that should help us greatly as we expand our technological capabilities to keep pace with our growth." Ash began his government career with the Internal Revenue Service where he supported the agency's modernization program, with a focus on project management, economic analyses, and capital planning. In 1998, Ash joined the Department of Treasury and supported the Chief Information Officer on all capital planning and Information Technology (IT) budget matters. Ash joined the Department of Transportation (DOT) in 2003, and led DOT's capital planning and enterprise architecture efforts, in response to the Clinger-Cohen Act and the E-Government Act of 2002. Prior to his selection, Ash worked as DOT's Associate Chief Information Officer for IT Investment Management. He led DOT's information assurance & security, privacy, enterprise architecture, capital planning, and information resource management activities. Ash received his Bachelor of Arts International Studies from American University in Washington D.C., a Master of Public Administration from Syracuse University, and a Master of Science in Information Systems Technology from George Washington University. He is also a 2005 graduate of the American Council for Technology/Industry Advisory Council's Partners Program. "I'm excited to start working with a premiere agency and look forward to the opportunity to advance the agency to meet the technological needs of licensing and public safety -- today and in the future," said Ash. NRC news releases are available through a free list server subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site. Monday, April 30, 2007 ***************************************************************** 39 The Australian: NZ weighs into nuclear debate NEWS.com.au | * April 30, 2007 This story is from our news.com.au network Source: AAP * By Xavier La Canna in Auckland NEW Zealand has weighed into the nuclear debate, with one political party saying a nuclear industry in Australia would put its trans-Tasman neighbour at risk. Co-leader of the New Zealand Green Party, Russel Norman, said moves in Australia to allow more uranium to be mined and enriched was bad news for New Zealand. "It is entirely possible that if there was a serious accident on the east coast of Australia that we could cop some of the fallout, like with Chernobyl across Europe," he said. "An accident can have a very large impact," he said. His party was opposed to Australia expanding its nuclear industry because of nuclear waste and the "inevitability" of nuclear material making its way into the weapons trade. Mr Norman said there were more immediate ways to tackle climate change. "If you want to address climate change, the timeframe for getting a nuclear industry up and running in Australia is very substantial ... There are a lot of renewable options that are ready to go now," he said. He also said mining uranium was water-intensive and that had implications for drought-ridden Australia. "I am quite cynical that this is (Prime Minister John) Howard trying to do wedge politics on the environment movement, like he used race as wedge politics on the working class Labor supporters." New Zealand's main opposition party, the conservative National Party, said it supported moves to expand nuclear options in Australia. "I think there is an unhealthy paranoia that goes with nuclear technologies, but if we are really serious about tackling climate change and CO2 emissions then we need to find economically viable alternatives to coal," said National's environment spokesman Nick Smith. The Australian Labor Party voted at its national conference on the weekend to abandon its ban on allowing new uranium mines in Australia but remained opposed to using nuclear power or enriching uranium. Prime Minister John Howard has said he wants to pave the way to allow a nuclear industry, allowing uranium enrichment, more mining and nuclear power. Australia has the world's largest amount of low-cost uranium, about 39 per cent of the world's reserves. New Zealand has been nuclear-free since 1987 and bans warships that will not declare whether they are nuclear-armed or powered from entering its waters. Prime Minister Helen Clark was unavailable for comment today. © The Australian ***************************************************************** 40 The Hindu: Pakistan tightens nuclear export Tuesday, May 01, 2007 Control authority established in the Foreign Ministry ISLAMABAD : Still trying to live down the A.Q. Khan scandal, Pakistan on Monday sought to reiterate its non-proliferation commitments with an announcement that it was establishing a national "export control authority" in its Foreign ministry. The announcement came as an NPT "preparatory committee" conference, which will prepare the ground for the 2010 five-year review conference to assess the implementation of the treaty, began on Monday in Vienna. Pakistan is not an NPT signatory but a delegation is participating in the conference. The Foreign Ministry announced that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had approved the setting up of the "Strategic Export Control Division" and its oversight board under the Ministry's control. In a statement, it said the creation of the division was further to the 2004 Export Control Act on Goods, Technologies, Materials and Equipment. Pakistan passed the Act in the wake of the A.Q. Khan scandal that saw the country's topmost scientist, also known as the "father" of its nuclear bomb, publicly confess to having sold nuclear secrets abroad. Pakistani media reported last week that the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies was preparing to release on May 2 a report on Dr .Khan's proliferation network. The oversight board has already been constituted, and it will oversee the setting up of the new division, the Foreign Ministry said. "The SECDIV will formulate and enforce rules and regulations for the implementation of export controls in accordance with the Export Control Act 2004 and also act as a licensing body," the release said. In October 2005, Pakistan notified a control list of goods, technologies, materials and equipment incorporating the lists of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the Australia Group (AG) dealing with biological agents and toxins, and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). "Export of items on the Control List from Pakistan will only be possible after approval by the SECDIV." The SECDIV is to be manned by "representatives of the concerned Ministries and organisations responsible for the implementation and enforcement of export controls, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Strategic Plans Division (SPD), Ministry of Commerce, Central Board of Revenues and others, as required', the release stated. The Foreign Ministry said the establishment of SECDIV was a "manifestation of Pakistan's strong commitment to non-proliferation and its determination to fulfil its national and international export control commitments". Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the ***************************************************************** 41 UPI: Commentary: Money laundromat for nukes United Press International - International Intelligence - Analysis Published: April 30, 2007 at 1:36 PM By ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE UPI International Editor WASHINGTON, April 30 (UPI) -- On Oct. 4, 2003, a German cargo ship, the BBC China, was inspected in the southern Italian port of Taranto as part of an ongoing program designed to check on ships that might be transporting equipment to assist nuclear proliferation. The inspection disclosed sophisticated components designed to facilitate the erection of centrifuges indispensable for the enrichment of weapons-grade uranium. The BBC China had taken on its secret cargo in Dubai and was on its way to Libya. Instead of denouncing yet another imperialist plot, Libyan authorities startled Western intelligence agencies by admitting they did indeed have a clandestine nuclear-weapons program under way. Col. Moammar Gadhafi immediately capitulated and agreed to cooperate. The United States had just overthrown Saddam Hussein and the insurgency was in its infancy. Gadhafi thought Libya, as a secret nuclear proliferator, might be next on the Bush Doctrine's hit parade. Since seizing power in 1969 at the age of 27, Gadhafi had interfered in 42 countries with a mix of lavishly funded terrorism (including the downing of Pan Am 103), subversion and outright military aggression. Now, he correctly calculated that by coming clean he would also ensure his survival. Gadhafi's abject surrender included turning over to the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as the United States and the United Kingdom, all the nuclear equipment already purchased on the international black market, as well as the details of how, where, what and with whom the secret deal was made. Gadhafi's confession staggered the CIA, MI6 and other leading Western intelligence agencies. Libya's secret nuclear purchase included the entire kit and kaboodle for a nuclear enrichment plant and detailed how-to plans for assembling a nuclear weapon. The supplier was not a nuclear proliferating state, but a company based in Dubai, run by the infamous Dr. A.Q. Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and the second most popular man in his country after the founder of the state, Ali Jinnah. "Dr. Strangelove -- or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" (1964) -- cast Peter Sellers as an eccentric, wheelchair-bound German scientist whose mechanical hand involuntarily jerked straight out in a Nazi salute. Pakistan's Dr. Strangelove kept soliciting America's self-avowed enemies -- North Korea, Iran and Libya -- with nuclear goodies designed "to deter an attack by our common enemy," i.e., the United States. Khan's Dubai-based holding company controlled a nuclear centrifuge plant in Malaysia, as well as a network of 75 suppliers throughout the world, ranging from Germany and Switzerland in Europe to Singapore, Japan and South Korea in Asia. Khan's clandestine nuclear empire was heavily compartmentalized. None had the overall picture of what Khan was up to. Three or four of the major production points had to know about the recipients unless A.Q. had ordered his managers to undergo frontal lobotomies. The Malaysian operation, SCOPE, clearly was protected at the highest level. A.Q.'s partner was none other than the son of the prime minister. A Swiss family engineering group, TINNER, put the nuclear centrifuge kits together and a South African group -- South Africa is the only country to have unilaterally abandoned its secret nuclear weapons program -- supplied pumps designed to be coupled to centrifuges. In his new book "Rapacites (Greed)," Jean-Louis Gergorin, a prominent French strategic thinker, pulled a variety of financial strands together as he investigated Clearstream Banking, a financial clearing institution based in Luxembourg. Clearstream had been in the news since 2001 as a facility for kickbacks to secret accounts held by several French political figures, industrial leaders and intelligence operatives, all involved in a controversial sale of six French frigates to Taiwan. The deal generated 5 billion French francs (before the euro) in kickbacks. Eight deaths have been linked to the scandal. In Taiwan, 13 military officers and 15 arms dealers were sentenced to between eight months and life for bribery and leaking military secrets. Gergorin was accused of circulating a list that included the names of several prominent French politicians. An investigation by the Luxembourg government led to the resignation of Clearstream's chief executive officer. There was a little math error. The clearinghouse at one point handled back-office paperwork for some 40 percent of European stock and bond trades and had, according to BusinessWeek, overstated its assets in custody by $1.5 trillion -- not billion. At one stage, Clearstream carried 33,000 secret, nameless numbered accounts. From Russia's new robber oligarchs to Colombian drug dealers to Mafiosi networks to Gadhafi's secret payments to Dr. A.Q. Khan for the do-it-yourself nuclear weapons kit, the chicanery laundromat worked squeaky-clean wonders. Khan was president and CEO of a multinational holding company. His chief of staff was Abu Tahir, a Sri Lankan. His principal executives were Swiss, German and South African. Brits Peter Griffin and his son Paul headed the commercial sales side. Gerhard Wiesser, a German nuclear engineer, had worked on South Africa's nuclear-weapons program that was later scrapped. He said he accepted work with Pakistan's nuclear black marketeer because he had a costly divorce pending. Most were based in Dubai, the new Hong Kong on the Gulf, one of the Emirates of the U.A.E. where anything goes (including hotel suites at $20,000 a night). Gotthard Lerch, a Swiss domiciled German engineer, was the technical brain behind the Libyan project. He had already done business with Khan as he assisted in Pakistan's secret nuclear program in the 1980s. For Libya, Khan signed a contract that gave Lerch 27 million euros. He was eventually extradited to Germany where a judge decreed a mistrial as the prosecution said it couldn't share classified documents. For most of Khan's minions, proliferation was rewarding -- and unpunished. Griffin cooperated with British and U.S. intelligence, which nailed Gadhafi and led him to turn over the unpacked kit boxes to the Brits and the Americans. Khan made $100 million on the aborted deal. When Pakistani President Musharraf was confronted with the evidence, he persuaded Khan to confess and repent in return for amnesty, but he was allowed to keep his ill-gotten gains. He made 13 trips to North Korea through 2004, where he traded Pak nuke know-how for Korean missiles. And his cash-and-carry nuclear-centrifuge deal with Iran's mullahs is now two decades old. Unlike Libya and North Korea, Iran has thousands of scientists and engineers. North Korea now has a rudimentary nuclear capability. Iran can't be far off. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 42 NRC approves work-hour limits for some plant workers Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 15:08:14 -0700 *NRC approves work-hour limits for some plant workers* Thursday, April 26, 2007 *BY GARRY LENTON* *Of The Patriot-News* Security workers and others in critical jobs at the nation's nuclear plants will no longer be allowed to log excessive overtime hours under new rules approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The change in the NRC's "fitness for duty" requirements is meant to reduce fatigue among plant employees and improve safety and security. Exelon Nuclear, owner of Three Mile Island, Peach Bottom and Limerick nuclear stations in Pennsylvania, and seven other plants nationwide, expects to increase security staffing to reduce overtime. "Any area where you have 24/7 coverage is most likely to be impacted," said Craig Nesbit, a spokesman for the company. The regulations, which should go into effect this year, end a policy that allowed plant operators to meet work-hour limits by averaging the hours of dozens of employees. The process allowed some employees to log hundreds of hours of overtime a month. The new rule bases hourly limits on individuals. The work-hour limits apply to security, maintenance and operations staffers, such as control room operators. The rule is common sense, said Dave Lochbaum, a nuclear safety expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group. "Groups don't get tired. People do," he said. David Desaulniers, an NRC staffer who helped shepherd the rule change through a seven-year administrative review, said the revision will improve plant safety. "I think that what the commission has approved will be a substantial step forward in addressing worker fatigue issues in the future," said Desaulniers, senior human factors analyst for the agency. The shortcomings of group averaging were evident at TMI, where some security officers employed by Wackenhut Nuclear Services logged 72-hour weeks for six weeks straight last year. In 2005, TMI officials cited three security workers for being inattentive or sleeping on the job. Each incident occurred during the night shift. Security officers contacted by The Patriot-News at the time said the incidents were not surprising given the overtime officers were being compelled to work. The NRC rule, which must undergo review by the federal Office of Management and budget before it goes into effect, also: Increases the minimum break between shifts from eight hours to 10. Establishes training requirements for fatigue management. Limits the reasons plant operators may waive the hourly limits. Revises drug- and alcohol-testing requirements. A veteran security officer at TMI employed by Wackenhut welcomed the changes. "It will definitely keep things from getting really bad again like they were in '02 and '03," said the officer, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified. Another officer, also requesting anonymity, said the change would significantly reduce fatigue. But he remained skeptical of how much leeway employers would have to waive the rules under special circumstances. Though the NRC establishes the regulations, it does not require plants to obtain agency approval before authorizing a worker to go over the limit. Eric Epstein, chairman of the Harrisburg-based watchdog group Three Mile Island Alert, had similar concerns. "I believe the standards are contingent upon voluntary compliance," he said. "I see nothing that suggests there will be more aggressive oversight of a new fitness-for-duty program." GARRY LENTON: 255-8264 or glenton@patriot-news.com *****************************************************************