***************************************************************** 06/11/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.136 ***************************************************************** 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 UN Atomic Agency Chief Voices Concern Over Current Stalemate With Ir 2 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Envoy Could Provide Nuclear Answers 3 Reuters: IAEA warns of Iran atomic risk amid EU-Tehran talks 4 UPI: Lieberman: U.S. should weigh Iran action 5 AFP: Kuwait says US cannot use bases for any Iran strike - 6 YN: S. Korea becoming heavily dependent on oil from Persian Gulf 7 AFP: Russia agrees to help end NKorea banking row - US 8 [NYTr] New Cold War and Arms Race Underway 9 Guardian Unlimited: Israel Launches Spy Satellite 10 Guardian Unlimited: Report: Risk of Nuclear Warfare Rising NUCLEAR REACTORS 11 US: Last thing eager nukes need is handouts 12 Bangkok Post: Egat to build $6bn nuclear plant 13 CNET News: Nuke power not so clean or green 14 US: NRC: NRC Seeks Comments on Proposed Rule to Expedite Review of A 15 BBC NEWS: Probe into nuclear reactor fault 16 US: APP.COM: Don't nuke the expert 17 Bangkok Post: Thailand to 'go nuclear' by 2020 18 US: KnoxNews: Browns Ferry 1 shut down 19 US: NRC: NRC Meeting June 27 to Discuss Review Process for Expected 20 UPI: Belarus signs pact for nuclear equipment 21 Olive Press: Spain faces nuclear disaster 22 UPI: Analysis: Algeria, U.S. reach nuclear pact 23 Scotsman.com: Nuclear shutdown sparks energy fears 24 Business Times: Thailand to build nuclear power plants for US$6b 25 US: Orlando Sentinel: More nuclear power in Florida's energy future? 26 NewsRoom Finland: Finland's SPP raps Wallin nuclear power 27 Hindustan Times: US can't transfer its problems to us - Pranab- 28 Hindustan Times: Govt sets up task force to firm up N-positions- 29 Hindustan Times: Making 123 count- 30 CP: N.B. premier shops for reactor but expert skeptical about nuclea 31 US: Birmingham News: TVA idles Browns Ferry reactor - NUCLEAR SECURITY 32 US: AFP: Experts warn of threat of terrorist nuclear attacks - NUCLEAR SAFETY 33 US: WMTW Portland: Advocate For Veterans Exposed To Radiation Dies - 34 US: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Former Dow workers here keep up compens 35 US: UCS: House Subcommittee to Consider FDA Legislation Tomorrow; Sc 36 Scoop: Illegal Use Of Canadian Uranium In DU Weapons 37 US: ENS: Terrorism Risk Assessment for Hawaii Food Irradiator 38 US: NewsBlaze : NRC Seeks Public Comment on Terrorism Risk Assessmen 39 US: Rocky Mountain News: Dispute involves plutonium content 40 US: Rocky Mountain News: Rocky Flats workers face likely denial of c NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 41 US: sacbee.com: Seeking safe water - PEACE 42 Los Angeles Times: American to recast Hiroshima's message - 43 New Scientist: 'Nuclear winter' is still a threat to be avoided - 44 KFDA: Fast Dismantling of Nuclear Weapons US DEPT. OF ENERGY 45 Tri-City Herald: Spirit of cooperation essential at monument 46 Hanford News: Better help for ill Hanford workers 47 Hanford News: Board tells DOE to keep its promise on budget 48 KRQE News 13: Report faults Los Alamos cleanup 49 KNDO/KNDU: Trident submarine Michigan refitted for cruise missiles 50 Rocky Mountain News: Officials: Thorium use at Rocky Flats very limi 51 KnoxNews: Cleanup agreement reached ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 UN Atomic Agency Chief Voices Concern Over Current Stalemate With Iran Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2007 17:00:23 -0400 UN ATOMIC AGENCY CHIEF VOICES CONCERN OVER CURRENT STALEMATE WITH IRAN New York, Jun 11 2007 5:00PM The head of the United Nations atomic watchdog agency today said that he is “increasingly disturbed” by the “current stalemate and the brewing confrontation” with Iran over its nuclear programme, calling for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the issue. Briefing the Board of Governors of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (<"http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2007/board110607.html">IAEA), Director Mohamed ElBaradei said that “it is incumbent on Iran to work urgently with the Agency, under a policy of full transparency and active cooperation, in order for the Agency to be able to provide assurance regarding the exclusively peaceful nature of all of Iran’s nuclear activities.” Such assurances “would certainly help to dispel the concerns of the international community regarding Iran’s nuclear programme,” he told the 35-Member Board at its meeting in Vienna. “Transparency and cooperation by Iran would, therefore, be in the interest of not only the international community but also of Iran.” Mr. ElBaradei said that dialogue and diplomacy are the only means to break the stalemate and defuse the confrontation. Last month, he submitted to the Board a report on Iran’s activities covering the period since his previous account of 22 February. “The facts on the ground indicate that Iran continues to perfect its knowledge relevant to enrichment, and to expand the capacity of its enrichment facility,” Mr. ElBaradei told the Board today regarding the report. At the same time, he noted the IAEA has not been “able to implement the additional protocol that would enable the verification of the absence of undeclared nuclear activities.” The deterioration of the Agency’s extent of its knowledge regarding aspects of the country’s nuclear programme is “disconcerting and regrettable,” he said. Updating the Board on the situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Mr. ElBaradei said that during his visit there in March his discussions with DPRK officials were “forward looking.” “They were focused on the potential for re-establishing the relationship between the DPRK and the Agency,” he said. “We remain ready to begin work with the DPRK as soon as we are notified of their readiness to do so.” Turning to in-house matters, the Director stressed to the Board that the budget of the IAEA – which marks its 50th anniversary this year – must increase to accommodate the growing workload. “I should repeat again that the Agency’s activities cannot continue to expand at their current rate without corresponding increases in financial resources,” he said. “The idea of ‘doing more with less’ has its limits, particularly when the activities under discussion are so critical, and where cutting corners is not an option.” He added that other resources vital to the Agency to carry out its work are badly needed as well, such as updated equipment for its essential verification and safety activities. “This dichotomy between increased high priority activities and inadequate funding, if continued, will lead to the failure of critical IAEA functions,” Mr. ElBaradei warned. 2007-06-11 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/ ***************************************************************** 2 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Envoy Could Provide Nuclear Answers From the Associated Press Monday June 11, 2007 10:31 AM By GEORGE JAHN Associated Press Writer VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Iran sought to blunt international pressure over its nuclear defiance on Monday, dispatching a senior envoy for talks with EU and International Atomic Energy Agency officials that will test Tehran's offer to provide answers about past suspicious atomic activities. The timing and venue of the meetings suggested that Iran was attempting to lessen criticism of its defiance of the U.N. Security Council, which has imposed two sets of sanctions on the Islamic republic for not heeding a demand to freeze its uranium enrichment program. The talks, in Vienna, Austria, were taking place on the opening day of a meeting in the Austrian capital by the IAEA's 35-nation board. Because a main focus of the gathering is Iran, it will give the United States and other critics of Tehran's nuclear program a platform to pressure Tehran on enrichment and other issues. Gregory L. Schulte, the chief U.S. delegate to the gathering, set the tone for countries pushing Iran ahead of the start of the board meeting. ``Iran's leaders (are) continuing to develop capabilities to enrich uranium and produce plutonium,'' in violation of the Security Council, Schulte told reporters. ``These capabilities are not necessary to benefit peaceful nuclear technology but are necessary to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons.'' He also took Tehran to task for ``continuing to withdraw cooperation from the IAEA, causing a troubling deterioration of the agency's knowledge of Iran's nuclear capabilities.'' A linked issue - years of Iranian stonewalling about troubling aspects of Tehran's past nuclear activities - was up for discussion in the EU-Iranian-IAEA talks outside the board meeting. Iranian negotiator Javad Vaedi was meeting first with Robert Cooper, deputy to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. The two were then scheduled to go into talks with Olli Heinonen, an IAEA deputy director general in charge of the agency's Iran investigation. The talks are a spinoff of May 31 discussions in Madrid between EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Ali Larijani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator. That meeting ended with Iran offering to divulge information long sought by IAEA experts trying to establish whether the Islamic republic's past nuclear activists were secretly aimed at trying to make weapons. The offer fell short of the main purpose of the Solana-Larijani talks - finding a way to bridge an impasse over Iran's rejection of U.N. Security Council demands that it suspend uranium enrichment. Still, any decision by Iran to fully cooperate on clearing up past activities would represent a major concession. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 3 Reuters: IAEA warns of Iran atomic risk amid EU-Tehran talks 11:27PM EDT, Mon 11 Jun 2007 By Mark Heinrich and Karin Strohecker VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran's nuclear behavior poses a serious concern it might gain the ability to build atom bombs, the U.N. atomic watchdog agency said on Monday as Tehran and the EU resumed talks but dampened expectations of a breakthrough. Underlining tensions, Tehran cancelled a meeting set between its deputy nuclear negotiator and two top International Atomic Energy Agency officials as he was loath to discuss substance on IAEA questions about Iranian activity, diplomats said. Javad Vaeedi did meet Robert Cooper, a top aide to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, for 4 1/2 hours to smooth the way to further talks between Solana and Iranian chief negotiator Ali Larijani. Vaeedi called the session "constructive" and Cooper spoke of "progress". But both cautioned people not to expect "miracles". There was no sign of headway towards settling the core dispute. Iran refuses to suspend its expanding nuclear fuel program in exchange for a suspension in U.N. sanctions and negotiations on trade benefits offered by world powers. "We will continue our enrichment activities and nuclear activities without pause," Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, said on Iranian state radio. Citing Iran's stonewalling of IAEA inquiries into the scope of its program, Western powers fear Tehran is trying to develop atomic bombs behind the facade of a civilian nuclear energy program it says is for generating electricity. IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei told a meeting of its governing board Iran had made itself the agency's No. 1 nuclear proliferation concern by significantly broadening its uranium enrichment campaign while curbing cooperation with inspectors. Continued... © Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 4 UPI: Lieberman: U.S. should weigh Iran action United Press International - NewsTrack - Top News - Published: June 10, 2007 at 8:50 PM WASHINGTON, June 10 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., Sunday said the United States should consider taking military action against Iran because of Iran's activity in Iraq. Lieberman, appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation," said the United States should "be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq." He said he was not talking about "a massive ground invasion of Iran," but he said the United States has to stop Iran's involvement in the fighting in Iraq. "We've said so publicly that the Iranians have a base in Iran at which they are training Iraqis who are coming in and killing Americans," he said. "By some estimates they have killed as many as 200 American soldiers." Lieberman said talking with Iran was insufficient. "But if there's any hope of the Iranians living according to the international rule of law and stopping, for instance, their nuclear weapons development, we can't just talk to them," he said. "If they don't play by the rules we've got to use our force, and to me that would include taking military action to stop them from doing what they're doing now." © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 5 AFP: Kuwait says US cannot use bases for any Iran strike - Mon Jun 11, 7:43 AM KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Kuwait, a staunch US ally, said on Monday it would not allow the United States to use its territory as a launch-pad for any attack on Iran over its nuclear programme. "The United States did not ask (to use Kuwaiti military facilities for any attack) and even if it did, we will not allow anybody to use our territory," defence and interior minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah told reporters. Kuwait served as the launch-pad for the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and remains the main staging point for US-led troops in the country. Around 15,000 US troops are stationed at several bases in the emirate. On Sunday, visiting Iranian parliament speaker Gholam Ali Hadad Adel said Tehran would hit US military bases in Gulf states if they were used in an attack on his country. "If this actually happens, we will be forced to defend ourselves... We will target those bases or points," he said. Washington has always said it wants to resolve the nuclear crisis through diplomacy, but has never ruled out using military action to bring Tehran to heel. Iran consistently denies it is trying to build nuclear weapons and says it merely wants to generate energy. Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Canada Co. All Rights Reserved. Privacy ***************************************************************** 6 YN: S. Korea becoming heavily dependent on oil from Persian Gulf : U.S. report YONHAP NEWS 2007/06/11 07:45 KST WASHINGTON, June 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has grown more dependent on Persian Gulf states for oil imports over the last decade despite the country's efforts for diversification, a report by the U.S. Department of Energy said Sunday.    In the country analysis issued for June, the department's Energy Information Administration also said South Korea's efforts to privatize the electricity sector have been slowed by lagging investor interest and government reluctance.    According to the report, South Korea consumed an estimated 2.2 million barrels of oil per day last year, making it the ninth-largest consumer of oil in the world. It imported an average 3 million barrels a day, making it the fifth largest net importer of oil.    Seventy-five percent of the imports came from Persian Gulf nations, and Saudi Arabia was the single-largest source by supplying 29 percent of South Korea's oil purchases.    "This share of oil imports from the Persian Gulf has risen over the last 10 years, despite concerted efforts on the part of South Korean officials to diversify the country's sources of petroleum imports," said the report.    "In 1996, South Korea received 64 percent of its imports from Persian Gulf countries." South Korea was the second-largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2005, with consumption of natural gas growing rapidly in the last decade, the report said. Twenty-seven percent of the imports came from Qatar, with 25 percent from Indonesia, 21 percent from Malaysia, and 19 percent from Oman.    The majority of electricity supplies in South Korea comes from conventional thermal sources, such as coal and natural gas, but nuclear power is becoming an important source, the report said.    The country plans to privatize the electric power sector, but the progress has been slow "due in part to tepid investor response, public concerns about rising power prices, and reluctance on the part of the government to sell some power sector assets," it said.    ldm@yna.co.kr (END) ***************************************************************** 7 AFP: Russia agrees to help end NKorea banking row - US by P. Parameswaran Mon Jun 11, 5:52 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - Russia has agreed to help the United States break the impasse over a long-running banking dispute blocking North Korea's nuclear disarmament, the US Treasury said Monday. Moscow reportedly granted a US request for a private Russian bank to accept purportedly illicit North Korean funds currently frozen in Macau's Banco Delta Asia (BDA) before they are moved to Pyongyang. "The United States is working with Russian and Macanese authorities to facilitate the transfer of the DPRK (North Korea)-related funds previously frozen at Banco Delta Asia," US Treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise told AFP. "We appreciate the willingness of the Russian government to facilitate this transaction and the good cooperation of the Macanese authorities," she said, without elaborating. North Korea insists the funds should be in its hands before it shuts down a key nuclear reactor. The move is part of an agreement the United State, Russia, the two Koreas, China and Japan reached to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons drive. Amid indications that the complex dispute could be resolved as early as this week, top US nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill met his South Korean counterpart Chun Yung-Woo for talks in Washington Monday. "They talked about how to move the six party talks forward," said a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Ahead of his trip to Washington, Chun spoke of a possible "breakthrough" in the banking row. Hill said in a weekend interview with local television that the United States had sought Russia's help to resolve the BDA issue. "We'd all like to see this behind us so we can get back down to the real business of the six-party talks, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. Washington has not yet received confirmation that the North Korean government had received the money, he said. The North Korean funds are expected to be transferred to a private commercial bank in Russia where Pyongyang has an account, the Wall Street Journal, a US business newspaper, reported Monday, quoting US officials. They said Russian President Vladimir Putin's government has talked with the White House, but that financial institutions in Moscow needed assurances they would not face penalties from US financial regulators if they agreed to receive the funds. The plan called for the North Korean money to transfer through the New York Federal Reserve and Russia's central bank before it can be deposited, the report said. The private Russian bank cited as likely to receive the funds is the Far East Commercial Bank, where Pyongyang has a dormant account. To make the money transfer possible, Washington also agreed to make "a temporary exception" to its ban on US banks' trades with the blacklisted BDA, reports said. Under a February 13 six-nation agreement, the nuclear-armed North agreed to disable its atomic programs in return for aid and diplomatic benefits. The first stage, the shutdown of the Yongbyon reactor, was to have been completed by April 14 but North Korea refuses to make a start until it receives the money. The US Treasury says it blacklisted the Banco Delta Asia on suspicion it was handling the proceeds of North Korean money-laundering and counterfeiting. It says the North's funds have now been freed, but Pyongyang has been unable to find a foreign bank willing to transfer money seen as tainted. The communist state insists on a transfer rather than a withdrawal to prove it has regained access to the international banking system. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 8 [NYTr] New Cold War and Arms Race Underway Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2007 20:59:53 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space - Jun 11, 2007 http://www.space4peace.org NEW COLD WAR AND ARMS RACE UNDERWAY The news in recent days has been full of the controversy about U.S. plans to deploy "missile defense" interceptors and radar facilities in Eastern Europe. Russia has responded by expressing fears that the U.S. military and NATO are attempting to surround and control her. Russia has made counter suggestions saying that if the U.S. really wanted to protect itself and Europe from future Iranian missiles, then placing such facilities would be more practical in Azerbaijan. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice quickly ruled that out as an option saying, "One does not choose sites for missile defense out of the blue." Russian President Vladimir Putin makes the case that since 9-11 the U.S. has established military bases in Central America, Romania, and Bulgaria, and has been expanding NATO into Eastern Europe with bases in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, and is now attempting to create more bases in the Ukraine and Georgia. Russia is starting to feel surrounded. This is something that could never have happened during the Cold War - in fact if the U.S. had tried it would have likely caused a nuclear exchange. When the former Soviet Union attempted to put nuclear missiles into Cuba in 1962 - the U.S.'s sphere of influence - nuclear war was barely averted. Participants at the May 5 International Conference against the Militarization of Europe in Prague issued a declaration opposing U.S. missile defense deployments saying, "We voice our protest against the plans of the Bush administration to install a 'national missile defense system' for the U.S. on the territory of the Czech Republic and Poland. Most people in the Czech Republic and Poland, as well as in the rest of Europe, reject plans to host this system. We reject the official reasons given for the NMD project as mere pretexts. The realisation of the U.S. plan will not lead to enhanced security. On the contrary - it will lead to new dangers and insecurities. Although it is described as 'defensive', in reality it will allow the United States to attack other countries without fear of retaliation. It will also put 'host' countries on the front line in future U.S. wars." One of the first things the Bush administration did upon taking office was withdraw the U.S. from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty with Russia. This treaty banned the testing and deployment of so-called "missile defense" systems. Since that U.S. withdrawal, Bush has aggressively moved to fund and deploy the technologies that will give the U.S. first-strike capability of any other nuclear power. As we witnessed with the 2003 U.S. preemptive attack on Iraq, first-strike is now the official military doctrine of the U.S. Putin recognizes this new twist when he recently said, "Once the missile defense system is put in place it will work automatically with the entire nuclear capability of the U.S. It will be an integral part of the U.S. nuclear capability....An arms race is unfolding. Was it we who withdrew from the ABM Treaty? We already told [Bush] two years ago, don't do this, you don't need to do this. What are you doing? You are destroying the system of international security....Of course, we have to respond to it." Putin is obviously referring to current Bush plans to deploy "missile defense" interceptors in Poland and a high-tech Star Wars radar facility in the Czech Republic. The Bush team says these facilities are intended to protect against Iranian missiles but all one has to do is look at a map of the region and see that the real target is Russia. Following the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the economy of Russia fell apart and the standard of living dropped substantially. But in recent years, due in large part to oil exploration inside Russia which now surpasses the daily oil output of Saudi Arabia, Russia's economy is growing again and the standard of living improving. Russia has become the world's largest producer of natural gas. Russia has announced that four of its largest oil fields will not be open to foreign development and its national treasury has begun to convert Russia's dollar reserves into gold and rubles. None of these steps has been well received in the banking centers of Washington or London. As fossil fuels become scarce worldwide, the U.S. and British banking and oil corporation elites have developed an international strategy to take control of remaining supplies. This is manifest in the present U.S. and UK occupation of Iraq and U.S. permanent bases in Central Asia - a key region for pipelines to move Caspian Sea resources south for shipment in the Asian-Pacific region. But Russia and China do not accept the notion of the U.S. becoming the "master" of the planet. Already the U.S. Space Command has declared that it will be the master of space and will develop the offensive space weapons technologies to "deny" other countries access to space. Pentagon operatives have said that international treaties will restrict the U.S. ability to take unilateral and preemptive military action globally. The U.S. secret military budget, the "black budget", is now estimated to be about $60 billion per year and is mostly funding high-tech space weapons. Even Congress is not provided information on how the Pentagon is spending these funds. A reporter at the weapons industry publication, Jane's Defense Weekly, did a research project on the secret budget architecture and suggests it came to the U.S. by Nazi scientists brought to the U.S. after World War II under the classified "Operation Paperclip." On May 31 U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that the U.S. favors a protracted troop presence in Iraq similar to the one in South Korea. Gates told reporters that he is thinking of "a mutual agreement" with Iraq in which "some force of Americans . . . is present for a protracted period of time, but in ways that are protective of the sovereignty of the host government." Gates said such a long-term U.S. presence would assure allies in the Middle East that the U.S. will not withdraw from Iraq as it did from Vietnam, "lock, stock and barrel." Highly respected former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was quoted in April as saying that deployment of U.S. missile defense bases in Poland and the Czech Republic is an attempt by the U.S. to control Europe. "It is all about influence and domination in Europe," Gorbachev said. Asked how Russia could respond to these plans, he only said: "Time will show." One Russian political analyst puts it more directly. ''Hitler was striving for global domination, and the United States is striving for global domination now,'' Sergei Markov, head of the Moscow-based Institute for Political Research recently told The Associated Press. ''Hitler thought he was above the League of Nations, and the United States thinks it is above the United Nations. Their action is similar... only the United States now is claiming global exclusiveness,'' Markov said. Bruce K. Gagnon Coordinator Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space PO Box 652 Brunswick, ME 04011 (207) 443-9502 http://www.space4peace.org globalnet@mindspring.com http://space4peace.blogspot.com (our blog) * ================================================================ .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 ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 9 Guardian Unlimited: Israel Launches Spy Satellite From the Associated Press Monday June 11, 2007 6:16 AM TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) - Israel's military launched a spy satellite early Monday, the Defense Ministry said, and a senior official suggested it could help keep track of developments in Iran. The Ofek 7 satellite was ``launched and successfully injected into orbit,'' the ministry said in a statement. Israel's Army Radio said its resolution was high enough to detect objects of 28 inches on the ground. The chief of the Defense Ministry's space program, Haim Eshed, suggested that the satellite could be used to counter Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. When asked if the Ofek-7 could be used to strike Iran, Eshed said ``Intelligence is intelligence and you can do with the intelligence what the leaders decide.'' ``But this is definitely intelligence on the best level that it's possible to obtain from satellite systems,'' Eshed told Army Radio. The satellite weighs 66 pounds, is 7.5 feet long and will operate at least four years, Israel Radio reported. The launch was carried out at 2:40 a.m. local time, Israel Radio reported. Ofek 7 is to replace Ofek 5, which has been orbiting for almost five years. Ofek 5's life had to be extended when the launch of its planned replacement, Ofek 6, failed two years ago. Israel has labeled Iran as its most serious strategic threat. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 10 Guardian Unlimited: Report: Risk of Nuclear Warfare Rising From the Associated Press Monday June 11, 2007 8:16 PM By KARL RITTER Associated Press Writer STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - The world's top military powers are gradually dismantling their stockpiles of nuclear arms, but all are developing new missiles and warheads with smaller yields that could increase the risk of atomic warfare, a Swedish research institute said Monday. In its annual report on military forces around the globe, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute also said the rising number of nations with nuclear weapons is raising the risk such arms could be used. ``The concern is that countries are starting to see these weapons as useable, whereas during the Cold War they were seen as a deterrent,'' said Ian Anthony, a nuclear expert at the institute. SIPRI for the first time counted North Korea among the world's nuclear countries, because of its underground test explosion of an atomic device last October. While saying it remains unclear whether the communist country has developed a deliverable nuclear weapon, the institute estimated North Korea could have produced about six nuclear bombs, based on its stockpiles of plutonium. Iran is a potential member of the nuclear club if it decides to turn its uranium enrichment program to military use, Anthony said - something the U.S. and its allies suspect is the Tehran regime's plan but Iranian leaders deny. ``Iran could appear on this list, but at the earliest five years from now,'' Anthony said. The U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain, Pakistan and India are known to have nuclear weapons, while Israel is thought by most experts to have them. The report estimated those nations had 11,530 warheads available for delivery by missile or aircraft at the start of 2007, with Russia and the United States accounting for more than 90 percent - 5,614 in Russia and 5,045 in the U.S. Both countries are reducing their stockpiles as part of bilateral treaties, but are developing new weapons as they modernize their forces. Britain, France and China also plan to deploy new nuclear weapons, the institute said. India, Pakistan and Israel each have dozens of warheads, but their stockpiles are believed to be only partly deployed, the institute said. ``India and Pakistan are both thought to be expanding their nuclear strike capabilities, while Israel seems to be waiting to see how the situation in Iran develops,'' it said. The United States remained the world's biggest military spender last year, devoting about $529 billion to its military forces while China overtook Japan as Asia's top arms spender, the report said. U.S. military spending grew from $505 billion in 2005 mainly because of the ``costly military operations'' in Iraq and Afghanistan, SIPRI said. ``This massive increase in U.S. military spending has been one of the factors contributing to the deterioration of the U.S. economy since 2001,'' it said. The U.S. was followed by Britain and France in military spending, while China's expenditures reached nearly $50 billion, making it the fourth biggest arms spender in the world, SIPRI said. Japan was fifth at $43.7 billion. Russia, which spent $34.7 billion on arms, has used its energy wealth to revive national pride, to restore its influence ``in surrounding countries and to maximize its geopolitical power,'' SIPRI said. All the numbers were figured in 2005 dollars. International arms sales have grown since 2002, with China and India being the biggest importers and the U.S. and Russia the two major exporters, the report said. Five Middle Eastern countries were among the top 10 importers of weapons. ``While much media attention was given to arms deliveries to Iran, mainly from Russia, deliveries from the USA and European countries to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were significantly larger,'' the report said. --- Associated Press writer Louise Nordstrom contributed to this report. --- On the Net: SIPRI: http://www.sipri.org Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 11 Last thing eager nukes need is handouts EDITORIAL BOARD Monday, June 11, 2007 With the number of nuclear-powered generators set to triple in the next decade, Texas finds itself in a nuclear renaissance. The state's dramatic population growth — more than 1,000 people move here every day — has created a near-insatiable demand for energy that has nuclear power providers licking their lips. Companies like TXU Corp., Exelon Corp. and NRG Energy Inc. have been planning to expand into Texas for years. This legislation, House Bill 2994, stretches the Texas Economic Development Act, a 2001 state law that provided school districts with the ability to grant tax breaks in order to lure businesses. The law was intended to give school boards a say in Texas' economic development but has mostly resulted in questionable fiscal policy. Because of the law, school boards can grant tax breaks to businesses and then have the state make up the lost local revenue from state revenue. According to Dick Lavine, a senior fiscal analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, the total cost of projects resulting from the 2001 law has been $250 million a year. The state finances these tax breaks at the expense of other public projects. It's questionable whether tax breaks are necessary to lure nuclear energy providers to the state. The Texas Economic Development Act was intended to enable Texas to compete for plants and jobs. Prime examples of the system working well were the Samsung expansion in Austin and the location of the Toyota plant in San Antonio. But nuclear energy providers aren't going to settle elsewhere because the market for energy in Texas is too large. Supporters of HB 2994 argue that the school tax breaks are useful because they will accelerate the process of energy providers locating in Texas. The sooner energy companies arrive, the sooner these companies hire employees, invest capital and pay taxes, supporters say. Moreover, only a limited number of federal tax breaks are available, and the faster energy companies set up locally, the more likely it is that they will receive a larger portion of these federal subsidiaries. Consider, however, the tradeoff. Energy providers will only pay 20 percent of taxes in years three through 10. The typical nuclear plant costs $7 billion to build and remains operational for about 60 years, according to figures supplied by the Nuclear Energy Institute, an advocacy group for the nuclear energy industry. Using those figures, a single plant could cost the state $40 million to $50 million in lost revenue. Gov. Rick Perry has until Sunday to veto legislation passed in the most recent legislative session and we hope he decides to strike down HB 2994. Even though we're opposed to the school tax breaks in HB 2994, nuclear power is one of several important energy sources for a growing state. A recent study conducted by the U.S. Energy Department found that Texas gives off the most carbon dioxide in the United States, and nuclear plants are the most practical way to reduce Texas' carbon footprints. Presented by The Austin American-Statesman. Contact us. Corrections. Site Requirements. ***************************************************************** 12 Bangkok Post: Egat to build $6bn nuclear plant Tuesday June 12, 2007 Facility needed to cut dependence on gas YUTHANA PRAIWAN The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) plans to spend US$6 billion, or 204 billion baht, to build the country's first nuclear power plant. In a speech yesterday, Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand stressed the need for developing nuclear energy as an alternative power option. Building a nuclear power plant is necessary, he said, given the rising demand for electricity and limited fuel options for generating affordable electricity in the future. ''For every 1% the economy grows, electricity demand will increase 1.14%,'' he said. In addition, existing fuel sources for electricity production also emit greeenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming. For the first time ever, officials included nuclear energy on the 15-year power development plan that runs through 2021. By the next decade, a nuclear plant will be the most affordable way to meet the country's rapidly growing energy needs, Dr Piyasvasti said. ''The action plan for the nuclear energy programme is expected to be completed by the end of this year and then it will take about seven years for project preparation and another six years for construction work,'' said Dr Piyasvasti. Thailand first flirted with nuclear power 31 years ago, but the idea was dropped after environmentalists strongly opposed the idea and companies discovered indigenous natural gas. If the first nuclear power plant was built in Thailand at that time, electricity would be much cheaper than it is now. It is clear that Thailand needs to diversify its energy sources to lessen its dependence on natural gas, which supplies about 70% of Thailand's electricity production. The rest comes from oil, coal and hydropower. Indigenous natural gas reserves are running low, and plans to import about 10 million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas remains uncertain. Officials initially touted the benefits of coal, which is cheap and abundant, but soon cowed to protests from environmentalists. Essentially, this leaves nuclear power as the only choice left. Many neighbours, including China, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, have begun developing nuclear energy. Egat governor Kraisi Kanasuta said Egat would be the sole investor in the first nuclear power plant since it is something new for Thailand. The state-run firm needs to make all the preparations for the project, including public relations. The government wants to generate 4,000 megawatts of electricity from nuclear energy within the next 15 years. Egat is looking for about 1,000 to 2,000 rai close to the sea to build the plant. According to Mr Kraisi, Egat will spend about US$6 billion, or 204 billion baht, to build the nuclear power plant. This amounts to US$1.5 million for every megawatt of electricity produced. Although coal-fired power plants are cheaper at US$1.2 million for every megawatt, the cost of electricity production from nuclear energy is cheaper at 2.01 baht per unit compared to 2.05 baht per unit from coal. ''Consumers will pay less on their electricity bill if nuclear power can operate,'' said Mr Kraisi. © Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2007 ***************************************************************** 13 CNET News: Nuke power not so clean or green | Newsmakers | Longtime activist Helen Caldicott sees no silver lining in a nuclear energy renaissance. By Elsa Wenzel Associate editor, CNET Published: June 11, 2007, 4:00 AM PDT newsmaker Cold War-era nuclear fears have eased in recent decades, replaced by anxieties over global warming. Lately, in some circles, nuclear power has gained a new reputation as a pollution-free cure-all for a world starved for clean energy. But the nuclear industry hasn't cleaned up its act, according to Helen Caldicott, who spearheaded the nuclear disarmament movement in the 1980s. (Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling nominated Caldicott for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.) Caldicott, a pediatrician by training, has devoted 35 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the health hazards of nuclear power. Not only is atomic energy inefficient, but it adds to greenhouse gas emissions while releasing deadly radiation for countless generations, argues Caldicott. Her recent work is summed up by the title of her book Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer. She is working with the Nuclear Policy Research Institute, which she founded, to convince Congress that solar and wind power instead can mitigate global warming. Caldicott is known for courting controversy, whether by debating with world leaders, marching naked in the streets of San Francisco, or implying that Hershey sold radioactive chocolates containing milk produced near the Three Mile Island disaster. While she no longer receives death threats as she did in the 1980s, Caldicott told CNET that just proves that her voice hasn't been loud enough lately. Q: There's been a lot of talk lately about a nuclear renaissance, particularly with concerns over global warming getting so much attention, as something that environmentalists are starting to support. Caldicott: The nuclear power industry was moribund after Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, but what they saw was a tremendous opportunity when global warming entered the headlines, and Al Gore did his film and all of his work. They then decided to conduct this propaganda exercise to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, virtually telling mistruths, that nuclear power is free of emissions and green and clean. Nuclear power's main emission, of course, is massive quantities of radioactive waste that pollute food chains and cause cancer for hundreds of millions of years. If you take the whole fuel chain as one piece, nuclear power produces large quantities of global warming gases because millions of tons of rock and ore need to be mined to get the uranium out of the ground. And it has to be crushed, using more fossil fuels. At the moment, uranium is enriched at Paducah, Ky., where they have two 1,500-megawatt filthy, old, coal-fired plants to produce the electricity to enrich the uranium. Also, 93 percent of the CFC 114 gas released in the United States is through leaking pipes at that plant in Paducah. CFC not only destroys the ozone (layer) and is banned under the Montreal Protocol--and the nuclear industry is being grandfathered from that--but it also is a potent global warmer 10,000 to 20,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide. There are other such gases released during the production of uranium fuel. When uranium is mined, millions of tons of uranium tailings, emitting radioactive gas, radon and other such elements, are left lying on the ground. That material should be placed back in the ground from whence it came and the whole area reconstituted. That would take up huge amounts of fossil fuel as well, and also cost the industry so much it would almost not be worth producing the fuel in the first place. What about new technologies making nuclear power safer, cleaner and more efficient. Is that possible? Caldicott: That's another fabric of lies. The...reactors they're planning...one (is) the AP-1000 by Westinghouse, which is essentially the same as the light water reactors that operate today, but cheaper to build because it has less concrete and steel. It's been nicknamed the eggshell reactor and, as such, it's very dangerous and could incur a major accident or meltdown. A pebble bed reactor has millions of tennis ball-sized spheres of graphite embedded in which is enriched uranium, and they continually circulate. The whole thing is cooled by helium gas. If there's a leak of gas, it will be incredibly radioactive, one. Two, what burned at Chernobyl was graphite moderating rods, just carbon, the same stuff you put in pencils. It's very flammable. Already there has been an accident in a pebble bed reactor in Germany during the time that Chernobyl melted down. Three, they're talking about fast reactors. Now what they would plan to do is all implicit in a plan called Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, being mooted by the Department of Energy, which is incredibly dangerous. They plan to make uranium fuel rods, export these to other countries, then re-import the intensely radioactive waste from those countries encased in the fuel rods, and melt them down in concentrated nitric acid. This is called reprocessing. From that witches' cauldron of radioactive liquids is removed plutonium 239, which has a half life of 24,000 years and is a fuel for nuclear weapons. These fast reactors are cooled with liquid sodium, an extraordinarily dangerous material. If there's a crack in the pipe, liquid sodium exposed to air either burns or explodes. You lose your coolant. Ten pounds of plutonium is critical mass. There would be a massive meltdown, but not just that a huge, huge nuclear explosion, scattering 10 to 15 tons of plutonium to the four winds. It's worse than any science fiction book ever written, because hypothetically 1 or 2 pounds evenly distributed throughout the world could kill most people on Earth with lung cancer. So if nuclear power is not the answer, then what is the answer for the future of our energy? Caldicott: My institute, the Nuclear Policy Research Institute, held a conference in Washington, D.C., called Nuclear Power and Global Warming. I raised the money, and Dr. Arjun Makhijani has just completed a study which we call Roadmap for a Zero-CO2 Energy Future. All our electricity can now be generated by renewables, in which Silicon Valley is investing. This could occur by 2040 actually, and if you eliminate massive government subsidies for nuclear power, it dies of its own accord. Here we have a blueprint for all electricity production for the United States, which currently produces 25 percent of the global (carbon dioxide), without any CO2 or nuclear power. ** The people who would call me alarmist are nuclear engineers, physicists or businessmen who know nothing about medicine. Once you know about biology and genetics and medicine, there's absolutely no debate. ** How likely do you think it is that a study like this would get traction politically? Caldicott: The current administration is running out of steam, so to speak. Almost certainly a Democrat will be elected president. The Democratic Congress now is totally open to this road map. I've visited Barbara Boxer. Her Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is very interested, as is Ed Markey's committee set up by Nancy Pelosi to advise (John) Dingell's House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Do you think nuclear power has a green face right now, that people have forgotten about things that may have been more in the public's mind, say, 20 years ago? Caldicott: You mean meltdown? I think subliminally everyone is deeply concerned, that they all know a terrorist could melt a nuclear power plant down...They don't know that nuclear power plants continually emit radioactive material into the air and water. What people need to know is if the Second World War was fought today, Europe would be uninhabitable for the rest of time, because all the reactors on the European landmass would have melted down because they would have been attacked...In fact, Sweden got within two minutes of a meltdown like Chernobyl last July. Now if that had happened, that would signal the end of nuclear power . You've spoken about your work as being a sort of physician for the planet. Caldicott: I was on the faculty at the Harvard Medical School in the cystic fibrosis clinic and I miss medicine terribly, but I comfort myself with the knowledge that I'm practicing global preventive medicine. Because the waste from nuclear power will induce epidemics and malignancies in children for the rest of time--congenital deformities and genetic disease. What motivates you? Caldicott: I took the Hippocratic oath. My vocation is medicine. I'm obliged therefore to practice it; that's why I was born, to practice medicine and save lives. Period. Some people have accused you of alarmism or inflating the dangers. Caldicott: I would say that I can't speak enough to inflate the dangers. In fact, I under-inflate the dangers. I spoke recently to my alma mater at Harvard Medical School to the best pediatricians in the world, and they were absolutely astonished and alarmed. There is no debate about the medical consequences. The people who would call me alarmist are nuclear engineers, physicists or businessmen who know nothing about medicine. Once you know about biology and genetics and medicine, there's absolutely no debate. Our job as doctors is to teach those people and the general public what those dangers are, as we taught them in the past. What do you think is potentially more destructive: global warming or massive nuclear catastrophe? Caldicott: Well, it's sort of like going from tobacco to crack. You don't cure one evil by inserting another evil...The answers are all there, and the people in Silicon Valley know that because they're making millions of dollars. They call green energy green not because it's green but because it makes lots of greenbacks. Do you see so much attention to green business, both in the sense of making money and being ecologically sound, as a positive sign? Caldicott: It's enormously exciting, and 31 U.S. states now are taking the lead and moving on green energy. It's happening despite the White House and the administration, despite the nuclear and coal companies, but not fast enough. The output of CO2 increased 3 percent in the last four years...Normally it would be 1 percent. That's because of China and India. Things are in a state of high crisis. If America wakes up, it can take the lead. If it doesn't, one-third of the species on Earth could be extinct in 50 or 100 years. The answers are all there, and the people in Silicon Valley know that because they're making millions of dollars. They call green energy green not because it's green but because it makes lots of greenbacks. Do you think such a massive extinction could be prevented? Caldicott: Only if we stop driving cars and burning coal. If you look at it clearly, we have to stop creating CO2 now. People think, oh well, 10, 20 years. It's now. Things are so urgent. And that means no more SUVs, it means covering the parking lots of America with solar panels, creating electric cars powered only by solar. Are there practices you've changed personally in the past several years or decade for keeping your carbon output in line? Caldicott: I've got a Prius car. I've got a solar hot water energy system. I've switched to green energy with my electricity bills...I'm about to plant a vegetable garden and try to live on the vegetables. I'm going to be living near a river with lots of fish in it...I've got a pontoon and am going to be eating fish for dinner at night. I turn off every single light in the house except the room in which I'm in. Are there any political or cultural leaders who are getting some of your points across? Caldicott: Al Gore should run for president...I don't see anyone else sticking their necks out and speaking the truth in broad, pungent terms the way he is...There are 30,000 H-bombs in the world, and Russia and America own 97 percent. We need someone to step up and say we've got to disarm bilaterally. The precedent is set because Reagan and Gorbachev almost did it...I don't know if Gore would do this, but he might. When you spoke with Ronald Reagan, did you find him receptive to what you were saying? Caldicott: No, he wasn't...He didn't understand what I was saying. But he had no knowledge of his own...He was a nice old man, I have to say; he did have a heart. And I think retrospectively I did influence him. He started to say nuclear war must never be fought and can never be won. And he did then work cooperatively with Gorbachev to end the Cold War. Can you talk about your new book, War in Heaven? Caldicott: It was written with Craig Eisendrath. It's about the history of outer space, how when Sputnik first went up and the Americans became paranoid thinking Russia was ahead, and the space race began, it was seen from two perspectives, one from a peaceful perspective. Now we know that all our global communications, our cell phones, ATM machines, global commerce, GPS systems, are totally dependent on space and satellites. And on one hand, it's been wonderful the way we've explored the universe. On the other hand, the military simultaneously, all the way along, has been interested in using space for war...It's called full spectrum dominance and it's the most frightening thing I've ever read about. That's what the book is about. You've said you talked with scientists from the Manhattan Project who later regretted their work. Caldicott: They felt extraordinary guilt about vaporizing 220,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and they thought they could harness atoms for peace using nuclear power. But they knew deep in their hearts that plutonium was manufactured in these reactors, as are 200 other radioactive elements, all of which are carcinogenic. So they tried to salve their guilt by instigating nuclear power... Oppenheimer put it best when he said, at the end of the Manhattan Project..."the physicists have known sin." And in truth, they've been sinning ever since in the nuclear area. Copyright ©2007 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy ***************************************************************** 14 NRC: NRC Seeks Comments on Proposed Rule to Expedite Review of Access Determinations for Certain Information for Hearings News Release - 2007-07-073 - 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 is proposing to amend its regulations governing when expedited appellate review by the Commission is permitted in NRC adjudicatory proceedings. The proposed rule would make an important difference in how quickly certain petitioners can seek redress if they believe they’ve been unjustly denied access to sensitive information necessary to participate in a hearing. The protected information covered in this new rule is both sensitive unclassified non-safeguards information (SUNSI) and Safeguards Information (SGI). Potential parties who request a hearing or petition to intervene in a hearing under 10 CFR Part 2 may need access to SUNSI and/or SGI to meet Commission requirements for hearing requests or for intervention. The proposed rule would permit a petitioner denied access to the sensitive information to appeal that denial to the Commission without waiting for a ruling on its entire hearing request or a ruling completing a hearing. This new proposed rule could enhance both public involvement in NRC adjudicatory proceedings and the effectiveness and efficiency of these proceedings. Interested persons are invited to submit comments on the proposed rule within 30 days of publication in the Federal Register to guarantee consideration by the NRC. Comments submitted later than this date may be considered if practical. Comments can be mailed to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C., 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Comments can also be hand-carried to 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md., between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on federal work days, or they can be faxed to 301-415-1101. E-mail comments can also be sent to SECY@nrc.gov. In addition, comments can also be submitted through the NRC's eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov NRC news releases are available through a free list server subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site. Monday, June 11, 2007 ***************************************************************** 15 BBC NEWS: Probe into nuclear reactor fault Last Updated: Monday, 11 June 2007, 10:50 GMT 11:50 UK Hunterston was shut down on Sunday night One of two reactors at Hunterston nuclear power station in Ayrshire had to be shut down on Sunday after engineers found potential problems. An investigation is now under way into what caused the fault with the temperature controls. Operator British Energy was only given permission to restart the plant last month after repairs to cracked pipes. * BBC Copyright Notice ***************************************************************** 16 APP.COM: Don't nuke the expert | Asbury Park Press Online Monday, June 11, 2007 Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 06/11/07 The Department of Environmental Protection's top nuclear expert, Dennis J. Zannoni, is facing suspension as a result of an investigation prompted by his unflattering remarks about the qualifications of members of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission advisory committee. Zannoni should not be punished. The loss of his expertise, particularly as it pertains to AmerGen's bid to operate the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant another 20 years after its license expires in 2009, would amount to punishing the public. He has raised valid safety questions about the plant — concerns the NRC has repeatedly refused to take seriously. New Jersey taxpayers have invested 15 years in Zannoni, to acquire knowledge and utilize it on their behalf. He has an obligation to defend citizens' interests, even if it means bucking heads with NRC officials. He should be allowed to challenge and criticize them, free from repercussions. Zannoni was overheard during a break in a Jan. 30 conference call observing that members of an NRC oversight committee came primarily from the nuclear power industry and academia. For that "insult," he was removed as the DEP's supervising nuclear engineer. The DEP is further recommending action that could include suspension due to questions the ensuing "investigation" raised about his use of a government-issued pickup truck, an e-mail he once sent to radio shock jock Howard Stern on his work computer and two e-mails he sent to a Press reporter without going through the DEP's press office. The term "witch hunt" comes to mind. Copyright © 2007 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 17 Bangkok Post: Thailand to 'go nuclear' by 2020 (dpa) - Thailand will go nuclear in 2020 at the "earliest" to meet its dual goals of increasing electricity supply while slowing carbon emissions, state media reports said Monday. Thai Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amaranand said it will take seven years to prepare for nuclear power in Thailand and another six to build the plants, said the Thai News Agency (TNA). "I think it would be dangerous and irresponsible to simply use energy conservation and renewable energies to try to contain global greenhouse gas emissions," said Piyasvasti. "You must go nuclear as well, and eventually also use carbon capture storage." Thailand currently relies on indigenous natural gas for more than 65 per cent of its power generation, with the remaining sources from imported oil, coal, hydro and renewables, the last acounting for only 5.3 per cent of the electricity output. Under the ministry's energy plan, Thailand will replace 20 per cent of car fuel consumption with gasohol and bio-diesel by 2011. In the same year it has targetted that 8 per cent of its electricity grid will be sources from renewable energies such as biomass, wind and solar. But in the longer term, the Thailand will need to opt for nuclear power, said the minister. "In Thailand's case I think its inevitable that we will have to look at the nuclear option," said Piyasvasti. He said it would take another seven years to train nuclear technicians and educate the public, and then six more to build the plants. "That means it will be 13 years from now at the earliest," said the minister. He predicted that initially nuclear would account for only 5 to 10 per cent of Thailand's electricity needs. The Energy Ministry has yet to decide on an appropriate location for its planned nuclear plants. Piyasvasti is a member of an appointed interim cabinet set up after the September 19, 2006 coup. His nuclear plans could be overturned by the next elected government. © Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2006 ***************************************************************** 18 KnoxNews: Browns Ferry 1 shut down Connected The process of ironing out the kinks continues as TVA restores its oldest nuclear reactor. Unit 1 at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant automatically shut down on Saturday, a little more than a day after it reached full power for the first time in 22 years. The culprit was a faulty measuring instrument in a moisture separating system, said TVA spokesman Terry Johnson. Read the report filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission here. The shutdown also revealed a problem with a system of probes that measure power levels at various locations in the reactor's core. One of the probes failed to automatically withdraw from the core. The reactor had been connected to TVA's power grid for a week when the shutdown occurred. Johnson said plant personnel were fixing the problems and working toward a restart "in the next couple of days." Posted by Andrew Eder on June 11, 2007 at 10:03 AM Copyright 2007 - KnoxNews.com is an E.W. Scripps Company website. ***************************************************************** 19 NRC: NRC Meeting June 27 to Discuss Review Process for Expected New Reactor Application Near Bay City, Texas News Release - 2007-07-074 - 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 Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct a public meeting in Bay City, Texas, on Wednesday, June 27, to discuss how the agency will review an expected Combined License application for new reactors at the South Texas Project nuclear power plant, located southwest of Bay City. NRG Energy, the prospective applicant, has told the NRC it intends to apply early this fall for a license to build and operate two Advanced Boiling Water Reactors at the South Texas Project site. “NRG may be among the first companies in many years to apply for a license to build and operate a nuclear power plant. The NRC is devoting significant resources to prepare for these applications, so we’ll be ready to review them when they’re submitted,” said William Borchardt, Director of the NRC’s Office of New Reactors. “We want to make sure the communities around the South Texas Project and other potential sites fully understand how we’ll go through this process and how they can participate and stay informed.” The meeting will be held at the Bay City Civic Center, 201 Seventh St., from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. NRC staff presentations will describe the overall Combined License review process, which includes safety and environmental assessments, as well as how the public can participate in the process. The NRC will host an open house for two hours prior to the meeting so members of the public have the opportunity to talk informally with agency staff. More information on the NRC’s new reactor licensing process is available on the agency’s Web site here: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactor-licensing.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. , June 11, 2007 ***************************************************************** 20 UPI: Belarus signs pact for nuclear equipment United Press International - NewsTrack - Entertainment - Published: June 11, 2007 at 9:54 AM MINSK, Belarus, June 11 (UPI) -- Russia's Eximbank is ready to offer $2 billion to finance a nuclear plant in Belarus, the Russian ambassador to the country said. The line of credit would be used to buy material from Power Machines, which manufactures nuclear power plant equipment, Interfax reported Monday. Russian ambassador Alexander Surikov said during a news conference in Minsk the Belarusian Energy Ministry signed a one-year contract with Power Machines. Belarus officials said the country was planning to commission the plant's first unit in 2016-17 and the second in 2020. The price of the project is between $3 billion and $4 billion. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 21 Olive Press: Spain faces nuclear disaster newspaper for Andalucia, Spain June 11, 2007 | National News Warnings of radiation leak “1,000 times†worse than Chernobyl DETERIORATING key components at Spain’s nuclear stations could lead to a disaster worse than Chernobyl, according to a leading environmental group. In its study The Dangers of Nuclear Reactors, Greenpeace also slammed “the permissive stance†of the Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear (CSN) regulator towards the poor security at nuclear reactors around the country. The report concluded the government should close Spain’s nuclear power stations to prevent “a radiation leak 1,000 times worse than Chernobyl.†A reactor exploded at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in northern Ukraine in 1986. Scientists disagree at the extent of human casualties with the World Health Organisation believing only 50 people have lost their lives. A Russian medical agency, however, claims the figure is much higher with 200,000 dying as a result of the disaster. Relaxed security Greenpeace believes security has been the first victim of cost-cutting measures among Spain’s nuclear power station owners – leaving them open to terrorist attack. Spokesman Carlos Bravo said: “The culture of security has been relaxed to save money. It is much cheaper to pay fines [for poor security] than implement tighter controls.†Greenpeace alleges there have been 47 breaches of security at power stations in Spain this year alone. A spokesman for the CSN refused to comment on this figure. To draw attention to the poor levels of security, the group organised a protest outside the Almaraz power plant in Extremadura last month. One activist was arrested as he parachuted into the security perimeter of the station. A statement issued by the CSN after the protest said security at the country’s nuclear power plants was “adequate.†Circuits and materials at many of Spain’s nuclear power stations are in a state of “degradation†due to rust and wear and tear, the report also claims. There are nine nuclear power stations currently in service in Spain, all with an average age of 25 years. The oldest working station is the Santa María de Garoña station in northern Spain, which was opened in 1971. Its 36 years of service far exceeds the 25-year limit many experts claim a nuclear power plant should be in operation. Chief of Greenpeace Campaigns in Spain, Mario Rodríguez, added: “Our security and wellbeing are at risk because of our nuclear centres.†The publication of report coincided with the temporary two-day suspension in service of the Ascó-II station in Tarragona due to “a serious design fault.†A spokesman for the station confirmed a vapour generator was to blame. Copyright © 2007 The Olive Press ***************************************************************** 22 UPI: Analysis: Algeria, U.S. reach nuclear pact United Press International - Energy - Analysis Published: June 11, 2007 at 5:42 PM By DEREK SANDS UPI Energy Correspondent WASHINGTON, June 11 (UPI) -- While Algeria inked a nuclear cooperation agreement with the United States Saturday, it remains unclear whether the two countries will do business based on the accord, or whether Algeria will embrace nuclear power at all. A U.S. delegation traveled to Algeria last week to tour nuclear energy facilities and to discuss the future of nuclear cooperation between the two countries, at a time when the United States has offered to provide nuclear advice to several countries in the region and encouraged others to pursue peaceful nuclear power. Algeria maintains two nuclear reactors. The 1-megawatt Nur reactor was built by Argentina in 1989, and the Chinese-built, 15-megawatt Es-Salam reactor came online in 1992; neither produces electricity for the country. Algeria is also thought to hold more than 50,000 tons of uranium deposits in the south of the country. Recent U.S. policy has encouraged Middle Eastern countries to embrace nuclear power, but to buy nuclear fuel abroad, and to ship waste products, which could be used to build nuclear weapons, back overseas for processing. This policy is not without critics. Iran has been at loggerheads with much of the international community over its insistence to master the full nuclear cycle. The United States and others maintain that Iran cannot be trusted with the ability to produce nuclear weapons material. Iran's rise as a nuclear power have led some in the region to take a serious look at nuclear power, according to the Council on Foreign Relations' Charles Ferguson, an expert on nuclear power and proliferation. "A number of countries in the Middle East, especially those neighboring Iran, are interested partly because they are hedging against Iran's nuclear energy program, which many believe is a cover for a nuclear weapons program," Ferguson said. They are also conscientious of their position on the world stage. "Another interest is to play to national pride and prestige. Science and technology have been struggling in many of these countries. I suspect that scientific elites there are interested in promoting nuclear development because of the possible spill-over effects to other technical pursuits in those countries," he said. "Nuclear technology is perceived by many developing countries as lifting them into advanced ranks," Ferguson said. Although the region as a whole provides much of the world's oil and natural gas, many of the countries there also hope nuclear power will allow them to sell even more petroleum. "I would also suspect that Algeria is motivated to free up oil and gas reserves to sell for export. However, the capital costs for nuclear power plants are typically much higher than for oil or gas-fired power plants," Ferguson said. Geoff Porter, a Middle East and Africa analyst with the Eurasia Group, agrees. "Algerian political decision makers all recognize that the less fuel used for domestic power generation, the more available for export, and the greater the government revenue. Given the potential for shortfall on existing gas supply commitments, Algeria is likely considering many options, including expanding nuclear power, to increase export gas volumes," he said. "For the moment, though, it appears that Algeria is concentrating on conventional co-generation power plants to reduce the country's electricity deficit." In 2006, Algeria produced more than 2 million barrels of oil daily, making it the world's 14th-largest producer, and it was the ninth-largest exporter, sending out more than 1.8 million barrels per day, according to the Energy Information Administration, the data arm of the U.S. Department of Energy. And Algeria is the world's eighth-largest producer of natural gas. Altogether, petroleum is the backbone of the Algerian economy, providing 60 percent of the government's budget revenues and about 30 percent of the country's gross domestic product. A U.S. desire to convince the government petroleum company, Sonatrach, to increase the U.S. share of those exports may partially explain Saturday's nuclear agreement. "Sonatrach chief Mohamed Meziane said last week that he intends to triple Algerian LNG supplies to the U.S., but there are serious questions about how he intends to do this and meet Algeria's piped gas commitments to EU markets," Porter said. Economic ties between the countries have been growing for several years. In 2005, U.S. companies invested $4.1 billion in Algeria, according to the U.S. State Department. And between 2002 and 2005, U.S. imports, mostly oil and natural gas, more than doubled, form $4.7 billion to $10.8 billion. The United States may also want to open a new market for its own nuclear companies. "The U.S. government is motivated to support its nuclear industry, which is trying to start a nuclear renaissance," Ferguson said. While the United States may be eyeing Algeria as a market for its domestic nuclear suppliers, it will likely have competition from France and its newly elected president, Nicolas Sarkozy. "Sarkozy, on the other hand, has already said that if Iran is able to develop nuclear capabilities, then France would help other countries do so as well. In that context he specifically mentioned Algeria, which leads me to believe that if anyone is to help Algeria develop nuclear capabilities and benefit from more secure gas supply commitments in return, it will be France," Porter said. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 23 Scotsman.com: Nuclear shutdown sparks energy fears Tuesday, 12th June 2007 LOUISE GRAY ONE of Scotland's ageing nuclear reactors had to be shut down manually over the weekend, the latest in a catalogue of problems which prompted experts last night to warn of a possible looming gap in energy supplies. British Energy said staff had to shut down a reactor at its troubled Hunterston B power plant in Ayrshire after problems with controls that keep the delicate process at exactly the right temperature. The power station had been open for only a month after extensive repairs on cracked pipes. Experts last night said the shutdown cast doubt on British Energy's plans to extend the lives of Hunterston B and the company's other nuclear station at Torness, in East Lothian. The new SNP Executive has ruled out building new nuclear power stations to replace the plants, which together provide about 40 per cent of Scotland's electricity needs. If the plants' lives cannot be extended, experts say Scotland faces a potential energy crisis. John Large, an independent nuclear consultant, said the latest problem had wider implications for Scotland's energy supply. He said: "I think this is quite serious when you look at the knock-on effects of Hunterston B closing down." Mr Large said there were doubts among nuclear watchdogs that the station could extend its life beyond 2011 - prompting problems for the energy supply. "Quite frankly, if Hunterston B closes down, there could be shortfalls," he added. And he said this had political implications, as it put pressure on the SNP and Greens to come up with alternatives to nuclear power stations, which they have ruled out north of the Border. "Every time Hunterston B closes down, the extension of its life is put in doubt and that puts pressure on the SNP and Green energy policy," he explained. Brian Wilson, the former energy minister who is now a private consultant, agreed the problems at the station cast doubt on its future. "If Hunterston B has to close and there is no prospect of new-build, then it will certainly leave Scotland with an energy gap and the likelihood is we will end up importing electricity from England. We will get whatever they care to send us - including nuclear. The hypocrisy of the SNP's rhetoric is that whatever they do, Scotland will be dependent on nuclear for the next 20 years-plus." Mr Wilson said that political parties must not rely on extending the lives of nuclear power stations. "Extensions must be based on safety factors, not political decisions, and that is part of the foolishness of not contemplating new-build, because it makes you prone to these kind of factors," said Mr Wilson. The latest shutdown at Hunterston B happened at around 11pm on Sunday after an "issue" was discovered in the "auto control loops" which monitor temperature on one of station's reactors. Staff took the decision to close down reactor number three manually by flicking a switch, rather than waiting for safety mechanisms to kick in and shut it automatically - which would prompt a formal inquiry and could damage the reactor. A spokesman for British Energy stressed that there were no safety concerns as a result of the incident. "As one might expect at a nuclear power station, it is tightly monitored - our safety tolerances are minute, and if they go off things are shut down immediately; hence the decision yesterday," he added. He also insisted that the issue was not connected to earlier problems with the boiler. It is not yet known when the reactor will restart and investigations are due to continue today," he added. The National Grid, which ensures that Britain as a whole has energy, said supplies would not be affected by the weekend shutdown. The SNP has ruled out building any new nuclear power stations in Scotland. Instead, the party wants to promote renewable energy and use new technology to generate energy from non-renewables like coal, but without producing a huge amount of emissions. The party has not ruled out extending the life of the nuclear stations north of the Border, but this is a matter for British Energy and safety watchdogs to decide. Iain Gray, Labour's energy spokesman, said the loss of Hunterston B would leave Scotland with less capacity. "It is foolish to rule out the nuclear option. Certainly, on a UK basis, it could be part of filling the gap as and when the current stations shut down." Hunterston B employs 500 and supplies one million homes when its reactors are working. However, Duncan McLaren, the chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said renewables would fill any gap. "British Energy should not be seeking any life-extension for such a facility. Thankfully, as has been the case for many years, Scotland is well supplied with alternative energy sources." The Scottish Executive also highlighted safety problems of the nuclear industry and said the energy gap could be filled by renewables. A spokesman said: "This illustrates the safety problems of nuclear power and underlines the wisdom of the Scottish government's energy strategy - based on our vast, clean, green energy sources, including renewables, clean coal and carbon capture. "In terms of installed energy capacity, renewables are on the point of overtaking nuclear, and we look forward to celebrating Green Energy Day in the very near future when renewables exceed nuclear. "Scotland has a significant surplus of electricity generation - exporting in the region of Hunterston's total generation to England every year. Scotland has a huge renewables potential and exciting new technology which will let us continue to use gas and coal for generation, while reducing carbon emissions." BASIC MISTAKES THAT AFFECTED STATIONS May 2002 Lightning strikes Torness, causing a power surge which triggers the automatic safety systems at the plant,closing down both reactors for five days. August 2002 Both Torness reactors are shut down to investigate vibrations on one of the gas circulators, which cools the reactors. August 2006 British Energy admits to an unplanned loss of 3.4twh (terrawatt hours) of electricity output for the three months to 2 July 2006. Loss was caused by incidents incluiding a "communications error" in Torness, where an operator mistakenly shut the supply of lubrication oil to both plants on the site, rather than just to the one as planned. July 2006 The government's nuclear safety watchdog warns that a radioactive leak could be "inevitable" if action is not taken after cracks emerge in up to six British reactors, including Hunterston B in Ayrshire, prompting fears plans to extend the life of the plant, and others in the UK, could be scuppered. May 2007 Hunterston closed "to allow inspection, repair and the preparation of safety cases related to boiler tube cracking issues". Related topics * Nuclear energy http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1343 * Nuclear incidents http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=112 This article: http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=915592007 Last updated: 11-Jun-07 00:10 BST Comments Add your comment 1. Corbett Timtam Hunckers, Banjoland / 12:33am 12 Jun 2007 Don't believe them, and I'm sure Scottweb has some interesting video clips to back up that statement!!!! Report as unsuitable 2. James F, Glasgow / 12:35am 12 Jun 2007 It makes renewables look very much more attractive - and dependable! Who said wind power was intermittent? Report as unsuitable 3. famous 15, Scotland / 12:36am 12 Jun 2007 Ten years too early to blame SNP! How many other scary items in the magic box? They will be saying next that we are not the best wee country in the world. Oh dear..they just have! Report as unsuitable 4. somerferg, oz / 1:53am 12 Jun 2007 So Wilson the Windbag is now predicting problems for the SNP's energy policy. How interesting! Considering it was him and the rest of the NUmpty Labour party who have stood by over the last upteen number of years and not addressed the issue. Moreover, I don't believe for a second that Scotland isn't capable of poviding enough energy for its needs however lets be honest the real issue is how to provide enough energy for the great unwashed of the south east(and yes I do mean of England!) Report as unsuitable 5. http://www.scottwebb.co.uk/15.html / 2:09am 12 Jun 2007 Comment@1 :) Report as unsuitable 6. http://www.scottwebb.co.uk/15.html / 2:40am 12 Jun 2007 Mind you if you think about it, you don't need a vid to work out this one.......someones pulling an Enron Special AKA The California power outage/shortage = Energy prices stay high:) Report as unsuitable 7. Broomagebairn, Kazakhstan via falkirk / 2:45am 12 Jun 2007 The problem of cracks in the boiler pipework and the cooling gas circulators at Hunterston have been known about for a long time. Repairs were first done to the pipework more than fifteen years ago, when the "in-vessel" work done was pioneering and rectified an on-going problem which is due to heat not radiation. There have been problems at Longannet with their boiler pipework so do we close down the fossil fuel stations too. Materials can only take the temperatures required to produce the high pressure steam required to turn turbines for so long no matter how the heat is produced. Repairs are done to every bit of mechanical equipment in the world, why not Nuclear reactors ? It's been proved that this work can be done safely (how many hazardous releases have there been at Hunterston since the repairs were started ?)and that the repairs last a considerable time. Repair the reactors, at least that would keep our lights on untill something is decided about replacements. Report as unsuitable 8. Guga II, Rockall / 2:51am 12 Jun 2007 "Scotland has a significant surplus of electricity generation - exporting in the region of Hunterston's total generation to England every year". This, of course, means that we can manage fine without Hunterston, despite that numpty Brian Wilson saying "it will certainly leave Scotland with an energy gap and the likelihood is we will end up importing electricity from England". This is obviously another lie from the numpty New Labour types. The fact that there may not be enough to export to, as #4 put it, "the great unwashed of the South East", is tough. They can build their own nuclear power stations, preferably in and around London. Report as unsuitable 9. http://www.scottwebb.co.uk/15.html / 3:39am 12 Jun 2007 BUT.......if you DID want to see a vid on the subject....i would recommend......Eron....The Smartest Guys in The Room. Heres a interview with the director, well worth viewing :) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=71793294789985331... Report as unsuitable 10. James, Dundee, mind the gap / 4:42am 12 Jun 2007 .....demand = profit for power generators. Reducing demand will fill the gap. GET ALL THOSE APPLIANCES ON STAND-BY SWITCHED OFF NOW! #9 Ah, happy days, Wasnt it great to see the Republicans such as Dick Cheney distance themselves from one of their major sponsors, when it went tits up. As the running joke at the time said, the Iraq war was codenamed 'Operation keep Enron off the front page'. Report as unsuitable 11. RedSwanie, in the dark / 5:00am 12 Jun 2007 #9: I would recommend everyone see the entire "Enron" film. It's an eye opener, that's for sure. It's a little much for scottweb to be putting up online, so go take a gander at the real thing everyone. Report as unsuitable Add your comment To post a comment you will first need to log in or register. RSS feed of this article's comments Nuclear energy * RSS * Email Alerts * (02-Jun-07) * (24-May-07) * (23-May-07) * (22-May-07) * (21-May-07) More articles page 1 * RSS * Email Alerts * Nuclear shutdown sparks energy fears * Weekend cell crisis fuels call for Saturday court sittings * Scotland's future's green, but is it golden? * Drug will save hundreds from blindness * Moroccan children bring smile to face of Kate McCann * SNP ministers face losing control of £30 billion budget for Scotland * Officer new on the beat is knifed to death after 999 call-out * Labelling call over additives in top-selling soft drinks * Blair blames Salmond for row over Gaddafi talks * Dementia services leave some patients locked up 24 hours * In ranks of millionaires, sisters are doing it for themselves * First prize goes to a fan of feathers * Back from the brink and going for a green future, islanders of Eigg are celebrating * Golf's no longer a good walk spoiled - you can now stand still * Father ordered daughter's 'honour killing' because her romance shamed the family Page 1 of 5 SUMMER MUSIC FESTS In REVIEW: interviews, give-aways and FREE music downloads scotlandonsunday.com LIFE ASSURED Get yourself a competitive life assurance quote online with just a few mouse clicks money.scotsman.com THE A&E DEBATE Is the SNP right to reverse the closure of two Accident and Emergency units? 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Tickets from 10 pence FOR ONE WEEK ONLY With Father's Day approaching, SW dedicates a special issue to MEN in Tuesday's Scotsman >> MOONWALK EDINBURGH ©2007 Scotsman.com | contact | terms & conditions ***************************************************************** 24 Business Times: Thailand to build nuclear power plants for US$6b Tuesday, June 12 2007 BANGKOK: Thailand plans to build its first two nuclear power plants for about US$6 billion (US$1 = RM3.46) to meet rising electricity demand and cut reliance on fuel imports, the nation's energy authority said. State-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, or EGAT, will build the plants, Kraisi Karnasuta, the authority's governor, said in an interview in Nonthaburi province yesterday. Each plant will be able to generate 2,000 megawatts of electricity. South-East Asia's second-biggest economy may need to double electricity generating capacity by 2021 as economic growth boosts demand for power, according to the energy ministry. Asian countries, including India, China and Myanmar, plan to build nuclear reactors to curb surging oil and gas import costs. "Thailand cannot depend too much on natural gas because gas fields in the Gulf of Thailand will run out very soon," he said. "Coal is cheap, but the environmental costs that come with it are unquantifiable." Nuclear plants can generate electricity at 2.01 baht (100 baht = RM11.46) a kilowatt hour, compared with 2.05 baht for coal-fired plants, Kraisi said. The Government is seeking uranium supplies from Australia and South Africa, he said. Thailand's energy ministry last month said it planned to complete the plants by 2021, and appointed six commissions to draft construction plans. The commissions will study international regulations and implement public relations programmes to win acceptance for nuclear power. Plant construction will take about six years, Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amra- nand said on March 2. Thailand plans to build the plants near the coast in an area where local communities accept the nuclear proposal, said Kraisi. Thailand should focus on alternative power supplies from hydropower and smaller bio-fuel plants before risking nuclear, Tara Buakamsri, a Bangkok- based campaigner for Greenpeace South-East Asia, said yesterday. Lower production costs may be outweighed by the price of disposing of uranium waste and compensating communities to accommodate the plants, he said. "It will be much harder to convince any community to allow construction of nuclear power plants in their areas than coal-fired power plants." - Bloomberg Copyright © The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad, Balai Berita 31, Jalan Riong, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Powered by: Zope, Red Hat, Apache, Python, ***************************************************************** 25 Orlando Sentinel: More nuclear power in Florida's energy future? by powens posted by powens on Jun 11, 2007 9:00:00 AM It's clear from a unanimous ruling by the Florida Public Service Commission last week that proposals for new coal-fired power plants will face long odds as long as Charlie Crist is governor. And that leaves more room for nuclear power in the state's energy mix. The commission rejected a plant that Florida Power & Light proposed building on a spot near Lake Okeechobee and north of the Everglades, even though it was clean-burning as far as coal plants go. While most people hold the Everglades sacred, it's hard to come up with many sites in Florida that wouldn't be near some environmentally sensitive spot. And commission members also considered the fact that even clean-burning coal plants produce huge quantities of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. Sooner or later, the federal government is likely to impose a tax on carbon emissions, which would raise the cost of operating the plant. Natural gas, the primary alternative, is prone to supply disruptions and price spikes from unstable or unfriendly foreign suppliers. Solar, wind and biomass are terrific, but they won't keep up with Florida's growing demand for power. That leaves nuclear power. The industry has been largely dormant since the accidents at Three Mile Island in 1979 and Chernobyl in 1986, but utilities are looking at building new plants in Florida to add to the five already generating 14 percent of the state's power. What to do with the waste remains a problem, but it's a manageable one. Plants are storing the stuff on site for now. A national repository is still needed. Nuclear power plants need to be carefully designed, operated and protected. But because they produce virtually no greenhouse gases, they are making more and more sense for helping to keep up with energy needs in Florida and across the country, along with other alternatives to fossil fuels -- right? Filed under: Energy Orlando Sentinel Communications ***************************************************************** 26 NewsRoom Finland: Finland's SPP raps Wallin nuclear power 11.6.2007 at 10:57 In a unanimous vote at a party conference on Sunday, the Swedish People's party gave another term as party chair to Stefan Wallin but dealt the environment minister a surprising blow by postponing the further drafting of the party's energy policy programme. Mr Wallin had carried out a high-profile campaign to manoeuvre the party closer to the pro-nuclear line of the government programme. In a position drafted in 1993, the party line is that Finland should phase out nuclear power. "This is party democracy," Mr Wallin said, adding he was in no way disappointed. The other surprise of the party conference weekend was the election as deputy chair of Nils Torvalds, a Finnish Broadcasting Company correspondent and former Finnish Communist party radical. /STT/ © Copyright STT 2007 © 1995 – 2005, Virtual Finland Produced by: Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland Department for Communication and Culture/Unit for Promotion and Publications ***************************************************************** 27 Hindustan Times: US can't transfer its problems to us - Pranab- Tuesday, June 12, 2007 External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that the right to reprocess spent nuclear fuel was absolutely necessary for India as New Delhi and Washington continue to grapple with the nuances of their civilian nuclear deal. Speaking to Karan Thapar on a CNN-IBN programme, scheduled to be broadcast on Sunday night, he was quoted as saying, “Reprocessing is absolutely necessary for us because we do not want to have a situation like the repetition of Tarapur. They [the US] say that they have some problems. We say do not transfer your problems to us.†“What has been agreed in the joint statement of July 2005 and subsequently in March 2006 and what's in our commitment to Parliament – they are already aware of it – therefore within these parameters, this 123 agreement has to be signed,†the external affairs minister stated. Asked whether India would be prepared to accept reprocessing rights on the same terms and conditions as America has granted to Japan, Switzerland and Euratom, Mukherjee said: “We will have to examine that in the context of our commitment to the Indian Parliament and the joint statement of July 2005 and the separation plan of 2006.†“You are making a comparison between the non-comparables,†Mukherjee responded when asked whether India was ready to accept reprocessing on the same terms and conditions granted by the US to China. “China is already declared a nuclear weapon state. I have already stated it will have to be India specific in the context that India is a non-signatory to NPT [Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty].†On the reprocessing issue, he felt that some way forward would be found by them. “We will be able to find some way out. Though the negotiations are protracted [but] in complicated negotiations like this sometimes this [delay] happens…both countries are trying their best. I do not doubt their sincerity….†He was clear that failure to clinch the deal would not have any adverse impact on Indo-US relations. “No, I don't think it will have any adverse impact on the India-US relationship because the India-US relationship is growing….this is an important landmark in our bilateral relationship, no doubt, and we do hope we will reach the successful conclusion of the present series of negotiations. Therefore I am not looking at that [the deal falling through] at all." ***************************************************************** 28 Hindustan Times: Govt sets up task force to firm up N-positions- Tuesday, June 12, 2007 Nilova Roy Chaudhury, Hindustan Times To ensure that negotiators at various forums know what the country's official line is on a host of issues like non-proliferation, missile defence and fissile materials, the government has set up a task force so that India adopts a uniform, informed position. While several officials are questioning the need for such a committee at this time, with India in the midst of complicated negotiations on the 123 Agreement with the United States on the right to reprocess spent fuel and offering to set up a dedicated reprocessing facility for imported fuel, committee members say it is timely and needed, given that India is increasing its stake in these issues globally. The aim, a former diplomat said, is to review India's position on all security-related and strategic issues and ensure they are relevant and accurately reflected in the variety of ongoing negotiations, including the India-US civil nuke deal. Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon has notified the recently-constituted task force on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. The committee, which has just moved its offices from South Block to Akbar Bhavan, will report its recommendations directly to him. The three-member task force is chaired by security expert K Subrahmanyam and includes Shyam Saran, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, and Arundhati Ghose, former ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament. The task force will work in close consultation with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), with the Additional Secretary heading the Policy Planning Division doubling up as the committee's member secretary. The government is in crucial discussions to bring the 123 Agreement, required to operationalise the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, to closure and it is important that safeguards being discussed correctly reflect India's status as a nuclear weapons power. According to a committee member, who did not want to be identified, the aim of the committee/task force is to correct anomalies that have crept into the government's negotiating stances at various forums. The demand for such a committee has long been felt, a former diplomat said. "We are not deciding strategy," a task force member said. "We are not involved in any bilateral discussions. What we are doing is ensuring that negotiators take uniform positions. India has a policy," the member said. "This policy should be correctly reflected in the positions we take. The positions taken at various forums, for example on fissile materials or missile defence should not affect our credibility." Meanwhile, US Assistant Secretary of State John C Rood will lead a delegation to India on June 13-14 to continue the long-standing dialogue between the two countries on non-proliferation and security issues. He will meet with officials from India's Ministry of External Affairs to discuss global nonproliferation challenges and approaches to addressing them, including multilateral initiatives and strategic trade controls, the State Department announced on Friday. He also will engage on regional security issues, including nuclear and missile issues and missile defence,it said. ***************************************************************** 29 Hindustan Times: Making 123 count- June 11, 2007 Were Prime Minister Manmohan Singh fond of martial arts, no doubt the ‘gentle art’, jujitsu, would be his sport of choice. The skill with which he yields to the force of the opponent and uses it to create space for his own counter-thrust seems to derive from this Japanese martial art. Nowhere is this more visible than in the case of the Indo-US nuclear deal. In the past few months as Indian and American negotiators have grappled with each other to work out the ‘123 Agreement’ to operationalise the deal, the Prime Minister has chosen to remain silent. Even when it appeared that the deal could be approaching a breakdown point, Mr Singh did not say a word. Now, sensing that opponents within the country and outside are running out of steam, the Prime Minister has gone on the offensive, obliquely questioning the patriotic credentials of those opposing the deal and signalling that though the negotiations were tough, they were on track. His retort, ‘Why September? Why not earlier?’ to a question on when the deal could be clinched is an indication of the optimism based on new proposals floated by the Indian side. To allay US Congress worries that nuclear fuel from the US could be somehow misused by India, New Delhi has proposed to set up a dedicated fuel storage and reprocessing facility that comes under international safeguards. The offer also places India in the company of other ‘responsible’ nuclear States. India is essentially offering itself for membership to the US-sponsored Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) that has been mooted to promote proliferation-resistant techniques of handling nuclear energy. This said, there is also some virtue in External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s exhortation to the US that it should not “export its problems†to New Delhi in living up to its commitments on the Indo-US nuclear deal. There are a number of areas in which the Bush administration needs to square with its legislature. But there is only so much India can do to help. What New Delhi can most certainly not do is to compromise on its requirement to reprocess spent nuclear fuel. At the end of the day, the nuclear deal requires not just compromise, but also an ability to take some risks and trust the other party. The sooner the two sides realise this, the better. ***************************************************************** 30 CP: N.B. premier shops for reactor but expert skeptical about nuclear expansion Chris Morris, Canadian Press * canada.com Published: Monday, June 11, 2007 FREDERICTON (CP) - Even as Premier Shawn Graham kicks the tires on a possible French-made nuclear reactor for New Brunswick, at least one energy expert is skeptical a second nuclear generating station will ever see the light of day in the province. David Coon of the New Brunswick Conservation Council said Monday there are too many barriers to the sale of the province's nuclear power in the United States to permit a multibillion-dollar expansion at the Point Lepreau nuclear station on the Bay of Fundy. "It's pie in the sky at this point," Coon said in an interview. "There's no capacity to get that much power into New England because of the lack of transmission capacity in southern Maine. They would need a dedicated undersea power line that goes to New York." Coon also doubts New England utilities would be interested in signing the 20-year contracts that would be necessary to cover the enormous financial risk associated with an expansion at Point Lepreau - the only nuclear reactor in Atlantic Canada. "It's an open market down there, so why would anyone lock themselves in for 20 years?" Coon said. Graham is heading to Paris this week to meet with the president of Areva, a French state-controlled company that is one of three possible contenders for any second reactor at Lepreau. The provincial government has committed to a feasibility study on a second reactor, but it's a long way from deciding whether to go ahead with a project. Graham describes his trip to France as "research" into a possible competitive process. "We want to see competition between different bids if our government makes a decision to move forward with the development of a new nuclear power plant," Graham said. "All options are on the table now for investigation." The trip signals the province's intention to consider options other than a Canadian-made Candu reactor, which is the model used in every nuclear station in Canada. The province of Ontario, which is also shopping for new reactors, has said that while it would prefer to select homegrown technology, it is open to choosing a foreign reactor design such as from France's Areva or U.S.-based General Electric Co. if it means getting the best deal for Ontario taxpayers. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. has high hopes that Ontario will choose its third-generation advanced Candu reactor, making it clear that without such a deal, future international sales of the new reactor will be in jeopardy. AECL did not return phone calls Monday. Coon said that although he doesn't believe a second reactor will be built, he wonders why any province would opt for a Candu with its many technical problems and high rate of repair. "The experience with the Candu reactor hasn't been a particularly happy one," he said. "There are problems with reliability of the Candu after about 12 years of use. If you're building something, why go back to something that has already given you trouble?" © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks ***************************************************************** 31 Birmingham News: TVA idles Browns Ferry reactor - al.com Posted by Birmingham News business staff June 11, 2007 10:02 AM The Tennessee Valley Authority said its Browns Ferry No. 1 nuclear reactor in Athens was idled Saturday for continued testing following a 22-year shutdown. The reactor shut because of a leak in a line to an instrument that helps control steam flow to low-pressure turbines, Craig Beasley, a TVA spokesman, told Bloomberg News today. He declined to say when the unit, restored at a cost of $1.8 billion, might return to full power. Tests will be conducted for weeks before the reactor is connected to the power grid for sustained operation, the authority has said. Beasley said the unit will have to shut a couple times as part of the start-up process. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted approval on May 15 for the reactor to resume production. The reactor was shut in March 1985 after repeated operating problems, including a fire started by a worker who was using a candle to check for air leaks. ©2007 al.com. All Rights Reserved. RSS Feeds | Complete Index ***************************************************************** 32 AFP: Experts warn of threat of terrorist nuclear attacks - by Randy Nieves-Ruiz Mon Jun 11, 5:11 PM ET MIAMI (AFP) - Security experts from around the world meeting here Monday warned of the threat of a terrorist nuclear attack, and called for renewed efforts to crack down on black market sales of nuclear and radioactive material. "Nuclear terrorism is a global threat that requires a global response," said FBI director Robert Mueller, as he inaugurated an international conference on nuclear terrorism, a component of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT). He described nuclear terrorism as "one of the most dangerous and deadly threats" that nations around the world face. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the initiative in July 2006 at the G8 summit of industrialized nations meeting in Saint Petersburg, Russia. At the time the two leaders urged nations around the world to work to fight the threat of nuclear terrorism by working to better safeguard nuclear material and radioactive substances. Officials from some 30 nations that signed on to the initiative were present at the Miami conference. The mechanics of assembling a nuclear explosive is relatively easy, experts said. Much more difficult is gaining access to highly enriched uranium or plutonium necessary for the bomb. "The laws of supply and demand dictate that someone, somewhere, will provide material to the highest bidder," Mueller said. Vladimir Bulavin, the deputy director of Russia's Federal Security Bureau, said that the threat of nuclear terrorism "is still the main threat of every country." Russia has taken steps to control the threat through close "accounting and control of nuclear material," Bulavin said. Mueller called for cracking down on the international nuclear technology black market, warning that the likes of Al-Qaeda network leader Osama bin Laden -- responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States -- are actively seeking nuclear material. Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan -- father of his country's nuclear program who in 2004 confessed to providing nuclear secrets to Iran and North Korea -- "is one of many to prove that there is a sellers' market" of nuclear technology. "This is not about catching the crook after the crime is committed," said Mueller's boss, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who was also at the event. "Rather, it is about prevention -- and keeping weapons and the building blocks for them, accounted for, secure, outside of illicit markets, and away from terrorists." Addressing the foreign law enforcement officials in the audience he said: "Communication, sharing and coordination ... are the essence of what will ultimately make our network stronger than the terrorist network." The meeting, lasting nearly a week, will include conferences on smuggling trends and detection of nuclear material around the world, border security, improvised nuclear devices and "dirty bombs," bombs that spread radiation. Experts said there is a strong possibility of a terrorist nuclear attack on the United States following the September 11 attacks. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a publication that operates the "Doomsday Clock" to signal the chances of a nuclear catastrophe, currently has the clock set at five minutes to midnight. Scientists at the bulletin last year moved the hand forward from seven minutes to midnight, saying that the likelihood is high because of terrorists on suicide missions looking for spectacular strikes. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 33 WMTW Portland: Advocate For Veterans Exposed To Radiation Dies - UPDATED: 1:17 pm EDT June 11, 2007 PORTLAND, Maine -- A memorial service will be held Wednesday for a Portland man who battled on behalf of veterans exposed to radiation during nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s or the occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Robert Campbell, 74, died last week in Portland. While serving in the Army, Campbell witnessed a series of atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons and later suffered from ailments that were likely linked to that exposure. Campbell worked with Maine's congressional delegation to secure benefits for atomic veterans. In January, he completed a 600-page book documenting his research on the subject. Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This © 2007, Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. ***************************************************************** 34 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Former Dow workers here keep up compensation fight MONDAY | JUNE 11, 2007 By Adam Jadhav ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Don Thompson (right) and another worker man machining station at a metal working plant in Madison, Ill. The workers processed radioactive materials and say they later developed cancer because of their exposure to the metal. MADISON — From the outside, the hulking former Dow Chemical metalworks is a stark reminder of the nation's once-booming industrial sector, of a time when a factory job was a ticket to the good life. Yet the men and women who worked there have a far darker tale. Radioactive materials once processed at the factory helped build the nation's nuclear arsenal. But the workers say the operation was so secret that even they were unaware of what materials they were working on and what basic safeguards from exposure they should have gotten. Now, they say, that past has come back to haunt many of them in the form of cancer. "My dad died because of the work he did on behalf of this country," said Kay Bopp, whose father, Omer Bridges, succumbed to breast cancer that spread through his body after working for years at the plant. "He had no clue what he was dealing with, what he was working with, knowing that it could and would kill him." A few years ago, Congress mandated compensation — reparations, really — to men and women exposed to radiation while working in factories like the one in Madison. Just last month, a number of workers at the plant found out they, too, will likely get paid. But activists and some members of Congress say that the pool is too small and that more of the former employees should get aid. A victory In May, a presidential advisory board recommended that workers at the Madison plant from 1957 through 1960 — a time when Dow was doing work for the U.S. Department of Energy — get automatic eligibility for compensation set up to aid ill nuclear workers. A 2001 federal law has meant $150,000 checks to some 20,000 people across the country so far. More than 100,000 people have applied for the benefits. Under federal rules, the secretary of Health and Human Services and Congress also must sign off on the board's recommendation for the Madison workers. That would clear the way for about four dozen former workers who have been diagnosed with one of 22 radiation-caused cancers to receive payments as well as future medical treatment. In cases where the workers died, the money would go to their descendents. The workers have fought for years to get the compensation. Their struggle is the same as one endured by former Mallinckrodt Chemical Co. employees who processed uranium at a factory in downtown St. Louis in the 1940s. In 2005, hundreds of workers from that plant were deemed eligible for the federal aid. Activists cheered the board's recommendation for the Madison workers. But they remain worried by the reluctance of the Department of Labor, which administers the compensation act, to make payouts. Also in question is whether compensation will ever be paid to employees who began working at the plant after 1960 but who also have developed cancer and blame residual exposure. Any ill worker can apply for individual compensation — rather than the blanket coverage the Dow employees from those four years are now likely to get — but tens of thousands have jumped through bureaucratic hurdles seeking such aid only to be denied. Thousands more are waiting to see whether their claims will be approved. That trend and some internal government documents questioning the costs of the payouts prompted a congressional hearing last year, in which Labor Department officials were accused of trying to avoid payouts to sick workers because of the cost. Area lawmakers have joined the fight, urging compensation for the former nuclear workers. Both Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, put staff members to work on the cause. "I think, as a nation, we owe them as much," Obama told the Nuclear Weapons Workers Advisory Board last month at a meeting in Denver. "These workers responded to the call of duty during the Cold War. They sacrificed their health to defend us." Obama was one of 15 senators — Democrats and Republicans — who in a June 4 letter called for a congressional hearing on the administration's handling of the program. In another letter, he and other officials also called for more funding to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which investigates nuclear workers' claims. No protection In faded, decades-old pictures, men in the Madison factory sport box haircuts and thick-rimmed glasses. They wear flannel shirts and jeans. In a photo of one room, a crane lifts a sheet of metal and workers prepare to sand out impurities. The photos show another wing housing a machine the size of a house that used 14,000 tons of force — almost the weight of the Gateway Arch — to squeeze hunks of metal into intricate shapes. In the photos, there are no moonsuits, lead vests, radiation badges or Geiger counters — no real protection from or monitoring of radiation. The men say they didn't even always wear face masks, just gloves and work clothes. Federal documents confirm that Dow was a subcontractor for the Department of Energy at least for a few years and that the Madison factory processed radioactive materials such as thorium, uranium and plutonium used for nuclear weapons. But workers say the company dismissed any notion that their jobs were dangerous. Furthermore, they claim, they were working with such metals for decades. "We never got a straight answer about what exactly we were working with," said Caroll Denny, a 79-year-old Granite City man who worked in the plant from 1953 to 1989 and later developed cancer on his eyelid. The cancer was removed in 2004. "In later years, a lot of the boys started dying. We put two and two together." Continuing fight The government uses a complicated method called "dose reconstruction" to discern whether an individual worker was exposed to enough radiation to cause cancer. But records are often incomplete, and employees — many of whom are well past retirement — frequently have difficulty getting past bureaucratic hurdles to prove their illness was caused by their work, said Dr. Dan McKeel, a retired Washington University pathologist who has fought on behalf of workers at the Dow and the Mallinckrodt factories. A majority of individual applications have been either denied or left in limbo. McKeel blames "fearmongering by the Department of Labor," which he says is trying to cast the compensation program as a vast money pit. McKeel points to retired workers such as Don Thompson, now a Granite City alderman, whose individual claim has been repeatedly denied. Thompson developed a rare form of cancer; his bladder and prostate were removed in 1999. "Everyone's got their nightmare to tell," Thompson said. Dow, based in Midland, Mich., sold the factory in the late 1960s. Today it's the site of an industrial park. Dow spokesman Scot Wheeler said the corporation supports the federal compensation process. "Dow certainly understands the emotions of people who either have developed cancer or who have loved ones who have been diagnosed," Wheeler said. The Nuclear Weapons Workers Advisory Board's recommendation for the former Madison workers will likely be approved, but coverage beyond that specific 1957 to 1960 group is questionable. The board did say it wants more information to possibly extend the compensation period beyond those four years — an encouraging sign — but the workers have become accustomed to hoping without resolution. If the board were to recommend that additional workers be covered beyond the time when radioactive materials were processed, it would be a first. "There's no excuse for these guys waiting for years and years," said attorney Joe Kusmierczak of the law firm SimmonsCooper, which has provided hundreds of free hours of time for legal analysis, depositions and more. "These guys are not getting any younger. A lot of them have already died." Bill Hoppe knows that all too well. In the basement of his Granite City home, he has large file drawers filled with information on Dow employees like himself. Hoppe, who has prostate cancer and an unidentified lung disease, is one of several unofficial organizers of the employees. But he himself may never be compensated. He started work only in 1961, and it's not clear whether his illnesses would be covered as radiation-caused. Hundreds more people who now have cancer worked at the factory after 1960 but still worked around radioactive waste, former employees say. Hoppe still has a sketch of the factory's layout; red ink outlines the numerous stations where nuclear material was machined. As he thumbs through documents, he finds a roll of employees at the plant who have died. Their names and ages are jotted down. "Tommy, 62. Mike, 45. George, 30. Doug, 44. The list goes on," Hoppe said. "All these guys, cancer. These guys died too early." Adam.Jadhav@post-dispatch.com 618-659-3637 ***************************************************************** 35 UCS: House Subcommittee to Consider FDA Legislation Tomorrow; Science Group Says Bill Needs More Safeguards to Protect Fed Scientists June 11, 2007 The House Energy and Commerce Committee's Health Subcommittee tomorrow will consider Food and Drug Administration (FDA) legislation that would help ensure the public is protected from unsafe drugs, but the proposal needs more safeguards to protect federal scientists, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The hearing is scheduled for 10 am in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. "The legislation does not get to the heart of the problem," said Dr. Francesca Grifo, director of UCS's Scientific Integrity Program. "FDA scientists, charged with evaluating drugs, are often ignored and their work suppressed." UCS has called for provisions guaranteeing an open drug approval process, which is accessible to the public and that includes FDA scientists' dissenting views. FDA scientists must have the freedom to publish their research and to express dissenting views within the agency. "When FDA scientists find that the agency is compromising our health and safety, they should have the right to freely report these problems, without fear of retaliation or being marginalized," Grifo said. The popular diabetes drug Avandia, the antibiotic Ketek, and serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – a family of antidepressants – are drugs that the FDA initially approved that had serious negative side effects. In each case, the FDA failed to heed the warnings of its own scientists. In 2006, UCS and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) conducted a survey of nearly 1,000 FDA scientists. Their responses painted a disturbing picture of an agency in which regulatory deadlines and industry pressure has undermined the quality of science, posing a potential threat to public health. Nearly two in three respondents (617 scientists) said that the "laws and regulations that govern FDA, including the agency's structure, need to be changed for the agency to better serve the public." (http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity/interference/fda-scientist s-survey-summary.html) Reporters: Join our notification list to receive breaking news from UCS. General media inquiries can be directed to our media office line at 202-331-5420. If you are calling about a specific issue, contact the appropriate press contact below. Press Contacts: Energy, Food, Scientific Integrity MEGHAN CROSBY Assistant Press Secretary 202-331-6943 mcrosby@ucsusa.org Climate, Global Security, Vehicles, Invasives AARON HUERTAS Assistant Press Secretary 202-331-5458 ahuertas@ucsusa.org Scientific Integrity, Vehicles LISA NURNBERGER Press Secretary 202-331-6959 lnurnberger@ucsusa.org Climate, Food EMILY ROBINSON Press Secretary 202-331-5427 erobinson@ucsusa.org ELLIOTT NEGIN Media Director 202-331-5439 enegin@ucsusa.org © Union of Concerned Scientists Page Last Revised: 06/11/07 ***************************************************************** 36 Scoop: Illegal Use Of Canadian Uranium In DU Weapons Monday, 11 June 2007, 4:36 pm Press Release: Vancouver 911 Conference DU Expert Leuren Moret To Address Vancouver 9/11 Conference On Depleted Uranium (DU) Public Health Risk And On Illegal Use Of Canadian Uranium In DU Weapons, In Non-compliance With Canadian Law. VANCOUVER – Leuren Moret, Expert Witness at the 2004 Tokyo International Tribunal for War Crimes in Afghanistan and former Environmental Commissioner of the City of Berkeley, CA, will speak publicly for the first time in Canada, and address the Vancouver 9/11 Truth Conference on June 22-24, 2007 on the serious public health risk to Canada and the world posed by the use of Depleted Uranium (DU) weapons by the U.S. military forces in Iraq, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. Israel dropped over 4000 DU bunker-buster bombs on Lebanon in July 2006. In April, 2007, Leuren Moret exposed the U.S. military’s illegal use of Depleted Uranium (DU) weapons in target practice in Hawaii, in violation of U.S. military regulations. The elevated radiation readings she recorded were carried by ABC-TV news in Hawaii on April 29 & 30, 2007. DU & 9/11 Leuren Moret reported similar elevated radiation readings downwind from the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001. Two days after 9/11, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed that the crash site rubble was radioactive and that it was probably Depleted Uranium (DU) contaminating the Pentagon crash site rubble. The entry and exit holes through the Pentagon crash site were the signature of a kinetic energy penetrator, such as a Cruise missile, and the term “punch-out hole” was written by crash site investigators over the exit hole. This is a military term used for kinetic energy penetrators. Major Doug Rokke, former Director of the Gulf War I DU Cleanup Team, reported that an email from the Pentagon 30 minutes after impact confirmed a Cruise missile hit the Pentagon on 9/11. Recently vast Uranium deposits have been reported in Khazakstan and Afghanistan. Khazakstan is expected to out-produce Canada in Uranium production within 12 years. This exposes the economic interests behind the events of 9/11, specifically the unjustified military attack by the U.S. on Afghanistan using 9/11 as a pretext. PUBLIC HEALTH EFFECTS OF DEPLETED URANIUM (DU) The demonstrated public health effects of Depleted Uranium (DU) weapons include: Diabetes; Cancer; Birth defects; Chronic diseases caused by neurological and neuromuscular radiation damage; Mitochondrial diseases (Chronic fatigue syndrome, Lou Gehrig’s, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s; Heart and brain disorders); Global DNA damage in men’s sperm; Infertility in women; Learning disabilities such as autism, and dyslexia; Mental Illness; Infant mortality and low birth weights; Increase in death rates and decrease in birth rates. Leuren Moret and Alfred Lambremont Webre, JD, MEd, of the Institute for Cooperation in Space (ICIS) will also address the issue of the illegal use of Canadian Uranium in U.S. Depleted Uranium (DU) weapons world-wide. Canada is the world’s largest exporter of Uranium, and supplies 30% of the world’s uranium. 60% of Canadian Uranium is exported to the USA. According to experts such as Dr. Rosalie Bertell, the preponderant majority of Depleted Uranium in U.S. DU weapons used in the Iraq War I (1991); Balkans War (1998); the Iraq No Fly Zone (1991-2003); the Afghanistan War (2001-2007); and Iraq War II (2003-2007) is of Canadian origin, in non-compliance with Canadian law. The regulations of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the Canada-US Nuclear Cooperation Agreement prohibit the use of Canadian uranium in weapons, including DU weapons. Depleted Uranium and DU weapons are already prohibited as Weapons of Mass Destruction under existing international conventions and treaties, including the 1925 Geneva Poison Gas Protocol. According to an August 2002 report by the UN Sub-commission, laws which are breached by the use of DU shells include: “the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the Charter of the United Nations; the Genocide Convention; the Convention Against Torture; the four Geneva Conventions of 1949; the Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980; and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, which expressly forbid employing 'poison or poisoned weapons' and 'arms, projectiles or materials calculated to cause unnecessary suffering'. All of these laws are designed to spare civilians from unwarranted suffering in armed conflicts." Atomic weapons, Depleted Uranium poison gas weapons and the first Agent Orange prototype were developed in World War Two under the Manhattan Project to target civilian populations, for the specific purpose of depopulation. The global pollution of the atmosphere, with Depleted Uranium radioactive poison gas since 1991, is causing a global epidemic of chronic illnesses, which will contribute to extensive depopulation and ecological destruction. This is newly defined as Omnicide. Depopulation became the top U.S. National Security priority detailed in the “Global 2000” Report written by Henry Kissinger, Z. Brzezinski, Gen. Alexander B. Haig, and Sen Edward Muskie for Pres. Jimmy Carter. This National Security Policy of Depopulation is now being carried out by means of global low level radioactive DU pollution. The result, an increase in death rates and decrease in birth rates, will achieve the goals of maximizing profits and concentrating wealth upwards, for the benefit of an international War Crimes Racketeering Organization. Joining Leuren Moret on a Special Panel on Depleted Uranium (DU) will be Dr. Bill Deagle, a medical toxicologist experienced in DU and environmental health; Dennis Kyne, a former Gulf War I U.S. military combat veteran with DU exposure, author and leader in revealing the Depleted Uranium scandal, and Alfred Lambremont Webre, JD, MEd, International Director of the Institute for Cooperation in Space (ICIS). International Citizen’s 9/11 War Crimes Tribunal Alfred Webre, an international lawyer and Member of the Pro Tem Committee for the Kuala Lumpur International War Crimes Tribunal to be held in 2008, will address the Vancouver 9/11 Truth Conference, on the issue of “The 9/11 False Flag Operation as a War Crime under International Law.” 9/11 was a pretext to engage in Genocidal & Ecocidal Depleted Uranium (DU) bombing of Central Asia (Afghanistan and Iraq). In order to prosecute the 9/11 perpetrators under the 9/11 Independent Prosecutors Act, Alfred Webre and Leuren Moret will call for the establishment of an International Citizen’s 9/11 War Crimes Tribunal to prosecute President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, Secretary of Defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld and other Jane and John Does for War Crimes under the Geneva Conventions, including Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity and Crimes Against Peace. The International Citizen’s 9/11 War Crimes Tribunal would be convened under the jurisdiction of the Kuala Lumpur International War Crimes Tribunal, established in February 2007 as a permanent citizen’s Tribunal by The Perdana Global Peace Organization, chaired by Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, who is the first prominent world leader to take up the DU radiation issue. The 9/11 Truth Conference: Canada, 9/11 and the New World Order brings together over 18 international speakers on issues: • The History of False Flag Terrorism by governments and intelligence agencies to justify military interventions, spending, and extraordinary domestic measures. • Canada's participation in the War On Terror and in Afghanistan, and that country's real relationship to 9/11. • Solid Scientific and Historical Evidence that directly contradicts the Official Narrative of 9/11 • Gatekeeping: Suppression of information by the mass media, political parties, authors and political commentators. • The importance, methods and means of 9/11 Truth Activism • The use of Depleted Uranium (DU) Weapons and their effects on local populations, soldiers and the world, as well Canada's role in producing such weapons. • Canadian Pension Funds at the Provincial and Federal levels are heavily invested in the US military-industrial complex. Taking the profit out of war is the most effective way to support peace. It is mandatory that Pension funds be divested from the war machine. • Preventing the Weaponization of Space through an international Space Preservation Treaty-signing with a caucus of five or more progressive nations, the 178 Nations which voted against the weaponization of space at the 2006 U.N. General Assembly. • Globalization and “New World Order” agenda for Canada and the world. The emerging culture of surveillance of ordinary citizens in Canada and worldwide. • The S.P.P. (Security and Prosperity Partnership) between the USA, Canada and Mexico, which many contend is a blueprint for a North American Union (without citizen input nor public debate), as well as the fate of democracy, sovereignty, civil rights, Canadian culture, and our national identity. Vancouver 9/11 Truth Conference 9/11 Independent Prosecutor Act http://www.v911truth.org/conference2007.html http://peaceinspace.blogs.com/911/ References: KITV Hawaii - Depleted Uranium Hawaii (2 Mins 33 Seconds) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L94IUSw54pQ Leuren Moret – Bio http://peaceinspace.blogs.com/nuclear_free_zone/2007/05/leuren_moret_b i.html Leuren Moret – Expert Testimony at the Tokyo International Tribunal for War Crimes in Afghanistan http://peaceinspace.blogs.com/nuclear_free_zone/2007/05/du_depleted_ur a.html DU: Dirty Bombs, Missiles, Bullets by Leuren Moret http://www.ratical.org/radiation/DU/DU_DBDMDB.html DU: Occupational Hazards of War by Dr. Rosalie Bertell http://peaceinspace.blogs.com/campaign_for_a_positive_f/2007/03/occupa tional ENDS ***************************************************************** 37 ENS: Terrorism Risk Assessment for Hawaii Food Irradiator Environment News Service (ENS) AmeriScan: June 8, 2007 Terrorism Risk Assessment for Hawaii Food Irradiator WASHINGTON, DC The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC, is seeking public comment on an appendix to the draft environmental assessment for a proposed commercial food irradiator facility to be operated in Honolulu, Hawaii. The irradiator would be located near the Honolulu International Airport and would be used to irradiate mangoes and papayas to kill insects and micro-organisms. In the appendix, the NRC concludes that no significant environmental impacts are likely from a potential terrorist attack on the facility. The appendix bases its conclusion on an evaluation of the current threat environment, information from the intelligence community, and security enhancements imposed by the NRC on commercial irradiator facilities since the September. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The NRC staff conducted the terrorism assessment in response to the June 2, 2006, ruling by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace v. NRC. That ruling required NRC to conduct an environmental assessment of the potential impacts of a terrorist attack on a proposed spent nuclear fuel storage facility to be constructed at the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in California. That assessment was published May 29 for public comment. In response to the Ninth Circuit ruling, the NRC decided it was appropriate to conduct a similar assessment for the proposed Pa'ina irradiator in Honolulu. Hawaii is in the Ninth Circuit. When the draft environmental assessment, EA, was released in January, it was criticized for failing to discuss the potential for terrorist attack on the Pa'ina irradiator. Gordon Thompson, executive director of the Institute for Resource and Security Studies, a nonprofit, research organization in Cambridge, Massachusetts says the Honolulu location "might be especially attractive to attackers because of the proximity of military and symbolic targets including Hickam Air Force Base and Pearl Harbor." More information about the Pa'ina irradiator, as well as the appendix to the draft environmental assessment, is available on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/materials.html by clicking on "Pa'ina irradiator" under Key Topics. A Notice of Availability regarding the appendix was published today in the Federal Register. Comments will be accepted through July 9. After evaluating the public comments, staff will make a determination on a final environmental assessment for the proposed facility. Comments may be submitted to the Chief, Rules Review and Directives Branch, Mail Stop T6-D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Please note Docket No. 030-36974 when submitting comments. Comments will be accepted by email at NRCREP@nrc.gov or by fax to 301-415-5397, Attention: Matthew Blevins. ***************************************************************** 38 NewsBlaze : NRC Seeks Public Comment on Terrorism Risk Assessment In Hawaii The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public comment on an appendix to the draft environmental assessment for a proposed commercial irradiator facility to be operated in Honolulu, Hawaii. The appendix concludes that no significant environmental impacts are likely from a potential terrorist attack on the facility. The appendix bases its conclusion on an evaluation of the current threat environment, information from the intelligence community, and various security enhancements imposed by the NRC on commercial irradiator facilities since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The NRC staff conducted the terrorism assessment in response to the June 2, 2006, ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace v. NRC. That ruling required NRC to conduct an environmental assessment of the potential impacts of a terrorist attack on a proposed spent nuclear fuel storage facility to be constructed at the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in California. That assessment was published May 29 for public comment. In response to the Ninth Circuit ruling, the NRC decided it was appropriate to conduct a similar assessment for the proposed Pa'ina irradiator. Hawaii is in the Ninth Circuit. More information about the Pa'ina irradiator, as well as the appendix to the draft environmental assessment, is available on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/materials.html by clicking on "Pa'ina irradiator" under Key Topics. A Notice of Availability regarding the appendix was published today in the Federal Register. Comments will be accepted through July 9. After evaluating the public comments, staff will make a determination on a final environmental assessment for the proposed facility. Comments may be submitted to the Chief, Rules Review and Directives Branch, Mail Stop T6-D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Please note Docket No. 030-36974 when submitting comments. Comments will also be accepted by e-mail at NRCREP@nrc.gov or by facsimile to (301) 415-5397, Attention: Matthew Blevins. Source: U.S. Department of State judythpiazza@gmail.com Copyright © 2007, NewsBlaze, Daily News ***************************************************************** 39 Rocky Mountain News: Dispute involves plutonium content Scientist: Officials ignoring key data By Laura Frank, Rocky Mountain News June 11, 2007 Government health officials have misrepresented important information that a White House advisory board needs to decide the fate of one group of sick Rocky Flats workers, a Colorado scientist says. Former workers at the now-demolished nuclear weapons site contend that one building contained significant amounts of plutonium. Federal health officials have disputed that in records and at advisory board meetings. But some of the same officials paid for and participated in a 10-year study that confirms the workers' story, said Margaret Ruttenber, a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment research scientist who helped lead the study. The amount of plutonium in Building 881 will be a significant factor at the board's meeting today in Lakewood. It will affect whether Rocky Flats employees who worked in the building from 1958 to 1970 get streamlined medical and financial compensation for radiation-related cancers. "They know this information," Ruttenber said. "I don't know why they would say they don't." Ruttenber said she gave federal health officials copies of her study and references to another 15- year-old study that show significant amounts of plutonium in Building 881. However, Amanda Harney, a spokeswoman for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, said the board was not given the studies. "Information pertaining to this topic was not previously shared with the advisory board because the board's Work Group on Rocky Flats did not raise plutonium exposure as an issue of concern in Building 881," Harney said. Her e-mail in response to a question from the Rocky Mountain News did not address why NIOSH has said there was no significant amount of plutonium in the building, which was the first constructed at the sprawling Cold War-era atomic weapons plant northwest of Denver. This is just one example, former workers say, of faulty or incomplete information being used to deny workers with certain radiation-related cancers the help they deserve. ***************************************************************** 40 Rocky Mountain News: Rocky Flats workers face likely denial of compensation Board members say their hands are tied Javier Manzano © News Joe Hanket, 70, awaits a decision by a White House advisory board that is meeting today and Tuesday in Lakewood. Hanket, who worked at Rocky Flats for 17 years as a pipe fitter and welder, suffers from bronchial asthma, asbestosis, berylliosis and has plutonium in his bone marrow. By Laura Frank And Ann Imse, Rocky Mountain News June 11, 2007 Barring any "shocking" revelations, there is "little chance" that a White House advisory board will vote Tuesday in favor of immediate compensation for most sick Rocky Flats workers, said the board member in charge of the Flats case. Several board members, in interviews and public comments, said their hands are tied by the way federal health officials have interpreted the law passed in 2000 to help ill nuclear weapons workers across the nation. The regulations say the board must ask whether the government has sufficient information to analyze how much radiation individual workers were exposed to, said board member Mark Griffon, who oversees the Flats case. If the answer is yes, as many board members believe, the board must reject the petition for streamlined financial help to workers with one of 22 radiation-related cancers, Griffon and others say. Eligible workers receive $150,000 and reimbursement for medical expenses. "People sincerely do feel their health has been affected by the plant," said Genevieve Roessler, a board member. "But they don't understand the rules." The law allows the government to grant special status to a group of workers if records are missing, faulty or incomplete. Nineteen nuclear weapons sites have received such status. Flats workers don't agree that the records are sufficient in their cases. And they point out that having records doesn't mean the government has a scientifically valid way of using them to determine radiation doses for a particular worker. The board has struggled during more than two years of deliberations to get scientists from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to show proof that their estimates are valid, not just that the data are available. "A lot of their validation hasn't been done, quite frankly," Griffon said. "But unless something shocking comes forward, right now I don't see any (vote) for workers (who were employed) beyond 1970." Those who worked before 1970 at the now-demolished complex between Denver and Boulder weren't closely monitored for neutron radiation, one of the most dangerous kinds. In May, the board recommended streamlined status to Rocky Flats workers believed to have been exposed to neutron radiation between 1952 and 1958. A small group of workers employed between 1958 and 1970 who were exposed to neutron radiation also have a shot at special status when the board meets today and Tuesday in Lakewood. But they can expect to find themselves in the middle of a scientific battle today. Scientists from NIOSH will argue they can make valid estimations for those workers. But private scientists hired by the board to audit NIOSH's work argue that its methods aren't scientifically sound. For workers employed after 1970, federal health officials say the current method of assessing workers individually is valid. The board appears to agree. "Everything we've seen and researched indicates they can (estimate radiation doses) with sufficient accuracy," Griffon said of post-1970 workers, who make up the majority of Rocky Flats workers still living. Workers and advocates disagree. The ongoing scientific disputes have resulted in a constantly changing strategy that has left workers distrustful of the entire system. Rocky Flats workers who ask for compensation spend an average of two years presenting evidence before learning whether they qualify for compensation. One out of 10 Flats workers eventually approved for compensation has died before being paid, the Rocky Mountain News reported earlier this month. At a meeting last month in Westminster, board member Dr. James Lockey told ill Flats workers they should take their frustrations with the program to Congress. Last week, 15 U.S. senators, including Colorado's Ken Salazar, called for a congressional inquiry into how the compensation program is run. Workers welcomed this news and said excuses about the law are just that - excuses. "I don't see anything in the law that forces that board into this decision," said Jennifer Thompson, a former Rocky Flats worker who wrote the petition for streamlined help. "I think the board has the complete authority to approve the entire class of workers based on the timeliness issue." The law governing the compensation program requires decisions to be made in a timely and efficient manner. At least one other site has been awarded special status based in part on the length of time spent trying to answer scientific questions. The Rocky Flats petition has been languishing for 846 days, nearly twice as long as any other petition. Meet the board There are 12 members on the board that will recommend Tuesday whether any former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons workers with certain cancers will receive streamlined medical and financial compensation. The Federal Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health, appointed by President Bush, oversees work done by federal health officials at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH. The board will send its recommendation to the secretary of Health and Human Services, who generally accepts them. Bradley Clawson ? Expertise: Worker specializing in stored nuclear material ? Currently: Senior operator of spent nuclear fuels at the Idaho National Laboratory nuclear weapons facility near Idaho Falls and a member of the United Steelworkers union ? Past experience: Former secretary-treasurer of the Atomic Energy Workers Council ? Note: Clawson thought he would be barred from voting on the Rocky Flats petition because of his membership in the union that filed it. But just before the board's May meeting, he was told he could vote. Michael H. Gibson ? Expertise: Worker who specialized in decontamination ? Currently: Retired ? Past experience: Journeyman electrician at the Mound nuclear weapons facility in Miamisburg, Ohio, and past president of the local Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy International Union Mark Griffon ? Expertise: Scientist specializing in radiation and hazardous waste ? Currently: President, Creative Pollution Solutions of Salem, N.H. ? Past experience: Former consultant to the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union's medical screening program at U.S. Department of Energy nuclear weapons sites James E. Lockey ? Expertise: Doctor specializing in environmental health ? Currently: Professor of medicine and environmental health at the University of Cincinnati ? Past experience: Former consultant to the U.S. Department of Energy for medical reviews of workers at the Oak Ridge nuclear weapons facility in Tennessee James Malcolm Melius ? Expertise: Doctor specializing in worker health ? Currently: Director of New York State Laborers' Health and Safety Trust Fund and lecturer at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine ? Past experience: Board of Scientific Counselors for NIOSH, the federal health agency that evaluates whether nuclear workers' illnesses were caused by their jobs. Directed NIOSH's workplace consultation program from 1980 to 1987. Wanda Munn ? Expertise: Scientist specializing in nuclear engineering ? Currently: Retired ? Past experience: Engineer at the Advanced Reactor Development Division at the Hanford nuclear weapons facility in Hanford, Wash. John W. Poston Sr. ? Expertise: Scientist specializing in nuclear engineering and radiation detection ? Currently: Professor of nuclear engineering at Texas A&M University and associate editor of Health Physics Journal ? Past experience: Senior reviewer for the company that performs the dose reconstructions of ill nuclear weapons workers, which has raised complaints that he has a conflict of interest. His son and daughter also have worked for the same company. Robert W. Presley ? Expertise: Scientist specializing in nuclear weapons engineering ? Currently: Manufacturing engineer at Pro2Serve, a contractor at the Y-12 nuclear weapons facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. ? Past experience: Worked 36 years in nuclear weapons at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, Oak Ridge, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico Genevieve S. Roessler ? Expertise: Scientist specializing in measuring radiation and other agents that affect human health ? Currently: Editor, Health Physics Society's newsletter and Web site in Elysian, Minn. ? Past experience: Head of health physics and medical physics for 22 years at the University of Florida, and a radiation consultant. Served on advisory committees for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project and the National Cancer Institute. Phillip Schofield ? Expertise: Worker specializing in processing of plutonium and americium ? Currently: Retired; volunteers with the Los Alamos Project on Worker Safety ? Past experience: Worked 21 years at the Los Alamos National Laboratory making bomb parts from plutonium, uranium and thorium Paul L. Ziemer ? Expertise: Scientist specializing in measuring radiation and other agents that affect human health ? Currently: On the board of directors of the Hiroshima Radiation Effects Research Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences Radiation Studies Board ? Past experience: Professor emeritus of Purdue University's School of Health Sciences. Department of Energy assistant secretary for environment, safety and health, 1990-1993 Josie Beach ? Expertise: Worker specializing in health and safety at a plutonium plant in Hanford, Wash. ? Currently: Nuclear chemical operator for contractor CH2M Hill at the Hanford nuclear weapons facility, and a member of the United Steelworkers union ? Past experience: Began her career at Hanford in 1987 at the plutonium finishing plant ? Note: Beach is not allowed to vote on the Rocky Flats petition because she worked for the union that filed the petition. frankl@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5091; imsea@RockyMountain News.com or 303-954-5438 ***************************************************************** 41 sacbee.com: Seeking safe water - By Chris Bowman - Bee Staff Writer Last Updated 12:37 am PDT Monday, June 11, 2007 Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua State engineer Alex MacDonald takes a sample from the Golden State Water Co. plant in Rancho Cordova to test for chemicals. A large water filter on the left was installed by Aerojet to help make the water safe. Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua State health officials are considering a proposal that would have Rancho Cordova residents relying for the first time on treatment technologies to remove rocket fuel chemicals from their drinking water. The proposed change in contaminant cleanup strategy comes as concentrations of chemicals are creeping up in several Rancho Cordova drinking-water wells. The fixes, however, are expected to be completed before the contamination reaches unsafe levels, utility and state officials said. Historically, the community's water supplier has taken wells off-line and even destroyed them when tests consistently picked up levels of fuel and solvent chemicals. Instead, Golden State Water Co. has proposed the installation of treatment systems at the heads of wells affected by the rising contamination, which originates from GenCorp's Aerojet rocket-manufacturing plant in Rancho Cordova. "They've used up all the easy fixes," said Alex MacDonald, a senior engineer with the state's Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. Golden State must obtain a state permit to install treatment on any well. The utility has a permit request pending on the first of five wells it has targeted for wellhead decontamination. Aerojet would pay for the treatment works. The state Department of Health Services previously has declined to issue permits for wellhead treatment in Rancho Cordova because the technologies for removing rocket contaminants were relatively new. But health officials may change their stance because the effectiveness of the treatments now has a proven track record, MacDonald said. The rise in contamination comes as no surprise because the wells lie in the path of plumes of tainted groundwater, which migrate slowly and are closely tracked. Results of monthly water sampling show the concentrations of contaminants rising slightly but steadily since January, MacDonald said. "We're talking low levels rising to slightly higher levels that are still below recommended limits," MacDonald said. The upward trend has been observed in five of the 14 wells serving more than 60,000 Rancho Cordova residents, according to Paul Schubert, northern district manager for Golden State. The wells are north of Highway 50, including two in the Gold River neighborhood. The contaminants are perchlorate, an oxidizing component of solid rocket propellant known to cause thyroid disorders and NDMA -- n-nitro-sodimethylamine -- a "probable" cancer-causing combustion product of liquid rocket fuel, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The chemicals are linked to historic disposal practices at Aerojet. In the 1950s through 1970s, the defense contractor disposed of residual rocket fuel and metal-cleaning solvents in unlined open pits, allowing the wastes to seep through the soil and into the groundwater tapped for Rancho Cordova homes. The most pervasive Aerojet pollutant is trichloroethylene (TCE), an industrial solvent that has been linked to brain damage, liver cancer, skin diseases and immune disorders. GenCorp officials say the company has invested more than $250 million in the court- ordered investigation and cleanup of the groundwater pollution in the past 27 years, reducing contamination in wells to levels that state health regulators consider safe. The city of Rancho Cordova recently approved Aerojet's proposal to build on Coloma Road the last of four pump-and-treat systems designed to block the last of the spreading plumes. "This system will halt that migration and continue with the restoration of the aquifer," said Tim Murphy, a GenCorp spokesman. The systems feature a series of wells bored at the leading fringes of migrating groundwater. The collective pumping effectively halts the movement and channels the tainted water through treatment works. Once cleansed, the water eventually drains to the American River. The process is expected to last generations. Rancho Cordova was the first of what are now dozens of communities across the country where perchlorate from military operations, aerospace industries and fireworks manufacturers has been detected at worrisome levels in water supplies. Perchlorate, a manufactured and naturally occurring chemical salt, inhibits the thyroid's uptake of iodine, which slows metabolism and causes fatigue, depression and weight gain. Infants and fetuses are at much higher risk than adults, however, because they consume far more water per pound and because perchlorate can impair brain development. About the writer: * The Bee's Chris Bowman can be reached at (916) 321-1069 or cbowman@sacbee.com. Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua Alex MacDonald takes a sample of water from a Golden State Water Co. well in Rancho Cordova last week. Aerojet and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board will test it for contaminants. Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua State engineer Alex MacDonald takes a sample from the Golden State Water Co. plant in Rancho Cordova to test for chemicals. A large water filter on the left was installed by Aerojet to help make the water safe. Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua Unique content, exceptional value. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Copyright © The Sacramento Bee 2100 Q St. P.O. Box 15779 Sacramento, CA 95816 (916) 321-1000 Contact The Bee: (916) 321-1000 | E-Mail ***************************************************************** 42 Los Angeles Times: American to recast Hiroshima's message - Peace activist Steven Leeper, the first foreigner to head the memorial foundation, wants to add substance to the emotional plea. By Bruce Wallace, Times Staff Writer June 11, 2007 HIROSHIMA, JAPAN — Dig down below the 3 feet of topsoil that was dumped atop the ruins of central Hiroshima to make a memorial Peace Park and you'll still turn up bones, remains of Japanese civilians incinerated when an American B-29 bomber dropped an atomic fireball over this spot one August morning in 1945. The Peace Park is a graveyard, the most visible scar of Japan's disastrous imperial war and ground zero of its postwar, anti-nuclear conscience. Remarkably, Hiroshima is now entrusting stewardship of this symbol of its annihilation to a citizen from the country that dropped the bomb: Steven Leeper, an American peace activist recruited to reinvigorate a local peace movement that critics say has failed to sufficiently push the power of Hiroshima's anti-nuclear message to a global audience. "Hiroshima feels an urgent need to have more connection to the world," says Leeper, 59, who spent long stretches in Japan as a child and an adult. He says his mandate from Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba is to find a way to turn Hiroshima's misfortune as the original victim of nuclear war into more than just a sentimental force for peace. "There is a view among some that Hiroshima's message is all emotion and lacks substance," says Leeper, who in April became the first foreigner to run the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, which oversees the museums and memorials. "Right now, Hiroshima tells you the obvious: that the atomic bomb was a terrible thing, that nuclear war should never happen again, that we should live in a peaceful world. "But it doesn't tell you how to accumulate the political power to vote the warmongers out of office, or how we can stop ourselves from killing each other. If we are going to graduate from a war culture to a peace culture, we're going to have to be a little more hardheaded on how we go about it." Leeper's appointment comes as the generational clock is already forcing Hiroshima's peace foundation to question standing assumptions. The museum has relied upon hibakusha — those who survived the bombing or who came into contact with its radiation afterward — to act as guides to the daily stream of visiting school groups. But any hibakusha who were old enough to have more than childhood memories of the bombing are now in their late 70s or 80s; only two dozen or so are still healthy enough to tell stories that bring that terrible day alive. Their witness may be digitally preserved in the museum's archives, but the human connection to the bombing is about to disappear. There is also awareness that Hiroshima's peace memorials face competition to attract field-tripping students, who make up a quarter of the 1.2 million annual visitors. A few years ago, an advisory committee charged with suggesting ways to stop the slide in school excursions noted that the major complaint of visiting schools was the lack of any nearby amusement park for fun once the A-bomb tour was done. Though school visits remain down, Leeper says overall attendance has recovered in the last two years, and he is hardly about to cater to amusing diversions. "You will not see a waterslide," he says, grimacing. But he still has an ambitious agenda of reform. The museum will try to raise its voice in the nuclear proliferation debate by sending an exhibit of the Hiroshima story to two locations in each of the 50 U.S. states ahead of next year's presidential election. And in Hiroshima, Leeper wants a complete overhaul of the park museum's displays. The substantive challenge, he says, is to address whether Hiroshima can get beyond its current focus on eulogizing Japan's suffering in a war it bears responsibility for starting. Only about a tenth of the museum's visitors come from outside Japan; Leeper says he has met Koreans in Hiroshima who "resent that this place does not talk about how bad the Japanese occupiers were in Korea and China." Those who suffered at Japan's hands can become furious, Leeper says, "at what they see as the Japanese getting away with looking like they were the only victims." Leeper wants to create a committee ranging from defenders of Japan's pacifist Constitution to Japanese nationalists, as well as Chinese, Korean and American voices, aimed at arriving at a common narrative of the world's first atomic bombing. If such widely disparate views can come together, he says, Hiroshima will have showcased the peaceful conflict resolution it has always advocated. The desire to spearhead a more forceful peace crusade is something Leeper shares with his friend Akiba, a three-term mayor and energetic peace campaigner who is well aware that the anti-nuclear movement's good intentions are not matched by influence in the corridors of power. The two men met when Leeper and his wife, Elizabeth Baldwin, were running a translation business in Hiroshima in the 1980s, and grew closer as Leeper became drawn into the city's peace movement. When the American couple moved to Atlanta in 2001, Akiba hired Leeper to lobby at the United Nations on behalf of Mayors for Peace, a group of city leaders from around the world that the Hiroshima mayor wanted to become a lobby with political teeth. Then in April, with the Hiroshima foundation casting for a new chief executive, Akiba did the backroom schmoozing to pave the way to bring in his American friend. The argument was that Hiroshima needed someone who spoke English, who would be as comfortable espousing a nonproliferation message in New York, Tel Aviv or Tehran as in Tokyo. There has been no local backlash against the decision — so far, at least. "Steven speaks Japanese and has been doing peace activism for a long time, so there is no criticism against him just because he is an American," says Katsutoshi Kajikawa of the Hiroshima branch of the Japan Congress Against A- and H- Bombs. "It is highly symbolic that the mayor of Hiroshima has chosen an American," Leeper says. "It proves that what Mayor Akiba has been saying all along is true: that Hiroshima does not seek revenge, that it does not hold a grudge." bruce.wallace@latimes.com ***************************************************************** 43 New Scientist: 'Nuclear winter' is still a threat to be avoided - earth - 11 June 2007 - NewScientist.com "Nuclear winter" - the phrase sounds like a relic from the cold war, but the threat is far from over. Even as the US and Russia have destroyed thousands of warheads in the name of disarmament, India, Pakistan and North Korea have swelled their stockpiles. A regional nuclear conflict would lower global temperatures for a decade, according to Alan Robock of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. His team used a climate model shared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to calculate the effects of exploding 100 Hiroshima-sized bombs over major cities - roughly equivalent to an all-out nuclear war between India and Pakistan (Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol 7, p 2003). They found that the blasts would loft up to 5 million tonnes of black carbon soot into the atmosphere, lowering global temperatures by 1.4 °C. Growing seasons in the middle latitudes would be shortened and in some cases fail entirely. "By explaining the consequences to the world, we hope nothing like this will ever happen," says Robock. From issue 2607 of New Scientist magazine, 11 June 2007, page 6-7 © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd. ***************************************************************** 44 KFDA: Fast Dismantling of Nuclear Weapons NewsChannel 10 / Amarillo, TX: newschannel10.com - The dismantling of Nuclear Cold War Era weapons is about nine years ahead of schedule according to the US Department of Energy. They say technicians took apart 50% more warheads during the past eight months than all of last year. The process of separating the plutonium from the explosive trigger is done here at Pantex. Under a 2002 agreement with Russia, the US is supposed to reduce the number of deployed warheads from 6,000 to less than 2,000. All content © Copyright 2000 - 2007 WorldNow and KFDA. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 45 Tri-City Herald: Spirit of cooperation essential at monument Opinions Published Monday, June 11th, 2007 Both extremes in the debate over the Hanford Reach National Monument may be feeling like Annie in the musical Oklahoma, when she complains, "With you it's all er nuthin'. All fer you and nuthin' fer me!" At one end of the spectrum are advocates of unrestricted access. At the other end are those who'd prefer to close the site to any public use. The Comprehensive Conservation Plan that's working its way through federal channels will determine a management system that's somewhere in the middle. In concept, that's the right approach. Compromise will best serve people of the Mid-Columbia, state of Washington and United States of America. The citizens advisory panel, which formed in 2000 and began the long, slow march toward a management plan, saw it that way, despite the jumble of conflicting interests represented. Whether the plan that's finally adopted reflects enough of that hard-won consensus to deserve the Mid-Columbia's support remains to be seen. But the signs are promising. Local leadership of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is working on a final plan, clearly understands the desire of most Mid-Columbians: Expand access to the site while preserving the beauty and solitude offered by this nearly pristine expanse of public lands. No doubt, everyone will find details to dislike, but the litmus test is whether the Comprehensive Conservation Plan adheres to that broader vision. Last week, the editorial board toured the Monument. Well, as much of it as you can see in an eight-hour day. It would take many more such days to see it all. We drove the complete circumference (about 150 miles) and took several side trips. Granted we had an escort -- with a key to several locked gates -- and visited a few places that are currently closed to the general public, like the top of Rattlesnake Mountain and Snively Canyon. Other wondrous views, however, including the one from the top of Saddle Mountain and the scenic overlook just upstream from the White Bluffs boat launch are available to all. We saw elk, deer, coyotes, jackrabbits and a long-eared owl that stared us down with huge, stark yellow eyes. This trip we did not see the porcupines, beavers, bobcats or cougars -- but they're all out there. Snively Canyon contains the foundations of a pioneer farm house, where the farmer's grain still grows voluntarily. A spring of prehistoric water originates deep inside Rattlesnake and carves a swath of tropical green -- complete with butterflies -- through the canyon. To a large degree, this is how the Mid-Columbia looked when Lewis and Clark first saw it. It's worth preserving. And that calls for compromise. Open all areas to unrestricted access, and it won't be long before some idiot on a four-wheeler disfigures the land, introducing noxious weeds, destroying the habitat and leaving a scar that won't heal in a lifetime. Once lost, the Reach will be lost forever. Sadly, Monument lands that are now open are being abused. New informational signs have been shot up, and during our visit we picked up handfuls of shell casings from pistols and rifles in areas where they are prohibited. Names are scratched into geologic layers of clay-laden rocks shaped by ancient floods. The unfortunate reality is, these lands must be managed or end up trashed by bad actors. But the folks who love and use the Reach have a right to help define how it's managed. Whatever Fish and Wildlife produces, it won't be perfect. And undoubtedly, when the plan is announced, no one will be happy -- completely. But the community's goals -- access and preservation -- inherently conflict. The closest we can get is a compromise. © 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press & Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 46 Hanford News: Better help for ill Hanford workers This story was published Monday, June 11th, 2007 Annette Cary, Herald staff writer The Department of Energy has made improvements in its workers' compensation program at Hanford in response to complaints, but still could do better, according to the Hanford Advisory Board. Complaints about what workers have described as an impenetrable and frustrating program for those injured on the job have been common at public meetings for several years. DOE should continue to make changes, including working toward a uniform application of the program among all contractors at the Hanford nuclear reservation, board members agreed at their June meeting that concluded last week. DOE was hearing complaints as early as 2002 about poor communication and slow decisions, but reported a satisfactory evaluation that year of its claims administrator, Contract Claims Services Inc., the board wrote in a letter of advice to DOE. Three years later, a state review paid for by DOE concluded the program met minimum legal standards but identified similar problems. Those included being slow to collect claim information and contact doctors and not enforcing deadlines to complete work. DOE responded then with changes, including assigning a full-time staff person to resolve problems and work directly with those having difficulty with their claims. The board complimented DOE for its "exceptional and voluntary effort" to make the workers' compensation process more transparent, reasonable, understandable and user-friendly. However, it needs to continue to streamline the claims process for workers, eliminating repetitive paperwork and making sure their questions are answered quickly, the board said. Contractors should apply policies uniformly in accommodating injured workers who cannot do their usual tasks and in rules regarding their return to work, particularly as contracts expire and new contractors may begin work at the nuclear reservation, the board said. It also called for continued monitoring of contractors to make sure they are reporting all injuries, rather than discouraging workers from reporting accidents to improve safety statistics. "Penalties for failing to report should be established and clearly communicated," the board wrote in its advice to DOE. To make sure improvements in the workers' compensation program continue, specific and measurable goals need to be set, the board said. © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 47 Hanford News: Board tells DOE to keep its promise on budget This story was published Monday, June 11th, 2007 Annette Cary, Herald staff writer The Department of Energy needs to live up to its commitment to redirect money back to large cleanup sites, including Hanford, as it completes work at small nuclear weapons sites, according to the Hanford Advisory Board. The board reached consensus at its meeting last week on comprehensive advice to DOE and its regulators for Hanford's 2008 budget now being considered by Congress, initial work on the 2009 budget and projections for outlying years. Target budgets approved by the Office of Management and Budget fall "drastically short" of what's needed to protect the environment at Hanford and meet DOE's legal requirements, according to the board. That's despite DOE directing nearly a third of its national environmental management budget to Hanford as it has shifted to a policy to allocate money nationwide based on environmental risk. Even though Hanford is getting a generous share of the national cleanup budget, the overall budget has gotten smaller, the board said. The national budget proposed for fiscal year 2009 is $900 million less than what Congress approved for cleanup of all the sites in 2006. The board believes part of the problem is DOE not following through long term on its plan to divert money to clean up and close smaller sites across the nation, then return the resulting savings to cleanup of larger and more contaminated places like Hanford. Now that cleanup of several of the small sites, such as Rocky Flats, Colo., is completed or near completion, "Washington state should firmly remind DOE of this commitment," the board wrote. Under current budget projections, the DOE Hanford Richland Operations Office - which handles work other than the tank farms and vitrification plant - will be $5 billion short over the decade beginning in fiscal year 2009 to meet legal requirements and perform other important work, the board said. Among the projects that will suffer in the near term is cleanup and protection of ground water at Hanford, where 80 square miles of water beneath the site are contaminated with radioactive or hazardous chemical waste. "Recent congressional add-ons for Hanford ground water programs of $10 million to $20 million a year are helpful but do not make a meaningful dent in ground water cleanup," the board wrote. At proposed funding levels in 2009, the ground water program will be about $200 million short of the cost of started required work to plan strategies, learn more about the location and movement of plumes and keep contamination from moving into the Columbia River, according to the board. That's work that still is largely preventative, with much of the work to clean up the contamination to come in later years, board members pointed out. Proposed budgets also are inadequate for clean up in the highly contaminated center of Hanford, the board said. Work there has been delayed on some projects because of a lack of money, even though pollution is spreading, the board said. The board also criticized inadequate funding at the tank farms, where radioactive waste is stored in underground tanks, and a massive vitrification plant is being built to treat up to 53 million gallons of the waste. Current budget projections would allow just one of the 142 leak-prone older tanks still holding radioactive sludges and salts to be emptied each year, even though the legal deadline for emptying the tanks is 2018, the board said. DOE should make every effort to begin operating the portion of the vitrification plant that could treat low activity radioactive waste earlier than the rest of the plant, which may not be ready until 2018 or 2019, the board said. It also called for funding of at least $690 million annually to build the vitrification plant, which will turn the tank waste into a stable glass form for permanent disposal. The House Appropriations Committee last week cut proposed funding for the vitrification plant construction to $590 million for next year. While that budget reduction might not affect the pace of construction immediately, it would require a substantial budget increase within one or two years to get the plant operating in 2019 under a schedule that already would miss the legal deadline by eight years. The proposed reduction makes hiring at the plant more difficult as the project ramps up following a construction slowdown and layoffs in the last two years, said Hanford officials. Recruiting engineers will be difficult if they believe jobs may soon be cut again, said Zack Smith, acting deputy manager of DOE's Hanford Office of River Protection. © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 48 KRQE News 13: Report faults Los Alamos cleanup Posted: 6/11/2007 11:19:00 AM Source: AP LOS ALAMOS, N.M. -- Los Alamos National Laboratory does not have a firm understanding of its inventory of hazardous waste and how contaminants can migrate to groundwater, according to the National Research Council. While the lab is making progress in protecting the region's groundwater from radioactive and chemical efforts, a council report said the lab needs to step up its efforts. An agreement with the state Environment Department requires the lab to evaluate and clean up decades' worth of environmental contamination by 2015. The report noted the difficulties in meeting the agreement's strict timetables and regulations but concluded the required monitoring system is technically feasible. KRQE News 13 | KBIM News 10 | KREZ News 6 | KRQE.com | KBIMtv.com | KREZtv.com - Phone: 505.243.2285 | Contact KRQE | EEOC Broadcast Plaza SW Albuquerque, NM ***************************************************************** 49 KNDO/KNDU: Trident submarine Michigan refitted for cruise missiles Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA | Associated Press - June 11, 2007 10:55 AM ET BREMERTON, Wash. (AP) - The Navy is holding a ceremony tomorrow (at one) at Bremerton to mark the return to service of the former Trident submarine Michigan. After two years at the naval shipyard it has been converted from carrying nuclear Tridents to carry conventional cruise missiles. The Michigan will be based at Bangor. It's the second of 4 Trident subs to be converted. The first was the Ohio. All content © Copyright 2000 - 2007 WorldNow and KNDO/KNDU. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 50 Rocky Mountain News: Officials: Thorium use at Rocky Flats very limited By Ann Imse and Laura Frank, Rocky Mountain News June 11, 2007 Government officials provided detailed testimony today hoping to persuade a federal compensation board that there is little chance workers at the former Rocky Flats site were contaminated by thorium. The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health is meeting in Denver today to consider whether certain workers from the now-demolished nuclear weapons plant should be grandfathered into a federal compensation program. The board is deciding whether three groups of workers should be automatically approved for aid because records of their contamination are too inaccurate to prove radiation caused their cancers. Workers are still fighting for automatic approval for all former workers at Rocky Flats who come down with 22 radiogenic cancers. But the board has signaled that is unlikely. Brant Ulsh, chief scientist for determining radiation doses at Rocky Flats, testified that very few workers at Rocky Flats used thorium, and none were contaminated by it. Ulsh, who works for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, said his team tracked down the names of the small number of workers who used it. He then described the chemical and industrial processes they used, and insisted none had been exposed. Thorium?s use in the manufacture of nuclear weapons was once so top-secret that it went by the code-name Penbarnite. The reason? Thorium-232 could be converted to weapons-grade uranium 233 in a nuclear reactor, and it was much easier to find than uranium, said John Mauro, a radiation expert who consults for the radiation advisory board. "The secret was, we can make a weapon from it, and there?s so much of it," Mauro said. As a result, the use of thorium at many nuclear weapons plants was kept secret. So officials have been surprised to discover records of it being used at many sites ? and therefore a potential source of unrecorded contamination. Officials did not look for thorium at Rocky Flats until recently, six years after the compensation program began. The weapons-grade uranium-233 produced from thorium turned out to contain some U-232, which emits extremely dangerous gamma rays. It would be very dangerous to workers, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative. It appears that officials stopped using thorium, but there?s no way to be certain. "There is still classified information about thorium," Mauro said. A Department of Energy report on nuclear clean-up from 1996 says the government purchased 13.8 million pounds of thorium from 1946 to 1963, including at least 11.7 million pounds for the Atomic Energy Commission. However, officials said no more than 240 kilos or 528 pounds per year were used at Rocky Flats, basically in experiments. The board was still meeting this afternoon. ***************************************************************** 51 KnoxNews: Cleanup agreement reached For accepting milestones, DOE gains some flexibility; schedules being negotiated By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com June 11, 2007 OAK RIDGE - Environmental regulators have resolved their dispute with the Department of Energy over cleanup deadlines in Oak Ridge, although revised schedules still must be negotiated. The agreement will give DOE short-term flexibility to shift cleanup schedules because of budget shortfalls or technical difficulties on some projects. But it will add milestones to the 2009 schedule in order to keep pace with plans to finish the Oak Ridge cleanup program by 2016. Officials from DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation signed the "dispute resolution" document May 31. "The dispute was over DOE's attempt to extend the cleanup schedule beyond 2016," said John Owsley, the state's environmental oversight chief in Oak Ridge. "Basically, we brought DOE back to the negotiating table. The department had taken the position that they unilaterally set the schedule." DOE's 33,000-acre Oak Ridge reservation is one of the biggest and most complex sites on the Superfund's National Priority List, involving a broad range of radioactive elements and hazardous chemicals. The government has invested billions of dollars in the cleanup effort. Steve McCracken, DOE's cleanup chief in Oak Ridge, said he didn't think DOE ever took a position that it could unilaterally establish cleanup schedules. But the dispute resolution was important because it reaffirmed the existing Federal Facilities Agreement, which governs the cleanup program, and demonstrated how to settle disagreements, McCracken said. "It's a good process - one that we should follow," the DOE official said. A formal dispute was declared in May after the three agencies met in Chattanooga and were unable to reach an agreement on enforceable cleanup milestones in Oak Ridge. At the same time, the state and EPA assessed DOE a $45,000 fine for missing a March 15 deadline for submitting required documents. That fine, however, was waived after the parties resolved their dispute, Owsley said. The state official said discussions on cleanup schedules are continuing. So far, only one cleanup milestone has been changed, Owsley said. The deadline for removing "excess equipment" stored at the K-25 uranium-enrichment facility was extended from June 30 to March 2008, he said. DOE is supposed to submit a baseline cleanup plan by mid-June, Owsley said. That document will outline proposed cleanup projects through 2016, he said. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the EPA are working on documents that identify their cleanup priorities in Oak Ridge, Owsley said. They will meet later with DOE to hash out their differences and come up with a consensus plan for completing the cleanup work, he said. "The final plan will accommodate all three parties," Owsley said. "We think there is sufficient funding in the budgets to allow all three parties' priorities to be met. Now that remains to be seen, but that's our expectation." McCracken said DOE initially did not think the preliminary budget estimates for 2009 would be enough to meet the cleanup milestones for that year. "But we determined we can," he said. By resolving those concerns, it sets the stage for later work at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, McCracken said. DOE is planning to demolish dozens of no-longer-needed nuclear facilities at Y-12 and ORNL, although there is no defined timetable for the work. The current emphasis is on dismantling facilities at K-25, a former uranium-enrichment plant that's being cleaned up and converted to a private industrial park. Despite earlier setbacks because of safety issues and technical problems, McCracken said significant progress is being made at the World War II-era site. The K-25 work could be the most difficult decommissioning and decontamination project ever attempted, he said. "I say that because you're working in a classified environment, you're working with enriched uranium, the building is falling apart, and it's huge. It's really, really big," McCracken said of the mile-long, U-shaped building that's loaded with contaminated equipment. "We've lost a little bit of schedule, but the fact of the matter is we plan to get that building on the ground, and I'm beginning to feel better about that every day," he said. The demolition of K-25 and its sister building, K-27, originally was scheduled for completion by October 2008, but that work now is expected to continue until 2010. Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. 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