***************************************************************** 06/13/07 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 15.138 ***************************************************************** 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 IRNA: Secret UN report condemns US policy in Middle East - 2 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Indian scholars condemn US policies 3 Asia Times Online: Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran 4 UPI: Walker's World: Iran's oil weapon 5 Reuters: Probe requested of U.S. effort to free N.Korea funds 6 US: newsobserver.com: An energy policy made of straw 7 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Senate gets worked up over new energy bill 8 US: Reuters: Senate set to act on renewable utility plan 9 US: UPI: Air Force on track for new bomber by 2018 10 US: Guardian Unlimited: Senators at Odds Over Energy Requirement 11 Guardian Unlimited: Pentagon Accuses China of Deception 12 Shanghai Daily: China will never launch preemptive strike -- 13 AFP: US military prepared for 'worst' with China: official - NUCLEAR REACTORS 14 US: NRC: NRC Names New Resident Inspectors at Cooper Nuclear Station 15 US: MSNBC.com: Nuclear Energy is Clean and Should Play a Larger Role 16 Manila Times: Govt completes payment for idle nuclear reactor 17 US: NRC: NRC to Discuss Process for Review of License Renewal Applic 18 US: Buffalo News: Pass the power plant law 19 US: Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Point Beach Nuclear Plant for s 20 US: Times Daily: Browns Ferry reactor shut down | 21 US: toledoblade.com: Threat about Davis-Besse investigated 22 Jakarta Post: Protesters say no to nuclear power plant 23 US: Reuters: NRC sees nuclear renaissance in coming years | U.S. | 24 UPI: Thailand plans two nuclear plants by 2021 25 UPI: Hunterston reactor issue unveils need 26 US: South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Millions could have been better spen 27 Vladivostok Times: Construction Cost of Nuclear Power Plant and Alum 28 US: WNEP: PPL Considering New Nuclear Reactor NUCLEAR SECURITY 29 Ban Ki-moon Welcomes New Agreement To Defeat Nuclear Terrorism 30 US: UPI: U.S. rolls out new moves vs. terror nukes 31 US: WP What the Weapons Makers Want - Early Warning 32 US: AFP: US agents demonstrate response to terrorist radioactive thr NUCLEAR SAFETY 33 US: Honolulu Advertiser: Radiation tests find air on Big Island 'nor 34 US: APP.COM: Tooth testers say grants add bite to nuke debate | 35 US: Denver Post: Turned away again 36 Press TV: Israel's nuke leak threatening ME 37 US: Wired Science: Feds Turn Cold Shoulder to Cold War Nuke Workers 38 UPI: Greenpeace warns of tritium risk 39 US: KnoxNews: Retirees produce DVDs to document their plight NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 40 TorontoSun.com: Nuke waste no worry despite cancer risk - McGuinty 41 US: Platts: Spot uranium price seen rising after Tuesday, Friday auc 42 US: Platts: US NRC 'torn' on how to proceed with GNEP: Commissioner 43 US: Vail Daily News: Train carrying nuclear cargo overheats 44 Platts: India building two reprocessing plants 45 US: BillingsGazette.com: Closure revised due to radioactivity 46 US: Daily News Journal: House OKs dumping moratorium at landfill 47 US: APP.COM: NRC not serving public by disregarding drywell dangers 48 US: LA Daily News: Bermite cleanup impact seen in court ruling 49 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Magnum begins drilling for uranium at San Rap 50 US: EPA: Water quality safe "for now" on The Murfreesboro Post 51 US: Murfreesboro Post: State places moratorium on radioactive dumpin 52 US: AU ABC: Trade uranium to lift rights, Aust urged. 53 Ottawa Citizen: Tritium levels dangerously high at Pembroke factory PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY 54 Guardian Unlimited: Rocky Flats Health Money May Expand 55 DOE: DOE Seeks Applications to Invest up to $40 Million in Housing R 56 Santa Fe New Mexican: Both sides lambaste Udall on LANL budget 57 KBCI CBS 2: `INL Begins Investigation into Fire that Burned Worker | 58 Hanford News: Board wants public inputon long-term Hanford plans 59 Tri-City Herald: Analytical lab at Hanford vit plant gets last beam 60 Tri-City Herald: Office asks if bulk vit needed to treat Hanford was 61 Hanford News: Grant goes toward making fuel cells without platinum 62 Denver Post: Environmental Protection Agency certifies cleanup at Ro 63 Rocky Mountain News: Board denies most Flats workers medical help 64 UPI: U.S. panel shuns sick nuclear workers 65 KnoxNews: Parts of energy bill won't fly 66 cbs4denver.com: EPA Certifies Cleanup At Rocky Flats ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 IRNA: Secret UN report condemns US policy in Middle East - London, June 13, IRNA UK Report-US-Mideast The UN's Middle East envoy has issued a damning confidential report in which he warned that American pressure "pummelled into submission" the United Nations role as impartial negotiator, it was revealed Wednesday. Alvaro de Soto also condemns Israeli regime for setting unachievable preconditions for talks, saying that Western-led peace negotiations had become largely irrelevant, according to the Guardian newspaper, which said it had seen his 53-page End of Mission report. The report, meant only for senior UN officials, was said to present a devastating account of failed diplomacy, while condemning the sweeping boycott of the Palestinian government. The international boycott of the Palestinians, introduced after Hamas won elections last year, was "at best extremely short-sighted" and had "devastating consequences" for the Palestinian people, the envoy said just before he stepped down from his role last month. Israel, he said, had adopted an "essentially rejectionist" stance towards the Palestinians, while the Quartet of Middle East negotiators, made up of the US, the EU, Russia and the UN, had become a "side-show." De Soto said the boycott, which he opposed, "effectively transformed the Quartet from a negotiation-promoting foursome guided by a common document [the road map for peace] into a body that was all - but imposing sanctions on a freely elected government of a people under occupation as well as setting unattainable preconditions for dialogue." When questioned about the report in New York, the Guardian said that the Peruvian diplomat insisted it was "a confidential document and not intended for publication." ***************************************************************** 2 IRIB PERSIAN NEWS: Indian scholars condemn US policies 2007/06/13 Three prominent Indian scholars of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) denounced American invasion of Iranian consulate in Erbil in northern Iraq and kidnapping of Iranian diplomats and termed it as a terrorist act. These Indian scholars in interview with IRNA said the invasion of Iranian consulate in Iraq was in contradiction with all international laws. Mufti Zahid Ali Khan said America never respected UN charters and rather insulted them -- the latest examples of which is kidnapping of Iranian diplomats in Iraq. Zahid Ali Khan, chairman and professor of department of Sunni theology at Aligarh Muslim University while terming America's kidnapping of Iranian diplomats as purely terrorist activity said, "US is the biggest aggressor which has proven to be against any law or norm by its inhuman behavior in the entire world particularly, in Iraq. Zahid said, "US has done a lot of bloodshed all over the world namely Vietnam, Japan, Iraq, Afghanistan and many African and Latin American countries and now it is eyeing Iran just to save its mean and cunning interests in the oil-rich region. While talking to IRNA, an associate professor of political science at Aligarh Muslim University said, "US wants to lessen Iran's role and importance in the region by trying to demoralize, deactivate Iran and its people." Another prominent scholar and historian Dr. Farhat Hasan who is associate professor at department of history at AMU while condemning America's policies in the region said, "Ameica's behavior is completely arrogant and bullying one and it is very clear that they have decided to interfere wherever they want and to dictate their policies which nobody can accept." He concluded, "All American aggressions are wrong and unfounded, even its efforts to stop Islamic Republic of Iran from acquiring nuclear technology while Iran is signatory to Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) therefore, trying to deprive Iran of its legiti mate nuclear rights will be completely unlawful and against International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) norms." mk Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved By Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News Network Sponsored By IRIB News Computer Center. E-Mail: Info@IRIBNEWS.ir ***************************************************************** 3 Asia Times Online: Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran Jun 14, 2007 By Trita Parsi WASHINGTON - US Senator Joseph Lieberman's call for cross-border bombing raids into Iran appears to be the culmination of a two-week campaign by proponents of war to put the military option center-stage in the US debate over Iran once more. The immediate effect of reigniting the let's-bomb-Iran discussions is the undercutting of the recently initiated US-Iran talks over Iraq, which in turn will cause the military confrontation with Iran to be viewed in a new light. Lieberman out-hawked the administration of President George W Bush on the television news show Face the Nation this past Sunday by calling for "aggressive military action against the Iranians", including "a strike over the border into Iran". Repeating accusations - by now all but abandoned by the Bush administration - of Iranian complicity in the killing of US soldiers in Iraq, the Connecticut senator's comments caused a storm on Monday. Suddenly, the military option against Iran was once more at the center of the United States' Iran debate. Last week, Israel's hawkish trade minister and former defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, had visited Washington to hold strategic discussions regarding Iran's nuclear program with Bush administration officials. According to press reports, Mofaz urged the United States to give diplomacy with Iran an expiration date of the end of the year, after which the military option would be exercised. "Sanctions must be strong enough to bring about change in the Iranians by the end of 2007," Mofaz reportedly told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. According to Channel 2 News in Israel, Mofaz went on to declare to Rice that Israel will bomb Iran's nuclear facilities by year's end if diplomacy and sanctions fail to persuade Tehran to suspend its uranium-enrichment activities. A week prior to Mofaz' visit to Washington, Norman Podhoretz, the neo-conservative editor-at-large of Commentary, published a lengthy op-ed in the Wall Street Journal titled "The case for bombing Iran". Comparing Iran's firebrand president, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, to Adolf Hitler, Podhoretz accused Iran of seeking to "overturn the ... international system and to replace it in the fullness of time with a new order dominated by Iran and ruled by the religio-political culture of Islamofascism". Dismissing both diplomacy and the sanctions track, Podhoretz concluded, "The plain and brutal truth is that if Iran is to be prevented from developing a nuclear arsenal, there is no alternative to the actual use of military force - any more than there was an alternative to force if Hitler was to be stopped in 1938." Lieberman's, Mofaz' and Podhoretz' comments all share an air of frustration and desperation in light of the growing public opinion in the US against any new military adventures in the Middle East, the loss of key hawks within the Bush administration, reports of vehement opposition to war with Iran by the new head of the US Central Command, Admiral William Fallon, and the State Department's recent shift toward diplomacy. For the military option to be seriously considered by Washington once more, in spite of its significant flaws and many unpredictable risks, the diplomatic track must first be deemed a failure. If diplomacy were to produce positive results in Iraq, however, it could foreclose the option of bombing Iran's nuclear facilities for the foreseeable future. In the worst case, from the perspective of the proponents of war with Iran, successful diplomacy with Iran over Iraq might force the Bush administration to reach a compromise with Tehran over the nuclear issue. Such a compromise would likely entail a small-scale Iranian uranium-enrichment program under strict International Atomic Energy Agency inspections. Even though limited uranium enrichment would only pose a minor proliferation risk in the short term, Iran's acquirement of the nuclear know-how and mastering of the fuel cycle could pose a devastating long-term proliferation risk, proponents of this school of thought maintain. In addition, the mere access to nuclear technology - even if Iran doesn't weaponize - would tilt the balance of power in the Middle East in Tehran's favor, a development that would come at the expense of regional powers such as Israel and Saudi Arabia. As a result, the Bush administration's experimentation with diplomacy with Iran is viewed with great concern by the advocates of war. Lieberman hinted as much on Sunday when he told Face the Nation, "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." Whether intentional or not, the vocal push to reignite the let's-bomb-Iran discussions undermines the very diplomatic process that constitutes the greatest obstacle to turning the military option into policy. This debate signals to the ever-so-paranoid decision-makers in Tehran that their cooperation in Iraq will not cause Washington to abandon its apparent plans to take on Iran militarily at a later stage. Absent the potential for such a tradeoff with the US, Iran's incentives to aid the United States in Iraq will quickly diminish and cause the diplomatic track to fail, a development that in turn will pave the way for the military option. Dr Trita Parsi is the author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran and the United States (Yale University Press, 2007). He is also president of the National Iranian American Council. (Inter Press Service) © Copyright 1999 - 2007 Asia Times Online (Holdings), Ltd. Head Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East, Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau: 11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110 ***************************************************************** 4 UPI: Walker's World: Iran's oil weapon United Press International - International Intelligence - Analysis - By MARTIN WALKER UPI Editor Emeritus WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- Now that U.S. President George W. Bush at the G8 summit has mended at least some of his fences with the Europeans over global warming and with Russia over installing anti-missile systems in Europe, it is time to return to the thorny problem of Iran and its nuclear ambitions. That means returning to the matter of sanctions. The plain fact is that sanctions against Iran are not working well. This week Iran reached agreement with five Asian countries to build refineries with a total capacity of more than 1.1 million barrels a day, along with separate oil storage facilities. Seyed Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh, Iran's petroleum minister, announced at the two-day Asia oil and gas conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that the refineries would be built in China, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Syria. He added that a further deal had been agreed with India's Essar Group to build a new refinery in Iran itself, for what Indian sources said would be worth $2 billion for a refinery producing 300,000 barrels of gasoline a day. Iran is currently spending close to $5 billion a year importing gasoline, because it lacks the refining capacity to turn oil into petrol. "Those are some of the cooperation opportunities which I hope will be supported by Asian countries," the minister told more than 1,200 delegates to the conference. "China and India are expected to be two major potential consumers in the coming 20 years." "We are supposed to be partners in the refineries and also try to provide the crude oil for those refineries. The aim is to bring Asian countries together and to provide crude oil for mutual benefit," Hamaneh added. Further discussions were under way with China, he went on, on filling China's new strategic oil reserve bunkers. These are designed to give China a cushion against interruption of its tanker supply route through the Indian Ocean and the Malacca straits, where China is nervous of political complications that could allow the Indian or U.S. navies to constrict its energy supplies. China has already built a 33 million barrel storage tank at Zhenhai and is about to start filling another bunker system at Aoshan, to bring it closer to its target of having 100 million barrels in reserve by the end of next year. China currently consumes about 6.5 million barrels a day, so the 100 million barrel reserve would last little more than two weeks at the usual consumption rate. But with rationing in a state of emergency, it could keep essential services and the military supplied for a much longer period. There is no doubting the strengthening energy ties between Iran and China, whose imports of Iranian crude have risen by 14 percent in the first four months of this year from last year's figures, at a time when China is deliberately trying to curb its appetite for imported oil. The growing cooperation in oil follows the dramatic $70 billion deal that China's giant Sinopec Group made with Iran to buy 250 million tons of liquefied natural gas over 30 years from Iran and develop the giant Yadavaran field. In this context, it is not easy to see China approving severe sanctions against Iran at the U.N. Security Council. And given India's equal hunger for imported oil and gas, and the current discussions between Indian and Iranian officials over a gas pipeline from Iran through Pakistan, it is not easy to see India throwing its weight behind sanctions, despite the close strategic ties that have been forged between New Delhi and Washington. In short, just as Russia has been able to deploy its oil and gas exports as a political and strategic asset in its relations with Europe, so is Iran playing the same game -- and doing so with some skill. China needs energy and is prepared to put up with a lot of international pressure and criticism to secure its supplies. The bulk of China's increased oil supplies have come from Iran, Sudan and Angola -- three countries with controversial reputations, to put it mildly. A survey released this week from the World Energy Council, based on interviews with 50 top executives from major global energy companies and their top suppliers, concluded that the oil-dependent world we now inhabit is unlikely to change any time soon. Two-thirds of them said they expected the oil price to remain in the $60-$80 per barrel range for the next five years, and that the price would be buoyed by the demands of China, India and the developing world. "Global demand is directly linked to China's growth. China shows no sign of a slowdown, and in an interconnected market, we will all feel the impact," said one executive quoted in the report. "There needs to be more cooperation between western and non-western companies. We live in an interconnected world, we need interconnected solutions," said another. The main problem, the energy executives broadly agreed, was international politics. Nine out of 10 of those surveyed said they expected the global geopolitical situation to remain tense in the next five years, with instability in the Middle East, Russia and Iran seen as the greatest risks to energy supplies and prices. More than two-thirds saw no prospect of a resolution of the nuclear crisis with Iran being reached in the next five years. This is the world that oil built, an imperfect place where the morality of human rights and concerns about states like Iran getting nuclear weapons carry only modest weight against the hard reality of energy needs. Faced with such an unpromising political environment for diplomacy to talk Iran out of going nuclear, the worry is that a frustrated Bush administration might conclude that in a world of ruthless realpolitik over Iran's oil, maybe some ruthless power politics with air power is the only way to proceed. And who knows what the oil price would reach then. ***************************************************************** 5 Reuters: Probe requested of U.S. effort to free N.Korea funds Tue Jun 12, 2007 7:36PM EDT By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Six Republican lawmakers asked a government watchdog on Tuesday to investigate whether U.S. efforts to help North Korea get back about $25 million would violate money laundering and counterfeiting laws. Until it gets the money, which is currently being held by Banco Delta Asia in Macao, North Korea has refused to carry out an agreement to shut down its reactor at Yongbyon as a first step toward giving up nuclear weapons. The U.S. Treasury designated Banco Delta Asia as a money-laundering concern in September 2005 and suggested it was a "willing pawn" in suspected North Korean counterfeiting, drug smuggling and other illegal activities. The Republicans, led by Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, asked the Government Accountability Office to look into the matter after reports that a resolution may be at hand. U.S. officials have been trying to facilitate the payment of the money to North Korea and have grown more hopeful the matter may be settled following Russia's decision to step in to try to help arrange the transfer. Many international banks are afraid their reputations may be tainted if they handle the transfer. The Republicans asked the GAO to study whether efforts by the State and Treasury departments to resolve the matter were consistent with U.S. laws and a U.N. Security Council resolution passed after North Korea conducted a nuclear test in October. "We would also request that GAO evaluate whether all U.S. official actions undertaken in connection with support for the transfer of North Korean funds held in Banco Delta Asia accounts are in keeping with the prohibitions regarding money laundering and counterfeiting as stipulated in the U.S. Criminal Code," the group said in a letter to the agency. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson had made clear from the start that they would act "in strict accordance with the law and international regulations." "We appreciate Congress' interest in safeguarding the U.S. financial system from abuse. The transaction the U.S. government is helping to facilitate would be fully consistent with all applicable laws and regulations," added Treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise. In addition to Ros-Lehtinen, the letter was signed by Reps. Christopher Smith of New Jersey, Dan Burton of Indiana, Edward Royce of California, Mike Pence of Indiana and Joseph Pitts of Pennsylvania. Some conservatives have harshly criticized the Bush administration for striking the February 13 agreement under which North Korea would receive aid in exchange for beginning the process of giving up its nuclear weapons. ***************************************************************** 6 newsobserver.com: An energy policy made of straw Modified: Jun 13, 2007 07:05 AM Rick Martinez, Correspondent There's a lot of horse-trading going on at the General Assembly over what is the most significant energy legislation since the 2002 Clean Smokestacks bill. Each chamber is trying to save the world from global warming by mandating that electric utilities use renewable energy to generate a fixed percentage of the power they sell in the state, or conserve their way to those goals. While these popular climate change solutions warm the hearts of environmentalists, it's scientifically laughable that proposed Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards (REPS) implemented in North Carolina, or anywhere else in the U.S., will make the world cooler. But REPS are the rage among legislators who listen to the environmental lobby. These North Carolina lawmakers are intent on passing renewable energy legislation, even if it's meaningless. Utility officials are smart enough to recognize political inevitability when they see it. They've learned to turn the frenzy to their benefit by wrangling concessions from legislators they wouldn't have a prayer of winning from regulators. Thus, don't be surprised if the final bill gives the utilities a mechanism for major cost recovery without the hassle of going before the utilities commission. There is only one certainty to this legislator-environmentalist-utility inside baseball being played at the General Assembly -- you and I are probably going to pay a lot more for our electricity. I don't have a problem paying for a cleaner environment, but I have a real problem paying for environmental symbolism, which REPS are, in large part. Just like fossil fuels, renewable energy has an environmental footprint, too. But glaringly absent from the state's blind rush to impose the use of renewable energy sources is an evaluation of their environmental impact. Biomass, the most feasible renewable for the state and the alternative most touted to save us from global warming, is also the dirtiest. It's not all that efficient, either. Considering the growing importance of water in a growing state where drought is becoming more common, it's hard to believe it's not a significant consideration when contemplating mandating biomass. The "energy farms" of corn needed to supply ethanol plants and of switch grass to power biomass-fueled generation stations won't water or fertilize themselves. Irrigation and chemical fertilization are probably going to be required to ensure the timely delivery of the quality and quantity of crop stock for electricity production. Where is that water going to come from? How will chemical fertilizer and pesticide runoff affect water quality? These are questions that need quantifiable answers before biomass is considered a viable alternative energy source in North Carolina. Air pollution is another serious concern. Burning livestock manure, wood chips or crop waste is not emission free. Nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, soot and ash are often the unhealthy byproducts of producing biomass energy. Just like coal plants, many biomass production facilities will require expensive pollution control devices to protect the state's air quality. If commercial biomass producers want to cut down forests or drain wetlands to create energy crop lands, wildlife habitat and the biodiversity that supports it will be the big losers. Inexplicably, solar energy is a favorite in House Bill 77. This makes no sense. Solar energy isn't even economically feasible in Arizona, where the sun shines nearly every day. Imagine its success in North Carolina. Economics aside, solar energy is not without serious environmental drawbacks. Photovoltaic cells aren't biodegradable. They're made with arsenic and cadmium. Just like mercury-laced compact fluorescent bulbs, environmentally friendly disposal is solar energy's biggest obstacle. Land utilization is also problematic. If commercial production of solar energy is desirable, acres upon acres of solar arrays will be required, displacing plants and animals. Wind energy is also touted in the legislation being debated. But a serious discussion is pointless because NIMBY types inhabit the mountains and coast, the only areas where wind energy production is possible. North Carolina is too pretty to tolerate the visual blight of wind turbines, in their view. Once the true effect of renewables is acknowledged, fossil fuels and nuclear power become reasonable, environmentally friendly alternatives. That's the challenge our legislators need to face. When it comes to protecting the state's environment, they should consider all energy resources, not just the politically correct ones. Contributing columnist Rick Martinez can be reached at rickjmartinez2@verizon.net. © Copyright 2007, The News & Observer Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 7 Salt Lake Tribune: Senate gets worked up over new energy bill By H. Josef Hebert The Associated Press Article Last Updated: 06/12/2007 11:27:36 PM MDT WASHINGTON - As motorists face near record gasoline prices, the Senate took up an energy bill Tuesday that would raise auto fuel economy standards for the first time in nearly 20 years and make oil industry price gouging a federal crime. Democratic leaders in both the Senate and House said they want broad energy legislation passed before the Fourth of July congressional recess, hoping to dampen growing voter anger over paying well above $3 a gallon at gasoline pumps across the country. The Senate bill urges automakers to boost their fuel economy to a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, about a 40 percent increase over what new cars and the less fuel-efficient SUVs and pickup trucks are required to attain today. The auto standard of 27.5 mpg was last increased 18 years ago. SUVs and small trucks must achieve a fleet average of 22.2 mpg. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday the bill would help reduce the country's reliance on oil - an addiction that consumes more than 21 million barrels a day, nearly two-thirds of it imported. The White House issued a statement opposing many of the bill's most critical parts, including the mandatory increase in automobile fuel economy. It also said President Bush would be urged to veto the legislation if it contained the price-gouging language. Reid has called the auto fuel efficiency measure, known as CAFE, the energy package's most contentious issue. Executives of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler called on Senate leaders last week, arguing that the Senate bill's requirements may not be achievable. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., is working on a more modest fuel economy proposal that he says automakers believe they can meet. ''The handwriting has been on the wall for a long time,'' said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a longtime advocate for more stringent auto fuel economy requirements. She said numerous studies have shown manufacturers can meet CAFE increases more stringent than those being considered by the Senate. The Senate bill, which faces numerous hurdles over the next two weeks, also would sharply ramp up the use of ethanol as a substitute for gasoline, requiring production of 36 billion gallons of ethanol a year by 2022, five times today's production. While the additional ethanol initially would come from corn, eventually nearly two-thirds of it is expected to be produced from prairie grasses, wood chips and other cellulosic sources. Many of the bill's provisions have bipartisan support, but Republicans want more, especially more domestic production of oil, natural gas and coal as well as expansion of nuclear power. The Democratic bill ''doesn't do anything to address expanding domestic [energy] production, and it won't do a single solitary thing to reduce gas prices,'' said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. But Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said a price-gouging provision she is advocating may reduce the prospects of future price spikes. It would give the Federal Trade Commission broader authority to investigate possible wholesale oil market manipulation - from the legitimacy of refinery shutdowns to whether gasoline is being exported to limit domestic supplies. For the first time, it would be a federal crime to charge ''unconscionably excessive'' prices for petroleum products at the wholesale or retail level. Critics of the provisions, including the Bush administration, said the measure amounts to price regulation and could lead to supply shortages. ''The federal government has all the legal tools necessary to address price gouging,'' said the White House. The oil industry has repeatedly argued that many investigations have failed to uncover price fixing by oil companies. ''If there is no manipulation, there should be no fear of a strong federal statute,'' Cantwell countered at a news conference Tuesday. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, called the price-gouging provision ''a feel-good vote'' that he probably would support. ''But does it bring gas prices down? Probably not,'' he said. Craig said he supports much of the bill, including the increase in auto fuel economy requirements, but he called it ''a domestic green energy bill'' that doesn't address the need for more domestic energy production. He said Republicans - along with support from some Democrats - will renew the drive to open new areas of coastal waters, especially the eastern Gulf of Mexico and central Atlantic region, to oil and gas development. One proposal to give states an ability to get out from under a federal ban on offshore oil and gas development has bipartisan support, but is strongly opposed by a number of senators from coastal states. To reinforce lawmakers' concerns about reliance on imported oil, the Senate late Tuesday added a provision to the bill that requires the president to establish policies that cut petroleum use by 10 million barrels a day by 2031. Opponents of the bill said it's not needed since other provisions in the bill already would accomplish reductions in oil demand. Still, the amendment offered by Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., was approved 63-30. Another highly contentious issue senators will debate is whether to require utilities to use more renewable fuels to produce electricity. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., intends to propose a national requirement that 15 percent of a utility's power come from renewables such as wind and solar power. WHAT'S PROPOSED: * Automakers urged to boost fuel economy to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. * Production of 36 billion gallons of ethanol a year by 2022. WHAT'S SAVED: * Potentially as much as 4 million barrels per day of U.S. oil consumption. OTHER PROVISIONS * Price-gouging: Make it unlawful to charge an ''unconscionably excessive'' price for oil products including gasoline. Gives new authority to probe market manipulation. * Authorizes grants, loan guarantees and other assistance to promote research into fuel efficient vehicles, including hybrids, advanced diesel and battery technologies. ***************************************************************** 8 Reuters: Senate set to act on renewable utility plan Wed Jun 13, 2007 6:05PM EDT By Chris Baltimore WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The fate of a proposal in the Senate to require U.S. utilities to get 15 percent of electricity supply from renewable sources by 2020 could come down to which way the wind blows - literally. The proposal by New Mexico Democrat Jeff Bingaman has drawn opposition from lawmakers from states that don't have the prevailing wind currents to justify building giant wind turbines, which will be key for utilities to meet the target. Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, wants to add a "renewable portfolio standard" to pending energy legislation that would require utilities to produce electricity from sources like wind, solar or geothermal, or pay a penalty. Environmentalists, officials from the wind and solar industries, and lawmakers from windy states in the Great Plains say the bill will spur cleaner power supply and reduce greenhouse gases attributed to global warming. Lawmakers from states with low wind energy potential - notably the Southeast and Midwest - are up in arms, and say Bingaman's plan could cost state consumers billions of dollars in higher electricity prices. "You can't impose the same wind requirement on states that have no wind," said Sen. Pete Domenici, New Mexico Republican. Even though his state's utilities could benefit from the plan, he has offered a competing amendment that would allow electricity from nuclear power plants, new hydropower dams and fuel cells to count toward the 20 percent requirement. The Senate could vote on the measures as early as Thursday. Domenici's alternative plan would allow states to opt out of the requirement, while Bingaman's plan would allow the Energy Department to waive the requirements if compliance is "beyond the reasonable control of the utility." Proponents say the bill will cut emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases - which scientists say are causing the Earth's temperatures to rise dangerously -- by 400 million metric tons, the equivalent of taking 71 million automobiles off the road. "It's cheap, it's clean, it's a solution to the climate change issue," said Sen. Jon Tester, Democrat from Montana, which is among over 20 U.S. states that have enacted their own renewable requirements for their incumbent utilities. Opponents of the bill said 16 mostly Southeast states could see $175 billion in extra costs by 2030, based on a study done by Global Energy Decisions on behalf of the Edison Electric Institute, which lobbies for big U.S. utilities. "This is a massive wealth transfer" from the states to the federal government, which would collect fees from utilities and spend them on clean-energy research, said Sen. George Voinovich, Ohio Republican. The federal Energy Information Administration said costs for electricity and natural gas will be $18 billion higher than normal. Spending on electricity would rise by less than 1 percent if the plan is enacted, the EIA said. Atlanta-based Southern Co., which provides power for more than 4 million customers in four Southeast states, said the plan could cost it an extra $3.8 billion (in 2007 dollars) by 2030. Southern could build about 900 megawatts worth of renewable capacity that turns biomass and methane from landfills into electricity, far short of the 6,000 megawatts of capacity needed to comply with the rules, a company spokesman said. ***************************************************************** 9 UPI: Air Force on track for new bomber by 2018 United Press International - Security & Terrorism - Briefing Published: June 13, 2007 at 2:10 PM WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- The United States will be fielding a next-generation bomber in 2018, a top Air Force general said Wednesday, confident he can meet that tight schedule. "We have technologies we can exploit quickly," said Lt. Gen. Robert Elder Jr., the commander of the 8th Air Force, Barksdale Air Force Base, La., and Joint Functional Component commander for Global Strike and Integration at U.S. Strategic Command. "There's been a lot of technology development that can be plowed back into this airplane ... (which allows us) to be able to do the types of things that drive you to a subsonic bomber. But it achieves what you are looking for." The subsonic bomber will use technologies developed in the F-22 program and others, including "black" or secret programs, to gain access to denied territories, be able to fly long distances and be able to remain on station for longer. Aircraft development traditionally takes well over a decade, but Elder is confident the new bomber can be flying in the next 10 years. Its stealth capabilities would be well beyond the now 20-year-old technology in the bat-wing B-2 bomber, which cost about $2 billion each. "We are so much further ahead with what we can do with stealth now," he said. The 2018 bomber would be an interim step to a "global precision strike" platform called for in the 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review. The Global Strike Platform is an as yet undefined effort that would be able to hold any target in the world in peril within minutes with conventional weapons, rather than just nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 10 Guardian Unlimited: Senators at Odds Over Energy Requirement From the Associated Press Wednesday June 13, 2007 10:16 PM By H. JOSEF HEBERT WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democrats proposed a requirement Wednesday that 15 percent of the nation's electricity be produced by wind, biomass and other renewable energy sources. Democrats were trying to include the renewable fuel requirements on a broader energy bill before the Senate, but they faced strong opposition from senators who worried that such a national mandate would raise electricity costs in some states. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., the proposal's chief sponsor, said getting utilities to use more renewables ``will reduce our dependence on traditional polluting sources of energy'' and make a start in cutting carbon dioxide linked to global warming. Bingaman's proposal requires all utilities to ramp up renewable fuel use to 15 percent by 2020. Renewable energy sources, mostly from wind turbines, account for about 3 percent of the electricity produced today, compared to more than 50 percent that comes from burning coal, according to the Energy Department. The proposal was sharply criticized by a Republican senator who said it would force a mandate onto utilities, mainly in the Southeast, that they will be unable to meet because they have little sources of wind power, one of the fastest-growing renewables. ``Some regions cannot meet the renewable mandate because they don't have adequate renewable resources,'' said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M. He circulated a study commissioned by the Edison Electric Institute, the utility trade group, that shows 27 states would be unable to comply with the 15 percent renewables requirement. Domenici proposed that utilities, instead, have to meet a 20 percent ``clean fuel'' requirement that would include electricity produced from nuclear reactors and hydropower as well as renewables, and that states be allowed to ``opt out'' of the national program. Twenty-three states already require utilities to move toward meeting minimum renewable fuel use requirements, including nine states whose standards equal or exceed Bingaman's proposal. For example, California will require 20 percent of electricity from renewables by 2010. Oregon and Minnesota recently established a mandate of 25 percent. Senators opposed to the federal requirement argued that those are states where wind power or other renewable sources are in abundance. Much of the South and parts of the Midwest do not have these same resources, they argued. ``You cannot impose the same regulated wind requirement on a state that has no wind,'' said Domenici. Bingaman countered that there are plenty of renewable fuels other than wind and that, for example, states in the South have huge resources of biomass such as shrubs and trees. To counter opponents' claims that the renewables requirements would cause electricity prices to soar, Bingaman produced a report from the federal Energy Information Administration that said otherwise. The agency's analysis of Bingaman's proposal said that overall electricity prices would increase less than 1 percent and that natural gas prices would decline. Accumulated residential electricity expenses through 2030 would increase less than half of 1 percent, according to the analysis. The study also said a 15 percent national renewable mandate on electric utilities would result in a 50 percent increase in wind power, a tripling in the use of biomass and a 500 percent increase in the use of solar power, while cutting greenhouse gases 6.7 percent below what they otherwise would be by 2030. Opponents challenged the EIA findings on cost, which they said looked at national average prices and not regional price impacts. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., read a letter from a utility official in Chattanooga who feared that a requirement to use renewable fuels would force higher electric prices and ``have an enormous impact on our community.'' These ``unnecessary electric power costs ... will drive jobs out of Tennessee,'' Alexander said. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 11 Guardian Unlimited: Pentagon Accuses China of Deception From the Associated Press Wednesday June 13, 2007 8:01 PM By BARRY SCHWEID AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon said Wednesday that China is concealing its spending on weapons programs, including technology to disrupt U.S. space efforts. Testifying before a mostly supportive House Armed Services Committee, the deputy undersecretary of defense for Asia said, ``What we see is a deliberate effort on the part of China's leaders to mask the nature of Chinese military capabilities.'' As a result, Richard P. Lawless said, ``the outside world has limited knowledge of the motivations, decision-making and key capabilities of China's military or the direction of its modernization.'' Still, Lawless said China's goals are clear. ``We are seeing China emerge as a growing international space power'' while rapidly developing its armed forces to compel Taiwan to bend to its demands, he said. While China's long-range power remains limited, Lawless said China was modernizing its nuclear force to be capable of strategic strikes beyond the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, Lawless said China was using proceeds from its growing wealth and gains from trade with the United States to develop anti-satellite weapons, ground-based lasers and satellite communication jammers. China has shown some interest in discussing U.S. concerns, but Chinese leaders have said little about what they plan to do with their emerging military capabilities,'' said Lawless, who worked for the CIA for 15 years before taking his Pentagon post five years ago. ``We believe these questions are reasonable and answering them in a transparent and forthright manner can only help to better understand each other,'' he said. Committee members generally shared the Pentagon's concerns. The chairman, Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., supported the Pentagon's contention that China intentionally understates its military spending. Its official defense budget for this year is about $45 billion, but the ``real'' budget is between $85 billion and $125 billion, Skelton said. Lawless said the Pentagon's best estimate was that China could be spending $85 billion to $125 billion this year. In 2003, he said, the most recent year of published spending estimates, China's official budget figure for military spending was $22.4 billion while estimates of actual spending ranged from $30.6 billion to $141 billion. Skelton was critical of China's anti-satellite missile test in January, saying it will leave dangerous debris in orbit for years. He also said China continues to mass missiles across from Taiwan. ``Its power projection capabilities are steadily increasing,'' Skelton said, although China ``is not necessarily destined to be a threat to the United States.'' Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, the committee's top Republican, said China had at least 10 varieties of ballistic missiles deployed or in development, including about 900 short-range missiles across the 100 mile-wide Taiwan Strait. The Pentagon said last month in an annual report to Congress that China was modernizing its military in ways that give it options for launching surprise attacks, potentially far from its borders. The report said the Chinese are acquiring better missiles, submarines and aircraft and should more fully explain the purpose of a military buildup that has led some to view China as a threat. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 12 Shanghai Daily: China will never launch preemptive strike -- Wednesday, 13 June, 2007 By Li Xinran 2007-6-13 A SENIOR officer in China's top military academy yesterday denied foreign media reports that the country was considering revising its national defense policy and might launch a preemptive nuclear strike. China will never launch a preemptive strike, said Yang Yi, Rear Admiral of People's Liberation Army and dean of the Institution of Strategic Research, National Defense University. With its own strategic defense force, the country has the strength to contain any opponents so that they cannot easily impose a military extortion or an invasion of China, Yang said. China has adopted a negative security strategy and would never be the first to fire, China News Service today quoted Yang as saying. The country's military force won't be used as a tool for expansion or as a way to solve international disputes, according to Yang. However, that doesn't mean China doesn't have any rights or should not develop it own offensive forces, he added. China's military construction should have both defensive and offensive capabilities, but it is different from other countries in history, which have pursued gun-boat policy and power politics. China will never use force to invade or insult other countries, but neither will it allow enemies who use military force to harm Chinese people, or to escape punishment, Yang said. Yang also said that China's nuclear arsenal is the smallest among the five declared nuclear weapon states around the world. China is also the only country to stick to the policy of unconditional no-first-use of nuclear weapons. It also promised unconditionally not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states, Yang said. China advocates complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons. China's nuclear forces would be kept at a small size and the forces are developed solely for deterrence purposes, according to Yang. 1 | 2 | Next Page>> Shanghai Daily Home | Copyright © 2001-2007 Shanghai Daily Publishing House ***************************************************************** 13 AFP: US military prepared for 'worst' with China: official - Wed Jun 13, 3:38 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - China's secretive transformation of its military power leaves the United States preparing for the worst eventualities, including over Taiwan, a Pentagon official said Wednesday. About 900 Chinese missiles are in place opposite Taiwan, while China is also rolling out far more sophisticated long-range nuclear missiles, combat planes, warships and submarines, the Department of Defense official said. Richard Lawless, the Pentagon's deputy undersecretary for Asia-Pacific affairs, said the US government urgently wanted to launch a strategic dialogue to discuss China's military intentions, especially over nuclear arms. "I think if we had a true dialogue of depth... we might be able to constrain and put some of those issues of (Chinese) intent to bed," he told a hearing of the House of Representatives armed services committee. "Not being able to, we must plan and prepare for the worst," he said. "It is an area of intense concern and we're giving it due attention from the highest levels of the Department of Defense and the inter-agency discussion." The United States and China have long been at loggerheads over Beijing's military build-up, although US Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed optimism about future relations at a Singapore security conference this month. Gates called for a more detailed military dialogue with China to avoid future miscalculations, while a top Chinese general said Beijing was prepared to open a "hotline" with Washington. Lawless alleged "a deliberate effort on the part of China's leaders to mask the nature of Chinese military capabilities," which he said could only ring precautionary alarm bells for the US and other governments. China's successful test of an anti-satellite weapon in January could "disrupt, delay and frustrate our ability to operate" in space, he also said. And its growing sophistication in "cyber-warfare" has given China the capacity "to attack and degrade our computer systems," he cautioned. Lawless was briefing US lawmakers on an annual Pentagon report issued last month that questioned China's lack of transparency in its defense budgeting and suggested that it could be "planning for pre-emptive military options in advance of regional crises." Although Beijing announced an official defense budget figure of 45 billion dollars for 2007, the US Defense Intelligence Agency estimates China's total military-related spending for this year could be up to 125 billion dollars. The lack of transparency in China's military activities "will naturally and understandably prompt international responses that hedge against the unknown," the report said. The expensive upgrading of Chinese offensive systems "is tilting the military balance in the mainland's favor" against Taiwan, but also risks upsetting the regional balance of power in Asia and beyond, Lawless said. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 14 NRC: NRC Names New Resident Inspectors at Cooper Nuclear Station News Release - Region IV - 2007-019 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington TX 76011 www.nrc.gov CONTACT: Victor Dricks Phone: 817-860-8128 E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has named Nicholas Taylor as the senior resident inspector and Michael Chambers as the new resident inspector at the Cooper Nuclear Station in Brownville, Neb. Taylor previously served as the resident inspector at the plant, which is operated by the Nebraska Public Power District, and as a project engineer in the NRC’s Region IV office in Arlington, Texas. He holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Iowa State University, and a master’s degree in management from North Carolina State University. Prior to joining the NRC in 2004, Taylor served 12 years as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy aboard several nuclear submarines. Chambers served onboard a nuclear submarine in the U.S. Navy and holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas. Prior to joining the NRC in 2006, Chambers worked at the Turkey Point nuclear plant in Florida for eight years and at the South Texas Project nuclear plant where he helped finish initial construction. The Cooper resident inspectors can be reached at (402) 825-3371. 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. Wednesday, June 13, 2007 ***************************************************************** 15 MSNBC.com: Nuclear Energy is Clean and Should Play a Larger Role In Nation's Future : Industry Spokesman - Morning Call - Scott Reeves News Writer CNBC.com Steve Kerekes, spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, told CNBC’s “Morning Call” that nuclear power should play a bigger part in the nation’s future. “It certainly is clean,” Kerekes said Wednesday. “We do not describe ourselves as renewable source. Of the (electric) energy sources that we have in the United States…of those that don’t emit greenhouse gases or other pollutants into the atmosphere, fully 70% of that electricity comes from nuclear energy. So, if we’re going to do anything, with regard to clean energy in this country, nuclear energy already is the lion’s share of that supply and needs to continue to have a role.” There are now 435 now operating nuclear power plants in the United States. Twenty-eight new plants are under construction, 66 are planned or on order and another 158 have been proposed. Kevin Kamps, a nuclear waste specialist at Nuclear Information and Resource Service, said nuclear energy isn’t clean. “Nuclear power is certainly not clean and green,” Kamps said. “Uranium mining, to milling to processing to the reactors themselves – and especially to the waste – you have greenhouse gas emissions at various stages of the nuclear fuel chain. Radioactive waste is the actual product of nuclear power. The electricity may be around for a few decades, but the radioactive waste is around for hundreds of thousands of years into the future. It’s certainly not a clean source of electricity like wind or solar.” Kerekes countered:  “I guess you’re going to tell me that windmills grow out of the ground. They have to be fabricated. You have materials like metals and concrete that are involved. In solar cells, you’ve got photovoltaics that (produce) hazardous materials like arsenic (in the manufacturing process). I think you have your blinders on.” © 2007 CNBC.com © 2007 MSNBC.com ***************************************************************** 16 Manila Times: Govt completes payment for idle nuclear reactor Thursday, June 14, 2007 The government has finally paid off the Bataan nuclear power plant almost 32 years after work began on what became the country’s biggest white elephant that never produced a single watt of electricity, a government official told Agence France-Presse Wednesday. “The final payment of $15 million was settled in April,” Filemon Condino head of the fiscal planning and assessment division of the Bureau of the Treasury said. One of the pet projects of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the controversial power plant cost the Filipino taxpayer a total of P21.2 billion ($460 million at today’s exchange rate) on a debt of $1.06 billion. “It is now officially off the books,” he said. “Today it is just a big white elephant.” The plant, located in Bataan, was a knee-jerk reaction by Marcos to the energy crisis of the early 1970s. The Middle East oil embargo of the time put a heavy strain on the Philippine economy and Marcos saw nuclear power as the best way forward in terms of meeting the country’s future needs and reducing reliance on imported oil. Construction began in 1976 and was completed in 1984 at a cost of $2.3 billion. “The plant is basically still intact, including the reactor,” Mauro Marcelo, manager of asset preservation for the Energy Department, said. Although the plant has been up for sale for decades, he said it was unlikely anyone would want to buy a reactor whose technology dates back to the 1980s. Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said given the strict requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it would be far more expensive to rehabilitate the plant than to build a new one. “Apart from being developed as a monument to folly or a tourist attraction, the property is now under the Asset Privatization Trust,” he said. “The site could be used for a new power plant using other kinds of fuel but to convert the existing plant is not economically feasible,” he said. “Somebody might come up with a brilliant idea later on but right now, that is where we are,” he said. “Since we can’t make use of it as a power plant, it might attract tourists who want to see what a nuclear power plant looks like.” The power station has been the center of controversy from the day construction began. When Marcos was overthrown in early 1986, a team of international inspectors visited the site and declared it unsafe and inoperable as it was built near major earthquake fault lines and close to the then dormant Pinatubo Volcano. Debt repayment on the plant became the country’s biggest single obligation. Successive governments looked at ways of converting the plant into an oil, coal or gas fired power station but found the cost to be too expensive. The plant itself has been maintained despite never having been commissioned. A Westinghouse light water reactor, it was designed to produce some 621 megawatts of electricity. Much of the technology used in the plant was early 1970s but modified following the Three Mile Island accident in the United States in 1979. --AFP Copyright (c) 2001 The Manila Times | Terms of Service ***************************************************************** 17 NRC: NRC to Discuss Process for Review of License Renewal Application for Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant News Release - Region I - 2007-034 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 www.nrc.gov CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct two public meetings on Wednesday, June 27, to discuss the agency’s review process for the license renewal application for the Indian Point nuclear power plant. The application, which was received by the NRC on April 30, 2007, seeks an additional 20 years of service for the Buchanan, N.Y., plant, which has two operating reactors. The meetings will take place at the Colonial Terrace, 119 Oregon Road in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. (Directions are available at: http://www.colonialterracecaterers.com/directions.htm .) Attendees are advised that parking may be limited. The first session will begin at 1:30 p.m. and continue until 3 p.m., as necessary. The second session, which will offer the same presentations as the earlier one, will get under way at 7 p.m. and continue until 8:30 p.m., as needed. Both meetings will begin with NRC staff presentations on how the overall license renewal review process works. Following the presentations, attendees will be able to offer their comments. “These meetings will afford interested citizens the chance to learn details of how our reviews of license renewal applications are carried out,” NRC License Renewal Branch Chief Rani Franovich said. “We should also note that this is just the first of what will be multiple opportunities for the public to engage the NRC with regard to the Indian Point application.” In conjunction with those meetings, the NRC will conduct an informational open house at the same facility starting at 1 p.m. on the same day. It will provide an opportunity for members of the public to discuss with agency staffers, in an informal manner, topics not necessarily related to license renewal but germane to the NRC’s oversight role. Several informational booths will be available on subjects that include NRC oversight, groundwater characterization efforts, spent fuel storage, emergency preparedness and the role of the NRC. Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a nuclear power plant has a term of 40 years. The license may be renewed for up to additional 20 years if NRC requirements are met. The current operating license for the Indian Point 2 nuclear plant is due to expire on Sept. 28, 2013, and Indian Point 3's on Dec. 12, 2015. Both units are owned and operated by Entergy Nuclear Northeast. Indian Point 1 was permanently shut down in 1974. A copy of the Indian Point license renewal application is available via the NRC’s web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/i ndian-point.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 13, 2007 ***************************************************************** 18 Buffalo News: Pass the power plant law EDITORIALS Siting bill should emphasize clean technology, protect the weak Updated: 06/13/07 6:51 AM New York State legislators still have a chance to reach agreement on new state rules regarding the siting of power plants, but the much-needed compromise should place a top priority on the environment and clean technologies. It’s a conclusion that may dismay Senate Republicans, who would rather see the new law “technology neutral,” but who says compromise doesn’t means acquiescence to common sense? The state’s power plant siting law expired four years ago. The goal in renewing it is to hasten the process of siting such plants, partly by overriding local laws. The Senate and Assembly have passed different versions of the bill and are now debating the merits of the proposed review process in a conference committee. Meanwhile, Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer has placed this matter high on his agenda. The issues involve the types of technologies included in the expedited process, the tools community groups have to participate in reviewing the process and the safeguards given to communities. The Assembly bill tackles discrepancies in the expired law and includes practical reforms. The Senate bill, as the New York Public Interest Research Group noted, does not see that the best technologies should be chosen. The Senate may argue that this is a review process and every type of technology should be considered, but in a carbon-constrained world, in which this country now exists, and in a world in which safety and security is an issue, it makes sense not to fast-track every coal or nuclear power plant. Besides, the surest way to drag out the process is to go through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Moreover, local municipalities have a lot of responsibilities when a nuclear plant is sited, including an emergency plan. They should be fully engaged in the work of siting a nuclear plant, not pre-empted. There is also an argument that the Senate bill provides inadequate resources for community groups to participate meaningfully in the decision-making process. Also pending is the issue of the money applicants are required to provide municipalities and community groups to hire experts, so they can participate more fully. The Assembly and governor have included legal fees as part of the list of experts that are eligible, unlike the Senate. It’s somewhat understandable, as a developer might balk at funding his opposition’s legal case, but the more money made available upfront, the greater chance an applicant will make modifications to address community issues. Perhaps the biggest difference between the Senate and Assembly bills centers on how to handle proposals to site plants in areas with low incomes or high percentages of people of color and which are already burdened with excessive pollution. The Senate bill might allow for an additional hearing, while the Assembly bill would simply prohibit placing a plant in such an area. Copyright 1999 - 2007 - The Buffalo News copyright-protected ***************************************************************** 19 Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Point Beach Nuclear Plant for sale Posted June 13, 2007 By Kristopher Wenn Herald Times Reporter MANITOWOC – WE Energies' customers in Manitowoc County would receive a portion of credits worth $650 million or more in the next two years from proceeds of the sale of Point Beach Nuclear Plant, a company spokesman said this week. WE Energies plans to sell its 1,033-megawatt plant to Florida-based FPL Energy LLC for nearly $1 billion. Point Beach, a two-reactor facility in the town of Two Creeks, has 660 full-time employees. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC), which is reviewing the sale, will hold two public hearings at 4 and 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, at the Holiday Inn in Manitowoc. The sale is expected to be finalized in August. The sale benefits WE Energies customers because it would result in smaller rate increases to customers, said Brian Manthey, company spokesman. Proceeds from the sale of the plant would help offset scheduled rate increases to pay for statewide wind farm and power plant construction and upgrades, he said. "It's really a matter of when do we pay these costs and how long do we carry these costs in terms of customers paying for that portion of it," Manthey said. A typical residential customer who uses 750 kilowatt-hours per month could expect a 7.5 percent increase in their bill in 2008 and in 2009 if the sale is approved. The same customer could expect a 28 percent increase in their bill in 2008 if the sale were not approved, he said. WE Energies customers will not have long-term plant maintenance and upgrade costs passed to them in the future because those costs will be paid by FPL, Manthey said. WE Energies will spend about $75 million less to buy electricity from a FPL-owned Point Beach than to continue operating the plant over the life of the facility, Manthey said. A good deal? "WE Energies is making (this sale) look like a better deal than it really is," said Charlie Higley, of the Citizens' Utility Board of Wisconsin, a consumer advocacy group that opposes the sale. Higley said the millions of dollars in credits earmarked for customers will be offset by $125.7 million in double taxes that WE Energies' customers will have to pay over the next 28 years if the sale is approved. That tax figure is based on a state-imposed 3.19 percent gross-receipt tax on the electricity produced by the facility. Under the sale agreement, WE Energies customers would not only pay a gross receipts tax for the energy they buy from WE Energies, but they also will pay a gross receipts tax WE Energies would owe FPL for purchasing Point Beach electricity. Utilities must pay a gross receipts tax in lieu of property taxes. But the $650 million in credits to customers from the plant sale will outweigh the cost of the double taxes, Manthey said. He added that customers could receive an additional $70 million in credits if a ruling by the Internal Revenue Service in a similar plant sale is applied to this sale. Manthey said, however, regulators have yet to determine if the IRS ruling would apply to the sale of Point Beach. State oversight Higley also opposes the sale because PSC would lose some of its oversight of the plant if it were sold to the Florida-based company. As a result, he claimed, no state agency could have jurisdiction over whether FPL could ship nuclear waste from its other plants to Wisconsin or whether the company would be made to comply with returning Point Beach to a "greenfield" site if and when the plant is decommissioned or closed. PSC would retain certain oversight and enforcement authority over issues related to Point Beach once the sale is completed, even though the extent of the PSC's regulatory jurisdiction will not be the same level as it is over WE Energies, according to Dick Winn, manager of communications and government affairs for FPL Energy. FPL has made specific commitments to the PSC, according to Winn, which include: FPL will not transport to and will not store high- or low-level radioactive waste at Point Beach that was not generated at the plant -- at any time or under any circumstances. FPL will decommission Point Beach when the site is no longer used for any form of power generation, to a "greenfield" standard, which will allow the property to be available for "unrestricted use." FPL has said that any subsequent purchasers would be subject to commitments already made by FPL regarding decommissioning, including permitting only certain types of decommissioning, and maintaining all decommissioning funds in an external trust fund. Winn said Point Beach employees would remain at the plant under FPL ownership. Kristopher Wenn: 920-686-2132 or kwenn@htrnews.com Contact us at 920-684-4433. htrnews.com is a Gannett Company website. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, updated June 13, 2007. ***************************************************************** 20 Times Daily: Browns Ferry reactor shut down | TimesDaily.com | Florence, AL By Trevor Stokes Staff Writer Last Updated:June 12. 2007 11:00PM Related Browns Ferry Unit 1 nuclear reactor starts producing electricity again (June, 5, 07) Browns Ferry Unit 1 reactor running again (May, 23, 07) Unit 1 achievement (May, 23, 07) Approval given for Unit 1 restart (May, 16, 07) Powering up (May, 6, 07) Unit 1 will be first nuclear electrical generator started in United States this decade (May, 6, 07) Back up and running (May, 5, 07) Unit 1 reactor nearing restart (May, 3, 07) Evacuation routes (December, 26, 06) Nuclear future (November, 6, 06) NRC chief checks on Unit 1 progress (November, 1, 06) NRC questions Browns Ferry plans (July, 29, 06) TVA: Reactor outages no problem (January, 20, 06) Browns Ferry uses dry casks to store waste (January, 1, 06) NRC, TVA gauge Unit 1 progress (December, 8, 05) Ferry to talk restart (December, 5, 05) One week after officials connected Browns Ferry Unit 1 to the electrical power grid for the first time in 22 years, a turbine malfunction tripped the system and resulted in a reactor shut down Saturday, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This isn't the first time the reactor has been shut down in less than a month. After a five-year $1.8 billion overhaul, federal regulators gave TVA clearance to restart Unit 1 on May 22. Two days later, the reactor was shut down after a leak of 600 gallons of non-radioactive hydraulic fluid. On Saturday, at close to 80 percent power, a high water level in a "moisture separator drain tank" tripped a turbine and lead to an automatic reactor shut down that took seconds, said TVA spokesman Terry Johnson. Since Saturday, maintenance workers have worked on doing maintenance to various systems in the plant, Johnson said. The start-up process began Monday afternoon and as of 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, the plant generated 1 percent power but not connected to the grid, officials said. "What Browns Ferry Unit 1 has experienced during this restart is not uncommon for a reactor to encounter when restarting from an outage," said David Lochbaum, who was a Browns Ferry engineer in the early 1980s and is now director of nuclear safety for the Union of Concerned Scientists. The Union of Concerned Scientists, a scientific research and policy nonprofit, recently reviewed nuclear plants nationwide back to 2000 and found that plants, after three- or four-months refueling outages, encountered multiple shutdowns "until they get all the bugs exorcised from the system, if you will," said Lochbaum. During the shutdown, four of the five probes that test the nuclear core retracted back into their shielded positions, but a fifth did not, said Lochbaum. Once workers noticed this failure, they manually retracted the probe, he said. "The malfunction came from an open wire in the 'logic circuitry,' " said Johnson. "That was unrelated to the shutdown; it was something that didn't perform as it's designed. "We certainly understand why (the spotlight is on us) because we're the first plant being started up in this century, and it's also a plant that's been shut down for a long period of time," said Johnson. "Whether the plant's just been shut down for refueling outage or if it's normal day-to-day operation," said Johnson, "we take our job seriously, and we want to make sure we're operating in a safe manner at all times." TimesDaily Staff Writer Trevor Stokes can be reached at 740-5728 or trevor.stokes@timesdaily.com. © Copyright 2007 TimesDaily. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 21 toledoblade.com: Threat about Davis-Besse investigated Article published Wednesday, June 13, 2007 OAK HARBOR, Ohio - The FBI is working with several local law enforcement agencies to investigate a possible threat against the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Ottawa County's Carroll Township. Port Clinton police responded to a local restaurant earlier this week after they were notified that something suspicious had been written on a napkin in reference to the power plant, Ottawa County Sheriff Bob Bratton said. He said he did not know any more details regarding the incident other than the threat did not appear credible. FBI Special Agent Scott Smith confirmed that the FBI is investigating the matter. "We're actively pursuing it as we speak," he said. He said no arrests have been made. Port Clinton police would not confirm anything except that the police chief would issue a press release this morning regarding the incident. © 2007 The Blade. By using this service, you accept the terms of The Toledo Blade Company, 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660 , (419) 724-6000 ***************************************************************** 22 Jakarta Post: Protesters say no to nuclear power plant National News June 14, 2007 Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Kudus Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Kudus regency, Central Java, on Tuesday to reject the central government's plan to build a nuclear power plant in nearby Jepara regency. The protest by some 3,000 people was supported by Kudus regency administration officials, including Kudus regent Muhammad Tamzil, legislative council speaker Asrofi, military commander Lt. Col. Priyo Jatmiko and police chief Sr. Comr. Iswadi. "I reject the plans to develop a nuclear-based power plant. People have rejected the plan. I'll send a letter on the Kudus people's rejection of the plan to the central government," Muhammad Tamzil said. He said the plan was made without agreement from residents. "That's why I support Kudus people's wishes," he said. Protest coordinator Mochammad As'ad said the nuclear power plant could have disastrous consequences. "We want the government, especially President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to drop the plan to construct the Muria nuclear power plant," As'ad said. An activist from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, Arif Zayyn, said people were protesting against the plan for several reasons, such as the country's already abundant natural resources. "Moreover, the technology to be used in this nuclear power plant is a pressurized water reactor, old reactor technology whose safety is questionable," Arif said. He said that a 1,000 megawatt-capacity nuclear power plant would need four million liters of water to cool it every minute, a demand that could threaten local marine life and the fishing industry. "The dangerous thing is, if the (water) needed to cool it off is not enough, it might trigger the meltdown of the reactor, which might then cause a leak. Radiation from the 239 plutonium might spread to as far as Southeast Asia," he warned. The central government is planning to construct the nuclear power plant in stages, to eventually produce 4,000 megawatts. The first phase of the power plant is expected to be completed in 2016 and produces 1,000 megawatts to supply Java, Bali and Madura. Apart from the massive protests in the heart of Kudus city, a similar protest was also held outside the Kudus Legislative Council building. ***************************************************************** 23 Reuters: NRC sees nuclear renaissance in coming years | U.S. | Tue Jun 12, 2007 4:15PM EDT By Jane Sutton MIAMI (Reuters) - Energy companies plan to file permit requests in the next two years to build 27 new nuclear reactors in the United States, according to a U.S. regulator who said Tuesday his agency expects a "nuclear renaissance." Most of the reactors would be added to existing nuclear power plants but two or three would be at new sites, said Luis Reyes, executive director for operations at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Based on indications from the power companies, the agency has added about 200 engineers to help process the expected flood of permit applications, Reyes said at a Miami law enforcement conference to combat nuclear terrorism. "We haven't had any new applications in a quarter of a century, since Three Mile Island," Reyes told Reuters during a break in the conference. He attributed the renewed interest in nuclear power partly to rising prices for oil and natural gas and concerns about importing those fuels from nations not always friendly to the United States. There also have been significant improvements in safety and reliability in the newest generation of nuclear reactors used overseas, said Reyes, who was headed to Finland to examine one. The new designs have fewer parts and are simpler to operate, he said. "More than 90 percent of the time, the plants are reliable and running," Reyes said. Recent legislation has provided incentives for power companies to invest the billions of dollars required to build new reactors, he said. It also streamlined the permit process while maintaining environmental impact studies, he said. "There are a lot of factors that are coming together. It's been like a nuclear renaissance," Reyes said. ***************************************************************** 24 UPI: Thailand plans two nuclear plants by 2021 United Press International - Energy - Briefing Published: June 12, 2007 at 6:02 PM BANGKOK, June 12 (UPI) -- Thailand is leading the way for Southeast Asia in a quest to move toward nuclear power to meet rising energy demand. While many countries have talked about building nuclear plants, even making initial contacts with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Thai authorities say two nuclear plants will come online by 2021. Each will pump 2,000 megawatts, The Star Online reports. "Thailand cannot depend too much on natural gas because the gas fields in the Gulf of Thailand will run out very soon," Energy Minister Piyavasti Amranand said. "Coal is cheap but the environmental costs are unquantifiable." Thailand has hired six experts for a planning study, World Nuclear News reports. "The country made a big mistake 15 years ago scrapping plans to build a nuclear power plant because of opposition," he said. The Star reports the new plants would double the country's generating capacity. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 25 UPI: Hunterston reactor issue unveils need United Press International - Energy - Briefing Published: June 13, 2007 at 2:16 PM EDINBURGH, Scotland, June 13 (UPI) -- Scotland may face energy supply problems as one of its two nuclear plants was taken offline during a cooling emergency over the weekend. The Hunterston B plant in Ayrshire was taken offline by staff Sunday night after temperature control problems at one of the plant's reactors, The Scotsman reports. The plant was offline until a month ago after repairs on cracked pipes. British Energy, which operates the plant, says investigations are continuing and a restart date is not known. While the government is looking to extend the life of the plant, as well as Torness, in East Lothian, it is against building any new plants. The two plants provide 40 percent of Scotland's electricity. "I think this is quite serious when you look at the knock-on effects of Hunterston B closing down," said nuclear consultant John Large. "There could be shortfalls." Former Scotland Energy Minister Brian Wilson said without any new nuclear plants built and the current plants closing, "it will certainly leave Scotland with an energy gap." He said Scotland will then buy electricity from the rest of Britain, which likely will come in part, at least, from nuclear power. "It is foolish to rule out the nuclear option," said Labor Party energy spokesman Iain Gray. "Certainly, on a U.K. basis, it could be part of filling the gap as and when the current stations shut down." "British Energy should not be seeking any life-extension for such a facility," said Duncan McLaren, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland. "Thankfully, as has been the case for many years, Scotland is well supplied with alternative energy sources." A government spokesman said the Hunterston problem highlights the need to move from nuclear. Nuclear energy is 16 percent of the world's electricity production, according to the World Nuclear Association. Demand for energy is growing, expected to nearly double by 2030. Scotland is home to four of Britain's 19 reactors, generating a fifth of its electricity. The WNA, citing current government policy, expects all but one shut by 2023. A recent draft energy plan would turn that around, however, increasing the role nuclear power plays there. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 26 South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Millions could have been better spent SOUTHFLORIDA.COM By Paul A. Winder Posted June 13 2007 Lois Lindstrom's article about nuclear power was well intentioned but lacked depth of research. A similar piece on CBS' 60 Minutes also dealt with the potential of nuclear power without revealing the attendant problems. A recent book, Nuclear Power Is Not the Answer, is a must read for anyone with an interest in solving our energy crisis. Dr. Helen Caldicott, the author and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, is an English MD/scientist who has done a superb job of research. Her findings clearly show that nuclear is not the way to go. First, uranium is scarce and therefore becoming expensive. Costs of new power plants is prohibitive. Note that the French built their plants mostly in the 1970's when materials and labor were cheaper. The spent fuel, although new processes are much improved, still pose problems of safe and cost- effective disposal. Not least is the concern that, in the era of terrorist attacks, nuclear plants are quite vulnerable. The article played down wind and solar as viable options to meet our energy needs. However, little Denmark obtains 16 percent of its electrical power from the wind. Imagine how Florida could be a leading example with massive solar/wind farms extending across the spent phosphate mine areas in its central counties. The land, poisoned from dredging up radioactive isotopes, is useless for crops, grazing, or housing. Technicians with protective gear could install and service the necessary devices to combine windmills and solar panels. Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tampa and possibly Jacksonville could become fossil fuel independent for their electrical needs. It could be the equivalent to another Hoover Dam. At the onset of World War II, the Japanese took over the rubber plantations in the South Pacific. Our government hired and/or subsidized researchers to develop formulas for synthetic rubber. The resulting patents were given to the major rubber producing companies and within one year we were providing our military and that of the free world with much needed tires and rubber material, a vital part of "the arsenal of democracy". A similar R & D initiative could make cheap, safe hydrogen available by using solar cells to electrolyze ("hydrolize") water. Non-polluting water vapor would replace greenhouse gas emissions. Had our leaders the foresight, we could have spent the $500 billion squandered on the Iraq war on developing hydrogen fuel cell cars and establishing fueling stations around the country. We could have cut the umbilical cord to the Middle East and Venezuelan oil. Many attendant problems in the Middle East would diminish as well, i.e., no more oil profits to fund terrorist groups. Paul A. Winder is a resident of Fort Lauderdale. Copyright 2007, Sun-Sentinel Co. & South Florida Interactive Inc. Sun-Sentinel.com, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 ***************************************************************** 27 Vladivostok Times: Construction Cost of Nuclear Power Plant and Aluminium Plant in Far East May Exceed 9 Billion USD. It is now being decided where the nuclear plant will be built: in Primorye or in the Khabarovsk Territory - Economics - Vladivostok Times. Far East media n Wednesday, June 13 2007, 11 AM VLADIVOSTOK, June 11, vladivostoktimes.com The aluminium plant and the nuclear power plant in the Far East can cost over 9 billion USD to build, RIA Novosti reports with a reference to a source familiar with the contract. The United Company RUSAL earlier signed a memorandum on cooperation with the leading Russian company that builds nuclear plants abroad - Atomstroyexport. The memorandum provides for construction of a powerful aluminium plant and a nuclear plant to feed it in the Far East. "The total cost of this project will most likely exceed 9 billion USD," the source said. Now the company is considering the place for the power plant: the Khabarovsk Territory or the Primorsky Territory. The company plans to deliver the alumina material for the plant by sea. It was earlier reported that the plants' characteristics would be determined after the feasibility study was over. According to Vadim GERASKIN, the company's representative, they expect the plant's capacity to be over 600,000 tons a year. He said that in the framework of their Far Eastern project, they are considering several variants of the number of power-generating units, for this is the main factor determining the capacity of the aluminium plant. Mr. GERASKIN also said they intend to export aluminium to China, Japan, and other Asian countries, as well as the West Coast of the USA. They are also considering the possibility of exporting electricity to South Korea and China. The United Company RUSAL, the world's largest producer of aluminium and alumina, was established in March 2007 following the merger of assets of three companies. The company's products are exported to 70 countries of the world. The company has a 12.5% share in the world aluminium market and a 16% share in the world alumina market. © 2007, . Tel.: (+7 4232) 404-333, tel./fax: (+7 4232) 404-334. ***************************************************************** 28 WNEP: PPL Considering New Nuclear Reactor PPL is considering adding a third reactor to its nuclear plant near Berwick. Wednesday, June 13, 6:38 p.m. By Andy Hirsch PPL Corporation's Susquehanna Plant near Berwick generates enough energy to power more than two million homes "Every morning you wake up and you see the two stacks in your backyard," Jackie Titus, of Salem Township, said. She and her husband live so close to the plant they were given pills and instructions on what to do in case of radiation exposure. Still, they don't mind the thought of a third reactor there. "We've lived here, we haven't had any problems," Titus said. "We haven't had any scares whatsoever." A PPL spokesman said it would be a multi-billion dollar project. But he stressed they're still in the "thinking phase" right now and are not sure if they'll build it or not. There are some people in the Berwick area that are not only okay with the idea of a third reactor, they actually hope it happens. "We need that here I think. I think it would be good for the business," George Zapata said. He is the owner and president of Front Street Bagels in Berwick. He thinks the area could use more jobs. A PPL official said, if they do build a third reactor, it would increase their workforce by several hundred people, not to mention all the workers needed to build the reactor. "When they first opened there was a lot of people there, a lot of people working there," Zapata recalled. "It brought a lot of people in town, hotels were packed and then jobs that opened up from that were pretty good." PPL warns that talk of a third nuclear reactor is very preliminary. The licensing phase alone would likely take three to four years and cost $70 million dollars. The company said it has no time frame on when it will make a decision either way. Newswatch 16 . . . All content © Copyright 2002 - 2007 WorldNow and WNEP. All Rights ***************************************************************** 29 Ban Ki-moon Welcomes New Agreement To Defeat Nuclear Terrorism Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2007 16:00:24 -0400 BAN KI-MOON WELCOMES NEW AGREEMENT TO DEFEAT NUCLEAR TERRORISM New York, Jun 13 2007 4:00PM United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the start of a new international treaty which aims to prevent acts of nuclear terrorism, bring perpetrators to justice and promote cooperation among countries. Mr. Ban’s spokesperson issued a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/sgsm11040.doc.htm">statement after Bangladesh became the 22nd country to ratify or accede to the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, allowing it to enter into force on 7 July, almost two years after it was adopted by Member States. Mr. Ban “congratulates the States that have already ratified or acceded to the Convention for making it possible for it to enter into force with such speed,” his spokesperson said. Calling nuclear terrorism “one of the most serious threats of our time,” he observed that “even one such attack could inflict mass casualties and create immense suffering and unwanted change in the world forever.” “This prospect,” he cautioned, “should compel all of us to prevent such a catastrophe.” Not only will the new Convention thwart terrorists from attaining “the most lethal weapons known to man,” but it will be the 13th international instrument on terrorism, bolstering existing global mechanisms against the menace, he said. The Convention will also promote cooperation among nations, which is key in tackling terrorism. The Secretary-General appealed to all States to ratify or accede to the treaty “without delay,” noting that last September, the General Assembly adopted the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy which also calls for universal adherence to anti-terrorism conventions. Originally proposed by Russia, the Convention was adopted on 13 April 2005, and outlaws specific and concrete acts of nuclear terrorism. It is intended to protect against attacks on a range of targets, including nuclear power plants and reactors. It is also applicable to threats and attempts to commit such crimes. The Convention, which has been signed by 115 countries, also promotes cooperation among countries through the sharing of information and the providing of assistance for investigations and extraditions. 2007-06-13 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/ ***************************************************************** 30 UPI: U.S. rolls out new moves vs. terror nukes United Press International - Security & Terrorism - Briefing Published: June 13, 2007 at 10:57 AM MIAMI, June 13 (UPI) -- New initiatives aimed at countering the threat of nuclear terrorism were unveiled by U.S. officials at an international law enforcement conference this week. President Bush will "soon" send to the U.S. Senate both the eagerly awaited Nuclear Terrorism Convention and a set of amendments to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material that he recently signed, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the conference in Miami Monday. "The Nuclear Terrorism Convention ... requires state parties to criminalize a number of acts related to the misuse of radioactive materials or a nuclear explosive device," said Gonzales, adding the treaty would provide "a legal basis for international cooperation in the investigation, prosecution, and extradition of those who commit terrorist acts involving radioactive material or a nuclear device." The amendments to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material would "establish new international norms for the physical protection of nuclear material and nuclear facilities, including protection from sabotage." Gonzales said his own department had just appointed its first National Export Control Coordinator to boost enforcement of export control laws by "coordinating with the many other U.S. law enforcement, licensing and intelligence agencies that play a role in export enforcement" and by developing a training program on the law for prosecutors. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 31 WP What the Weapons Makers Want - Early Warning The Washington Post William M. Arkin on National and Homeland Security The news in Seattle today is the return of a Trident submarine from the shipyard, the third of five old nuclear boats being converted to be conventionally armed cruise-missile and special-operations platforms. The Air Force, meanwhile, wants a new long-range bomber in the next decade. Once upon a time, the Trident story would have made all the papers, and the multibillion-dollar bomber's every move would have been news. These days, these big-ticket programs barely register a mention in the national media. One reason is that there's a war on, a dusty war between hunters and hunted rather than some glorious battle between two well-equipped militaries. But another is that the implications of these programs, for present and future threats, aren't well understood. The USS Michigan arrived at Bangor naval submarine base yesterday after a three-year $1 billion conversion to become a guided-missile boat. The 25-year-old submarine's nuclear Trident missile tubes were removed, replaced with conventional Tomahawk cruise-missile launchers and spaces to "insert" and "extract" special operations forces. This conversion program was one of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's favorites, with the capabilities of these new submarines promoted as "transformational," particularly with regard to counterterrorism in distant lands. Late this year, the first boat of this program, the USS Ohio, will make its first operational voyage. While the Navy is putting its new conventional bombers underwater, the Air Force has started the design of a new long-range bomber, one that it has been directed to have ready by 2018. After a short love affair with various unmanned options, and after equally being entranced with the Rumsfeld "transformation" moniker in evaluating hypersonic and various futuristic weapons, the Air Force has pretty much reconciled itself, at least in the next decade, to an old-fashioned manned bomber. The hope is that a modest near-term package will avoid out-of-control costs. The stealthy B-2 bombers were so expensive and so complex that the Air Force ended up buying only 21 instead of 135. Similarly, the Air Force's fleet of new F-22 Raptors, super-duper in every way, will likely be capped at 190 planes rather than double that number. There is already industry grumbling that the Air Force is aiming too low. And there are questions about whether the Defense Department will approve the bomber over other programs and even Air Force priorities. Critics will question whether the need is urgent enough, whether there isn't a more "revolutionary" approach that would just delay the program a decade or so. The Air Force leadership clearly favors the modest "interim" solution. Is there any comparison between the Trident submarines and the bomber? Yes: In essence, both are endeavoring to deliver long-range bombing capability -- that is, attacks against specific, fixed targets. The submarines are limited in terms of sustained bombing; they would be most useful for a so-called "punishment strike" or in the opening salvos of an Iran war. Yet the military already has Tomahawk attack submarines and surface ships, plenty of them, so there's little added except for the clandestine insert of special operations forces. Then there is the China factor. There's no question that the big brains and their weapons-buying counterparts would like China to be the next enemy; it justifies big-ticket items. The Pentagon also needs to have a large conventional "enemy" to plan against. At the same time, the focus on China is oddly insufficient. After all, if war planners do see China as the enemy, then they are derelict in suggesting that a few submarines and a few dozen bombers are enough to prevail in World War III. By William M. Arkin | June 13, 2007; 8:33 AM ET Previous: A New Chairman's Power Point? | Please email us to report offensive comments. Viewing China as the next "enemy" is far too crude and in fact misses the point entirely. China is not an enemy in the same sense that the Soviets or the nazis were, rather they are a global rival and competitor who will soon begin to challenge the US in a very significant way. True, China's transformation into a quasi-capitalist state has been remarkably successful, due in large part to massive foreign investment, a depressed currency, and ridiculously poor labor and wage standards. However, China's GDP is nowhere near that of the US and China is a crude manufacturer who imports nearly all of its technology, rather than inventing it, the way Western countries usually do. China's ability to rival the US will be dependent on its growing ability to control resources and access to them, particularly in the third world. In this regard, retooling our subs and developing new aircraft in order to better secure American interests abroad, and therefore retard the influence of China, is precisely what our Defense Department should be doing. Nobody in their right mind considers open or cold war with China a likely scenario. What is quite possible is China's growing ability to enforce its will and protect its interests abroad, something we should be doing everything we can to prevent. Trust always in Reason Archimedes Posted by: Archimedes | June 13, 2007 11:20 PM Yes, Gorbachev did a horrible thing to the USA by removing the Soviet Union as an enemy. Since then all the Fascist's came out of their holes and started treated the American people as their enemy. How many manufacturing jobs have we lost, how many people have been outsourced and how much has our National debt increased. Yes, of course we have to throw in a never-ending unjust war in Iraq. Now, the Fascist's want to create Cold War 2 so they can have a never-ending gravy train. Posted by: ghostcommander | June 13, 2007 07:43 PM Yes, Gorbachev did a horrible thing to the USA by removing the Soviet Union as an enemy. Since then all the Fascist's came out of their holes and started treated the American people as their enemy. How many manufacturing jobs have we lost, how many people have been outsourced and how much has our National debt increased. Yes, of course we have to throw in a never-ending unjust war in Iraq. Now, the Fascist's want to create Cold War 2 so they can have a never-ending gravy train. Posted by: ghostcommander | June 13, 2007 07:42 PM Yes, Gorbachev did a horrible thing to the USA by removing the Soviet Union as an enemy. Since then all the Fascist's came out of their holes and started treated the American people as their enemy. How many manufacturing jobs have we lost, how many people have been outsourced and how much has our National debt increased. Yes, of course we have to throw in a never-ending unjust war in Iraq. Now, the Fascist's want to create Cold War 2 so they can have a never-endinf gravy train. Posted by: ghostcommander | June 13, 2007 07:41 PM Dear Odysseus, Who is extending NATO to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,Ukraine,Georgia,,etc...? Who is surrounding who? Open you eyes and see the real situation. Just check the sites, you have nothing to lose: www.wsws.org www.takingaimradio.info www.onlinejournal.com otherside123.blogspot.com www.globalresearch.ca Posted by: che | June 13, 2007 05:50 PM "For uncensored news please go to..." Anywhere gut Russia, where Putin has returned to the old KGB style of dealing with dissenting journalists, namely the bullet behind the ear. Claiming that a strictly defensive weapon threatens Russia's interests only makes sense if Russia plans to act offensively against its neighbors. Far-fetched? The former Warsaw Pact members don't seem to think so, but then, they've lived under real tyranny and censorship, so they know what they're protecting themselves against. Posted by: Odysseus | June 13, 2007 05:35 PM For uncensored news please go to: www.wsws.org www.takingaimradio.info www.onlinejournal.com otherside123.blogspot.com www.globalresearch.ca Putin's censored press conference: The transcript you weren't supposed to see By Mike Whitney Last Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an hour and a half-long press conference that was attended by many members of the world media. The contents of that meeting -- in which Putin answered all questions concerning nuclear proliferation, human rights, Kosovo, democracy and the present confrontation with the United States over missile defense in Europe -- have been completely censored by the press. Apart from one brief excerpt that appeared in a Washington Post editorial, (and which was used to criticize Putin) the press conference has been scrubbed from the public record. It never happened. (Read the entire press conference archived here.) Putin's performance was a tour de force. He fielded all of the questions however misleading or insulting. He was candid and statesmanlike and demonstrated a good understanding of all the main issues. The meeting gave Putin a chance to give his side of the story in the growing debate over missile defense in Eastern Europe. He offered a brief account of the deteriorating state of US-Russian relations since the end of the Cold War, and particularly from 9-11 to present. Since September 11, the Bush administration has carried out an aggressive strategy to surround Russia with military bases, install missiles on its borders, topple allied regimes in Central Asia, and incite political upheaval in Moscow through US-backed "pro-democracy" groups. These openly hostile actions have convinced many Russian hardliners that the administration is going forward with the neocon plan for "regime change" in Moscow and fragmentation of the Russian Federation. Putin's testimony suggests that the hardliners are probably right. The Bush administration's belligerent foreign policy has backed the Kremlin into a corner and forced Putin to take retaliatory measures. He has no other choice. If we want to understand why relations between Russia are quickly reaching the boiling point; we only need to review the main developments since the end of the Cold War. Political analyst Pat Buchanan gives a good rundown of these in his article "Doesn't Putin Have a Point?." Buchanan says, "Though the Red Army had picked up and gone home from Eastern Europe voluntarily, and Moscow felt it had an understanding we would not move NATO eastward, we exploited our moment. Not only did we bring Poland into NATO, we brought in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, and virtually the whole Warsaw Pact, planting NATO right on Mother Russia's front porch. Now, there is a scheme afoot to bring in Ukraine and Georgia in the Caucasus, the birthplace of Stalin. Second, America backed a pipeline to deliver Caspian Sea oil from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey, to bypass Russia. Third, though Putin gave us a green light to use bases in the old Soviet republics for the liberation of Afghanistan, we now seem hell-bent on making those bases in Central Asia permanent. Fourth, though Bush sold missile defense as directed at rogue states like North Korea, we now learn we are going to put anti-missile systems into Eastern Europe. And against whom are they directed? Fifth, through the National Endowment for Democracy, its GOP and Democratic auxiliaries, and tax-exempt think tanks, foundations, and "human rights" institutes such as Freedom House, headed by ex-CIA director James Woolsey, we have been fomenting regime change in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet republics, and Russia herself. U.S.-backed revolutions have succeeded in Serbia, Ukraine, and Georgia, but failed in Belarus. Moscow has now legislated restrictions on the foreign agencies that it sees, not without justification, as subversive of pro-Moscow regimes. Sixth, America conducted 78 days of bombing of Serbia for the crime of fighting to hold on to her rebellious province, Kosovo, and for refusing to grant NATO marching rights through her territory to take over that province. Mother Russia has always had a maternal interest in the Orthodox states of the Balkans. These are Putin's grievances. Does he not have a small point?" Yes -- as Buchanan opines -- Putin does have a point, which is why his press conference was suppressed. The media would rather demonize Putin, than allow him to make his case to the public. (The same is true of other world leaders who choose to use their vast resources to improve the lives of their own citizens rather that hand them over to the transnational oil giants, such as Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez) Even so, NATO has not yet endorsed the neocon missile defense plan and, according to recent surveys, public opinion in Poland and the Czech Republic is overwhelmingly against it. Unsurprisingly, the Bush administration is going ahead regardless of the controversy. Putin cannot allow the United States to deploy its missile defense system in Eastern Europe. The system poses a direct threat to Russia's national security. If Putin planned to deploy a similar system in Cuba or Mexico, the Bush administration would immediately invoke the Monroe Doctrine and threaten to remove it by force. No one doubts this. And no one should doubt that Putin is equally determined to protect his own country's interests in the same way. We can expect that Russia will now aim its missiles at European targets and rework its foreign policy in a way that compels the US to abandon its current plans. The media have tried to minimize the dangers of the proposed system. The Washington Post even characterized it as "a small missile defense system" which has set off "waves of paranoia about domestic and foreign opponents." Nonsense. Nothing could be further from the truth. As Putin said at the press conference, "Since if this missile system is put in place, it will work automatically with the entire nuclear capability of the United States. It will be an integral part of the U.S. nuclear capability. "For the first time in history -- and I want to emphasize this -- there are elements of the US nuclear capability on the European continent. It simply changes the whole configuration of international security . . . Of course, we have to respond to that." Putin is right. The "so-called" defense system is actually an expansion (and integration) of America's existing nuclear weapons system which will now function as one unit. The dangers of this should be obvious. http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2075.shtml Posted by: che | June 13, 2007 04:23 PM 2007 The Washington Post Company ***************************************************************** 32 AFP: US agents demonstrate response to terrorist radioactive threat - Wed Jun 13, 4:46 PM ET MIAMI (AFP) - Security experts from around the world on Wednesday got a ringside view of US agents responding to a nuclear threat by terrorists, in a simulation at Miami's Orange Bowl football stadium. SWAT teams fast-roped down from a Blackhawk helicopter to storm a building -- represented by a fenced-in area on the football field -- believed to be a terrorist safe-house used to store an explosive device and radioactive materials. The teams from Miami police and the FBI arrested several of the seven people inside the ficticious building, while some of the terrorists faked being shot dead, causing chuckles among some of the participants in a weeklong conference on nuclear terrorism who attended the event. A remotely controled robot blew up the explosive device, and the delegates watched from the comfort of the air-conditioned VIP lounge as a bomb-squad specialist inspected the scene, wearing almost 40 kilos (80 pounds) of protective gear in temperatures that soared around 30 degrees centigrade (86 degrees Fahrenheit. "We know that there are terrorists out there who would love to be able to take any kind of nuclear weapon and detonate it," FBI spokeswoman Judith Orihuela told journalists during the demonstration. "So we know this scenario could happen and we'll do anything we can to prevent it," she said. The Miami conference is attended by officials from some 30 nations that signed on to the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism announced in July 2006 by US President George W. Bush and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 33 Honolulu Advertiser: Radiation tests find air on Big Island 'normal' - Hawai'i's Newspaper Online Wednesday, June 13, 2007 By William Cole Advertiser Military Writer New state testing has found that radiation levels in the air near Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island are "normal," despite residents' concerns about the possible presence of depleted uranium from military munitions. Concern that depleted uranium from a 1960s weapon system might be getting kicked up and spread on the wind led to the testing. The Army this summer plans to conduct its own radiological testing at Pohakuloa, Schofield Barracks and Makua Military Reservation. "The levels were all between three and eight microroentgens per hour — that means it's normal," said Russell Takata, program manager for the state Health Department's Noise, Radiation and Indoor Air Quality Branch. Takata said the readings include cosmic and geologic radiation normally found in nature. But Dr. Lorrin Pang, the state Health Department's district officer for Maui County, said testing the air alone is not enough. If the air is measured, "a lot of times it (radiation) is not there ... you won't get anything, so the most consistent thing is to measure soil samples," Pang said. A plume of dust carrying elevated radiation levels may be present during military training — when dust is kicked up — but not at other times, said Pang, who spent 24 years in the Army and was a preventive medicine officer at Tripler Army Medical Center in the late 1980s. Pang, who had lent his support to a failed state bill that would have required regular soil testing at Schofield Barracks for radioactive material, has spoken out on the issue as a private citizen and not in his official capacity. According to the Health Physics Society, the average person in the United States gets about 365 milliroentgens a year from natural and medical X-ray exposure, including exposure to natural radon gas in the air. One thousand microroentgens equals one milliroentgen. SCHOFIELD, TOO In January 2006, the Army confirmed it had found 15 tailfin assemblies that contained depleted uranium at a Schofield range. The heavy metal was used in aiming rounds that simulated the trajectory of the Davy Crockett, a recoilless rifle that could fire a 76-pound nuclear bomb. Recently, the Army said it had found more depleted uranium fragments at Schofield, and that the aiming rounds also may have been fired at Makua and Pohakuloa. Takata said the state testing was done at five or six sites on May 16 from Kealakekua to Waiki'i on the Big Island. The testing was not done on the 133,000-acre Pohakuloa Training Area itself, but downwind from the base. "We're looking at the populated areas (for testing), obviously, because if people are living in an area, working in an area, that's where we should be looking," Takata said. Takata said his staff will conduct periodic testing outside Pohakuloa and is setting up testing in Wai'anae. "Everyone's talking about Makua and Schofield, so I might as well get those readings, too (in Wai'anae)," Takata said. RISKY IF INHALED Pang said the real danger with depleted uranium comes with the vaporized or aerosolized form, which occurs on impact. "Once it's vaporized and breathed in, the alpha-particle emitters are the most dangerous form of radiation of all, because it's up in close and it sticks to the cells of your lung," he said. The World Health Organization said inhaled uranium particles may lead to irradiation damage of the lung. Measurements at sites where depleted uranium munitions were used indicate only localized contamination within a few yards of the impact site, the organization said. OTHER USES A radiation dose from depleted uranium would be about 60 percent of that from purified natural uranium. Civilian uses for depleted uranium include counterweights in aircraft and shielding in medical radiation. Depleted uranium is used in armor-penetrating military ordinance because of its high density. "From the amount that the Army disclosed (that it used in Hawai'i), it looks like a small amount," Takata said. "Even at (Pohakuloa), they are saying it's a small amount. Until they (the military) actually do the assessment, we won't know." Some residents have called for independent testing. Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com. © COPYRIGHT 2007 The Honolulu Advertiser. All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 34 APP.COM: Tooth testers say grants add bite to nuke debate | Asbury Park Press Online Critics question validity of results Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 06/13/07 BY NICK CLUNN STAFF WRITER Post Comment TRENTON — With support from an anti-nuclear nun and $90,000 in grants, the epidemiologist behind the Tooth Fairy Project announced Tuesday the start of a campaign meant to drum up support for his research linking childhood cancer to the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant. Joseph J. Mangano of the Radiation and Public Health Project said he and a group of scientists intend to speak with lawmakers, hold public forums and write opinion pieces to win over skeptics and inspire others to help fund research. Mangano's findings show a 15-year positive relationship between the level of radiation found in Shore-area baby teeth and the diagnosis of cancer in Shore-area children. The radioactive isotope measured in the donated teeth, strontium-90, is released by the Lacey plant in low, legal levels, but Mangano said his research suggests that those levels might have been high enough to cause cancer in children under 10 from Monmouth and Ocean counties. But Mangano's critics, including the state Commission on Radiation Protection, have said that it's highly likely that fallout from worldwide nuclear-weapons tests explains the presence of the isotope in baby teeth, not commercial nuclear-power plants. Commissioners in January 2006 released a report that questioned the validity of the research group and recommended to Gov. Corzine that the state no longer fund its work. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which monitors the products plants release into the air and water, has had long-standing concerns about the research group's methodology and "cherry-picking of the data," commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said. "They tend to select data that matches their conclusions," he said. And studies published by the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society have found no evidence connecting cancer cases and nuclear reactors. "There is no new information presented in his studies, just more of the same that has been debunked by regional and national health organizations such as the National Institutes of Health," said Leslie Cifelli, a spokeswoman for Oyster Creek. Yet Mangano said he has circumstantial evidence linking Oyster Creek to the strontium-90 and is confident that further research would bear out that assertion. "We have really opened the gates to more research on this topic," he said. Mangano is timing his campaign with an effort by plant operator AmerGen Energy Co. to renew Oyster Creek's license for an additional 20 years. A renewal from the NRC would allow the plant to run beyond a scheduled shut-down date in April 2009. Grants totaling $90,000 from the Education Foundation of America and the Louis and Harold Price Foundation will help fund the outreach effort, Mangano said. Mangano may be best known for a prior study he drafted. Called the Tooth Fairy Project, it suggested a correlation between cancer deaths in counties around commercial reactors — Monmouth and Ocean included — and levels of strontium-90. Actor Alec Baldwin and supermodel Christie Brinkley helped publicize the study when the research group came to Toms River to announce its results in May 2000. During a press conference at the Statehouse on Tuesday, Mangano was supported by Rosalie Bertell, a 78-year-old nun with a doctoral degree in environmental epidemiology. Bertell in 1984 founded the International Institute of Concern for Public Health, which informs the public of health hazards posed by industry and the government. On Tuesday, she said that limits for allowable releases of radiation are based on a risk-benefit analyses. However, from a health basis, the standard for the release of low-level radiation should be zero, Bertell said. Nick Clunn: (732) 643-4072 or nclunn@app.com Post a Comment View All Comments ====================================================================== Let us see...the critics say it is from worldwide nuclear testing fallout....and...the tooth fairy project folks they say it the contamination/ CANCER IN YOUNG CHILDREN is from oyster creek. If we don't have absolute conclusions at this point...it could be either or a combination of the two...I for one am not resting easy until there is an answer. I am more interest in my tax dollars funding this scientific project than watching 30 road workers on the vicintity of central regional this week. They couldn't even move there were so many of them; it seemed extremely hard for all of them to work. Not a very well designed plan for efficiency. Many of them appear to be hispanic although I would assume that they were legal as they were working on a township road for an (assumed) approved contractor. We should not rest easy in any case. Oyster Creek is way too old...shut it down or at the least...nix the cooling towers...most (NON-nuclear plants have to have them)...it blows my mind that they are allowed to use water from an estuary ecosystem. Posted by: charlotte on Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:09 pm ====================================================================== seems like someone figured out how to turn strontium into gold.......for himself Posted by: homertheemperor on Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:38 pm ====================================================================== ''What they do is what's popularly referred to as junk science,'' said Dr. Joshua Lipsman, the health commissioner in Westchester County, home of the embattled Indian Point nuclear power plant and, according to the Radiation and Public Health Project, children with the highest strontium 90 readings in the region. ''We found a number of scientific errors both in measurement and process in their proposals.'' this quote is from: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9403E7D81E39 F932A25752C1A9659C8B63&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2 fN%2fNuclear%20Tests and let's not neglect the NJ DEP's lengthy analyis of why this groups research isn't worth funding anymore. http://www.nj.gov/dep/rpp/download/Recommendation%20Against%20Further% 20State%20Funding%20of%20the%20Radiation%20and%20Public%20Health%20Pro ject%20-%20Analysis%20of%20Sr-90%20in%20Baby%20Teeth.pdf Posted by: bl3ccch on Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:55 am Copyright © 2007 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 35 Denver Post: Turned away again Denver Post Staff Writer Article Last Updated: 06/13/2007 11:54:02 AM MDT Reeling from yet another defeat, former Rocky Flats workers and their families left a federal advisory panel's vote Tuesday disappointed, angry - and determined to keep fighting for benefits. On a 6-4 vote the panel decided not to fast-track the claims for about 3,000 workers from the former nuclear bomb-trigger factory near Golden. "Actually, I'm not at all surprised," said Mary Ann Rupp, whose husband, Martin, died of lung cancer in 1995. "I have doubts about this whole program. I think the intentions initially were good, but now it's just too much government bureaucracy." The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health - after two days of hearings at the Denver West Sheraton - rejected "special * View the slide show Silent Soldiers of Rocky Flats. * Watch video from a previous Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (ABRWH) meeting in Westminster. * Watch former Rocky Flats workers Mike Logan, Judy Padilla and Charlie Wolf talk about their experiences and the health issues they've encountered. * Visit the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health web site for information on filing worker claims and how to contact the board. * Browse biographies of board members with the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health. exposure" status for any of about 16,000 Rocky Flats workers who have or get any of 22 cancers. The status would have enabled each to receive $150,000 compensation, plus medical help. So far, only 802 payments have been made to Rocky Flats workers out of 6,140 claims filed. The focus now shifts back to Congress, where Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., is seeking a Senate hearing on the handling of the Rocky Flats cases. "The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health on Special Exposure Cohort Status has failed the former Rocky Flats workers once again," Salazar said in a statement. Leo W. Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers union, which represented many Rocky Flats workers, promised more appeals of the decision. "It will take leadership from members of Congress to resolve this lack of compensation and medical care for sick nuclear workers," Gerard said. The union had asked the federal government for special exposure status for about 3,000 workers. The advisory board's chairman, Paul Zeimer, also called on Congress to fix what he called the "convoluted process" it created. "Unfortunately the burden has been passed to a group like this to correct what Congress did," Zeimer said. "This process could have been set up better at the front end." 31 claims in four years In October 2004, the Labor Department took over administration of the nuclear workers' compensation programs after Congress lost patience with the Department of Energy, which had managed to pay only 31 claims in four years. Labor inherited more than 35,000 cases at federal facilities from the Energy Department and paid some of the easiest claims to process. In cases where there were insufficient records to determine worker exposure, special status was provided. In the Rocky Flats case, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health concluded Richard Castillo, 59, of Westminster addresses the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health during its hearing Tuesday at the Denver West Sheraton. Castillo, who worked at the Rocky Flats nuclear facility for 27 years, suffers from neuropathy. (Post / Omar Vega) that there was enough data to reconstruct workers' radiation doses for the period between Jan. 1, 1967 and 2005. In two days of presentations before the board, filled with emotion and weighed down by scientific minutiae, that NIOSH conclusion was challenged by former workers, technical experts and union officials, who called it "insufficient and incomplete." That, however, was the only question the board was entitled to answer, said board member Wanda Munn. "We've heard no information that there isn't enough information," Munn said. Board member Michael Gibson said he felt the board's scope went beyond that. "To do our duty correctly, we need to consider the experiences of people who were there," he said. On an 8-1 vote, with one abstention, the board did agree to expedite the claims of a small category of workers - those exposed to neutron radiation at the plant from 1959 to 1966. The board's recommendations now go to Mike Leavitt, secretary of Health and Human Services. The former workers and their families said that the federal government still isn't fulfilling its obligations. "You've listened to a whole lot of people who have pedigrees, but they weren't on the shop floor," Jerry Harden, a former worker and union leader at the munitions plant, told the board. "Please help the sick Rocky Flats workers." When the meeting ended, some workers and their families cried, some walked off in anger and most, like Rupp, vowed to continue fighting to get compensation - soon. "We're not giving up," Rupp said. Staff writer Karen Augé can be reached at 303-954-1733 or kauge@denverpost.com. All contents Copyright 2007 The Denver Post or other copyright ***************************************************************** 36 Press TV: Israel's nuke leak threatening ME Wed, 13 Jun 2007 10:40:03 Probable explosion in Israel's Dimona nuclear plant may be more tragic than Chernobyl ‎nuclear disaster A Jordanian expert in nuclear physics has warned that radioactive substances leaking from Israeli nuclear reactors are threatening the region. "Radioactive leak from Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor coupled with the regime's nuclear waste buried in Jordan are posing serious hazards to not only people in Jordan but also in other regional states, including Egypt and Palestine," Iran's Fars news agency quoted Nabil Atoum as saying on Tuesday. The expert drew an analogy between the humanitarian and ecological catastrophe caused by the Russian reactor Chernobyl two decade ago and the probable nuclear tragedy that can be caused by the vulnerable Dimona reactor, warning this could set off a "new Zionist Holocaust". He cautioned that the magnitude of an Israeli reactor catastrophe can be even greater than Russia's Chernobyl. Atoum said Amman has admitted it has no immediate solution to deal with a probable catastrophe at Israel's Dimona nuclear plant, and called for international mediation and an investigation into the Israeli regime's nuclear activities. Meanwhile, Ali Hatr, a member of Jordan's Resistance Committee exclaimed that although Jordanian officials are aware of the contamination, they have made no efforts to avert a nuclear disaster. He expressed serious doubts over Jordan's ability to control such disaster on its own. "Even the former Soviet Union, which was a far greater power than Jordan, could not control the contamination caused by the Chernobyl reactor meltdown," he compared. The Zionist regime possesses the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal with at least 200 nuclear warheads. Months ago, prime minister Ehud Olmert admitted that Israel has nuclear arms, abandoning the ambiguity policy Tel Aviv had adopted over its nuclear weapons for decades. The Chernobyl disaster was a major accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986 which was followed by radioactive contamination of the surrounding geographic area. A plume of radioactive fallout drifted over parts of western Soviet Union, eastern, western and northern Europe, and eastern North America. Large areas of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia also were badly contaminated, resulting in the evacuation and resettlement of over 336,000 people. About 60 percent of the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus, according to official post-Soviet data. DT/BGH © Press TV 2007. All rights reserved. Our privacy ***************************************************************** 37 Wired Science: Feds Turn Cold Shoulder to Cold War Nuke Workers By Brandon Keim June 13, 2007 | 3:51:56 PMCategories: Government, Medical Ethics, Military   In the latest setback to the thousands of Cold War nuclear bomb workers who want the government to help cover their cancer treatment costs, a federal advisory panel has recommended that compensation be denied to workers at a Colorado nuke factory. The application procedure is almost Kafka-esque: ... sick workers from Rocky Flats and other American nuclear facilities may apply for $150,000 in compensation, plus medical benefits, if there is evidence that they suffer from any of 22 kinds of cancer linked to radiation. A worker must first file a claim with the Labor Department, a step that brings a lengthy investigation in which scientists from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, through records, research and interviews, determine eligibility by establishing the radiation dose incurred by the worker. If the scientists are unable to determine the dose, the worker may file for “special exposure cohort” status. It was this status that was sought by the former Rocky Flats workers. But after more than two years of hearings and debate, the panel — the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health, a unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — decided on a vote of 6 to 4 Tuesday that the occupational safety scientists could accurately determine dose exposure for almost all of the plant’s former workers. The plant was closed in 1989 because of mismanagement, and is now a Superfund hazardous waste site. The panel's recommendation will next be sent to the Department of Health and Human Services. Hopefully they'll listen to the words of panel member James Melius, a physician who ... called the process “grossly unfair” and said the board had had little opportunity to review the accounts of the former workers, many of whom argued that the occupational safety agency’s records were incomplete and vastly understated their illnesses. Obviously Melius was not in the (slim) majority. But in a situation like this -- well, excuse me for quoting my earlier post: Officials point to the difficulty of establishing cause and effect -- but given the dangerous nature of the work, the incomplete records and the fact that these people risked their lives for the country, bean-counting is simply wrong. Previous Wired coverage here. Setback for Ill Workers at Nuclear Bomb Plant [New York Times] Image: Department of Energy © 2007 CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 38 UPI: Greenpeace warns of tritium risk United Press International - NewsTrack - Science - Published: June 12, 2007 at 11:05 PM TORONTO, June 12 (UPI) -- Greenpeace says nuclear power plants in Canada could be releasing dangerous levels of radioactive tritium. A study released Tuesday said Canada's standard for allowable levels of tritium are 10 times higher than the United States and 100 times higher than Europe, The Globe and Mail said. Greenpeace said as a precaution, children under the age of 4 and pregnant women shouldn't live within six miles of a nuclear power station and those living within three miles shouldn't eat food grown in their gardens, the newspaper said. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission said tritium levels around nuclear plants are not a health threat. The Greenpeace study was written by Ian Fairlie, a British radiation expert who recently published a peer-reviewed journal article that concluded tritium's hazards are being underestimated. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 39 KnoxNews: Retirees produce DVDs to document their plight By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com June 13, 2007 The Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees, representing about 12,000 contractor retirees or surviving spouses, has been pushing for a pension adjustment for years. Now the group has laid out the case for all to see with a DVD package titled, "Failure of the DOE Pension System for Oak Ridge Contractor Retirees." Charlie Kuykendall, a former president of CORRE, said the two-disc set was produced primarily for elected officials and their staff members in hopes of drawing support in Washington and elsewhere. The message is pretty clear: "Fund surplus grows and grows, but retirees fall further behind." By CORRE's estimates, Oak Ridge retirees on average have lost about 50 percent of their purchasing power over the years as a result of inflation and other factors. Unlike retirement funds at other Department of Energy sites, DOE does not contribute to the Oak Ridge fund (which has a reported surplus of $600 million or more). CORRE said DOE has not put any money into the pension fund since 1984. While there have been a number of adjustments over the years, most of those occurred when Union Carbide was the federal contractor in Oak Ridge, the group said. Union Carbide left town in 1984. The DVD package details the history of the pension system and provides a ton of factual information. It also includes interviews with retirees, including Kuykendall, Joanne Gailar, Frank Williams, Bill Wilcox, Joyce Conner, Harvey Kite and Virginia Coleman. Keith and Judy Kibbe and Pete Lotts headed the production. There's criticism of DOE and the current group of contractors. "It just seems like we are forgotten people," Kuykendall said. But that doesn't mean retirees regret their tenure in Oak Ridge or harbor bad feelings about the plants where they worked, he said. "We're supporters, not detractors," he said. "We're still loyal to them." For more information about CORRE or the DVDs, visit the group's Web site at: www.corre.info. The two-disc package may be purchased by sending a $5 check to: Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees, P.O. Box 4266, Oak Ridge, TN 37831. I get a call every couple of weeks or so about "radioactive trucks" on Pellissippi Parkway. People want to know why there are so many dump trucks with placards that warn of radioactive loads. The short answer: These are trucks hauling radioactive dirt and debris from the Witherspoon cleanup site in South Knoxville. The Department of Energy, as part of a settlement with the state, agreed to clean up the Witherspoon scrap yard and haul the rad gunk to Oak Ridge for disposal. Washington Group is the subcontractor doing the work. I was curious, however, when I saw three of the trucks parked on the side of Interstate 40 East - not far from the parkway interchange - on May 29. As it turns out, the drivers had pulled off Pellissippi Parkway because the road was closed to traffic while authorities tried to figure out what to do with a guy perched on the bridge over Fort Loudoun Lake. According to Dennis Hill, a spokesman for Bechtel Jacobs Co., DOE's cleanup manager in Oak Ridge, the drivers are required to stick to an approved route that avoids downtown Knoxville. The route to Witherspoon goes from Pellissippi Parkway to Alcoa Highway to John Sevier Highway, etc., and the same way upon return. Because of the blockage, a Knox County sheriff's deputy volunteered to escort these trucks - and another group that had stopped at the Dutchtown Road interchange - to Witherspoon. The alternate route used I-40 to Alcoa Highway to John Sevier, etc. "By the time the trucks arrived at Witherspoon and were loaded, Pellissippi had been reopened, and they were able to follow their normal route back to Oak Ridge," Hill said. "Had the trucks been loaded and coming from Witherspoon to Oak Ridge when the delay occurred, they could not have been diverted," he said. "They would have had to stay where they were until the Pellissippi was reopened. The only reason they were allowed to take the alternate route was because they were empty." Senior writer Frank Munger covers the Department of Energy for the News Sentinel. He may be reached at 865-342-6329 or at munger@knews.com. This column is also available in the opinion section of knoxnews.com. Copyright 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 40 TorontoSun.com: Nuke waste no worry despite cancer risk - McGuinty torsun.editor@sunmedia.ca Wed, June 13, 2007 By CHINTA PUXLEY, CP There is no evidence the release of radioactive tritium into the Great Lakes by Ontario nuclear power plants poses a public health threat, Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday despite a new study which shows such emissions could put people at risk for genetic mutation and cancer. In February, the province was sufficiently concerned about tritium for Environment Minister Laurel Broten to order her expert advisory council on drinking water to look into its health risks and report back with recommendations on whether Ontario should impose its own stricter standard. The report is not yet complete. McGuinty said he has no reason to be overly concerned about those who live in the shadow of Ontario nuclear power plants, but added if there is new evidence that the plants pose a risk, it's up to the federal government to address the problem. "The federal government has the principle responsibility to provide us with a reassurance, and if there are new measures we have to take to ensure that our nuclear reactors are even safer, then that's something we'll have to consider," he said in Kingston. But the latest concerns about tritium aren't enough to change course when it comes to bringing more nuclear reactors online, he said. "We will continue to move forward with refurbishment of nuclear generation and to construct new generation where that's required," McGuinty said. "Over time, there will be a reduced percentage of our electricity that's coming from nuclear generation." A study commissioned by Greenpeace, released yesterday, found Canada's standards for tritium exposure are very "lax" compared to the rest of the world, especially in light of evidence that suggests the material is more dangerous than previously thought. Study author Ian Fairlie, a British radiation expert, said children under 4 and pregnant women are particularly susceptible to tritium, which can become embedded in human cells once it binds with water. The risk is so high that women who live near a nuclear plant should think twice before having children or should move to another area, he said. "It's serious. It's the water itself that's radioactive." CANOE home | We welcome your feedback. Copyright © 2006, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 41 Platts: Spot uranium price seen rising after Tuesday, Friday auctions 2007-06-12 Washington (Platts)--12Jun2007 The spot price of uranium will most likely rise Wednesday based on the results of Tuesday's auction of 125,000 pounds of U3O8 by Canada's Denison Mines, market sources said. Ux Consulting has pegged the current spot price over the past week at $135/lb U3O8, while TradeTech put the price at $138/lb U3O8 over that period. Later this week the price may again rise when London-based Nufcor International auctions 20,000 to 100,000 kilograms of uranium as UF6 on Friday. That material is located in Europe and is available for delivery June 29, Nufcor International told prospective bidders. Mike Knapik, newsdesk@platts.com For more news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?src=story or subscribe now at http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=22_41&products_id=67 Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 42 Platts: US NRC 'torn' on how to proceed with GNEP: Commissioner Lyons 2007-06-12 Washington (Platts)--12Jun2007 The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is "torn" on how to proceed with the Department of Energy's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, NRC commissioner Peter Lyons said Tuesday. In remarks before the Global Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing and Recycling conference in Seattle, Lyons said the agency does not have "sufficient certainty" from the Bush administration and Congress to know what resources need to be assigned, and on what time scale, to develop a framework for licensing facilities under GNEP, an initiative to develop new types of reprocessing plants and fast reactors. In determining fiscal 2008 funding levels, there have been differences between the administration and Congress, as well as within the administration, over the urgency of GNEP work. Lyons also emphasized that spent fuel is now safely stored at reactor sites, although there could be debates over whether such an approach is "desirable." NRC commissioners now are considering a staff proposal for a two-phased approach to setting up a GNEP licensing regime. --Daniel Horner, daniel_horner@platts.com For more news, request a free trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?src=story or subscribe now at http://www.platts.com/infostore/product_info.php?cPath=22_41&products_id=67 Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 43 Vail Daily News: Train carrying nuclear cargo overheats for Vail and Beaver Creek Colorado - News Shirley Welch Vail CO, Colorado June 13, 2007 Available Frank began a job he had to figure out as he went along. The train car with the nuclear products was attached at the end of the train to a caboose. An armed military person had to be in the watchtower of the caboose 24/7 to keep an eye on the train car. Thus began a long, hot, frustrating trip on a caboose attached to a car of nuclear components. Smoky caboose The first problem started shortly after pulling out, and they hadn’t gotten very far when suddenly the caboose filled with smoke. Coughing and with his eyes burning, and trying to figure out what was happening, the train finally came to a halt. It seemed the caboose had gotten a “hotbox” and caught on fire. Dandy, Frank thought. The two cars could not continue, so they were disengaged from the train and left there until another engine could come and get them to take them to Kansas City. Seemingly abandoned in the middle of nowhere, the sun beat down on Frank as he paced alongside the rail car full of nuclear stuff. From time to time, Frank could kick a thistle but that was about all there was alongside that train track. There wasn’t a lick of shade and all he and his three men could do was cuss. Finally, an engine came for them and took them to the rail yard in Kansas City, which was the biggest, emptiest place Frank had ever seen, miles of track as far as the eye could see. The engine simply stopped and left the car with the nuclear components and the caboose in the vast rail yard. Frank guessed the temperature was way over 100 degrees and when looking in any direction, all he saw was rail line with heat waves dancing off them. Finally, Frank flagged down someone to take him to the rail yard headquarters. Volatile cargo Looking disheveled, his uniform wrinkled, damp and smoke smudged, his face streaked with smoke encrusted sweat, Frank entered the headquarters and faced a gray-haired receptionist who looked at Frank as if he were the Slime Monster From The Black Lagoon. After reassuring her that he was an officer in the United States Army, Frank explained their situation. The superintendent for the rail yard arrived and Frank told him that he and his men were stuck out on the rail yard and were near the broiling point and so, too, was the train car with nuclear components. The superintendent brought a bunch of fans out to the caboose and then put his hands on his hips as he looked at the rail car Frank guarded. “Do you want fans in that car too?” he asked. Frank got in his face and snapped, “Don’t you touch that car.” The superintendent nodded. “How about food?” “That would be great,” Frank said. E-mail comments about this story to editor@vaildaily.com. All contents © Copyright 2007 vaildaily.com Vail Daily - 40780 US Hwy 6 & 24 - Avon, CO 81620 ***************************************************************** 44 Platts: India building two reprocessing plants 2007-06-12 London (Platts)--12Jun2007 India is constructing two more reprocessing plants in addition to the three already operating at Tarapur, Kalpakkam and Trombay, S. K. Munshi, chief superintendent of reprocessing facilities at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center at Trombay, said June 12. In an interview following a talk given at the IBC Global Conferences' radioactive waste management conference in London, he said two new plants were being built at Tarapur and Kalpakkam which should start operating within the next few years. "Reprocessing is a must to meet our closed nuclear fuel cycle program," Munshi said. Copyright © 2007 - Platts, All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 45 BillingsGazette.com: Closure revised due to radioactivity Custer National Forest Supervisor Steve Williams has revised the area closure boundary in the Old Glory and Sandra Mine areas of the Pryor Mountains. The area has been closed to public use since 2003 due to uranium and radioactivity, which constitute public health and safety concerns. The site closure boundary around these historic mines has been revised to improve the Forest Service's ability to manage the closure and to better accommodate public access around the area. Tests at the mine sites indicate that soil radiation levels are up to 369 times greater than background soil samples. No unsafe radiation levels have been detected in portions of the forest outside the closure area. Efforts at further assessing and reclaiming the mine sites to reduce radiation exposure potential are expected to begin this summer. The area closure prohibits all public use, including pedestrian travel, nonmotorized vehicle traffic and motorized vehicle traffic, in Township 8S, Range 27E in the following areas: • Portions of the east half of Section 32 that are east of Forest Road No. 2091 (Red Pryor Mountain Road), east of Forest Road No. 2091G, and south of Forest Road No. 2096 (Switchback Road). • Portions of the west half of Section 33 that are south of Forest Road No. 2096 (Switchback Road) and north and east of Forest Road No. 2091A (Lisbon Road). This closure does not apply to public use on Forest Road No. 2091, Forest Road No. 2091G, Forest Road No. 2091A, and Forest Road No. 2096. For more information or to obtain a closure area map or copy of the closure order, contact Dan Seifert at the Beartooth Ranger District at 446-2103 or Pat Pierson at the Custer National Forest Supervisor's Office at 657-6200. Published on Wednesday, June 13, 2007. Last modified on 6/13/2007 at 12:01 am Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. ***************************************************************** 46 Daily News Journal: House OKs dumping moratorium at landfill By TURNER HUTCHENS trhutchens@dnj.com — Turner Hutchens, (615) 278-5161 The state Legislature is trying to put the brakes on radioactive dumping in Rutherford County. The House of Representatives Tuesday passed a moratorium on dumping of radioactive waste in the county under Tennessee's Bulk Survey for Release program, pending the results of a study by the state's Municipal Solid Waste Advisory Committee. Under the program, millions of pounds of low-level radioactive materials have been dumped in the Middle Point Landfill on Jefferson Pike. "I want to make sure that our drinking water is not causing harm to our citizens, to the best of our scientific and medical certainty," said Rep. Kent Coleman, D-Murfreesboro. At press time, the Senate had not yet passed the bill. If the Senate approves the legislation, it would require the signature of Gov. Phil Bredesen to become law. A report last month by nuclear-watchdog organization Nuclear Information and Resource Service revealed the radioactive dumping at the landfill and was followed by an outcry of opposition from residents and county officials who said they should have been told about the dumping long ago. Officials with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation have maintained that the materials going to the landfill have an extremely low level of radioactivity and are safe. Norman Alsup, who lives in Walter Hill where the landfill is located, said he's glad the Legislature is trying to stop the dumping. "I don't think it belongs here," he said. The entire community should be involved in any decisions about accepting radioactive materials, and that wasn't done, Alsup said. Rep. Donna Rowland, R-Murfreesboro, proposed the initial amendment to a solid-waste bill. The amendment urged the state's commissioner of Environment and Conservation to impose a moratorium on the radioactive waste being dumped in the state's landfills. "A lot of members of the community have been concerned about radioactive material being disposed of in the landfill and close to the source of water for the communities in Rutherford County," Rowland said. Coleman then amended Rowland's amendment to mandate an immediate moratorium on the dumping in Rutherford County. "Rep. Rowland and I are both working toward the same goal on this issue," Coleman said. The amendment passed without opposition, he said. The county's Public Works and Planning Committee voted last week to ask Bredesen, local state representatives and TDEC to take action to stop all dumping of radioactive materials at the landfill. The full commission will vote on that request at its 6 p.m. meeting Thursday at the County Courthouse. Commissioner Joe Frank Jernigan, chair of the Public Works Committee, said he thought the Legislature took action in part because of pressure from the commission. He said putting the dumping on hold while the issue is studied is the right thing to do. The results of the study by the Municipal Solid Waste Advisory Committee are expected in early September. Middle Point is one of several sites in Tennessee where low-level radioactive materials are allowed to be dumped under the Bulk Survey for Release program, which was enacted in the early 1990s. According to Tennessee Division of Radiological Health figures, about 165,000 pounds of low-level waste were dumped at the landfill in 2004; 10.1 million pounds were dumped in 2005; and 1.3 million pounds were dumped in 2006. State officials have asked Middle Point Landfill officials to test water from the site for radioactivity. We need an independent assessment of the pollution of land and water at Middle Point Landfill. Lots of people involved in the decision to dump radioactive materials here have vested interests in making everything look fine. The county has been getting paid by BFI for this dumping, and the state too has been paid. TDEC tells us the level of radioactivity is so low that we have nothing to worry about. In my opinion, to ask the state to test the water is like asking the fox to guard the henhouse. We need somebody who has nothing to lose to do this testing. Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 3:16 pm The Daily News Journal In a response to questions about the safety of Middle Point Landfill, the Environmental Protection Agency and state officials told U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Murfreesboro, that they believe Murfreesboro's water quality is safe for now but could be impacted by the landfill in the future. According to state officials, increased concentrations of barium have been indicated in groundwater at one of the eight monitoring wells at the landfill on Jefferson Pike, Gordon said in a news release Tuesday. The well's proximity to Stones River means the city's water could be impacted, according to the release. "In the very best case, the materials going into the landfill are unpleasant; in the worst case, they could harm our families," Gordon said. According to the response to Gordon from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation: "There are indications of increasing concentrations of barium in the groundwater at monitor well MW-2. The contaminant levels are still below the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for drinking water. "A groundwater assessment is under way to determine if the increasing barium concentrations are from naturally occurring sources or due to leachate from the landfill. Since MW-2 is near the river, water quality could eventually be impacted. Leachate will be tested for radioactivity in order to assess the potential impact to the river." Gordon also learned that test results from leachate samples taken from the site are expected in mid-June. The leachate has not been tested for radioactivity in the past, but the state has proposed changes to its testing guidelines to monitor leachate for radiation if it is being released to a water treatment facility. "While state officials say Middle Point poses no danger, Rutherford County residents need to have accurate information about what's going into this landfill," Gordon said. "I encourage state, county and city officials to aggressively monitor the impact this landfill is having on our communities and on the health of citizens." City awaits water-test results DNJ staff reports Test results to determine if Murfreesboro's water supply contains radioactive materials won't be back for at least another week, officials said. Samples of the city's water supply were sent away two weeks ago for testing, but the tests are taking longer than projected because of bureaucratic issues, city spokesman Chris Shofner said. The Murfreesboro Water and Sewer Department decided to conduct the tests a few months earlier than scheduled due to news reports about low-level radioactive materials being dumped in Middle Point Landfill on Jefferson Pike, which sits on Stones River. Testing for radioactive materials in the city's water supply was last conducted in 2003 as part of regular water quality monitoring. State law requires this type of testing once every four years. At that time, no significant levels of radioactive material were found, with the amount of radioactive material generally testing below detectable levels. — Turner Hutchens, (615) 278-5161 Copyright ©2007 The Daily News Journal. All rights reserved. Users ***************************************************************** 47 APP.COM: NRC not serving public by disregarding drywell dangers | Asbury Park Press Online Wednesday, June 13, 2007 BY PEGGI STURMFELS Post Comment Blind faith. Never had it. Never will. I suppose it comes from being raised by a father who believes in data — he being a metallurgist. So when I hear supporters and elected officials employed by AmerGen, the operators of the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey, talk about having a blind faith in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and its ability to judge the safety of the plant — in particular, the corroding radiation containment vessel — I shudder. The NRC has consistently used the highly technical nature of a relicensing as a shield to limit public participation. By tenaciously fighting our efforts to gain access to technical data for independent expert review, the NRC has proven it serves the industry and not the public. Since November, our attorney, Richard Webster of the Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic, repeatedly has asked the NRC to supply him with the raw data that led agency officials to decide that the drywell can withstand another 20 years of wear and tear. Water leaks, the source of which never have been discovered or rectified, has caused the drywell to rust. And in parts, it is as thin as a soda can. If corrosion continues to take its toll, the drywell could thin to a point where it would buckle upon itself, severing a complex safety system of pipes, cables and electrical circuitry that prevents the nuclear reactor from meltdown. One would think this data would be at the NRC's fingertips. Apparently not. Even though Webster has made this request on our behalf by mail, e-mail, conference call and, finally, in person at last month's safety assessment meeting at AmerGen's emergency headquarters in Toms River, no data has been forthcoming. Instead, all we receive are verbal assurances that all is fine and dandy at the reactor. However, internal AmerGen documents show it's not time to break out into a soft shoe. These documents show AmerGen is in possible violation of its own minimum safety standards, or Current Licensing Basis (CLB). These documents show the contiguous area in which the drywell has thinned is far greater than originally thought. These documents affirm conclusions by an independent nationally renowned laboratory hired by the NRC, Sandia Labs, that the drywell may have thinned to a point where it is no longer safe to operate. If AmerGen is in violation of its CLB, it means that the NRC can tell AmerGen to cease operations until it figures out a plan to deal with a highly hazardous situation that has the potential to wipe out the Eastern seaboard. Those far-ranging effects are not exaggeration on our part. That is the area that would be affected by a nuclear meltdown at Oyster Creek as described by the National Academy of Sciences, a group of scientists and academics that advises Congress. These documents have been forwarded to the NRC by Webster, who also has sent subsequent e-mails and has spoken on the phone with NRC officials. Webster has been told by the NRC that the drywell is just fine, and please don't send any more bothersome e-mails. So where do we go from here? The information has been sent to Gov. Corzine, Reps. Christopher H. Smith and H. James Saxton, both R-N.J., officials at the state Department of Environmental Protection and to the Ocean County Board of Freeholders. These officials should not only study these documents, but familiarize themselves with events at the Davis-Besse nuclear reactor in Ohio. The NRC's own inspectors warned of dangerous corrosion at that facility, yet the plant was allowed to continue to operate. When it finally shut for repairs, the reactor was about two months away from meltdown. The NRC almost lost Toledo. Let's not lose the Jersey Shore. Peggi Sturmfels, Jackson, is a program organizer with the New Jersey Environmental Federation, Belmar. Copyright © 2007 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 48 LA Daily News: Bermite cleanup impact seen in court ruling JUDY O'ROURKE, Staff Writer Article Last Updated: 06/12/2007 08:39:52 PM PDT SANTA CLARITA - A U.S. Supreme Court decision this week involving voluntary cleanup of contamination will have a huge local impact as pollution is removed from a former munitions plant, officials said Tuesday. Santa Clarita's water wholesaler, which joined with plaintiffs in the lawsuit, is now assured it can recover the estimated $100 million it will cost to clean polluted groundwater. "I'm pleased that the court found responsible parties should pay and not to force those costs on to our customers," said Robert DiPrimio, president of the Valencia Water Com., a water retailer in the Santa Clarita Valley. "That is a significant outcome that's important for our customers - not to have to pay for cleanup that was caused by others." The Castaic Lake Water Agency filed a friend of the court brief supporting the plaintiffs' arguments in the case, heard April 24. The high court was asked to decide whether to uphold a federal law that provides a means for recovering cleanup costs. Contaminants in the soil and groundwater remain at the 996-acre Whittaker-Bermite site in the heart of Santa Clarita, which will be cleaned and eventually developed. Perchlorate, a chemical residue from rocket fuel that has been implicated in thyroid problems, is the major contaminant. The CLWA and local retail water purveyors jointly sued Bermite's current and past owners to ensure they paid for the cleanup In response, Bermite and Remediation Financial Inc. filed a cross-complaint arguing the water companies added to the problem by pumping water. The matter was settled out of court, with the polluters and their insurers funding the cleanup. Off-site cleanup of tainted groundwater will begin in 2008 after the construction of pipelines and a treatment plant. The court's unanimous decision confers a measure of certainty for public agencies nationwide. "Parties like water companies can clean up and be confident they can sue to recover their costs from polluters under federal laws," said Fred Fudacz, a partner with California-based Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott LLP, which represented the CLWA and several state and national water agencies in the friend of the court brief. judy.orourke@dailynews.com (661) 257-5255 Copyright © 2007 Los Angeles Newspaper Group ***************************************************************** 49 Salt Lake Tribune: Magnum begins drilling for uranium at San Raphael project The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 06/12/2007 11:30:41 AM MDT Posted: 11:31 AM- Magnum Uranium Corp., Vancouver, has started drilling its San Raphael project in Emery County as it searches for additional reserves of uranium on the property. The company said the drilling program is expected to total some 20,000 to 22,000 feet spread among 30 bore holes having a depth ranging from 500 to 800 feet. The drilling program will help Magnum earn an 80 percent interest in the property from its partner, Energy Metals Corp. The company's San Raphael projected is located on the east flank of the San Rafael Swell, about 15 miles west of Green River. The area was the site of mining and exploration for uranium and vanadium from the mid-1950s until the 1980s. The uranium mineralization in the area occurs in high-grade zones. Historically, Magnum said, the area produced more than 3.1 million pounds of uranium and 5.4 million pounds of vanadium. ***************************************************************** 50 EPA: Water quality safe "for now" on The Murfreesboro Post EPA: Water quality safe "for now" By Michelle Willard, Post staff writer-June 13, 2007-Updated 4:19 PM Murfreesboro’s water supply is safe, according to reports from Murfreesboro Water and Sewer and the Environmental Protection Agency. Murfreesboro Water and Sewer Department (MWSD) and U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon requested the testing after revelations last month of the disposal of low-level radioactive waste in Middle Point landfill. MWSD received its results from Stones River levels today. Environmental Science Corporation of Mt. Juliet, tested for uranium, radium-226, radium-228 and two different types of radiation. “Everything is within parameters and there is nothing of concern,” said Alan Cranford, superintendent of water treatment with MWSD. Uranium and radium quantities are “below detectable limits,” meaning levels are insignificant or absent completely. Radiation levels are “over the detection limit for the lab but well under that for EPA and TDEC regulations,” Cranford said. According to EPA’s Tuesday response to U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon’s questioning of the city’s water quality, the city’s water is “safe for now.” Gordon requested the EPA assess the impact of the landfill on Murfreesboro’s water quality since the landfill sets above the East Fork of Stones River and an intake that provides part of the city’s water. “I encourage state, county and city officials to aggressively monitor the impact this landfill is having on our communities and on the health of citizens,” Gordon said in a press release. It’s what’s coming out of the landfill that place Rutherford County residents at risk. According to state officials’ response to Gordon, one testing well at Middle Point contains “increased concentrations of barium” in the groundwater. Barium is a metallic element used for a variety of industrial purposes and exposure to it can cause intestinal problems, high blood pressure and muscle weakness, according to the EPA. It is naturally occurring and found in a number of states, including Tennessee. Levels in the testing well are still below government standards. EPA is in the process of conducting further tests of groundwater sources and leachate, a by-product of rainwater percolating through the landfill, to determine the barium’s source. “While state officials say Middle Point poses no danger, Rutherford County residents need to have accurate information about what’s going into this landfill,” Gordon said. Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Division of Radiological Health and County Mayor Ernest Burgess scheduled a public meeting June 28 at 6 p.m. in the Rutherford County Courthouse to discuss the Bulk Survey for Release program, environmental and public health safety concerns of Middle Point landfill. Member Opinions: By: Slavar on 6/13/07 20,000 years. The half-life of a bannana peel in Murfreesboro. At least it will last longer than the Bible Park. By: Stingray on 6/13/07 And we're suppose to trust the government. Didn't our local government officials give the OK for the dump to accept radioactive materials. 615-869-0800 | online@murfreesboropost.com | 630 Broadmore Blvd. Suite 120, P.O. 10008, Murfreesboro, TN 37129 ***************************************************************** 51 Murfreesboro Post: State places moratorium on radioactive dumping By Michelle Willard, Post staff writer-June 13, 2007-11:10 AM Tennessee’s General Assembly heard the cry from Rutherford County and passed legislation that would temporarily stop dumping of low-level radioactive waste in Middle Point landfill. The state Senate passed its version of the bill late last night, Sen. Jim Tracy said. The state House passed a bill early yesterday placing a moratorium on dumping low-level radioactive waste in the landfill, State Representative Donna Rowland said. “We did get it through last night, the very last bill before midnight,” Tracy said. Tracy sponsored the bill that puts a halt to the state’s Bulk Survey for Release (BSFR) program at Middle Point, at least for 60 days. Landfill officials are given 60 days from July 5 to conduct a study on the safety of the landfill, which is due Sept. 5, Tracy explained. The future of the BSFR at Middle Point will be determined after the report is submitted. Rutherford County Commission is also considering a resolution that would ban the low-level radioactive waste from entering the county. The commission votes Thursday night on the resolution. However, due to the County’s contract with the landfill, this action will do little to curb the influx of radioactive waste into Middle Point. As reported last month, BSFR scans potentially hazardous waste to determine the level of radioactivity present. If the waste is within the acceptable range of radioactivity, it is sent to licensed commercial landfills for disposal. Middle Point landfill has been accepting low-level radioactive waste since the program’s 1997 inception without public disclosure. 615-869-0800 | online@murfreesboropost.com | 630 Broadmore Blvd. Suite 120, P.O. 10008, Murfreesboro, TN 37129 ***************************************************************** 52 AU ABC: Trade uranium to lift rights, Aust urged. 14/06/2007. ABC News Online Key export: Aerial view of the Ranger Uranium Mine, 250 kilometres east of Darwin (AFP) Trade uranium to lift rights, Aust urged An international human rights lawyer says Australia could pressure the Russian Government to improve human rights if the two countries begin trading uranium. Canadian Robert Amsterdam is in Australia to raise awareness of human rights issues, as Australia considers exporting uranium to Russia's nuclear energy industry. Mr Amsterdam has told ABC TV's Lateline Prime Minister John Howard cannot ignore Russia's problems. "Mr Howard's a man of great courage," he said. "I think being exposed to the facts of Russia - the fact that Russia is the third most dangerous country in the world for journalists, the fact that even the head of the Supreme Arbitrage Court admits the courts are hopelessly corrupt - these are things that have to be addressed if Russia is going to make it as a great power." ***************************************************************** 53 Ottawa Citizen: Tritium levels dangerously high at Pembroke factory - report Researcher stunned by high levels of radioactive product Lee Greenberg, The Ottawa Citizen Published: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 TORONTO - Levels of a radioactive product used at a Pembroke facility to make glow-in-the-dark products are "eye-poppingly big," according to a British researcher who yesterday said nearby residents and workers at the SRB Technologies (Canada) Ltd. plant could be contaminated from the radiation. "They're Bananasville. Really, really high," said Ian Fairlie, who authored a report released yesterday by Greenpeace. "Initially when I saw these figures, I didn't believe them, they were so high." The report examined risks posed by tritium, a radioactive substance issued from the province's 21 nuclear reactors. Mr. Fairlie, an independent consultant who has advised the World Health Organization and the European Union on radiation, says Canadian standards for exposure to tritium are about 10 times more lax than those of the United States and about 100 times more lax than those in Europe. Canadian standards for exposure to tritium are far behind Europe's, a British researcher said yesterday. Nuclear plants, such as the one above in Pickering, Ont., have recorded extremely high levels. Andy Clark, Reuters The tritium levels around the Pickering and Bruce nuclear facilities -- which have eight reactors -- and Darlington, where there are four, are so high that he recommends young children and pregnant women move if they live within 10 kilometres. Those within five kilometres shouldn't eat food grown in their gardens, the report advised. Mr. Fairlie said he was astonished at the tritium emissions levels at the Pembroke plant in 1997, 1998 and 2000 -- which approach "the level of a big nuclear power station." Those levels remained extremely high until 2002 and have decreased steadily since then. Mr. Fairlie nevertheless says the risk of contamination, especially for workers and their families, remains real. "In practical terms, these are humongous amounts of tritium," Mr. Fairlie said in a telephone interview. "I would say that people living within a couple kilometres of the plant should be measured for certain levels of tritium." Tritium contamination can lead to birth defects and cancer -- especially cancer of the blood, such as leukemia, he said. A spokeswoman for the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, however, disputed the suggestion that workers and residents who live nearby the plant are exposed to dangerous levels of tritium. "All workers in Canadian nuclear plants, as in the SRB plant, are monitored for exposure to radiation, including tritium, and this is tracked and the doses are sent to a national dose registry," said Patsy Thompson, head of environmental and radiation protection and assessment for the government agency. "There has never been a problem with workers being exposed to high levels of tritium in the SRB facility." Until recently, SRB Technologies (Canada) Ltd. used tritium from the nuclear reactor in nearby Chalk River to manufacture its highly specialized products. Those products include signs and lights that are illuminated without electricity, such as those used on airport runways. "We buy tritium light sources, except we're not making them ourselves," company president Stephane Levesque said yesterday. He refused to comment on the report. Groundwater on the company site was once found to contain up to 80 times the level of radioactive tritium Health Canada allows in drinking water -- a standard nearly 10 times more lenient than that enforced by the United State's Environmental Protection Agency. Wells within 200 metres of the plant show levels of tritium within the drinking water guideline, but up to 500 times the natural "background" level. © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks ***************************************************************** 54 Guardian Unlimited: Rocky Flats Health Money May Expand From the Associated Press Wednesday June 13, 2007 5:01 AM By STEVEN K. PAULSON Associated Press Writer LAKEWOOD, Colo. (AP) - A federal panel voted Tuesday to recommend special medical compensation for about 4,000 more former workers at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant, but stopped short of including everyone who had worked there. The decision still leaves about 15,000 former workers - some of them with life-threatening diseases they blame on conditions at the plant - ineligible to receive automatic compensation, said Jennifer Thompson, a former Rocky Flats worker who petitioned for the special status for the workers. The decision angered Dennis Romero, 54, who worked at the plant for 18 years and underwent the removal of his diseased thyroid, a condition he blamed on his job. ``They're picking and choosing who they will take care of. I'm on medication. My thyroid is dead. It's all based on greed,'' he said. The new vote by the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health would give compensation to people who worked at the plant from 1959 to 1966 but it didn't say how many workers that would help. The recommendation goes to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department before Congress makes the final decision. Previously, the board had recommended special compensation to workers from 1952 to 1958. The two recommendations combined still leave about 75 percent of the former workers without coverage. Workers can still apply for individual exemptions. Thompson said the new decision would be appealed because it was made without enough data on workers or their conditions. Currently, the former workers must prove their diseases were the result of exposure to plutonium or other chemicals at the plant in order to get compensation. Former workers at 21 other nuclear sites can get government benefits simply by showing they have a form of cancer that can be caused by radiation. Colorado's congressional delegation sent a letter to the advisory board in May saying the government has delayed compensating the workers and has blocked the path of legitimate claims. The plant, 15 miles northwest of Denver, made plutonium triggers for nuclear warheads. It opened in 1951 but was shut down in 1991 after a troubled history that included several fires. The FBI raided it in 1989, investigating claims that its operator had knowingly discharged chemicals into creeks that flowed into municipal water supplies, burned toxic waste and failed to adequately monitor groundwater. The company, Rockwell International, was fined $18.5 million after it pleaded guilty to 10 hazardous waste and clean water violations. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007 ***************************************************************** 55 DOE: DOE Seeks Applications to Invest up to $40 Million in Housing Research June 13, 2007 Strengthens commitment to increase efficiency in homes WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman today announced DOE is issuing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that will make available up to $40 million to fund research applications to fundamentally change the way American homes consume energy. Awards made under this FOA would support research, development and deployment of technologies that will, on average, reduce new home energy use 30-90 percent. The results of this effort will help advance President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative, which aims to change the way we power our cars, homes and businesses. Increased energy efficiency and diversification of clean energy sources is critical to securing our energy future. Secretary Bodman made today’s announcement while addressing the 18th Annual Energy Efficiency Forum in Washington, DC. “The biggest source of immediately available ‘new’ energy is the energy that we waste every day – which is why we need to seize every opportunity to maximize savings,” Secretary Bodman said. “This research will help enable the next generation of energy efficient homes to produce as much energy as they consume, minimizing the energy we currently waste.” Using a systems-engineering approach, this research seeks to: provide new energy efficient products to the market; incorporate innovations into home design; cut construction time; limit waste; and improve builder productivity. Energy Efficiency Housing Partnership applicants under this FOA are expected to engage architects, engineers, building scientists, builders, equipment manufacturers, material suppliers, community planners, mortgage lenders, realtors, and contractor trades. This approach brings together building professionals from a variety of sectors to pool expertise and maximize information sharing. DOE anticipates selecting 4-8 applications to research the energy efficiency of homes and develop formulae for construction of new homes on a community scale. Subject to Congressional appropriations, funding for these cost-shared projects is expected to begin in Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 ($8 million requested in FY’08) and continue through FY 2012. This investment would total $50 million, with applicants expected to provide 20 percent of the overall funding ($10 million). This research is part of DOE’s Building America project – a public-private partnership – which acts as a catalyst for change in the home-building industry. Building America develops energy solutions for new and existing homes. By 2020, the Building America project seeks to enable the production of cost-effective net Zero Energy Homes, which will annually produce as much energy as they use. Zero Energy Homes combine state-of-the-art, energy-efficient construction and appliances with commercially available renewable energy systems such as solar water heating and solar electricity. The Program’s primary goal is to enable industry to adopt systems engineering approaches to the design and construction of a large portion of all new housing. Additional information on this FOA and the Building America program. Media contact(s): Julie Ruggiero, (202) 586-4940 U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 ***************************************************************** 56 Santa Fe New Mexican: Both sides lambaste Udall on LANL budget By ANDY LENDERMAN | June 12, 2007 A nuclear-weapons watchdog group is blasting U.S. Rep. Tom Udall for opposing looming budget cuts at Los Alamos National Laboratory. New Mexico Republicans, meanwhile, are laying into the Santa Fe Democrat for not doing enough to stop those cuts. Udall has voiced opposition to the proposed spending slowdown, which some New Mexico lawmakers warn could result in an undetermined number of layoffs by one of the region’s major employers. But Udall supports diverting the lab’s mission toward more energy research. Most work done at Los Alamos is related to weapons or national security. That work employs thousands of voters and supports numerous businesses in Udall’s district, which includes all Northern New Mexico. Udall has raised concerns about the 2008 budget covering the U.S. Department of Energy, which includes Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories in New Mexico. Democrats in Congress want less weapons spending and more energy research and basic science. The House Appropriations Committee has already allocated more money toward those areas of federal spending. A vote by the full House is expected today. The Senate, which often puts more money into lab programs, is expected to release its version of the bill later this month. And the president must also approve the measure before it becomes law. It’s unclear how much could ultimately be cut from Los Alamos at this point in the appropriations process. Staffers for U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said Los Alamos could lose $500 million compared to the president’s 2008 fiscal year budget request. That includes slashing funds for construction of a nuclear chemistry lab, plutonium pit manufacturing and advanced simulation computing, among other programs. But Don Hancock of the Southwest Research Information Center said the cuts will be less than $500 million. Currently, 12,176 full-time and contract workers are employed at the Los Alamos lab. That includes 9,066 permanent workers, 1,090 students and researchers, and 2,020 contractors, the lab has reported. Udall said the private company that manages the lab, Los Alamos National Security LLC, must diversify its mission to compete for the new energy research money. “The national labs are in a great position to tackle those challenges and make a contribution, and I hope to see the lab do more of that type of work in the future,” Udall said in a recent interview. While New Mexico Republicans ripped into Udall for not doing enough to stop the cuts, anti-nuclear-weapons activists like Greg Mello at the Los Alamos Study Group say Udall is implicitly supporting President Bush’s pro-nuclear agenda, and he’s trying to have it both ways. Mello and New Mexico Republicans have launched public attacks laying into Udall’s maneuvering on the matter. “Udall has no cop out in this matter,” Adam Feldman, director of the New Mexico Republican Party, said in an unusual broadside last week. “Make no mistake — this is a failure on the part of Tom Udall, and it affects one of the largest employers in New Mexico and a very vital part of our economy and national security.” Mello sent out an “action alert” to his group’s 2,100-person mailing list, urging them to lobby Udall to vote for the House Appropriations Bill. “We’re disappointed that Tom Udall is not supporting this markup, which moves money out of nuclear weapons and into renewable energy,” Mello said. “This is exactly the kind of thing … he has said he stands for. And there is no other way to get renewable energy money in the (Department of Energy) budget than by taking it out of something. And that something is nuclear weapons.” Mello also questioned the impact of the lab on New Mexico’s economy, and said he supports spending that money elsewhere. Udall’s spokeswoman said Tuesday that the congressman’s office does not respond to attacks from the Republican Party, “and you’d have to be living in a fantasy world to think what Tom Udall did last week is somehow supporting the status quo regarding weapons programs,” spokeswoman Marissa Padilla said. “Tom Udall must be doing something right when he’s getting hit from the right and left, but he’s going to continue fighting for the future of the lab and Northern New Mexico by working to diversify the lab’s mission and making sure the lab’s outstanding scientists can compete fairly for all this new money.” Contact Andy Lenderman at 995-3827 or alenderman@sfnewmexican.com. Copyright 2007 The New Mexican, Inc. ***************************************************************** 57 KBCI CBS 2: `INL Begins Investigation into Fire that Burned Worker | Boise, ID Boise, Idaho | Local & Regional June 13, 2007 By The Associated Press IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) _ Officials at the Idaho National Laboratory say they are putting together a team of investigators to look into the causes of a fire that burned a lab worker yesterday. I-N-L spokesman John Walsh says the employee was treated for minor burns on her hands and several other workers reported respiratory problems after a chemical fire started at the Reactor Technology Complex. The accident posed no threat to the public and no radiation was released. Walsh says operations are back to normal today. But he says the lab where the fire originated will be sealed off until a team of investigators has a chance to analyze what went wrong. He says it could be weeks before investigators draw any conclusions about the accident. The INL is in the desert west of Idaho Falls and is home to three reactors, including the Advanced Test Reactor originally designed to test fuel for nuclear submarines. Copyright © 2007 KBCI-TV 140 N. 16th Street, Boise, ID 83702 ***************************************************************** 58 Hanford News: Board wants public inputon long-term Hanford plans This story was published Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 Annette Cary, Herald staff writer The Department of Energy should adopt long-term schedules and cost estimates to guide planning only after review by the public and regulators, according to the Hanford Advisory Board. It issued advice Friday to DOE recommending the new policy after learning that budget documents given to Congress included a revised baseline for Hanford's tanks holding radioactive waste. Baselines are long-term work schedules for cleanup projects and the cost associated with doing the work. "Appropriators think it was vetted and some kind of agreement reached," said Gerald Pollet, chairman of the board's budgets and contracts committee. The new baseline raises estimates from $26 billion to $44 billion for emptying tanks of 53 million gallons of waste, closing all 177 tanks and treating the waste. It also extends the anticipated schedule for completing the work from 2028 to 2042. The board is concerned that the adopted schedules call for emptying the last of the leak-prone single-shell tanks in 2032, even though the legally binding Tri-Party Agreement requires them to be emptied in 2018. DOE's proposed budget for fiscal year 2009 and target budgets for planning for the five years after that provide only enough money for one tank to be emptied each year, the board said in its advice. Because of delays in treating the waste either at the vitrification plant under construction or by alternate means, newerdouble-shell tanks are filling up with waste emptied from older tanks years before any of the waste can be treated. The vitrification plant is not expected to be operating until as late as 2019, eight years past a legal deadline. The board also would have liked cleanup of leaks and releases into the soil at the tank farms included in the baseline. DOE agrees that it should have discussed the work in the revised tank baseline with the Hanford Advisory Board and others who were interested before it was adopted, said Steve Wiegman, senior technical adviser for the DOE Hanford Office of River Protection. But the baseline still would not have been able to meet legally binding deadlines, he said. DOE and its regulators, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington state Department of Ecology, have a series of talks planned this summer to try to reach agreement on new Tri-Party Agreement deadlines after it became clear that DOE would not be able to meet key deadlines, including at the tank farms and the vitrification plant. © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 59 Tri-City Herald: Analytical lab at Hanford vit plant gets last beam (w/video) Vit plant lab steel topping off Published Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer The last major piece of structural steel was lifted to the top of the Analytical Laboratory at Hanford's massive vitrification plant Tuesday. It's a significant step in completion of the laboratory, which covers an area the size of a football field, and in work to clean up contamination at the Hanford nuclear reservation, said John Eschenberg, the Department of Energy program manager. "It's also one step closer to restoring confidence and credibility with the community and Congress," he said. Technical, management and budget problems have escalated the cost of building and testing the plant to $12.2 billion and it may not begin operating until 2019, eight years past a legal deadline. For 18 months construction has focused on the Analytical Laboratory and the Low Activity Waste Facility while questions were resolved on whether the High Level Waste Facility and the Pretreatment Plant had adequate design standards to withstand a severe earthquake. "The (lab) is the smallest of the four major facilities, but it is not the least important," said Bill Lung, Bechtel National construction manager. When the plant is operating, workers will analyze about 10,000 radioactive waste samples a year as the vitrification plant turns radioactive waste into a stable glass form for disposal. About 300 union construction workers cheered after the last beam was lifted to the top of the lab and gently set in place by iron workers in a "topping out" ceremony. Many of the workers signed the beam and it was decorated with an evergreen tree and an American flag. "The flag and tree are to honor our brothers and sisters who did not have a safe work environment like we have today," said Dave Smith, president of the Central Washington Building and Construction Trades Council. The lab has been a complicated project, said Ed Smith, an iron worker for 37 years. The bolted connections in the steel work were difficult to reach because of earthquake reinforcements and there were many layers of steel to penetrate with lifts. The building has about 1,500 tons of structural steel. By year's end the roof and sides should be on the building. DOE and Bechtel National also are working toward resuming construction on the High Level Waste Facility and the Pretreatment Plant by Oct. 1. © 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press & Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 60 Tri-City Herald: Office asks if bulk vit needed to treat Hanford waste Published Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer The Department of Energy needs to take a hard look at whether bulk vitrification still is needed to treat Hanford's radioactive waste, the Government Accountability Office told Congress on Tuesday. The advantages of bulk vitrification cited by DOE when the project began have evaporated, the GAO said. "Originally, DOE justified bulk vitrification as a relatively low-cost, supplemental technology that could be rapidly deployed to complement the Waste Treatment Plant and treat all of the remaining tank waste at Hanford by 2028," the GAO said. But technical and safety problems have escalated the cost and extended the schedule, the GAO said. It blamed the project's original fast-track approach for the unforeseen problems. There's a risk DOE will spend $137 million on top of $93 million already spent to develop and demonstrate the technology only to find it may not be needed or is no longer the best option for treating some radioactive waste, the GAO said. "We believe it would be an extreme disservice to abruptly cancel our evaluation of this approach before we have data upon which to base a decision," Jim Rispoli, DOE assistant secretary for environmental management, wrote in a reply. Although the extent to which bulk vitrification might be needed is unknown, "DOE expects that there is a very high likelihood that the cleanup mission would benefit from an added capacity to treat low-activity waste," Rispoli said. The $12.2 billion Waste Treatment Plant, or vitrification plant, at Hanford is being built to turn much of the 53 million gallons of radioactive waste held in underground tanks into a stable glass form for permanent disposal. While it would treat all high-level waste, it was not planned to have the capacity to treat all of the additional low activity waste by legal deadlines. The waste is left from production of plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program. DOE has been testing bulk vitrification to treat up to 25 million gallons of low activity waste, supplementing the main vitrification plant. Since a contract to design and build a pilot plant was awarded in 2004, that plant's estimated cost has increased from $62 million to $230 million, in part because plans changed from a mobile treatment center to a larger stationary treatment center. At the same time, the date at which the pilot plant should complete its demonstration of the treatment technology has slipped from 2006 to 2012. The cost and schedule for the full-scale bulk vitrification project that could result if the pilot plant proves successful also are troubling to the GAO. A full-scale facility was projected to begin operating by 2011 but that now would be 2019. The cost of operating the plant and treating planned waste has increased from about $1.3 billion to about $3 billion, about the same cost as expanding the main vitrification plant to add a second low activity waste treatment facility, an option DOE considered too expensive in 2003 as it considered bulk vitrification as an option, the GAO said. In addition, the GAO said it expected the $3 billion price tag for bulk vitrification to increase as the demonstration project proceeds and more is learned. DOE based its need for bulk vitrification, in part, on the expectation that it could accelerate the overall cleanup effort by treating about half of Hanford's low activity waste by 2028, the legal deadline for having all the waste treated. But now the main vitrification plant is not expected to begin operating until 2019 and DOE is estimating the last of the tank waste may not be treated until 2042. GAO said the length of plant operations may range from 20 to 55 years, based on an internal DOE engineering study, which would make the completion of treatment as late as 2074. The wide range reflects DOE's uncertainty about the amount of waste the main vitrification plant can treat yearly and the outcome of negotiations with the Washington State Department of Ecology and the Environmental Protection Agency to revise legal deadlines. A lengthened schedule would allow more time to treat the low activity waste at the main vitrification plant, reducing the need for bulk vitrification, the GAO said. It did not address concerns about delays in removing waste from leak-prone underground storage tanks. The GAO is calling for DOE to reassess the need for bulk vitrification, including how supplemental technology would complement and be integrated with the main vitrification plant. If the reassessment shows bulk vitrification is needed, DOE should compare it with expanding the main vitrification plant. The reassessment should be completed before DOE asks for more money for bulk vitrification, the GAO said. It also recommended that Congress withhold future funding for the demonstration until the need for bulk vitrification is clearly confirmed. © 2007 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press & Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 61 Hanford News: Grant goes toward making fuel cells without platinum This story was published Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 John Trumbo, Herald staff writer Two chemists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are trying to develop new metals that can lead to better and cheaper ways to make electricity. Morris Bullock and Dan DuBois, of the molecular interactions and transformations group and the Institute for Interfacial Catalysis at the Richland lab, will receive $1.9 million from the Department of Energy over the next three years to cook up the metallic recipe for an electrocatalyst. The researchers hope to find the magic metal that can emulate what natural enzymes do to convert chemicals to energy, Bullock said. The goal is to find a metallic complex that can act as a catalyst in a fuel cell that uses hydrogen to make electricity. Currently, the most efficient metal for fuel cells is platinum but it is costly and rare. "There isn't enough platinum to make all the fuel cells that would be needed to run every car that would be out there," Bullock said. A hydrogen fuel cell system uses hydrogen and oxygen in a chemical reaction, creating an electrical current with water as a byproduct. The platinum metal is a catalyst that assists the process but isn't used up, DuBois explained. What puzzles researchers is that natural enzymes can use iron or iron with nickel to achieve the same electrocatalytic reaction. The DOE funding will help Morris and DuBois in their quest to find a metal complex using iron, manganese and molybdenum that can mimic the results of certain species of bacteria and algae in producing energy through catalytic oxidation of hydrogen. Bullock said scientists have discovered that the microorganisms successful in electrocatalysis use nuclei made up of iron and nickel. It suggests to them that there may be a way to do the same thing in a energy-conversion fuel cell where more common, inexpensive metals are the catalyst, not platinum. "We want to make guesses about how it works," Bullock said. "The enzymes teach us how to do it," DuBois said. If they are successful, the researchers will have discovered an alternative electrocatalyst. "The desired end product is as fuel cell that does not require platinum," DuBois said. The DOE grant to PNNL is one of 13 basic science projects receiving portions of $11.2 million during the next three years. © 2007 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 62 Denver Post: Environmental Protection Agency certifies cleanup at Rocky Flats The Associated Press Article Last Updated: 06/13/2007 10:21:15 AM MDT DENVER—The Environmental Protection Agency has certified the cleanup of the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant, another step toward the planned conversion of the site to a wildlife refuge. EPA spokesman Terry Andersen said Wednesday the property northwest of Denver will be turned over to the Interior Department, possibly within weeks, for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to manage. Andersen said it would still be some time before any of the site is open to the public. Areas with the worst radioactive contamination will remain off-limits. Rocky Flats, opened in 1951, made plutonium triggers for nuclear warheads. It was shut down in 1991 after a troubled history that included several fires. The FBI raided it in 1989, investigating claims that its operator had knowingly discharged chemicals into creeks that flowed into municipal water supplies, burned toxic waste and failed to adequately monitor groundwater. The company, Rockwell International, was fined $18.5 million after it pleaded guilty to 10 hazardous waste and clean water violations. A $7 billion cleanup of 6,200 acres at the site was completed in 2005. The site remains under monitoring and observation. On Tuesday, a federal panel voted to recommend special medical compensation for about 4,000 more former workers at the plant, but stopped short of including everyone who had worked there. The decision still leaves about 15,000 former workers—some of them with life-threatening diseases they blame on conditions at the plant—ineligible to receive automatic compensation, said Jennifer Thompson, a former Rocky Flats worker who petitioned for the special status for the workers. All contents Copyright 2007 The Denver Post or other copyright ***************************************************************** 63 Rocky Mountain News: Board denies most Flats workers medical help Decision crushes former employees now ill with cancer Judy Dehaas © The Rocky Former Rocky Flats workers Dennis Romero, left, and Judy Padilla, right, listen with skepticism as Brant Ulsh, chief scientist for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health on the dose reconstruction for Rocky Flats, defends his findings to the Radiation Advisory Board. By Ann Imse And Laura Frank, Rocky Mountain News June 13, 2007 For sick Rocky Flats workers, a federal board's rejection of their plea for aid Tuesday was an expected but nevertheless devastating loss. Former atomic bomb makers with cancer were crushed and tearful when the board denied the majority of them immediate medical care and compensation. They say they are dying because they put their lives on the line for America at the now-demolished nuclear weapons plant outside Denver. "How many more workers have to die?" asked Terry Bonds, district director for the United Steelworkers Union, which filed the petition. But the board did accept the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's assurance that it can estimate workers' radiation contamination, well enough to prove - or disprove - that it caused their cancers. Workers say many exposures went unrecorded so managers could earn bonuses instead of fines. As a result, they say, the dose estimates are wrong. "It is an outrage that six of the advisory board members decided to believe the faulty, insufficient and incomplete data that NIOSH uncovered over workers' experiences of what actually happened at that plant," Bonds said. The plant 15 miles northwest of Denver made plutonium triggers for nuclear warheads. It opened in 1951 but was shut down in 1991 after a troubled history that included several fires. The FBI raided it in 1989, investigating claims that its operator had knowingly discharged chemicals into creeks that flowed into municipal water supplies, burned toxic waste and failed to adequately monitor groundwater. The company, Rockwell International, was fined $18.5 million. On Tuesday, former Rep. Bob Beauprez told the board it was violating congressional intent. "What do we want you to do on behalf of a grateful nation? We want you to take care of these people," Beauprez said. "They earned it, they deserve it, they've got a right to it: Justice for all." Wanda Munn, who voted with the 6-4 majority, said the board went into "painful detail" in rejecting the workers' complaints. "Nothing was overlooked," Munn said. Workers vow to appeal Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt will make the final decision, but he has never disagreed with the advisory board. Workers took the denial as a call to battle. They plan to appeal and seek an override from Congress. Democratic Rep. Mark Udall has sponsored such legislation, Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar is seeking hearings on the compensation program's problems, and Republican Sen. Wayne Allard promised to be an "advocate." Board Chairman Paul Ziemer said if lawmakers think the hearing process takes too long - a complaint the board hears "all over the country" - they should change the law. The board did recommend approval of automatic aid for one group of workers with 22 radiogenic cancers: "Workers who were monitored or should have been monitored for neutron dose from 1959 to 1966." The board last month recommended approval for such workers from 1952 to 1958. However, there is no clear definition of who "should have been monitored" for this type of radiation. That set up another possible dispute for workers seeking help. The decision means most workers still must prove their individual exposure caused their cancers to qualify for medical care and $150,000 in compensation. "They're going to waste more money calculating dose," concluded former Rocky Flats worker Dennis Romero. "They could have eliminated all that, and just paid us." So far, the government has paid 299 of the 1,253 former Rocky Flats workers with cancer who've requested help. It has denied 631. Many workers have been rejected repeatedly, as they appeal errors on their claims. Workers were frustrated by the debate, which focused on the details of NIOSH's dose estimates instead of worker arguments. They were particularly angered by a NIOSH claim that workers received less contamination after a disastrous 1969 fire because they were sitting in the cafeteria, unable to work due to damage from the fire. "Hello!" exclaimed Jennifer Thompson, the workers' spokeswoman. "The workers were cleaning up the fire, getting huge doses!" Jerry Harden said he and others worked for months cleaning up plutonium from the ashes, under extremely hazardous conditions, because the normal shielding had burned up. The fire investigation found that 7,000 pounds of plutonium was caught up in the blaze, which was stopped before a roof breach that could have covered Denver in radioactive ash. Missing radiation badges The board's consultant, SC&A, reported that radiation badges from the fire era were thrown away. Brant Ulsh, NIOSH's chief scientist for the Rocky Flats dose reconstruction, said his team dealt with missing records from radiation badges by using more accurate urinalysis records. He said missing doses were filled with estimates, often based on co-workers' exposures. Ulsh said the estimates were based on high doses, not averages. Workers said the fact that officials were still undecided on how to calculate their doses 847 days after the filing of their petition proves the estimates are neither timely nor accurate. Thompson noted that NIOSH is still arguing about whether plutonium was used in Building 881 after the 847 days - when demolition records for that building show it had extensive plutonium contamination. NIOSH called the amount of plutonium in Building 881 "nuisance contamination." But Thompson said demolition workers found plutonium all over that building and in its ductwork - so much that it was recovered for reuse. Such basic errors "draw into fundamental question NIOSH's ability," she said. NIOSH plans to redo its dose calculations for an unknown number of Rocky Flats workers because it changed its estimating procedures under pressure from the board. The revisions include some neutron doses, co-worker estimates and exposures for plutonium heated to high temperatures, both in the factory and in the fires. NIOSH officials said they could recalculate the doses within two months. Voting for the petition ? BRADLEY CLAWSON "There are gaps (in the records). I still work in the industry. I still know there are fallacies out there. . . . I really don't feel it can be done." ? MICHAEL H. GIBSON "We have been less than timely (in our decision). . . . I think we have to give as much weight to the experience of people at the site as we do to the science." ? JAMES MALCOLM MELIUS "The board was presented with information from NIOSH that is incomplete and at the last minute. This process has taken 847 days. There's something grossly unfair about that. This is not a fair process. I can't claim individual dose reconstructions can be feasibly done with sufficient accuracy." ? PHILIP SCHOFIELD "There are large gaps in the data. I have a problem with that." Voting against the petition ? MARK GRIFFON "We had to balance timeliness vs. thoroughness. We had the petitioners and congressional representatives twice tell us to deliberate thoroughly, don't rush the vote. I felt like it was my charge to dig into everything." ? JAMES E. LOCKEY "It appears dose can be reconstructed." ? WANDA MUNN "The only issue is whether adequate information exists for the reconstruction of dose to be done in a reasonable manner. We've heard no information whatsoever that it doesn't." ? ROBERT W. PRESLEY "They've given reports and data that says they can do dose reconstruction." ? GENEVIEVE S. ROESSLER "I have confidence that NIOSH did a very detailed evaluation and can reconstruct dose in the manner required by this rule." ? PAUL L. ZIEMER "I've become completely certain that it's feasible for NIOSH to do dose reconstructions with sufficient accuracy - and that means accuracy with claimant-favorable decisions." Not Voting ? JOHN W. POSTON SR. Poston was absent and did not vote. ? JOSIE BEACH Beach was not allowed to vote because she recently worked for the union that filed the petition. What's next ? Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt has 30 days to act on the board's recommendation. ? If he denies its petition, the workers say they will appeal. ? The secretary then would appoint a three- member board to advise him on the appeal. What they said . . . ? "A nation great enough to figure out how to win the Cold War - not only on behalf of the United States, but also for the good of the entire planet - ought to be big enough, caring enough, compassionate enough to be able to take care of the Cold Warriors who won it for you." Bob Beauprez former Colorado congressman ? "This is heartbreaking for the people who are sick. The whole reason we did this is so they didn't have to keep going through this grueling process." Jennifer Thompson worker petition author ? "It was never the intent of Congress to make life more difficult for these people." Jerry Harden, former worker ? "Unfortunately, the burden passed to this group is to correct what Congress should have done in the first place." Paul Ziemer, board chairman What's next ? Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt has 30 days to act on the board's recommendation. ? If he denies its petition, the workers say they will appeal. ? The secretary then would appoint a three-member board to advise him on the appeal. ***************************************************************** 64 UPI: U.S. panel shuns sick nuclear workers United Press International - NewsTrack - Top News - Published: June 13, 2007 at 9:41 AM DENVER, June 13 (UPI) -- A federal panel in Denver ruled against special consideration for about 3,000 former nuclear workers suffering from 22 kinds of cancer. After two days of hearings, the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health voted 6-4 Tuesday against expediting health claims of $150,000 each for the former employees of the Rocky Flats facility outside Denver, the Denver Post reported Wednesday. The factory northwest of Denver opened in 1951 and made plutonium triggers for nuclear warheads and was shut down in 1991. Out of 6,140 claims filed, 802 payments have been made to cancer victims or their families, the report said. Advisory board chairman Paul Zeimer said Congress had created a "convoluted process" in the compensation process. "Unfortunately the burden has been passed to a group like this to correct what Congress did," Zeimer said in the Post article. Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers union, which represented many of the workers, said there would be more congressional appeals. © Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 65 KnoxNews: Parts of energy bill won't fly One-size-fits-all plan bad for state, Alexander says By MICHAEL COLLINS, collinsm@shns.com June 13, 2007 WASHINGTON - Tennesseans would face higher utility bills, and giant wind turbines would disfigure mountaintops from Knoxville to Chattanooga if Congress goes along with a proposal requiring utilities to get more of their electricity from renewable energy, Sen. Lamar Alexander warned Tuesday. "We need energy independence in America, but we need energy independence that makes sense," the Maryville Republican said. The Senate began debate this week on a broad energy bill that would, among other things, raise the fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, step up the production of alternative fuels and promote energy efficiency in products such as light bulbs and home appliances. Senate Democrats are pushing for a vote on the bill by next week, although a number of controversial amendments could slow down the process. Alexander said he is particularly concerned about an amendment that Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, is expected to offer. Bingaman's proposal would mandate that 15 percent of energy come from renewable sources, such as wind and solar power, by 2020. Utilities that fail to meet that goal would face a penalty. Tennessee is one of 27 states that would not meet the proposed standard. Alexander said the amendment is so narrowly defined that the only way states could adhere to the standard would be to build giant wind turbines. But turbines would not be effective in Tennessee or most of the Southeast, Alexander said, because the wind doesn't blow enough to produce much electric power. Scientists for the Tennessee Valley Authority predict that 720 wind turbines would have to be erected along 110 miles of East Tennessee ridge tops - roughly the distance from Knoxville to Chattanooga - just to produce 2 percent of the state's energy from wind power, Alexander said. Utilities that don't meet the standards would pay penalties to the government, then likely pass that charge along to consumers, which would cause electricity bills to rise. The TVA estimates that the proposal would add $410 million a year to Tennesseans' utility bills, Alexander said. "Residential homeowners can't afford these taxes, industries will take their jobs to states with cheaper power and tourists will spend their dollars where they can see mountaintops instead of giant wind turbines," Alexander said. Wind turbines are unsightly, Alexander said. More than 400 feet tall, they are twice as high as the luxury boxes at the University of Tennessee's Neyland Stadium. The rotor blades of one wind turbine would span from one 10-yard line to the other 10-yard line of the stadium. Alexander called the Bingaman proposal "a classic example of a Washington, D.C., one-size-fits-all plan that doesn't fit Tennessee or most of the southeast." "Wind may be fine in North Dakota or Colorado, but not for Tennessee," he said. A better choice for clean, reasonably priced electricity in Tennessee would be more conservation and efficiency, nuclear reactors and clean coal, Alexander said. Michael Collins may be reached at 202-408-2711 Copyright 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 66 cbs4denver.com: EPA Certifies Cleanup At Rocky Flats Jun 13, 2007 10:22 am US/Mountain (AP) DENVER The Environmental Protection Agency has certified the cleanup of the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant, another step toward the planned conversion of the site to a wildlife refuge. EPA spokesman Terry Andersen said Wednesday the property northwest of Denver will be turned over to the Interior Department, possibly within weeks, for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to manage. Andersen said it would still be some time before any of the site is open to the public. Areas with the worst radioactive contamination will remain off-limits. Rocky Flats, opened in 1951, made plutonium triggers for nuclear warheads. It was shut down in 1991 after a troubled history that included several fires. The FBI raided it in 1989, investigating claims that its operator had knowingly discharged chemicals into creeks that flowed into municipal water supplies, burned toxic waste and failed to adequately monitor groundwater. The company, Rockwell International, was fined $18.5 million after it pleaded guilty to 10 hazardous waste and clean water violations. A $7 billion cleanup of 6,200 acres at the site was completed in 2005. The site remains under monitoring and observation. On Tuesday, a federal panel voted to recommend special medical compensation for about 4,000 more former workers at the plant, but stopped short of including everyone who had worked there. The decision still leaves about 15,000 former workers -- some of them with life-threatening diseases they blame on conditions at the plant -- ineligible to receive automatic compensation, said Jennifer Thompson, a former Rocky Flats worker who petitioned for the special status for the workers. © MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. 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